Unusual Suspects
From X-Files Wiki
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| Series: | The X-Files |
| Original Airdate: | November 16, 1997 |
| Production Number: | 5X01 |
| Date(s): | May 1989 |
| Written by: | Vince Gilligan |
| Directed by: | Kim Manners |
Two salesmen and a federal employee join forces when they meet Susanne Modeski, a woman who claims that she is being pursued by her violent ex-boyfriend, Fox Mulder.
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[edit] Summary
In 1989 in a warehouse in Baltimore, a group of SWAT agents head in, finding a naked Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) in a box, shouting "They're Here!" Frohike, Byers and Langly sit in a Baltimore prison, blaming each other for the predicament they are in. Byers sits down with Detective John Munch in an attempt to explain what happened.
Byers tells Detective Munch that he is a public affairs officer for the FCC and attended a computer and electronics show at the Baltimore Convention Center. Byers follows a beautiful woman who passes by his booth and also by booths manned by Frohike and Langly, offering bootleg cable. When Byers bumps into her she introduces herself as Holly and says that her daughter has been kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend. The only clues she has to his whereabouts is that he's in the Baltimore area and a piece of paper with ARPANET/WHITCORPS written on it. Byers realizes that the paper is referring to a Department of Defense network that she requests he hack into. Byers finds a file on her daughter, named Susanne Modeski, but it is encrypted. Just then a man who Holly claims to be her boyfriend passes by, Fox Mulder.
Byers and Holly recruit Frohike to help them decipher the encrypted file. Byers and Frohike think it would be a better idea to beat Mulder up but don't do it when he introduces himself as an FBI agent to them. Returning to his booth, Byers finds his colleague being arrested for the hacking he did. Frohike convinces him not to turn himself in and recruits Langly to help them hack into the FBI database to learn more about why the FBI is after Holly. Hacking into the FBI Database they find that Holly is actually Susanne Modeski, and is wanted for murder, sabotage and terrorist acts that killed four people at a weapons facility in New Mexico.
Holly/Susanne arrives and admits to lying to them, but claims that she has been scapegoated for trying to leave her job where she was working on Ergotamine, an aerosolized gas that causes paranoia and anxiety. She claims that the government plans to test the gas on the civilians in Baltimore. After deciphering the encrypted file they find that she's telling the truth and where it is located. Susanne also finds evidence that she has had a tracking device put in her teeth, which she pulls out. The four of them head to a warehoue where they find the gas included in asthma inhalers. Suddenly, Mulder arrives to arrest them but two dark suited men arrive after him to take Susanne. They fire at Mulder, hitting the boxes behind him, exposing Mulder to the gas. Susanne kills the men and escapes. More men arrive, led by X. X intimidates Byers, Langly and Frohike but allows them to live.
Detective Munch doesn't believe Byers story, but when Mulder corroborates the story he, Langly and Frohike are released. They later encounter Susanne again who has failed to get the media to believe her story. She tells them to reveal the truth to as many people as possible. She is captured by X and his men soon afterwards. Later the three of them meet Mulder in the convention center and explain what happened to him.
[edit] Background Information
[edit] Introductory Details
- This episode features the Lone Gunmen more than any previous episode in The X-Files and would ultimately lead the way to the trio's own spin-off series, The Lone Gunmen.
- The title of the episode is likely a reference to the film The Usual Suspects.
- Gillian Anderson (Dana Scully) does not appear in this episode.
[edit] Continuity
- As Fox Mulder had already met the Lone Gunmen by the time of their first appearance (in the Season 1 episode "E.B.E."), this episode reveals how Byers, Frohike and Langly joined forces with each other, and became associates of Mulder.
- This episode is similarly the first chronological appearance of "X", who served as an insider contact for Mulder from Season 2 until the first episode of Season 4, "Herrenvolk". This Season 5 episode is also the penultimate appearance of "X". He would later appear in the series finalé, "The Truth".
- This episode is the only one that reveals the reason why the Lone Gunmen took that collective name, when X says, referring to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, "I heard it was a lone gunman".
- The storyline of Susanne Modeski and her work with government mind control is continued in "Three of a Kind", another episode which heavily features the Gunmen.
- At the end of the episode, Mulder believes that government operatives are Aliens, similar to some of the townsfolk in "El Mundo Gira".
[edit] Cast
[edit] Guest Stars
- Richard Belzer as Lieutenant John Munch
- Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike
- Signy Coleman as Susanne Modeski
- Dean Haglund as Richard Langly
- Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers
- Ken Hawryliw as Himself
- Eric Knight as Elron the Druid
- Chris Nelson Norris as SWAT Lieutenant
- Stuart O'Connell as First SWAT Officer
- Glenn Williams as Officer
- Steven Williams as X
[edit] References
SEMICOLON-SEPARATED LIST OF ITEMS/LOCATIONS REFERENCED IN EPISODE (BUT NOT LINKED TO IF ALREADY LINKED IN SUMMARY OR GUEST STARS SECTIONS)
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