X-FILES, THE: HOW THE GHOSTS STOLE CHRISTMAS (TV)
Summary
One in this series of science fiction dramas about FBI agents Mulder and Scully and their investigations into "unsolvable" cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder gets Scully to come out with him to stake out a supposedly haunted house in the middle of Maryland on Christmas Eve. He claims that the ghosts of a pair of young lovers who killed themselves eighty years ago haunt the house. Scully doesn’t believe him and wants to leave, anxious to get on with her Christmas preparations. However, Mulder goes into the house and apparently steals Scully’s car keys. She follows him in and the doors close on them, trapping them inside. Scully tries to explain to Mulder how haunting are entirely psychological, drawing upon peoples’ expectations more than any real paranormal phenomena. She notices signs that the house is still occupied. Mulder reveals that every couple who has lived in the house for the past eighty years has been murdered on Christmas Eve. They notice a sound coming from the floorboards and uncover them, finding a pair of corpses wearing the same clothes as them. They try to escape the room but every entrance somehow leads them back to the same room. Mulder and Scully get separated. When Mulder tries to head back, he finds the doorway blocked by a brick wall. An old man appears, annoyed that Mulder has entered his house waving a gun around. Mulder suspects the old man is one of the ghosts inhabiting the house, but he doesn’t receive an answer. The floorboards have also somehow been covered up. The old man proceeds to analyze Mulder’s personality and behavior with uncanny insight; he maintains that Mulder is narcissistic, self-delusional, and hopelessly lonely. He also seems cognizant of Mulder’s complex relationship with Scully. He leaves as abruptly as he entered, tricking Mulder into walking into the brick wall. Scully, alone, runs into an old woman and holds her at gunpoint. The old woman reveals she has been watching Mulder and Scully. Like Mulder, Scully finds the floor has been covered and a brick wall blocks her egress. The old woman proceeds to “diagnose” Scully, talking to her about her “co-dependence” on Mulder. The old man enters and Scully holds them both up. She notices large holes through the old couple that pass completely through them; Scully faints at the sight. The old couple argues about their methods of scaring Mulder and Scully. They resolve to show them “just how lonely Christmas can be.” The old woman confronts Mulder as he tries to escape. Mulder realizes that the old woman is Lydia, the ghost of the woman who killed herself, and the old man is Maurice, the ghost of her lover. She retrieves a book from the shelf entitled “The Ghosts who Stole Christmas;” inside there is a picture of herself and Maurice when they were young. She wonders aloud as to the real reason why Mulder brought Scully to the house and tries to get Mulder to talk about his feelings for Scully. She tries to egg him into both killing himself and Scully and hands him his gun before vanishing into thin air. Scully awakens and tries to get out of there, but Maurice appears. Maurice issues a warning about Mulder’s behavior and hands her back her car keys. She hears Mulder knocking on the door and gets Maurice to open it. Mulder enters and starts shooting at Scully. Confused, Scully tries to get Mulder to stop but he rants about loneliness before landing a successful shot on her stomach. Unbeknownst to Scully, it is actually Lydia taking on the appearance of Mulder, who is then carried away by Maurice, leaving Scully bleeding to death on the floor. Mulder enters and goes to comfort the injured Scully, but she shoots him. It is Lydia once again, this time disguised as Scully. Both Mulder and Scully make their way out of the house, dragging themselves along the floor. They meet and are suspicious, but Mulder realizes he is not actually injured and picks himself and Scully off the ground. The injuries were apparently entirely in their minds, as evidenced when they exit the house and find themselves without a speck of blood on them. They immediately drive off. Maurice and Lydia lament that they didn’t manage to kill Mulder and Scully, but enjoy their time together anyway. The episode ends as Scully, restless and confused, visits Mulder and they exchange Christmas gifts. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: FOX
- DATE: December 13, 1998 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:44:37
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:61866
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science ficiton
- SERIES RUN: Fox - TV series, 1993-2002; 2016-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Frank Spotnitz … Executive Producer
- Chris Carter … Executive Producer, Director, Created by, Writer
- Michael Watkins … Co-Executive Producer
- Vince Gilligan … Co-Executive Producer
- Bernadette Caulfield … Producer
- John Shiban … Producer
- Paul Rabwin … Producer
- Kim Manners … Producer
- Rob Bowman … Producer
- Lori Jo Nemhauser … Co-Producer
- Daniel Sackheim … Consulting Producer
- Mark Snow … Music by
- David Duchovny … Cast, Agent Fox Mulder
- Gillian Anderson … Cast, Agent Dana Scully
- Lily Tomlin … Cast, Lydia
- Edward Asner … Cast, Maurice