THE X-FILES: "S.R. 819" (6X10)
Airdate: 01/17/99
Written by: John Shiban
Directed by: Dan SackheimDramatis Personae:
Mitch Pileggi as Assistant Director Walter Skinner
Nick Lea as Alex Krycek
Raymond J. Barry as Senator Richard Matheson
Kenneth Tigar as Dr. Plant
Jenny Gago as Dr. Katrina Cabrera
John Towey as Dr. Kenneth Orgel
Arlene Pileggi as Skinner's Assistant
Donna Marie Moore as ICU Nurse
Greta Fadness as OR Nurse
Dan Klass as Forensic Tech
Susana Mercedes as Driver
Tim Van Pelt as Young Surgeon
Keith Coulouris as Intern
Al Faris as Silk Shirt Man
Jonathan Fraser as Uniformed Cop
Julie Hubert as Exam Room Nurse
Mickey Knox as Trainer
ST. KATHERINE'S HOSPITAL
9:29 PM
Man: Dr. Cabrera.
Dr. Cabrera: Where is he?
Man: He's down in Trauma.
Dr. Cabrera: Who transferred him from ICU?
Man: I did. He was scheduled for...therapeutic plasmapheresis. They were prepping him. He went into shock.
Dr. Cabrera: What are his vitals?
Man: Not good. Pulse is 40. Blood pressure 80/50. His GCS is 6.
Dr. Cabrera: OK. Get on the phone to the FBI. There's an agent Scully that should be notified.
Man: FBI?
Dr. Cabrera: This man is an FBI agent.
Man: What's wrong with him?
Dr. Cabrera: What's wrong with him is, he's going to die. Can you hear me? Mr. Skinner? I'm not understanding. Can you speak up?
Man: What'd he say?
Dr. Cabrera: A name.
Man: He's coding on us. Clear. Dr. Cabrera, clear. Dr. Cabrera!
Dr. Cabrera: Let him go.
[opening credits]
Skinner [voiceover]: Every minute of every day, we choose. Who we are. Who we forgive. Who we defend and protect. To choose a side, or to walk the line. To play the middle. To straddle the fence between what is, and what should be. This was the course I chose. Trying to find the delicate balance of interests that can never exist. Choosing by not choosing. Defending a center which cannot hold. So death chose for me.
SOUTH STREET GYM
24 HOURS EARLIER
Trainer: Go easy on him, slugger. I need him to lock up for me tonight, OK? Don't telegraph that left, Dre. Stevie Wonder would see that one coming. You're fighting the FBI now, Dre. Fight smart. Go! Hey, slugger. You OK? Slugger, can you hear me? Talk to me. Are you all right? Slugger.
Nurse: Mr. Skinner. Mr. Skinner. Hi. You going to stick with us now? Do you remember what happened?
Skinner: I was boxing. I must've gotten tagged.
Nurse: Yes, you did. At least you didn't get your ear bit off. That's something, right? Dr. Plant will be with you in a minute.
Skinner: Yeah. Skinner. Hello.
Voice: Walter...Skinner.
Skinner: Who is this?
Voice: Have...you heard...the news? It's...in...you.
Skinner: What is this?
Voice: You...have...24 hours...to go.
Skinner: What is this? What do you want?
Voice: You...are...already dead.
Dr. Plant: Mr. Skinner. Didn't expect to see you up and around. You must be feeling better. Can you take a seat on that table for me, please? I'm Dr. Plant. I was here with you before. You probably don't remember.
Skinner: No.
Dr. Plant: Well, the good news is...your dilation is back to normal. Plus, you still have both your ears.
Skinner: I heard that one.
Dr. Plant: I'm going to release you. But I suggest that you rethink the boxing. You're not 20 anymore.
Skinner: There's nothing wrong with me?
Dr. Plant: Well, you got your bell rung. Other than that, I think you're fine. Might want to ice that bruise.
Skinner: What bruise?
Dr. Plant: Right here.
Skinner: How the hell did I get that?
Dr. Plant: Must've taken a hard one to the ribs. But there's nothing broken. No internal bleeding. Like I said...you'll live.
Skinner: At least.
FBI HEADQUARTERS
10:21 PM
Skinner: What is it, agent Mulder?
Mulder: I just, uh...I thought I'd poke my head in and say hey.
Skinner: Hey.
Mulder: What, are you sleeping one off?
Skinner: No, I was having trouble seeing. I just didn't think I should drive.
Scully: You going to be all right, sir?
[Scully walks in]
Mulder: He's going to tell you he's all right.
Skinner: That's because there's nothing wrong with me.
Scully: Not that I could tell if there was. Why are all the lights out?
Mulder: He's having trouble with his eyes. He's also got a nasty bruise on his ribcage.
Scully: What did you do?
Skinner: It's nothing.
Scully: Says who?
Skinner: Says the doctor who released me from the hospital.
Mulder: That was the second opinion. The first was unsolicited. A phone call at the hospital. A scrambled voice telling him he had 24 hours to live.
Skinner: That was somebody yanking my chain. Look, I got a clean bill of health.
Scully: In the last 48 hours, did you eat or drink anything that tasted metallic or otherwise odd?
Skinner: Oh, come on. Are you thinking that I'm poisoned?
Scully: Did the doctor take your blood?
Skinner: Yes. It checked out.
Scully: Well, if you were poisoned, it could have been overlooked.
Skinner: If it did, why call and tell me at the hospital?
Mulder: To scare you, see what you'd do. Who you'd turn to.
Skinner: Oh. This is about you.
Mulder: Or about the X-files.
Skinner: You are so paranoid, Mulder. You're not even on the X-files anymore.
Scully: I know, but you are. You still supervise them.
Mulder: What happened today? Anything out of the ordinary?
Skinner: I'm not going to play this game.
Scully: Look, it could've been anything. It could have been the slightest touch, or a handshake.
Mulder: This morning, you woke up...
Skinner: I woke up.
Mulder: Alone?
Skinner: Yes. Alone.
Mulder: And how'd you get to the office?
Skinner: The same way that I always do--I drove.
Scully: And then, what?
Skinner: Then, nothing. I had meetings, I just went to the gym, to the hospital, and now I'm here.
Mulder: Just slow down. One step at a time. How'd you get from the parking garage to your office?
Skinner: The elevator.
Mulder: And then, what?
Skinner: I walked up the hallway. I passed the same dozen people that I pass every morning. I went to my office. I said good morning to my secretary. She said good morning to me. I returned calls, I did paperwork I was here for the rest of the day.
Mulder: Now, think. There's gotta be something.
Skinner: In the hallway, there was a man. He stopped me. He wanted to know the time.
Mulder: Did he touch you?
Skinner: He grabbed me. On my right wrist.
Scully: It wouldn't necessarily leave a mark. Some poisons are absorbed through the skin.
Mulder: What time was it?
Mulder: There you are.
Skinner: That's him. Right there.
Scully: Wait a second. Back up. It can't be. That's Kenneth Orgel. An advisor to a Senate subcommittee on ethics and new technology.
Skinner: He's a scientist?
Scully: A physicist. Very well known, as far as physicists go.
Mulder: He signed in here as a visitor to the office of assistant director Walter Skinner.
Scully: Why would he be coming to see you?
Skinner: I'd like to ask him that myself.
Scully: Sir, if this man poisoned you, you should be off your feet and under a doctor's care.
Skinner: If this man poisoned me, I'm going to put a gun to his head, find out why, and ask him how he's going to make me well.
Scully: What hospital was he in?
Mulder: St. Katherine's.
CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND
11:32 PM
Orgel: Yes?
Skinner: Dr. Orgel? Kenneth Orgel?
Orgel: Yes.
Skinner: Do you know who I am?
Orgel: No.
Skinner: My name's Walter Skinner. I'm an assistant director at the FBI.
Mulder: Dr. Orgel, you visited the FBI this morning. You came to see Mr. Skinner.
Orgel: No...you must be mistaken. Sorry, you'll have to come back another time.
Mulder: Go around back.
Skinner: What?
Orgel: Please, you're bothering me.
Skinner: Federal agent! Go!
Mulder: Drop the gun. Drop it!
[commercial break]
Man: [speaking Arabic]
Mulder: Yeah, so's your mom.
Man: [speaking Arabic]
Mulder: Hey, give it a rest, huh?!
Skinner: Let him go, agent Mulder.
Mulder: What?
Skinner: He's got diplomatic papers. It's our mistake. You can go. Just let him go. Get in the house. The police are going to be here any moment. I don't have time to stand around and answer any questions. His name is Alexander Lazreg-- L-A-Z-R-E-G. He's the cultural attache with the Tunisian mission here in D.C. See what else you can find out about him.
Mulder: You need to get to a hospital.
Skinner: No. I'm trying to stay out of one.
1:06 AM
20 HOURS, 20 MINUTES REMAINING
Dr. Plant: The boxer--FBI.
Scully: Yes, you released him from your care earlier this evening.
Dr. Plant: Is he not all right?
Scully: Well, that's why I'm here. He may have been poisoned.
Dr. Plant: You're kidding. By who?
Scully: I don't know. In fact, I'm not even sure what I'm looking for.
Dr. Plant: Well, you're lucky. He's on a government HMO. No one's even bothered to handle his samples yet.
Scully: Is this them in here?
Dr. Plant: I'm not supposed to let you have those. Not without a written release from the patient.
Scully: We may not have time. He may not have time, either.
Dr. Plant: He had absolutely no symptoms of poisoning.
Scully: Are you sure these haven't been processed?
Dr. Plant: I'm not sure, but I doubt they've even been touched.
2:33 AM
Cop: I'm not so sure you should be doing that.
Mulder: This is a crime scene. What would you rather I be doing?
Cop: It's just that I'm concerned for Dr. Orgel's personal property, and the preservation of evidence.
Mulder: I'd be a lot more concerned with the preservation of Dr. Orgel. [to himself] Hello, senator...
Dr. Plant: It's carbon. Pure carbon. How in the world would that get into his bloodstream?
Scully: How is it working as a poison?
Dr. Plant: By all rights, it shouldn't be.
Scully: Look at them, just rattling around in the solution.
Dr. Plant: It's just bizarre. Did you see that?
Scully: Did you just touch something?
Dr. Plant: No, I didn't.
Scully: It just multiplied. Look! It just did it again.
Dr. Plant: Zooming in. What the hell are they?
4:01 AM
Man: Wait here, please.
Matheson: I don't have to tell you how late it is, do I, agent Mulder? But I suspect that wasn't even a consideration of yours.
Mulder: Actually, time is my only consideration, senator. This was taken only three days ago. It's of you and Dr. Kenneth Orgel, holding a senate resolution--S.R. 819, I think it's called. What is that?
Matheson: A funding bill. What is this all about?
Mulder: A friend of mine is going to die because of S.R. 819. I don't know how, I don't even know why, but I'm betting you do.
Matheson: What are you talking about?
Mulder: I don't even really know yet; all I have are a few pieces: a Tunisian diplomat, this Dr. Kenneth Orgel, this health bill, S.R. 819--all leading up to a plot to kill an assistant director of the FBI. Does that make sense?
Matheson: The bill you've referred to will provide money and supplies to the World Health Organization, medical technology to Third World countries. I have aided you in the past with information, Fox, and advice, which right now is to leave here at once and never again suggest to anyone my involvement in any such dark intrigue. Am I understood?
Mulder: This man may die. He may only have a few hours to live.
Matheson: My intention is to save lives, Fox, but I can't save his. Good night, Fox. Drive safely.
EMBASSY ROW GARAGE
5:10 AM
[Someone shoots at Skinner, Skinner goes after him, Krycek runs over the man. Skinner collapses.]
[commercial break]
6:14 AM
15 HOURS, 21 MINUTES REMAINING
Scully: Dr. Plant?
Dr. Plant: What? What is it?
Scully: I think I've found it. I think I found what the carbon's doing. It's, uh...it's not just reproducing itself. It has behavior. It's creating something, a matrix stimulated by blood flow in response to movement. It's multiplying and solidifying in an orderly fashion. It's building valves or-or dams in the vascular system.
Dr. Plant: It's building a heart attack.
Nurse: Dr. Plant? You're doing blood work on a Walter Skinner?
Dr. Plant: Yes.
Nurse: I just heard on the radio there's a Walter Skinner who's been picked up by paramedics at a parking garage, downtown.
Scully: Where are they taking him?
Nurse: D.C. General.
Man: Did you see this? We've got some sort of extreme vascular event here. How is he even still alive?
Dr. Cabrera: We'll take the left arm first. Mark it just above the bicep. Let's get to it. I'll get this side.
Man: Hey, you...out.
Scully: I know this man.
Man: I don't care. This is a sterile operating room.
Dr. Cabrera: Get these people out.
Scully: Look, I'm sorry. His name is Walter Skinner. We've been investigating his illness. What are you doing?
Dr. Cabrera: If he's to live, he's gonna have to lose his arms.
Scully: No, that won't save him. It's his blood.
Dr. Cabrera: Who the hell is this woman?
Dr. Plant: She's a doctor.
Scully: You're not going to solve anything until you get a scope into him. Nothing se is going to work. Look, if you want to save this man, listen to what I'm saying.
Scully: It's OK, sir. Lie back down. We're just moving you to another room.
Skinner: Who did this to me?
Scully: That's what Mulder's trying to figure out right now, but we're going to take good care of you. I promise. We're going to do everything we can.
Skinner: I don't know. I can't remember.
8:58 AM
Skinner's Secretary: Sir? Is that you? Agent Mulder!
Mulder: Do you have the key to this drawer?
Skinner's Secretary: What are you doing?
Mulder: A.D. Skinner's in the hospital. Somebody poisoned him.
Skinner's Secretary: Poisoned him? Why?
Mulder: For doing his job.
Skinner's Secretary: I don't understand.
Mulder: I'm looking for anything that relates to a senate resolution: S.R. 819. If you wanna save his life, you'll help me open this drawer.
Skinner's Secretary: I don't have the key.
Mulder: You have a letter opener? In your desk? Something?
Skinner's Secretary: Is he going to be all right?
Mulder: What's his condition?
Scully: He's stable, but it's not good, Mulder. He's got extreme vascular trauma and distension. His...his blood has become a weapon against his body.
Mulder: Well, can you fight it?
Scully: We don't know what it is. I mean, the best that we can do is keep lasering his arteries open. But it's only going to be a matter of time before we lose. I mean, it's--it's building walls in his vessels faster than we can tear them down, and...and we just don't have the technology to combat it.
Mulder: Maybe we do.
Scully: What is this?
Mulder: I found this in Skinner's morning mail. He was doing a security check on a senate bill for violation of trade laws involving sensitive technology.
Scully: Yeah, but this is just a routine procedure, Mulder. The FBI does dozens of these a year.
Mulder: No. This bill was going to vote in the Senate. All it was waiting on was Skinner's review and an analysis by Dr. Kenneth Orgel.
Scully: You're saying that Dr. Orgel poisoned Skinner in order to coverup his analysis?
Mulder: No. Orgel didn't poison anybody. Orgel came to the FBI to tell Skinner what he knew--that there was a gross violation of export laws involving new technology.
Scully: New technology.
Mulder: You know what that means?
Scully: Well, I think I might.
Mulder: That's not me.
Nurse: You want to get this? It was in his pants pocket.
Mulder: Thank you. Hello.
Voice: Might as well...give up.
Scully: Who is it?
Mulder: It's a computer synth voice.
Voice: You can't...stop it.
Mulder: Somebody that must know he's here.
Voice: Walter Skinner...your time...
[YOUR TIME IS ALMOST UP]
Mulder: Federal agent! Stop right there!
[Mulder chases Krycek, but loses him.]
Matheson: Yes.
Krycek: The bill is in danger, senator. A new threat has emerged.
Matheson: You shouldn't have called me.
Krycek: Blood will be on your hands.
Matheson: I don't buy your hollow threats.
Krycek: Well, Dr. Orgel does. You can ask him.
Matheson: What have you done with him?
Krycek: I can tell you where to find him.
FBI IMPOUND GARAGE
12:11 PM
Man: The car is leased, part of a fleet service that services the diplomatic counsel corps.
Mulder: What other forensic evidence were you able to lift?
Man: Not much on the outside. It's not surprising, considering the condition of the vehicle. Inside, we found a couple hairs--human--from an expensive wig.
Mulder: Don't hate me 'cause I'm beautiful. What else?
Man: Well, we scraped the tire treads, found something odd. It's full of polychlorinated biphenyls--PCBs. Over 500 parts per million. Now that's the kind of levels you used to see in the 1970s. Right before the EPA got fangs.
Mulder: From where?
Man: Well, the PCBs are saturated evenly in the clay, uh...demo site, maybe, or, uh, an old power plant.
2:04 PM
Matheson: Who's in here? Is someone there?
Orgel: Oh...Senator, please, let me go. I need...Water.
Matheson: Who did this to you?
Orgel: Hurry...Please. It's...killing me.
Matheson: They believe you've exposed them to the FBI--to Walter Skinner.
Orgel: No. I told the FBI nothing. I told them nothing. Please, I promise not to expose anyone.
[Krycek increases the nanite's activity, killing Orgel.]
[commercial break]
5:32 PM
3 HOURS, 56 MINUTES REMAINING
Scully: Sir, there's something I'd like to try. It's a treatment called thapeutic plasmapheresis. It requires filtering all of the blood in your body. It's a radical procedure, and there is a danger that your body might go into shock.
Skinner: I'm in your hands. I think I owe you an apology, Scully. You and Mulder.
Scully: Sir?
Skinner: I've been lying here thinking. Your quest...it should have been mine.
Scully: What do you mean?
Skinner: If I die now, I die in vain. I have nothing to show for myself. My life...
Scully: Sir, you know that's not true.
Skinner: It is. I can see now that...I always played it safe. I wouldn't take sides. Wouldn't let you and Mulder...pull me in.
Scully: You've been our ally more times than I can say.
Skinner: Not the kind of ally that I could have been. I remember now.
Sculy: What?
Skinner: I can't see his face, he has a beard.
Scully: Try.
Skinner: He was at the gym. At the hospital. He killed that man. He was at the FBI when Orgel approached me.
Scully: He was following you?
Skinner: The tape. He's on the surveillance tape.
5:56 PM
Matheson: You must be surprised to see me here. I'm sure I'm not the man you're looking for.
Mulder: Where is he? Where's Orgel?
Matheson: Orgel is dead.
Mulder: I don't believe you. You lied to me this morning; you're lying to me now.
Matheson: Drop this, Fox.
Mulder: Where is Orgel?! I need to know what he knows. A friend of mine is dying.
Matheson: I tell you, they killed him. What Orgel knows, died with him.
Mulder: Tell me what you know, senator. This is about S.R. 819 isn't it? What the hell did they put in Skinner?
Matheson: I'm sure you already have some idea, Fox. It's the same technology that S.R. 819 will export. Technology that the world believes is purely theoretical.
Mulder: Nanotechnology. Microscopic, atom-sized machines? Machines can be stopped.
Matheson: Your friend is already dead.
Mulder: I don't believe that.
Matheson: If you pursue this, Fox, they will kill you.
Mulder: Not before I expose you and your role in this.
Matheson: My role? I am a victim here. Don't you understand that? I'm fighting for my life.
Mulder: I will stop this!
Matheson: It's too late, Fox. It's too late!
Man: All right, he's coding on us. Clear. Dr. Cabrera, clear. Dr. Cabrera?
Dr. Cabrera: Let him go.
Man: Time of death, 9:33.
[Krycek reverses the nanites. Skinner comes back to life.]
THREE WEEKS LATER
Scully: Sir, I've spoken with your doctors and your prognosis is excellent. Whatever you are infected with, appears to be dormant, and your recovery is being hailed as miracle.
Mulder: The man who poisoned you was at the FBI that day. Scully was able to pull these off the security video tapes. Hopefully, it might jog your memory. Maybe you can identify this man.
Skinner: No, I'm sorry.
Mulder: S.R. 819 was withdrawn by committee late last night. Without explanation.
Skinner: Good. So this man failed, then?
Mulder: If that was his true motive. If he wanted to poison you to prevent you from investigating S.R. 819, why call you to tell you that? This man worked for the government that was to receive this technology. He drove one of their cars and he killed one of his own to save you.
Skinner: So you still think this is about you? About the X-files?
Mulder: Yes. Yes, I do. And I have an idea who may be behind all this. But I'd need your authority to continue the investigation.
Skinner: I have neither the authority nor the will to allow your continued inquiry into this matter. You'll perform your duties as directed by AD Kersh and only AD Kersh.
Scully: Sir?
Skinner: This matter's closed, agents. Am I clear?
Skinner: I've been expecting you to show up.
Krycek: You know I can push the button any time.
Skinner: What do you want from me? What's this about, Krycek?
Krycek: All in good time.
fin