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Somebody's always paying attention, Mr. Mulder
Max Fenig

"Fallen Angel" is the tenth episode of the first season of The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on November 19, 1993. It was directed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, and directed by Larry Shaw. The episode helped explore the series' mythology arc.

Synopsis[]

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Mulder is informed about a government cover-up of a UFO crash site, but finds that a fellow UFO enthusiast is also interested in the find.


Summary[]

A UFO crashes in the woods outside Townsend, Wisconsin. A Sheriff's Deputy investigates but is killed in a flash of light. Meanwhile, in a military control room, a technician tracks the UFO but is told by Colonel Calvin Henderson to write it up as a meteor. Henderson telephones his superiors and launches Operation Falcon.

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Colonel Calvin Henderson detains Mulder.

Mulder heads up to Wisconsin, based on advice from "Deep Throat". Mulder sneaks into the woods where the military is performing some sort of clean-up operation on the UFO. Mulder takes photos of the site but he gets caught and thrown into a fenced cage, next to a UFO fanatic, Max Fenig.

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In the forest, an invisible alien passes by.

The next morning, Scully shows up to yell at Mulder and tell him that the X-Files are in danger of being shut down by Section Chief Joseph McGrath because of his behavior. Scully believes the crash site is not a toxic spill, the public story, but rather a Libyan plane with a nuclear warhead, the inside government story. This is an explanation Mulder doesn't believe. Meanwhile, in the woods, the invisible pilot of the UFO passes through a perimeter laser fence around the crash site.

Mulder and Scully return to Mulder's ransacked hotel room, where they find Max Fenig trying to escape out the bathroom window. Fenig is familiar with Mulder's work on the X-Files, based on research of his travel expense reports through the Freedom of Information Act. Fenig brings Mulder and Scully to the trailer he lives in, where he shows them audio of the Sheriff's Deputy who was killed in the woods.

Mulder and Scully visit the widow of the Sheriff's Deputy. She says the government won't release her husband's body for burial, and she was threatened with the withholding of his pension if she said anything to anyone. Meanwhile, soldiers under Henderson's command search for the UFO occupant, only to be severely injured by a bright flash of light emitted from it. They are brought into a doctor who was similarly threatened when he examined the Deputy's body. Scully stays through the night to help, but the vast majority die due to radiation burns.

Mulder returns to his hotel, where Max Fenig's trailer is parked in the lot, and finds Fenig inside, having a seizure. When the convulsions stop, Fenig reveals to Mulder that he has epilepsy. As Mulder helps Fenig lie down, he discovers a red scar in the shape of a triangle behind Fenig's ear. Looking at other X-Files, Mulder finds similar scars on two alien abductees. Scully is skeptical of Mulder's claims about Fenig being an abductee.

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Max Fenig, with a bloodied ear.

The military once again tracks a craft over Townsend, Wisconsin, this time one much larger. Something invisible enters Fenig's trailer, causing his ear to bleed. Mulder and Scully find Fenig missing from his trailer, but his radio scanner leads them to find him at a waterfront dock, where the military is also pursuing the UFO occupant. Mulder enters a building where he finds Fenig. The alien is also in the area, however, and knocks Mulder away. Mulder sees Fenig floating in the air, encased in blue light, but vanishes seconds later.

Back in Washington, D.C., Scully and Mulder report to McGrath, who is unsympathetic to their statements, claiming that Fenig's body was found in a cargo container hours after they left. McGrath's committee decides to shut down the X-Files and fire Mulder from the FBI. However, that decision is secretively vetoed by Deep Throat.

References[]

SEMICOLON-SEPARATED LIST OF ITEMS/LOCATIONS REFERENCED IN EPISODE (BUT NOT LINKED TO IF ALREADY LINKED IN SUMMARY OR GUEST STARS SECTIONS)

Cast[]

Main Cast

Guest Starring

Co-Starring

External Links[]


Episode Navigation[]

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