The X-Files – Plus One

By: Kelly Kearney

It finally happened! After years of “will they, won’t they?” fans finally got their answer and it only took two and a half decades to get it. At long last, our favorite believer and skeptic skipped the professional banter and hit the sheets. No, it wasn’t a magic mushroom induced hallucination and, yes, I know they lived together in the second movie (do fans even count IWTB?). But this had all the trappings of a classic “The X-Files” episode. After Season Ten, many fans were confused by the status of Mulder and Scully’s relationship, but isn’t confusion about what they mean to each other amidst their search for the unknown, what this show is all about? “The X-Files” lives and thrives in the realm of vague and whether it’s about secret government plots, alien colonization or miracle babies the show owes some of its success to the tension between the lead characters. Do they love each other, or do they loathe each other?  For hardcore fans, the clarity was a long and aggravating wait in which many assumed the truth would never be out there.

Doppelgängers

At a punk concert in Virginia, a young crowd surfer spots himself amongst the mass of bodies moshing. The inebriated man staggers out to the parking lot in search of his double, but the lot is empty. Thinking he’s losing it, he climbs into his truck and takes off down a rural road until a cop clocks him speeding. With the flashing lights in his review mirror, the man is about to pull over when his double pops up in the seat next to him. The two struggle with taking control of the wheel which causes the car to jut off the road and crash into a tree. The man goes flying through the windshield and somehow survives, but his doppelgänger is nowhere to be seen.

Near deadly encounters with evil doppelgängers is right up Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully’s (Gillian Anderson) alley. With the X-Files back in business, the two agents discuss the case of Arkie Seavers (Jared Ager-Foster), the man who saw his double, and if it’s worthy of an X-File. It seems Arkie isn’t the only one who’s seeing himself as according to a local doctor (Denise Dowse) there’s an epidemic of doppelgänger sightings that may correlate to a suicidal mass hysteria. Of course, Mulder is all in on this investigation and even though Scully is skeptical, the idea of a medically unheard-of phenomenon piques her interest enough to head to Virginia. Once there, the two agents question Arkie about what happened the night of the crash. While it’s true the man is a 6-time DUI offender, he swears by his story but Scully’s starting to think this whole thing is a waste of time. That is until they meet the doctor who theorizes about an outbreak of Schizophrenic suicide. While the two doctors debate the possibility of a suicidal cluster effect, Mulder notices a patient whose walls are covered in drawings that look like the hangman game. He asks if they can speak to this woman, but the entire staff is terrified of her.

Little Judy and Chucky Poundstone

The psych patient’s name is Judy (Karin Konoval) and her habit of hangman is a game she plays with her twin brother telepathically. Taped to her wall, Mulder notices Arkie is one of the names in her game and asks if Judy knows him. She doesn’t but says, “she might” and points to an empty chair in the corner.

With the more than a few loose ends that need tying up, Mulder and Scully head to a motel and book the last remaining room which happens to be a suite with a couch. Mulder is more than happy to share with Scully, but the smirk on his face says he’s looking for more than a restful night sleep.

As Scully sleeps alone in her bed, Mulder wakes her with some bad news…Arkie Seavers hanged himself in his jail cell. The two agents head to the jail where Arkie’s lawyer, Dean Cavalier (Ben Wilkinson), insists his client was not suicidal and besides, he was found with his hands cuffed behind his back. Little does he know that right before Arkie’s untimely demise his double made a final and violent appearance in his cell. The fact that Judy had Arkie’s name scribbled on her hangman game is strange enough, but when Mulder goes to talk to her twin brother Chucky (Karin Konoval) the pieces of the puzzle start to fit. Chucky is a crude and filthy little man who hates Mulder the minute the two meet. He also happens to work at the jail and was the one who found Arkie hanged in his cell. Noticing the hangman games tacked to the walls, Mulder asks Chucky if he knew Arkie, but just like his twin sister he says, “no, but he might,” and points to an empty corner.

Demon Judy and Her Half Woman Dookie

Back at the hospital, good Judy is gone and demon Judy has taken her place. This evil persona is something the doctor and staff warned Scully about and they advise her to enter the room in the dark so she’s less of a target. A target for what? Flying Dookie is what. Demon Judy loves her chocolate Dookie pudding, but especially loves to throw at anyone who walks through her door. Scully dodges the Dookie as Judy ridicules her about her age and wonders what Mulder sees in her. The woman rips into Scully’s insecurities and questions why a hot man like him would want the barren red head who is “not even half a woman.” Demon Judy lashing out finally cuts Scully deeply. As she turns to leave Judy threatens to kill Scully and take Mulder for herself.

At the hotel, Scully can’t get Judy’s words out of her head. She asks Mulder if he thinks she’s old and Mr. Heart Eyes, chuckles and says, “No, Scully. You still got it goin’ on. You still got some scoot in your boot.”

Elsewhere, Judy and Chucky are back at their games only this time their hangman target is Dean Cavalier, Arkie Seavers’ lawyer. Cavalier became a target when Chucky overheard him say Arkie’s death might’ve been supernatural and for some reason, he found that offensive.

Live By the Sword, Die by the Sword

Scully heads to the hospital where Good Judy is back and offers her apologies for whatever Demon Judy said. Scully insist she knows more about this case than she is letting on and the sick woman admits that Demon Judy might be controlling people’s deaths. Being a scientist, Scully is skeptical when Judy reaches into her bra and hands Scully magical pills she claims keep her safe from Demon Judy. When Scully steps out into the hospital corridor, she asks Judy’s nurses about the pills and they say the woman makes them out of rolled up bread. As Scully’s about to throw them in the trash the nurses stop her and admits they take the pills just in case and maybe she should too. Scully pockets the bread pills and leaves to catch up with Mulder.

Across town, Dean is in a panic after seeing his double and he calls Mulder and Scully. They two try to calm the lawyer down and say whatever it is that’s causing this, he has the power to not let it affect him. They also tell him to stay indoors and try not to let himself die by suicide…because that’s somehow a thing?  The advice doesn’t work because It’s not long before Dean’s double shows up and leaves the lawyer headless on his own living room floor. At the crime scene, Scully assures Mulder that while it’s improbable, it’s not impossible that Dean could’ve cut his own head off, although she seems less than convinced by her own theory. As the two agents leave the scene, Scully catches a glimpse of her own double in the crowd of spectators behind the police barricade.

Mulder and Scully…Finally

At the motel, Scully can’t sleep and wakes Mulder and asks him to hold her. She climbs in and the two spoon while she talks about their future. She’s worried about what happens when they get old and they no longer work for the FBI. Mulder chuckles and assures her they will still be playing believer and skeptic even in their twilight years. Of course, that’s not what Scully meant and she asks him, “What if you meet someone? What if you meet someone who wants to have kids?” Mulder reminds her that she could do the same, but Scully shrugs it off as an impossibility. This leads into a discussion about if she would like another child, but with the world in chaos and no one offering to give her a child she thinks that chapter of her life is closed. The scene is full of insecurities, but in true Mulder and Scully fashion it is fueled by a sexual tension that could melt the polar ice caps. Scully rolls over and smirks at Mulder and as the camera pans left, they take their relationship to the inevitable next level. Later, Mulder wakes to a naked Scully in his bed and heads to the bathroom where he sees his double, glaring in the vanity’s mirror. He panics and starts throwing on his clothes and tells Scully to, “put a dimmer on your afterglow” as they need to get to Chucky and Judy before their names are added to the game.

The End of The Game

The twins are back at their mind games and arguing over which agent they’re going to kill. Judy wants Scully out of the picture and Chucky wants Mulder gone for the similar reasons. They almost get their wish when Mulder shows up at Chucky’s and is attacked by his double who throws him under an overturned book case. Scully, who just saw her double on the car ride to the hospital, makes it to Judy but not in time to stop the twins from killing each other. Maybe the magic bread pills that Scully eventually took worked because, the arguing twins wind up spelling the other’s name in their game. Scully finds Judy strangled on the hospital room floor and when Mulder comes to, he finds Chucky dead in the same fashion. On the wall. Mulder notices a hangman with the names “Mom and Dad,’ proving the twins’ deadly wrath even extended to their parents.

With both suspects dead, the case is closed, and the agents prepare for their flight home. There’s some flirting and some obvious sexual tension but Mulder heads to the couch to get some sleep before their trip. Scully, who’s playing it cool with their new relationship, nods when Mulder tells her to knock if she needs him. She replies, “I can’t imagine that I will,” and as the door to the suite closes, Scully looks longingly at the spot where partner in work and in love, stood. Smiling she says, “But it’s not out of the realm of possibilities.” The red head saunters over to the door and opens it to a shirtless Mulder who is ready to once again, turn up Scully’s afterglow.