Unusual Suspects
Encyclopedia
"Unusual Suspects" is the third episode of the fifth season
of the American science fiction television series The X-Files
. It was written by Vince Gilligan
and directed by Kim Manners
and aired in the United States on November 16, 1997 on the Fox
network. The show centers on FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder
(David Duchovny
) and Dana Scully
(Gillian Anderson
) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-File
s. "Unusual Suspects" functions as a flashback to 1989 and reveals the origins of the Lone Gunmen, associates of Agent Mulder. "Unusual Suspects" earned a Nielsen household rating of 13.0, being watched by 21.72 million people in its initial broadcast.
"Unusual Suspects" functions as a flashback to 1989 and reveals the origins of the Lone Gunmen, associates of Agent Mulder. In 1989, two salesmen and a federal employee join forces when they meet Susanne Modeski, a woman who claims that she is being pursued by her supposedly violent ex-boyfriend, an FBI agent named Fox Mulder. In addition, "Unusual Suspects" served as a cross-over with the NBC
series Homicide: Life on the Street
, featuring Richard Belzer
's Detective John Munch
character.
team conducts a raid on a Baltimore
warehouse. Inside, they find a naked and disoriented Fox Mulder
in a box, shouting, "They're here!" Three men attempt to flee the scene and are captured; they are revealed to be the Lone Gunmen. As they sit in a city jail, they begin blaming each other for the predicament they have found themselves in. Detective John Munch
interrogates Byers, who tries to explain what happened.
Byers, a public affairs
officer for the FCC
, had attended a computer and electronics convention
. There, Byers followed a beautiful woman who passed by his booth; he also passed by booths manned by Frohike and Langly, who were both selling stolen cable television
. When Byers bumped into her, she introduced herself as Holly and claimed that her daughter had been kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend, who was in the Baltimore area.
Holly possessed a piece of paper with "ARPANET
/WHTCORPS" written on it. Byers realized that the words refer to the Defense Department
's computer network, which she requested he hack into. Byers, then an unquestioningly loyal government employee, complied after great reluctance. He found an encrypted file on her daughter, named Susanne Modeski. Just then, a man whom Holly claimed to be her boyfriend passed by Byers' booth — Mulder.
Byers and Holly recruited Frohike to help them decipher the file. Both Byers and Frohike decided to assault Mulder, but didn't do it when he introduced himself as an FBI
agent. Returning to his booth, Byers found his FCC colleague being arrested for the hacking he committed. Frohike convinced Byers not to turn himself in, and recruited Langly to help them hack into the FBI database to learn more about Holly. They discovered that "Holly" is actually Susanne Modeski, and that she was wanted for acts of murder, sabotage
, and terrorism
at a weapons facility in New Mexico
.
Holly/Susanne admitted her deception, but claimed that she was scapegoat
ed for trying to leave her job at the weapons facility. There, she had been working on ergotamine, an aerosolized gas that causes paranoia and anxiety. Susanne claims that the government planned to test the gas on civilians in Baltimore. After deciphering the file, the Lone Gunmen found that she was telling the truth, learning the location of the gas. Susanne also found evidence that she had a tracking device put in a tooth, which she pulled out.
The four of them headed to the warehouse, where they found the gas stored inside asthma inhalers. Suddenly, Mulder arrived to arrest them, but two dark-suited men came to take Susanne. They fire at Mulder, hitting the boxes behind him and exposing him to the gas. The exposure causes Mulder to strip naked, hide in the box, and hallucinate about seeing aliens in the warehouse. Susanne shot the men and escaped. More men then arrived, led by X, who intimidates the Lone Gunmen. Byers confronted X, asking him about his actions and mentioning the supposed cover-up
of the John F. Kennedy assassination
. X's unconvincing denial - "I heard it was a lone gunman" - becomes the origin of the trio's name. X then leaves, just as the police arrive and arrest the Lone Gunmen.
Detective Munch doesn't believe Byers' story, but it is soon corroborated by Mulder. The Lone Gunmen are released. They encounter Susanne once more, who has failed to get the press to believe her story; she tells them to reveal the truth to as many people as possible. Susanne is then captured by X, who leers at the Lone Gunmen as he departs with her. Later, the three of them meet Mulder in the convention center and explain what happened to him.
arose when the show's producers were forced to start production of the fifth season
in the last week of August in Vancouver, but still needed series stars David Duchovny
and Gillian Anderson
for the filming of The X-Files
movie in Los Angeles. The producers decided to create an episode dedicated to The Lone Gunmen, and writing duties were assigned to Vince Gilligan
. Gilligan initially drafted a story involving nanotechnology, which was rejected by series creator Chris Carter
. Carter came up with the idea for the episode to be how The Lone Gunmen met. Gilligan then developed the script, which took place in the city of Baltimore. The scenes with Duchovny were shot a few weeks after the rest of the episode.
Gilligan also came up with the idea to have a crossover with the show Homicide: Life on the Street
, which also takes place in Baltimore. Despite some hesitancy from FOX's lawyers, the show got in contact with NBC
executive producer
Tom Fontana
and were able to use Richard Belzer
's Detective John Munch
character. Despite the presence of Munch, the crossover is inconsistent; the set in which Munch interrogates the characters is clearly not the famed "Box" interrogation room from Homicide.
The episode featured cameos from staff members of the show, including Ken Hawyrliw, who worked on props for the show, and Eric Knight, who was Duchovny's personal assistant. Susanne's alias, 'Holly' was a reference to Gilligan's girlfriend.
said of the episode, "What we read in the script wasn't really our origins as we'd imagined it. I'd thought we were all in a university garage band together or something. Bruce thought he was a photocopier repair man."
The X-Files (season 5)
-Episodes:Episodes marked with an asterisk are part of the series' mytharc. Episodes with a double asterisk are part of the series' Alien Mythology....
of the American science fiction television series The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
. It was written by Vince Gilligan
Vince Gilligan
Vince Gilligan is an American writer, director and producer. He is the creator of the highly acclaimed television series Breaking Bad. Gilligan has also worked on the hit series The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen. He is a graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University...
and directed by Kim Manners
Kim Manners
Kim Manners was an American television producer, director and child actor best known for his work on The X-Files and Supernatural.-Early life:...
and aired in the United States on November 16, 1997 on the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
network. The show centers on FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
(David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
) and Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
(Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-File
X-file
On the television series The X-Files, an X-File is a fictional case that has been deemed unsolvable by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The files constitute an unassigned project outside the Bureau mainstream that is more or less concerned with unexplained phenomena. -First X-Files:The very...
s. "Unusual Suspects" functions as a flashback to 1989 and reveals the origins of the Lone Gunmen, associates of Agent Mulder. "Unusual Suspects" earned a Nielsen household rating of 13.0, being watched by 21.72 million people in its initial broadcast.
"Unusual Suspects" functions as a flashback to 1989 and reveals the origins of the Lone Gunmen, associates of Agent Mulder. In 1989, two salesmen and a federal employee join forces when they meet Susanne Modeski, a woman who claims that she is being pursued by her supposedly violent ex-boyfriend, an FBI agent named Fox Mulder. In addition, "Unusual Suspects" served as a cross-over with the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
, featuring Richard Belzer
Richard Belzer
Richard Jay Belzer is an American stand-up comedian, author, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as John Munch, which he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as in guest...
's Detective John Munch
John Munch
Sergeant John Munch is a fictional character played by actor Richard Belzer. Munch first appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street. Upon that series' cancellation, the character was transplanted to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the first spin-off of the Law & Order franchise...
character.
Plot
In 1989, a SWATSWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
team conducts a raid on a Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
warehouse. Inside, they find a naked and disoriented Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
in a box, shouting, "They're here!" Three men attempt to flee the scene and are captured; they are revealed to be the Lone Gunmen. As they sit in a city jail, they begin blaming each other for the predicament they have found themselves in. Detective John Munch
John Munch
Sergeant John Munch is a fictional character played by actor Richard Belzer. Munch first appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street. Upon that series' cancellation, the character was transplanted to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the first spin-off of the Law & Order franchise...
interrogates Byers, who tries to explain what happened.
Byers, a public affairs
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
officer for the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
, had attended a computer and electronics convention
Convention (meeting)
A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...
. There, Byers followed a beautiful woman who passed by his booth; he also passed by booths manned by Frohike and Langly, who were both selling stolen cable television
Pirate decryption
Pirate decryption most often refers to the reception of compromised pay TV or pay radio signals without authorization from the original broadcaster...
. When Byers bumped into her, she introduced herself as Holly and claimed that her daughter had been kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend, who was in the Baltimore area.
Holly possessed a piece of paper with "ARPANET
ARPANET
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network , was the world's first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the global Internet...
/WHTCORPS" written on it. Byers realized that the words refer to the Defense Department
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
's computer network, which she requested he hack into. Byers, then an unquestioningly loyal government employee, complied after great reluctance. He found an encrypted file on her daughter, named Susanne Modeski. Just then, a man whom Holly claimed to be her boyfriend passed by Byers' booth — Mulder.
Byers and Holly recruited Frohike to help them decipher the file. Both Byers and Frohike decided to assault Mulder, but didn't do it when he introduced himself as an FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agent. Returning to his booth, Byers found his FCC colleague being arrested for the hacking he committed. Frohike convinced Byers not to turn himself in, and recruited Langly to help them hack into the FBI database to learn more about Holly. They discovered that "Holly" is actually Susanne Modeski, and that she was wanted for acts of murder, sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
, and terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
at a weapons facility in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
.
Holly/Susanne admitted her deception, but claimed that she was scapegoat
Scapegoat
Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals , individuals against groups , groups against individuals , and groups against groups Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any...
ed for trying to leave her job at the weapons facility. There, she had been working on ergotamine, an aerosolized gas that causes paranoia and anxiety. Susanne claims that the government planned to test the gas on civilians in Baltimore. After deciphering the file, the Lone Gunmen found that she was telling the truth, learning the location of the gas. Susanne also found evidence that she had a tracking device put in a tooth, which she pulled out.
The four of them headed to the warehouse, where they found the gas stored inside asthma inhalers. Suddenly, Mulder arrived to arrest them, but two dark-suited men came to take Susanne. They fire at Mulder, hitting the boxes behind him and exposing him to the gas. The exposure causes Mulder to strip naked, hide in the box, and hallucinate about seeing aliens in the warehouse. Susanne shot the men and escaped. More men then arrived, led by X, who intimidates the Lone Gunmen. Byers confronted X, asking him about his actions and mentioning the supposed cover-up
John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories
There has long been suspicion of a government cover-up of information about the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. There are also numerous conspiracy theories regarding the assassination that arose soon after his death and continue to be promoted today...
of the John F. Kennedy assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
. X's unconvincing denial - "I heard it was a lone gunman" - becomes the origin of the trio's name. X then leaves, just as the police arrive and arrest the Lone Gunmen.
Detective Munch doesn't believe Byers' story, but it is soon corroborated by Mulder. The Lone Gunmen are released. They encounter Susanne once more, who has failed to get the press to believe her story; she tells them to reveal the truth to as many people as possible. Susanne is then captured by X, who leers at the Lone Gunmen as he departs with her. Later, the three of them meet Mulder in the convention center and explain what happened to him.
Production
The concept for having an episode dedicated to The Lone GunmenThe Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen are a trio of fictional characters, Richard "Ringo" Langly, Melvin Frohike and John Fitzgerald Byers, who have recurring roles on the American television series The X-Files. They also starred in a short-lived spin-off, also called The Lone Gunmen. The name was derived from the lone...
arose when the show's producers were forced to start production of the fifth season
The X-Files (season 5)
-Episodes:Episodes marked with an asterisk are part of the series' mytharc. Episodes with a double asterisk are part of the series' Alien Mythology....
in the last week of August in Vancouver, but still needed series stars David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
and Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
for the filming of The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
movie in Los Angeles. The producers decided to create an episode dedicated to The Lone Gunmen, and writing duties were assigned to Vince Gilligan
Vince Gilligan
Vince Gilligan is an American writer, director and producer. He is the creator of the highly acclaimed television series Breaking Bad. Gilligan has also worked on the hit series The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen. He is a graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University...
. Gilligan initially drafted a story involving nanotechnology, which was rejected by series creator Chris Carter
Chris Carter (screenwriter)
Christopher Carl Carter is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is the creator of The X-Files and Millennium.- Ten Thirteen Productions :...
. Carter came up with the idea for the episode to be how The Lone Gunmen met. Gilligan then developed the script, which took place in the city of Baltimore. The scenes with Duchovny were shot a few weeks after the rest of the episode.
Gilligan also came up with the idea to have a crossover with the show Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
, which also takes place in Baltimore. Despite some hesitancy from FOX's lawyers, the show got in contact with NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana is an American writer and producer.-TV career:Fontana has been a writer/producer for such series as Oz , The Jury, The Beat, The Bedford Diaries, Homicide: Life on the Street, St...
and were able to use Richard Belzer
Richard Belzer
Richard Jay Belzer is an American stand-up comedian, author, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as John Munch, which he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as in guest...
's Detective John Munch
John Munch
Sergeant John Munch is a fictional character played by actor Richard Belzer. Munch first appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street. Upon that series' cancellation, the character was transplanted to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the first spin-off of the Law & Order franchise...
character. Despite the presence of Munch, the crossover is inconsistent; the set in which Munch interrogates the characters is clearly not the famed "Box" interrogation room from Homicide.
The episode featured cameos from staff members of the show, including Ken Hawyrliw, who worked on props for the show, and Eric Knight, who was Duchovny's personal assistant. Susanne's alias, 'Holly' was a reference to Gilligan's girlfriend.
Reception
The episode earned a neilsen rating of 13.0, with an 19 share. A total of 21.72 million households watched this episode during its original airing. Actor Dean HaglundDean Haglund
Dean Haglund is a Canadian actor known for the role of Richard "Ringo" Langly, one of the Lone Gunmen on The X-Files. Haglund is also a stand-up comedian, specializing in improvisational comedy In addition to The X-Files, he played the voice of Sid in Tom Sawyer, Haglund also portrayed Langly in...
said of the episode, "What we read in the script wasn't really our origins as we'd imagined it. I'd thought we were all in a university garage band together or something. Bruce thought he was a photocopier repair man."