03x22 - Quagmire

[bunniefuu]

When I began my field research here these frogs were thriving.

Since then the adult population has dropped to fewer than 200.

If you don't take protective measures, in a few years...

..Rana sphenocephala will be extinct here.

Frog populations are declining all over the globe, Dr Faraday. No one knows why.

We can't place them all on the endangered species list.

You'd find a way if it were cute, furry mammals we were talking about.

Regardless, your study remains inconclusive. Speculative, at best.

You have no evidence the frog depopulation is the sole result of human encroachment.

A frog holocaust is currently being ex*cuted, Dr Bailey.

And man is the executioner.

You're a biologist, Faraday.

You've never heard of survival of the fittest?

Well, don't forget that rule also applies to mankind!

You can't turn your back on nature!

Or nature will turn her back on you!

Ah, dammit!

Freakin' beeper.

Argh!

No! No! No!

Argh!

Nature's calling. We should pull over soon. Did you really have to bring that thing?

You wake me up on a Saturday morning, tell me to be ready in five minutes,...

..my mom's away, all dog-sitters are booked, and you know how I feel about kennels.

So, unless you wanna lose your deposit on the car, I suggest we pull over.

All right. I'm lost anyway. I gotta stop and ask for directions.

I know I'm lost as to why you're so interested in this missing-persons case.

Dr Bailey works for the US Forestry Service. It makes his disappearance a federal case.

It's not jurisdiction I'm questioning.

Dr Bailey's not the first person to go missing from the lake.

Two weeks ago a Boy Scout troop was out here fossil-hunting.

Their troop leader went to relieve himself, and hasn't been heard from since.

So you think there's a serial k*ller at large?

The operative word being large.

What are you leaving out? Why d'you think I'm leaving anything out?

Multiple missing-persons cases are not that uncommon.

Why this one warrants a flight halfway across the country and a two-hour drive's a mystery!

Oh, tell me you're not serious!

According to the sheriff's report, you were the last person to see Dr Bailey alive.

That's what they tell me.

You argued over an endangered species petition.

Bailey was the worst kind of hypocrite.

Closest he came to communing with nature was subscribing to National Geographic.

You sound bitter, Dr Faraday. Of course I'm bitter.

The man wrote off three years of carefully collected data in a two-hour inspection.

Which doesn't mean I plotted his demise.

That is what you were suggesting.

Aside from having a motive, you don't seem too upset.

You expect me to cry for one man when entire species are on the brink of extinction?

You know the wildlife in and around this lake as well as anybody, don't you?

I'd say that's accurate.

Are you aware of any indigenous species that's capable of attacking a human being?

Yes.

Another human being. Aside from that. Is there a creature that...

Has anyone ever told you two you have a great problem coming to the point?

OK. In your work, have you come across any evidence...

..that lends support to the existence of this creature they call Big Blue?

See, this is what always happens. This is how it starts.

What? The deflection, sleight of hand.

Whenever an issue requires any real thought or mental effort,...

..people turn to UFOs and sea serpents and sasquatch.

Afternoon talk shows and tabloid TV - they've reduced our attention span so much...

..that soon our ability to think will be as extinct as the Rana sphenocephala frog.

I'll take that diatribe to mean you don't believe in the existence of such a creature.

I won't even grace that with a reply.

A prehistoric animal in a lake is not without precedent.

Last August they pulled a bull shark from Lake Onota in Massachusetts.

An anomaly, which proves nothing.

It only serves as fodder for pseudo scientists...

..with nothing better to do than chase fairy tales.

Excuse me.

Lake creatures have been reported for centuries in many countries.

From the monsters in Loch Ness and Shiel, to the Ogopogo in Lake Okanagan.

And Lake Champlain, Lagarfljot, Iceland...

Sounds like you know about the subject. I did as a kid,...

..but then I grew up and became a scientist.

Some grown-up cryptozoologists think it's an evolutionary throwback, possibly prehistoric.

An aquatic dinosaur. A plesiosaur, actually.

Though, admittedly, there's not a lot of hard evidence to back that up.

You know why? Because those creatures don't exist.

They are folk tales born out of some collective fear of the unknown.

How many folk tales do you know that could eat a Boy Scout leader and a biologist?

Check this out, Scully.

It looks an insect casing or carapace. Something from a beetle.

How can I help you folks? We're looking for the Lakeview Cabins.

Oh, you passed the turn-off a few miles back.

It's pretty tough to find.

A map might help. Oh, they're $2.50 each, plus Uncle Sam.

Fine.

If you don't mind my sayin', don't look like you're here for the trout.

No. We're with the FBI. We're investigating two missing-persons reports.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's big news round here. Everybody's been talkin' about it.

What are they saying? Same thing they've been saying for years.

I'm not one for spreading rumours.

The truth is, I've heard the stories since I was a kid.

About Big Blue? What kind of stories? Well,...

..I was ten years old, fishin' with my daddy,...

..and I heard a big commotion clear across the lake.

A wailing sound, the likes of which I had never heard before - haven't heard since.

My daddy told me later it was a cow who'd escaped and was drinking by the lake...

..when Old Blue came up and snatched her right off the bank.

That's quite a story. Well, that's just one.

Those stories must sell a lot of T-shirts.

Well, a man's gotta survive.

Do you believe those stories?

Every man's gotta look at the evidence, decide for himself.

But if you wanna ask a real expert,...

..you should probably talk to Ansel here. He's out there practically every day.

It was his daddy's cow that got eaten.

Can you get these developed by tomorrow?

Give me another five rolls. Put 'em on my tab.

These folks are with the FBI, Ansel.

They're looking into that unsolved mystery of how those people disappeared.

Unsolved mystery?

Since when's it a mystery? So you think Big Blue's responsible?

Don't you?

Have you ever actually seen it?

Not directly, no.

But I aim to.

One day I'll be in the right place at the right time, and I will snap a sh*t of that monster.

There we go.

If you hit Striker's Cove, you've gone too far.

Call the sheriff! We got a floater!

It's Scott Moosley, the Boy Scout troop leader.

Well, his fly's undone. Are you insinuating something?

No. Most drowning victims have high levels of alcohol in them and their flies unzipped.

While urinating over the sides of boats, they lose their balance, fall in and drown.

It still doesn't explain why half of him is still missing.

Looks like something took a big bite. Maybe not so big.

What do you mean? Fish eat decomposing matter.

Any body suspended in this environment for a period of time will become a food source.

We eat fish and fish eat us.

Are fish also known for eating half and saving half for later?

Argh!

Oh, God, no! No! Argh! No!

Help me! Help me! Argh!

Like I said, I recognised his hat. How could you not?

There's Ted Bertram's four-by parked a mile up that way, here's his hat,...

..and here's these tracks.

Know what I'm sayin'?

I mean, look at the size of these tracks.

Mulder, this is Sheriff Lance Head.

Wait. Watch out... watch out for the tracks.

Careful. Watch out where you're walking.

Queequeg.

Pleasure. Ansel, why don't you go check the woods?

Today's the day, Sheriff.

I'm gonna get him. Yeah.

Any sign of Ted Bertram? No.

I'm not jumping to conclusions. Speakin' of which, I hear you want to close the lake.

Just until we figure out what's going on.

Well, I can tell you what's goin' on. Same thing that goes on every year.

Fishermen get drunk, they drown. Folks get run over by a powerboat.

Hell, on a lake this size you'll have eight, nine deaths a season. It's a statistical fact.

But you got two or three in as many weeks.

I'd say you're outside your bell curve, Sheriff.

Agent... Mulder? Mulder?

This lake has 48 miles of shoreline.

I got four deputies full time.

Now, to close down a lake this size,...

..hell, you'd have to call out the National Guard for that to happen.

You'd need irrefutable proof. And these tracks?

A creature as large as the one you're looking for would have left much deeper impressions.

Queequeg!

Queequeg, come back here! Queequeg!

Mulder! Sheriff, come take a look at this. What you got?

There's your lake monster, Mulder. That's what it looks like.

It's all a hoax. I'll be damned! Sure seems like it.

Yeah, but what happened to the hoaxer?

I saw it on the Discovery Channel.

They got, like, this whole, you know, cult built up around these tree toads.

The skin's got these hallucinogenic properties - let's you see all these visions.

It's really spiritual.

Yeah?

I don't know.

It's supposed to take the doors of perception and swing them so wide open, you know.

Plus you get to see all these really cool streaks and trails and crap.

Well?

Are you sure that's even a toad? Argh!

Dude, what's wrong with you?! You made me drop my toad!

Chill out, man. I'll get you another one.

How long till we get down to Lauderdale?

Dude!

Oh... No!

Dude?

Oh...

How about you?

Neither of you can remember anything?

Great If this is a hoax, it's an elaborate one.

I got zip out of them - no tellin' what they've been smokin'! What's it look like?

It's hard to tell without an autopsy, but it looks like propeller damage from a boat.

Well, this is a designated boating area. 20 feet from shore and twice in one day?

Mulder, look at it out there. It's like rush hour.

I think you're ignoring the obvious.

What about Ted Bertram?

He might've stepped in something and bled into those funny shoes.

He's probably so embarrassed he doesn't want to show his face.

Is that the psychological approach to crime solving?

Regardless of what I believe, there's no hard evidence that it's what you believe.

I see your true colours Shining through I see your true colours And that's why I love you So don't be afraid To show your true Blue Colours OK, Big Blue, you're mine.

Today's the day!

..colours And that's why I love you

Crap! Jesus!

Argh!

This has been exposed. Can you develop it?

Yes, sir.

Three in one day.

Driving from crime scene to crime scene is giving me highway hypnosis.

Close down the lake. I done told you once. It ain't that simple.

I just ain't got the manpower.

Furthermore,...

..I'm not at all convinced we're dealing with an aquatic menace.

He's right. Those two sets of remains we've found so far are inconclusive.

We really need to find this body.

My thoughts exactly, ma'am.

If you'll give us a couple more minutes...

Argh! Sheriff!

Shenfi!

You all right, Sheriff?

Are you OK, Sheriff?

Something...

Something brushed up against me out there. Something big...

Close the lake! Right, Sheriff.

Call the State Police and the Wildlife, Fish and Game.

You tell 'em we got an emergency situation!

Looks like Ansel took 'em during the att*ck.

I agree.

I just wish that he gave us something more.

Whoa... Look at this.

Could this be a tooth?

Yeah. It could be a lot of things, Mulder.

15 years of fruitless hunting, and all the guy comes up with is a blurry picture of a tooth?

There are thousands of pictures here, Scully.

There's gotta be some visual evidence somewhere. Here, go through these.

Mulder, these are just a bunch of poorly composed tourist sh*ts.

That could be something.

A tooth?

I'm taking Queequeg for a walk.

Want me to come with you? I'll be fine.

Good night, Mulder. All right. I'll see you in the morning.

Come on, Queequeg.

Queequeg, we're not gonna go into the woods.

Come on, do your business. I thought you had to go.

Queequeg!

What is it?

Queequeg! Where are you going?

Queequeg!

Queequeg, come back here!

Queequeg!

Queequeg!

Queequeg!

Quee...?

Queeq...

Quee...

I'm sorry about Queequeg.

I've learned something from these photos. Mulder...

They're not pictures of the monster, but of the lake - locations where the creature's been sighted over the past several years. Look.

Five years ago all the sightings occurred in the center of the lake.

But the sightings have moved closer to shore,...

..until this year they're practically on the shore.

Could you repeat the last part again? I faded out.

Which... which part?

After you said "I'm sorry."

Can you drive a boat?

It's too bad we're not out here fishing. We are fishing.

You really expect to find this thing. You wanna head right... here.

I'll take that as a yes.

I know the difference between expectation and hope.

"Seek and ye shall find," Scully.

On old mariners' maps, the cartographers would designate uncharted territories...

..by writing "Here be monsters."

I have a map of New York City just like that.

What was that? It ain't no bass.

What is that?

What is that, Mulder?

There be monsters, Scully. It looks like it's coming straight at us.

Yup. That's what it looks like.

Mayday! Mayday! Can anybody read me?

This is a distress call from the Patricia Rae!

PA7A3A27!

I'm on...

Mayday! Mayday! Scully, let's get outta here!

There goes our $500 deposit.

I say we swim to shore.

Swim? Yeah. The shore can't be too far from here.

In which direction?

Yeah. You know, living in the city, you forget that night is actually so, uh, dark.

Living in a city, you forget a lot of things.

There you're always thinking about being mugged or hit by a car.

It's not until you get back to nature until you realise everything is out to get you.

That's why Father always taught me to... respect nature - cos it has no respect for you.

That was him, Scully.

That was Big Blue.

So what if it was?

Mulder, what are we doing here?

What do you mean "What are we doing here?"

What are you hoping to accomplish?

So many of the things we investigate are intangible,...

..but this creature exists within the specific earthly confines of this lake.

And I wanna find it. What for?

You're a scientist. Why do you ask that?

It would be miraculous.

It could revolutionise evolutionary biological thinking.

Is that really the reason why?

You know when you showed me those pictures that the photographer took?

Wanna know what I really saw in them?

A tooth? No. You.

That man is your future.

Listening only to himself, hoping to glimpse the truth for who knows what reason.

I read in his journals that he hoped to live off the copyright fees from a Big Blue photo.

As dumb as it sounds, at least it's a legitimate reason.

You don't think my reasons are legitimate?

Mulder, sometimes I just can't figure them out.

Mulder!

I'm still tempted to fire.

Hey, Scully, d'you think you could ever cannibalise someone?

I mean, if you really had to?

Well, as much as the idea's abhorrent to me,...

..I suppose under certain conditions the living entity is practically conditioned...

..to perform whatever extreme measures are necessary to ensure its survival.

I suppose I'm no different.

You've lost some weight recently.

Yeah, actually, I have. Thanks for...

But it is amazing what some animals will do to guarantee the continuation of the species.

A creature of this size must have adapted its behaviour...

..to minimise its chances of being seen by its only predator - us.

This coming closer to shore for its prey must be an act of desperation on its part.

Poor Queequeg.

Why did you name the dog Queequeg?

It was the name of the harpoonist in Moby d*ck.

My father used to read to me from Moby d*ck when I was a little girl.

I called him Ahab and he called me Starbuck.

So I named my dog Queequeg.

That's funny. I just realised something.

That's a bizarre name for a dog, huh? No.

How much you're like Ahab.

You're so consumed by your personal vengeance against life,...

..that everything takes on a warped significance...

..to fit your megalomaniacal cosmology.

Are you coming on to me?

It's just... the truth or a white whale - what difference does it make?

Both obsessions are impossible to capture,...

..and trying to do so will only leave you dead, along with everyone else you bring with you.

You know, Mulder, you are Ahab.

It's interesting you should say that - I always wanted a peg leg.

It's a boyhood thing I never grew out of.

I'm not being flippant. I've given it a lot of thought.

If you have a peg leg or hooks for hands, maybe it's enough to simply carry on living,...

..bravely facing life with a disability. It's heroic just to survive.

But without these things, you're expected to make something of your life - earn a raise, wear a necktie.

So, if anything, I'm actually the antithesis of Ahab...

..because if I did have a peg leg, I'd quite possibly be more happy...

..and not feel the need to chase after creatures of the unknown.

And that's not flippant? No.

Flippant is my favourite line from Moby d*ck.

"Hell is an idea first born on an undigested apple dumpling." Yeah?

What was that? I don't know, but it ain't no duck.

I thought I heard voices. What are you two doing out here?

Dr Faraday? Hope I'm not interrupting anything.

No. No! We had a little trouble with our boat.

Actually, it sank.

How'd that happen? It was my fault.

We'd have been here all night if you hadn't answered our distress call.

I didn't. I was walking by. I heard you talking.

Walking by? Yeah.

Yeah, the shore is just a stone's throw from here.

Come on. I'll take you back.

It was just out of fuel.

The sheriff'll be along in a minute. I'd drive you myself, but I got work to do.

What exactly is it that you're doing out here? It's well after midnight.

Night is Rana sphenocephala's most active period. This is its primary breeding ground.

Or at least it used to be. Thousands of eggs used to cling to these reeds.

Beautiful jelly clusters.

Now one must turn over many a leaf in order to find potential offspring.

What's in the sack? Adult frogs.

I've been breeding them in captivity and releasing them into the wild.

This is Striker's Cove? Mm-hm.

The frogs. I beg your pardon.

The unexplained depletion of frogs originates from this cove.

It's the food chain.

What about it? If you alter one life form in an ecosystem,...

..the rest is necessarily affected, either by an increase or decrease.

So if an aquatic dinosaur primarily ate frogs,...

..then if those frogs became scarce, it'd have to turn to an alternative food source.

Humans. Agent Mulder,...

..you are taking my legitimate research and basic biological principle...

..and stretching them out of proportion, in an effort to give validity to a ludicrous theory.

There is no prehistoric lake monster.

This creature lives here. That explains the frogs' disappearance - for which you have no explanation, ludicrous or not - and the human att*cks.

That's crazy! If something was in these waters, you don't think I would've seen it?

I've worked here for three years!

I'm talking about an animal that's gone unnoticed for centuries.

If it knows anything, it knows how to hide.

They say the Loch Ness Monster doesn't even live in the water, but in cliffs.

Maybe Big Blue has an inland habitat, somewhere in the rocks or in this forest here.

I have no time for these absurdities.

If you'll excuse me, I have some amphibians to release.

Well, captain, what now?

Agent Scully! Agent Mulder!

There's been another death.

And this time it does appear to be an animal att*ck. Bit a fisherman's arm off.

Where? Other side of the lake, couple of hours ago.

I have the cooperation of the State Police,...

..plus the full use of all the Wildlife, Fish and Game vessels. A search is underway.

No. We need those men searching this cove and these woods.

But I got 30 boats on the water. If we're gonna k*ll this...

We gotta sweep this cove. It's here at Striker's Cove.

The boats are searching the area of the latest att*ck. I'm not gonna move 'em.

If you wanna waste your time searching these woods, go ahead.

I got me a lake monster to catch.

Sheriff, this is Dispatch.

Sheriff,...

..Agent Mulder and I would appreciate it if you could spare two men to assist us here.

All right. I'll send 'em on back.

Thanks.

What was that?

Dr Faraday.

Argh!

What happened? I think something grabbed my leg. Agh!

Did you see it? No.

It came from behind me. Before I knew it, it was shaking me back and forth. Then it let go.

Give me your belt.

I didn't wanna believe you.

Oh! You nicked an artery. We gotta get him to a hospital. He's losing blood.

Where did it go? I didn't see it. Agh!

I think I heard... It went through those reeds there.

Mulder, help is coming. You take care of him, Scully.

Mulder!

Alligator...

Millikan County, unit three...

All right then. Go ahead.

How's Dr Faraday?

He'll be fine.

How are you? I'm fine.

Well, you slew the big white whale, Ahab.

Yeah, but I still don't have that peg leg. How can you be disappointed?

That alligator would've gone through the local population.

I know.

I guess I just wanted Big Blue to be real.

I guess I see hope in such a possibility.

Well, there's still hope. That's why these myths and stories have endured.

People wanna believe.

I made this!