The 9 Greatest X-Files

Pusher/Kitsunegari

Episode 17 of season three (Pusher) sees a series of deaths – all ruled as suicides – draw the attention of agents Mulder and Scully when a man confesses to them by telephone. Robert Patrick Modell (Robert Wisden) has engaged law enforcement in a game of cat-and-mouse, and the FBI agents employ their impressive profiling strategies to identify and locate him. In doing so, they develop a theory that Modell possesses the ability to ‘will’ people into causing their own deaths, through the power of suggestion. He even manages to breach the FBI, encouraging an administrator to attack Assistant Director Skinner (Mitch Pileggi).

Though he is apprehended, he uses his ability to cause a traffic collision, and escapes. As Mulder works to track him down, Scully discovers that Modell is receiving treatment for a brain tumour, and that this may explain his extraordinary power over others. The team finally track the suspect down to a hospital, and become engaged in a dangerous showdown, involving what is essentially Russian roulette with a loaded gun. Scully manages to break the mental connection between Mulder and Modell by triggering a fire alarm, and Mulder shoots Modell.

In episode eight of season five (Kitsunegari), Modell returns to the lives of Mulder and Scully when he suddenly awakens from the coma caused by his shooting, and manipulates his guards into letting him escape. Suspicious deaths begin occurring again but, though they were initially braced for a further difficult chase, Mulder and Scully soon conclude that Modell is, in fact, not the real suspect this time.

Investigations into his hospital visitors lead the pair to Linda Bowman who, it transpires, has the same abilities as Modell. Several near-misses lead to a dramatic conclusion, during which Bowman makes Mulder believe she is Scully, and that Scully is her – though Scully’s determination to prove her identity allows him to see through her trickery.

Ultimately, Modell is shot again, as is Bowman, and she is revealed to be his fraternal twin – suffering the same brain tumour as her brother. In terms of The X-Files, we find that the case of Robert Patrick Modell has provided an opportunity to explore the trust that exists between Mulder and Scully, in comparison to the trust experienced by other people.