121 TOOMS

"I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."
Hannibal Lecter
Silence of the Lambs

"Mmm. Liver on a stick."
Crow
"Jack Frost"
MST3K

SYNOPSIS

BALTIMORE, MD
Victor Eugene Tooms, Squeeze, is released from the Druid Hills Sanitarium. He needs another liver before going back into his 30 year hibernation.

SCULLYVISION

We meet Assistant Director Skinner for the first time in this episode. AD Skinner seems tough, mean and very close to downright nasty to Agent Scully but she doesn't back down from him. When he mentions that her mind may have been too open, to not explain their case load, she confidently informs her superior that they've closed 75% of their cases, above the bureau standard. This is her work that she's invested in. The other 25%? How can one definitively report on a case such as Ruby's disappearance/reappearance in "Conduit", that there was in fact a ghost protecting his 'daughter' in "Shadows", or explain Phoebe's behavior and Mulder's attraction to her in "Fire"? She's forward with her boss, but must be nervous enough not to ask who the mysterious smoker in the office during the meeting was, who obviously had power over Skinner.

Agent Scully has come to know her partner quite well. When Mulder is in the courtroom sounding like a kook, she isn't shocked as the others in the room are. She is simply worried about how he may have been interpreted, wishing that he could be less straight-forward about his 'out there' theories. Afterward she goes to confront him and he tries to deflect it with humor. "Do you think they would have taken me more seriously if I'd worn the grey suit?" Scully doesn't find this very amusing. She was just called into the boss' office for a dress down on procedures, procedures that they'd used while investigating as there weren't any normal protocol to follow. She's seen things during her time with the X Files, but it's in her nature to follow the book, to do things according to what was expected of her. She's a torn woman in this episode, wanting to toe the line and not make waves, and also wanting to investigate the Tooms case right there with Mulder who is decidedly not by the book.

She tries to explain her dilemma to Mulder, but he can only think of himself and could have very well have been talking to a brick wall at the hearing because they had just let Tooms free. When he turns on her about she that's already been reeled in by Skinner, she knows to just let Mulder cool off and try again later. He may be the Behavioral Scientist, but Scully's got Mulder's behaviors down cold. Imagine what Scully must have been going through at that moment in the hallway after the hearing. It was her that was last attacked by Tooms, putting him into the sanitarium in the first place, standing with her partner that doesn't edit his disappointment at the decision of the release board thereby verbally attacking her, just as Eugene Victor Tooms is lead down the hallway, to freedom, and has a shit eating grin on his face? The little sick-to-the-stomach turn of Scully's head at that moment is almost to be missed, but speaks volumes.

Even though Mulder was snippy at her and took it upon himself to delegate her workload on the case, she follows up on the crimes of 30 years ago, deftly, based on her inspiration about the dental work.

Mulder at the time, is wonderfully following Tooms, generally making himself the bane of Tooms' existence. Every time Tooms is on the hunt, mouth ready for feasting on liver, fingers itching to stretch and tear, Mulder appears, taunting him as Tooms makes his getaway.

Again, Scully's indecision of investigative methods, by the book or anyway that will reveal a truth, is brought up by the coroner. He did a test that was "premature if we're going by the book", and Scully told him, "We'll keep it off the record." Surprisingly, when Scully brought Mulder the evidence of the skull-victim imaging to Mulder, it was him that said, "It's not enough."

Even though one or the other may have a bad day, as Mulder had been having since Tooms was released, in that wonderful scene in the car Scully calls Mulder "Fox", which he quickly discounts. His light humor in the situation doesn't dissuade her from telling him with great sincerity that she trusts only him. Their bond is now more cemented than Tooms' former victim. Wonder what would have happened if she had indeed brought ice tea instead of root beer.

OH COME ON!

Why was it that Mulder was testifying at the hearing about Tooms' history and attack on Agent Scully, and not Agent Scully?

Retired Det. Frank Briggs can still keep police evidence, clearly labeled "EVIDENCE", such as a liver!, in his retirement home room? Come on.

If Frank knew where the other body was, why didn't he mention it 30 years ago?

THINGS LEARNED
or All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned From the X Files

Ground Penetrating Radar can signal if anything inordinate is present in concrete, probably underground... under the sofa? That would be handy to have when I'm frantically looking for my keys or my other shoe.

Differentiate is an educated guess.

Old retired detectives are more reliable to find anomalies under concrete than a Ground Penetrating Radar machine.

Don't wear a bright blue trench coat. Not only because it's ugly, but because a mutant may fixate on your liver.

TOILETVISION

The most suspenseful toilet scene in the history of TV. When that rooting snake or whatever you call it began to be pulled down into the toilet it reminded me of Jaws when the fishing lines were being toyed with by the shark. Great scene, quite chilling.

SFX

Once again, they did well with Tooms' abilities, and the scene under the elevator was top notch.

RECURRING CHARACTERS

Eugene Victor Tooms, Cigarette Smoking Man, Frank Briggs

WRITER
Glen Morgan/James Wong

Even though they may not have realized what they were doing, or maybe they did, they're both good writers, they added more dimension to the partnership of Mulder and Scully. How Gillian Anderson played the first part of the episode and the lines she had to work with spoke volumes about how she sees her place in the X Files and how she knows more about Mulder and how to deal with him. Morgan/Wong also gave her a lot to do, not reducing her to the victim. For that, they deserve oodles of kudos. They always write episodes with strong plots, character motivations, interaction and reflection, along with great lines.

DIRECTOR
David Nutter

From Tooms' sweaty stretching to reach the door knob while in his cell in the teaser to the finish crawl-chase scene under the escalator at the end, this episode was handled by one of the best directors on the show. Mr. Nutter is one who had been at the helm of three Scully episodes of the past: Ice, Beyond the Sea and Lazarus, the first two having been written by Morgan/Wong.

James Wong, the co-writer of this episode, directed Squeeze, which was the first appearance by Eugene in the X Files, and Nutter keeps the wonderfully creepy visual of slo-mo when Tooms is on the hunt.

RUNNING TALLIES
Flashlights
Guns
Slide Projector
Mulder Breaks a Law - unorthodox surveillance of Tooms
Scully and/or Mulder types out a report

SCORE CARD FOR SAVING EACH OTHER'S ASS
Scully 4 Mulder 4
She pulled him out from under the escalator

Side Note: The Cigarette Smoking Man utters his first words on the show, "Of course I do" when asked by Skinner of he believed their report.

First talk of the X Files on the brink of being shut down.

POINT/COUNTERPOINT

Scully: Now that the case is over, Mulder, let's talk about attitude. I am your partner and your friend and I am on your side with the bureau, remember, this is my career, too. I know you were upset and astounded that they let Tooms out, I was too. I was the one that he attacked! But I still stayed civil. I don't want to ever hear you second guessing my allegiance to the X Files or you again. Okay?

Mulder: He did attack you Scully, and he attacked many others who weren't as fortunate as you to survive. I say there's no time to be civil. When our system is letting a serial killer out on to the streets, there is only one attitude to have, a bad one.

ATHENAEUM

The Curator sat behind the huge Athenaeum counter waiting for his guest. He was taking a great risk with this invitation, but he was convinced that it was worth it. Due to the danger involved, the Curator had given a great deal of attention to how he would appear. Appearance was important to the Curator. Important and endlessly amusing. He hadn't had this much fun in years. His visitor, who was now very late, was somewhat dim-witted but the Curator was taking no chances. He knew he looked totally unrecognizable, nearly inhuman in fact. Nice touch, he mused.

He carefully gathered the information that he wanted to present to the visitor. The subject was Criminal Profiling. He was prepared to show the visitor how profiling was as old as crime itself. It began to gain great respect among investigators world wide when Dr. Thomas Bond, a police surgeon, was called in to look at the Whitecastle deaths in London in an attempt to identify the killer. The killer, known as Jack the Ripper, however was never identified.

He heard the sliding of rattling wood against the floor, making the noise echo throughout the vast Athenaeum. The Curator looked over to his partner, The Other Curator, to see only her knees. She was wearing high, too big for her feet, galoshes and a pair of running shorts, and was standing atop that old, rickety library ladder that hadn't gotten use since the Buchanan administration. The Curator asked, "What do you think you're doing?"

The Curator didn't answer right away, thinking he could figure it out by the way she grasped the feather duster and by how her arm was waving back and forth.

The Curator looked at his wife and tried to make a mental tally of just how long they had been married. He couldn't remember. It was an arranged marriage, he grimaced, and at times he had no inkling about what made her tick. "That shelf is at least 20 feet high. Why bother?"

She spouted, "Because we're to have company, you lazy bum!"

He let her do what she needed to do. At least it kept her quiet. Getting back to the information he had collected on the desk, he saw that the next major case of profiling came when the Office of Strategic Services (now the CIA) asked a psychiatrist, Walter Langer, to provide a profile of Adolf Hitler. Sure everyone knew who Hitler was but they wanted to "get inside of his head" and predict what he would do next.

Perhaps the first clear example of a modern day profiler was James Brussels, a New York psychiatrist, who profiled "The Mad Bomber of New York". Brussels profiled him so precisely that he predicted "when you find him, chances are he will be wearing a double breasted suit. Buttoned." His profile was exactly right.

Dr. Brussels was called on again to develop a profile of the killer known as the Boston Strangler. When Albert DeSalvo was arrested he "fit" the profile developed by Brussels. DeSalvo was charged with other crimes and was later murdered in prison. His identity as the Boston Strangler remains somewhat in question to this day and no one has ever been charged with those murders.

Throughout the years many law enforcement and mental health workers have developed the inexact 'science' of criminal profiling. The agency that has put forth the greatest efforts to codify this science has been the Behavioral Sciences Unit (BSU) at the FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia. Agents John Douglas, Robert Ressler and Roy Hazelwood amongst others were instrumental in developing precise ways to investigate crime scenes and categorize criminals.

And last, but not least, there is Agent Mulder, reportedly the most brilliant young agent ever to walk the halls at Quantico. The golden boy. The Curator was prepared to drive this point home to his visitor. "So you see, Eugene," he was prepared to say, "Mulder is relentless and will soon be on to the fact that your little escalator trick was not your demise at all. And he will be after you. And he will catch you again." The only trouble was... the visitor was a no show.

Eugene sat on the floor seriously intent on his project. He was distracted only by the sound of scratching coming from his door. He got up and walked over to it. Parchment paper fluttered through the opening and down to the ground, taking rest at his feet. He picked it up. Unaware of the Curator's invitation written on it, Eugene licked the parchment. It was scratchy to his tongue. He had to lick it quite a few times before it was the right consistency. He then added it carefully to his new nest.

QUOTES

SKINNER Agent Scully, we have reviewed your reports and frankly we are quite displeased. Irregular procedure, untenable evidence, anonymous witnesses, inconclusive findings aggravated by vague opinion.
SCULLY But sir, the very nature of the X-Files cases often precludes orthodox investigation.

SCULLY On X-Files cases investigated by Agent Mulder and myself to date, we have a conviction or case solution of seventy-five percent. That's well above the current bureau standard.
SKINNER And that is your only saving grace.
SCULLY May I ask, sir, what more you require?

SCULLY Conventional investigation of these cases may decrease the rate of success.

MULDER I contend that perhaps through genetic mutation, Eugene Tooms is capable of contorting and elongating his body in order to gain access to victims so that he may extract the livers which provide him with sustenance for the hibernation period of 30 years. He needs one more liver to complete this cycle.

MULDER If you release Eugene Tooms, he will kill again. It's in his genetic make-up.

MULDER You think they would have taken me more seriously if I wore the grey suit?

SCULLY Mulder, that's going to entail unorthodox methods of investigation.
MULDER Look, Scully, if you're resistant because you don't believe, I'll respect that. But if you're resistant because of some bureaucratic pressure, they've not only reeled you in. They've already skinned you.

ARLAN GREEN I hope you'll be comfortable, Eugene. The room in the back is small, but I'm sure you'll be able to squeeze in.
EUGENE TOOMS I'm sure.

MULDER Could you help me find my dog? He's a Norwegian Elkhound. His name is Heinrich. I use him to hunt moose.

MULDER I suspect an intruder in your house.

SCULLY My instinct says that burial in cement is murder.

SCULLY Mulder, it's getting a bit ripe in here, don't you think?

MULDER They're out to put an end to the X-Files, Scully. I don't know why, but any excuse will do. Now, I don't really care about my record, but you'd be in trouble just for sitting in this car and I'd hate to see you to carry an official reprimand in your file because of me.
SCULLY Fox...
MULDER I even made my parents call me Mulder. So... Mulder.
SCULLY Mulder, I wouldn't put myself on the line for anybody but you.
MULDER If there's an ice tea in that bag, could be love.
SCULLY Must be fate, Mulder.... Root beer. You're delirious. Go home and get some sleep.

MULDER Oh, and 11:30, station 790, Pete Rose Late Night Sports Talk Radio Show.

MULDER A good forensic scientist would know that there is not only a shoe print but also an impact point from inside the shoe. An in-depth analysis of Tooms' injury would show that my foot was not inside the shoe at the time of impact.

SKINNER Agent Scully, you wouldn't be lying in me, would you?

SKINNER Fox, you are one of the finest, most unique agents in the nearly sixty-year history of this institution. I mean, we were talking about you when you were in the academy. Now, most of us, including the director, feel that your talents are wasted on the X-Files but we respect that you're deeply invested in those areas. But if these areas are creating such stress as to not only cause you to act inappropriately but those agents close to you as well then may I advise you to step away... for a while. Clear your head, take an extended vacation.

SKINNER You're forbidden to go near Eugene Tooms.
Mulder gets up and goes to the door.
SKINNER Mulder...This was close. Any closer and a thousand friends at the capitol won't be able to help you.

EUGENE TOOMS I like art.

MULDER That makes five.

MULDER He's building his nest. Thirty year hibernation.

MULDER You can get the next mutant.

SKINNER Do you believe them?
CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN Of course, I do.