X-Files Wiki
Register
mNo edit summary
(36 intermediate revisions by 13 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
  +
{{Tabs|
{| class="wiki-sidebar"
 
  +
{{Tabs1|{{BASEPAGENAME}}|{{BASEPAGENAME}}}}
|-
 
  +
{{Tabs2|{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Credits|Credits}}
| colspan="2"| [[File:Scully_tumor_x-ray_light_Memento_Mori.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]
 
  +
{{Tabs2|{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Gallery|Gallery}}
|-
 
  +
{{Tabs2|{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Transcript|Transcript}}
| class="odd" | Series:
 
 
}}
| class="even" | [[The X-Files]]
 
  +
{{Infobox xfiles
|-
 
  +
|topimage =Scully tumor x-ray light Memento Mori.jpg
| class="odd" | Original Airdate:
 
  +
|topimagedescription =
| class="even" | 2-9-1997
 
  +
|Series =''[[The X-Files]]''<br /><small>Season 4, episode 14</small>
|-
 
  +
|airdate =February 9, 1997
| class="odd" | Production Number:
 
  +
|number =4x14
| class="even" | 4x15
 
  +
|dates =[[1997]]
|-
 
 
|written =[[Chris Carter]], [[Vince Gilligan]],<br />[[John Shiban]], [[Frank Spotnitz]]
| class="odd" | Date(s):
 
 
|directed =[[Rob Bowman]]
| class="even" | FICTIONAL YEAR OR DATE(S) OF EVENTS IN EPISODE
 
  +
|viewers=19.10
|-
 
  +
|rating={{rating|imdb=8.6|tvcom=9.0}}
| class="odd" | Written by:
 
  +
|bottomimage =
| class="even" | [[Chris Carter]], [[Vince Gilligan]], [[John Shiban]], [[Frank Spotnitz]]
 
  +
|bottomdescription =
|-
 
  +
|next =Kaddish
| class="odd" | Directed by:
 
  +
|prev =Never Again
| class="even" | [[Rob Bowman]]
 
  +
|prevarc=[[Terma]]
|}
 
  +
|nextarc=[[Tempus Fugit]]
  +
|season =4
  +
}}
  +
"'''Memento Mori'''" is the fourteenth episode of the [[The X-Files (season 4)|fourth season]] of ''[[The X-Files]]''. It was written by series creator Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz.
   
  +
Directed by Rob Bowman, the episode premiered on the [[Fox network]] on February 9, 1997, and helped explore the series' ''[[Mythology]]'' arc.
  +
  +
==Synopsis==
 
Scully begins to come to terms with the fact that she has cancer, but her friends and allies begin fighting to save her life, even if it means making a deal with the devil...
 
Scully begins to come to terms with the fact that she has cancer, but her friends and allies begin fighting to save her life, even if it means making a deal with the devil...
   
 
==Summary==
 
==Summary==
 
===Teaser===
 
===Teaser===
 
 
Scully stands in a hospital gown next to a bare lighted wall, studying a cranial x-ray that she holds. The x-ray shows an irregularly-shaped transparent mass, between the eyes and behind the nasal cavity.
 
Scully stands in a hospital gown next to a bare lighted wall, studying a cranial x-ray that she holds. The x-ray shows an irregularly-shaped transparent mass, between the eyes and behind the nasal cavity.
   
Line 33: Line 39:
 
'''WASHINGTON, D.C.'''
 
'''WASHINGTON, D.C.'''
   
[[Agent]] [[Fox Mulder|Mulder]] visits Scully at the hospital where she is staying, bringing flowers to her. When he asks about her x-ray, Scully reveals it shows a [[cancer]]ous tumor, also mentioning that Mulder is the only person she has called about it. She describes her cancer as not operable and extremely difficult to treat but Mulder refuses to accept this. Eventually, Scully confirms Mulder's suspicion that there are some people who have received treatment for her particular form of cancer.[[File:Scully_Mulder_Skinner_office_Memento_Mori.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Scully]] asks Assistant Director [[Skinner]] to keep her situation confidential.]]
+
[[Agent]] [[Fox Mulder|Mulder]] visits Scully at the hospital where she is staying, bringing flowers to her. When he asks about her x-ray, Scully reveals it shows a [[cancer]]ous tumor, also mentioning that Mulder is the only person she has called about it. She describes her cancer as not operable and extremely difficult to treat but Mulder refuses to accept this. Eventually, Scully confirms Mulder's suspicion that there are some people who have received treatment for her particular form of cancer.[[File:Scully Mulder Skinner office Memento Mori.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Scully]] asks Assistant Director [[Skinner]] to keep her situation confidential.]]
   
 
[[Assistant Director]] [[Walter Skinner|Skinner]] meets with the agents in his own office, sympathetically learning of Scully's plight and agreeing - on her request - to keep the matter confidential. Scully relates to Skinner that she is eager to start investigating her cancer and Mulder informs him that, in the previous year, the agents encountered a group of female purported-abductees who reported symptoms similar to Scully, after having [[implant]]s removed from the base of their own necks. According to Mulder, one of these women, [[Betsy Hagopian]], had been undergoing treatment but has recently been uncontactable.
 
[[Assistant Director]] [[Walter Skinner|Skinner]] meets with the agents in his own office, sympathetically learning of Scully's plight and agreeing - on her request - to keep the matter confidential. Scully relates to Skinner that she is eager to start investigating her cancer and Mulder informs him that, in the previous year, the agents encountered a group of female purported-abductees who reported symptoms similar to Scully, after having [[implant]]s removed from the base of their own necks. According to Mulder, one of these women, [[Betsy Hagopian]], had been undergoing treatment but has recently been uncontactable.
Line 39: Line 45:
 
'''ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA'''
 
'''ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA'''
   
Mulder and Scully arrive at Betsy Hagopian's former property, only to find it is soon to go on sale. A female realtor opens the door to the agents, jumping to conclusions about their identities, and reveals that Betsy Hagopian recently passed away. After Mulder shows his [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] [[badge]] to her, the realtor reveals she is ignorant of Betsy's activities as a [[Mutual UFO Network|MUFON]] member. On Mulder's request, the agents are allowed inside, where Scully begins to recall having met the women. The agents discover that someone is remotely accessing a computer in the building's basement and Scully starts to call for a trace to be run.
+
Mulder and Scully arrive at Betsy Hagopian's former property, only to find it is soon to go on sale. A female realtor opens the door to the agents, jumping to conclusions about their identities, and reveals that Betsy Hagopian recently passed away. After Mulder shows his [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] [[badge]] to her, the realtor reveals she is ignorant of Betsy's activities as a [[MUFON]] member. On Mulder's request, the agents are allowed inside, where Scully begins to recall having met the women. The agents discover that someone is remotely accessing a computer in the building's basement and Scully starts to call for a trace to be run.
   
She and Mulder arrive, at night, outside the apartment building where the hacker, [[Kurt Crawford]], lives. The duo attempts to enter the building, Mulder heading up a fire escape at the property's rear. Kurt Crawford makes an escape attempt but is caught by the agents. Mulder notices [[blood]] running from Scully's nose but she insists that she is fine.
+
She and Mulder arrive, at night, outside the apartment building where the hacker, [[Kurt Crawford]], lives. The duo attempts to enter the building, Mulder heading up a fire escape at the property's rear. Kurt Crawford makes an escape attempt but is caught by the agents. Mulder notices blood running from Scully's nose but she insists that she is fine.
   
 
In Kurt Crawford's apartment, Scully cleans her nosebleed but exits to find that Mulder has released Crawford from handcuffs. Scully learns that Crawford is allegedly an innocent MUFON member who was downloading files for safekeeping, as he believes a dangerous government conspiracy is trying to cover up the files and were involved in the fates of the women. According to Crawford, virtually all the other members of the MUFON group that Scully met died from cancer in the last year, with the exception of [[Penny Northern]], who is now hospitalized in critical condition. Mulder privately advises a reluctant Scully to not only admit that her condition was due to [[Dana Scully's abduction|her own abduction]] but to also interview Penny Northern, as an investigator if a personal visit will be too difficult for Scully.
 
In Kurt Crawford's apartment, Scully cleans her nosebleed but exits to find that Mulder has released Crawford from handcuffs. Scully learns that Crawford is allegedly an innocent MUFON member who was downloading files for safekeeping, as he believes a dangerous government conspiracy is trying to cover up the files and were involved in the fates of the women. According to Crawford, virtually all the other members of the MUFON group that Scully met died from cancer in the last year, with the exception of [[Penny Northern]], who is now hospitalized in critical condition. Mulder privately advises a reluctant Scully to not only admit that her condition was due to [[Dana Scully's abduction|her own abduction]] but to also interview Penny Northern, as an investigator if a personal visit will be too difficult for Scully.
Line 47: Line 53:
 
'''ALLENTOWN-BETHLEHEM MEDICAL CENTER'''
 
'''ALLENTOWN-BETHLEHEM MEDICAL CENTER'''
   
[[File:Mulder_Kurt_Crawford_Files_Memento_Mori.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Mulder]] tells [[Scully]] he has found valuable information with the help of [[Kurt Crawford]].]]Scully visits the bed-bound Penny Northern, who startles Scully by immediately recognizing her. Penny tries to remind Scully of having met each other during Scully's abduction but Scully apologetically explains that she has no memory of that experience. When Scully declares that she came to ask Penny some questions, Penny presumes that Scully's queries were to be about [[Doctor]] [[Kevin Scanlon|Scanlon]], who treated Betsy Hagopian and is now treating Penny. According to her, Dr. Scanlon is close to finding the cause of the cancers.
+
[[File:Mulder Kurt Crawford Files Memento Mori.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Mulder]] tells [[Scully]] he has found valuable information with the help of [[Kurt Crawford]].]]Scully visits the bed-bound Penny Northern, who startles Scully by immediately recognizing her. Penny tries to remind Scully of having met each other during Scully's abduction but Scully apologetically explains that she has no memory of that experience. When Scully declares that she came to ask Penny some questions, Penny presumes that Scully's queries were to be about Doctor [[Kevin Scanlon]], who treated Betsy Hagopian and is now treating Penny. According to her, Doctor Scanlon is close to finding the cause of the cancers.
   
Receiving a call from Scully, Mulder tells her he has found evidence, in the MUFON files, that some of the group members had been treated at a nearby fertility clinic. Scully lengthily asks Mulder to help her be readmitted into hospital, so Mulder helpfully agrees. He irritably departs from Crawford's apartment, however. A mysterious man, armed with a [[gimlet weapon]], subsequently enters the apartment, scaring Crawford. As the man exits, Crawford lies dead, his remains becoming a puddle of green ooze on the apartment floor.
+
Receiving a call from Scully at Betsy Hagopian's house, Mulder tells her he has found evidence, in the MUFON files, that some of the group members had been treated at a nearby fertility clinic. Scully lengthily asks Mulder to help her be readmitted into hospital, so Mulder helpfully agrees. He irritably departs and heads for the medical center. Armed with a [[gimlet weapon]], the [[Grey-Haired Man]] subsequently enters the house and executes Crawford. As the man exits, Crawford lies dead, his remains becoming a puddle of green ooze on the basement floor.
   
 
===Act Two===
 
===Act Two===
[[File:Scully_Mother_Hospital_Memento_Mori.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Scully]] embraces her mother who is very upset about her illness.]]Lying in bed, Scully slowly awakens and initially thinks she sees a silhouetted, [[alien]]-like being at her bedside, but it is actually Dr. Scanlon. He reminds her - referring to her medical training - that the treatments of the [[chemotherapy]] and [[radiation]] will be very traumatic for her. [[Margaret Scully|Scully's mother]] arrives so the doctor leaves. Although Agent Scully tries to assure her mother that she doesn't feel ill, Mrs. Scully is outraged that her daughter didn't immediately tell her about the cancer. Agent Scully professes that she had been waiting for answers and claims she has found some clarity in the hospital, as well as a possible way to fight back. An upset Mrs. Scully urges her daughter not to keep information from her and reminds Agent Scully that she is now her mother's only daughter.
+
[[File:Scully Mother Hospital Memento Mori.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Scully]] embraces her mother who is very upset about her illness.]]Lying in bed, Scully slowly awakens to Doctor Scanlon standing in the window light. He reminds her - referring to her medical training - that the chemotherapy and radiation will be very traumatic for her. [[Margaret Scully|Scully's mother]] arrives so the doctor leaves. Although Agent Scully tries to assure her mother that she doesn't feel ill, Mrs. Scully is outraged that her daughter didn't immediately tell her about the cancer. Agent Scully professes that she had been waiting for answers and claims she has found some clarity in the hospital, as well as a possible way to fight back. An upset Mrs. Scully urges her daughter not to keep information from her and reminds Agent Scully that she is now her mother's only daughter.
   
  +
[[File:Scully Scan Memento Mori.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Scully]] undergoing radiation.]]
 
 
Scully begins chemotherapy and radiation during which she is comforted by Penny Northern. Mulder goes to the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Lehigh Furnace, Pennsylvania at night and attempts to run through the center's computer files. A man identical to Kurt Crawford is also there looking for data, and Mulder thinks he is dealing with the same man, not knowing about the first Crawford's execution. They manage to find information about the [[Lombard Research Facility|Lombard&nbsp;Research Facility]], a fertility clinic at which Agent Scully's name figures in the directory. Mulder asks Assistant Director Skinner to arrange a meeting with the [[Cigarette-Smoking Man]], but Skinner advises him to find another way, saying "you can't ask the truth of a man who trades in lies."
 
Scully[[File:Scully_Scan_Memento_Mori.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Scully]] undergoing radiation.]] begins chemotherapy and radiation during which she is comforted by Penny Northern. Mulder goes to the Centre for Reproductive Medecine in Lehigh Furnace, Pennsylvania at night and attempts to run through the centre's computer files. A man identical to Kurt Crawford is also there looking for data, and Mulder thinks he is dealing with the same man, not knowing about the first Crawford's execution. They manage to find information about the [[Lombard Research Facility|Lombard&nbsp;Research Facility]], a fertility clinic where Agent Scully's name figures in the directory. Mulder asks Assistant Director Skinner to arrange a meeting with the [[Cigarette-Smoking Man]], but Skinner advises him to find another way, saying "you can't ask the truth of a man who trades in lies."
 
   
 
===Act three===
 
===Act three===
[[File:Lone_Gunmen_Mulder_Memento_Mori.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Mulder]] seeks help from the [[Lone Gunmen]].]]Mulder decides to turn to the [[Lone Gunmen]] for help and they make their way to the Lombard Research Facility. Mulder sees Dr Scanlon's name among the Facility's doctors and urges [[Byers]] to go tell Scully to stop her treatment as her physician is not trustworthy.
+
[[File:Lone Gunmen Mulder Memento Mori.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Mulder]] seeks help from [[The Lone Gunmen]].]]Mulder decides to turn to [[The Lone Gunmen]] for help and they make their way to the Lombard Research Facility. Mulder sees Doctor Scanlon's name among the facility's doctors and urges [[Byers]] to run to Scully to tell her she should stop her treatment as her physician is not trustworthy.
 
Mulder continues to explore the facility and sees light coming from one of the laboratories. Another man identical to [[Kurt Crawford]] opens the door wearing a white smock, and to Mulder's amazement, half a dozen of these men are keeping busy around the room, Kurt Crawford being part of a [[hybrid]] series, adult hybrids cloned after the same individual as the male [[Agrarian Drone]] clones Mulder had previously met in Alberta, Canada. The laboratory is filled with large tanks where maturing clones' bodies are nurtured in a greenish fluid. The Crawford hybrids reveal their intention to subvert the colonization project, saddened by the female abductees' lot who are in fact their biological mothers. One of the Crawford clones takes Mulder to a storage vault where ova from the female abductees are kept, including Scully's. [[File:Ova Storage Kurt Crawford Clone Memento Mori.jpg|thumb|left|250px|A [[Kurt Crawford]] clone takes [[Mulder]] to a storage room where female abductees' ova are kept.]]Mulder takes one of the vials and walks out, just before the [[Grey-Haired Man]]'s arrival, apparently warned of Mulder and the Lone Gunmen's break-in. The armed man pursues and attempts to shoot the agent through a bullet-proof glass door, but fails to do so.
   
 
Mulder runs to the hospital where Scully has already learned the news about Doctor Scanlon from Byers. Scully remains at Penny Northern's bedside all night and the woman gives up the ghost at dawn. Scully is distraught as she gives Mulder the sad news. She decides to cease her treatments and shares her struggle with Mulder who embraces and comforts her. Mulder calls Skinner to tell him Scully is coming back to work. It is then revealed that Skinner has contacted the Cigarette-Smoking Man after all and is about to make a deal in an effort to help Scully.
Mulder continues to explore the facility where he sees light coming from one of the laboratories. [[Kurt Crawford]] opens the door wearing a white smock, and to Mulder's amazement, a dozen Crawfords is working there, Kurt Crawford being part of a series of human/ alien hybrid[[Clone| clones]], an adult from the same series as the male [[Agrarian Drone]] clones Mulder had previously met in Alberta, Canada. The laboratory is filled with large tanks where maturing clones' bodies are nurtured in a greenish fluid. One of the Crawford clones takes Mulder to a storage room where ova from female abductees are kept, including Scully's. [[File:Ova_Storage_Kurt_Crawford_Clone_Memento_Mori.jpg|thumb|left|250px|A [[Kurt Crawford]] clone takes [[Mulder]] to a storage room where female abductees' ova are kept.]]Mulder takes one of the samples and walks out, just before the [[Grey-Haired Man]] arrives. The armed man pursues and attempts to kill him, but fails.
 
   
 
==References==
Mulder runs to the hospital where Scully has already learned the news about Dr Scanlon from Byers. She is distraught as she tells Mulder Penny Northern has just passed away. She decides to cease her treatments and shares her struggle with Mulder who embraces and comforts her. Mulder calls Skinner to tell him Scully is coming back to work. It is then revealed that Skinner has contacted the Cigarette-Smoking Man after all and is about to make a deal in an effort to help Scully.
 
 
[[Betsy Hagopian]]; [[clone]]; [[DNA]], [[human ova]]; [[Lombard Research Facility]]; [[MUFON]]; [[cancer]]
   
 
==Background Information==
 
==Background Information==
 
===Notes===
 
 
* A storage drawer holding [[Scully]]'s harvested eggs was labelled with a card dated 10/29/94. This date should correspond to the time period of her abduction by the aliens.
 
* A storage drawer holding [[Scully]]'s harvested eggs was labelled with a card dated 10/29/94. This date should correspond to the time period of her abduction by the aliens.
  +
* Mulder gets the password to Scully's infertility file from a snowglobe with a large, Ukrainian Easter egg. The snowglobe is a knick knack from the real Canadian town of Vegreville, Alberta.
   
* The title of this episode means "remember that you are mortal" in Latin. In Latin, it can also mean "Remember you will die". The phrase 'Memento Mori' also refers to a type of Victorian photography in which a recently deceased person is photographed post-mortem, often with family members, dressed and posed as though in a deep sleep rather than dead. In the days of the Roman Empire, a military leader achieving great victories would be given a parade through the city of Rome where he in the end was told Memento Mori, so that he wouldn't forget his place in the world.
+
* The title of this episode means "remember that you are mortal" in Latin. In Latin, it can also mean "Remember you will die". The phrase 'Memento Mori' also refers to a type of Victorian photography in which a recently deceased person is photographed postmortem, often with family members, dressed and posed as though in a deep sleep rather than dead. In the days of the Roman Empire, a military leader achieving great victories would be given a parade through the city of Rome where he in the end was told Memento Mori, so that he wouldn't forget his place in the world.
* A scene with Gillian Anderson (Scully) and Pat Skipper (Scully's brother Bill Jr.) was cut due to time constraints. Bill Scully would make his second 'first appearance' in the season 4 finale 'Gethsemane'. This scene is significant for several reasons in that Bill Jr. voices his displeasure, or rather what he believes to be his parents displeasure, about Dana choosing to be an FBI Agent instead of a doctor and that now she has paid for that decision with her cancer. He also indirectly blames Dana for Melissa's death and, finally, he mentions their other brother Charles.
+
* A scene with [[Gillian Anderson]] (Scully) and [[Pat Skipper]] (Scully's brother, [[William Scully, Jr.|Bill Jr.]]) was cut due to time constraints. The scene was significant for several reasons in that Bill Jr. voices his displeasure, or rather what he believes to be his parents displeasure, about Dana choosing to be an FBI Agent instead of a doctor and that now she has paid for that decision with her cancer. He also indirectly blames Dana for [[Melissa Scully|Melissa's]] death and, finally, he mentions their other brother [[Charles Scully|Charles]].
  +
** Pat would make his second 'first appearance' later in the season finale "[[Gethsemane]]".
 
* It was for this episode that Gillian Anderson won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
 
* It was for this episode that Gillian Anderson won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
* According to media reports, Kurt Crawford is actually the name of Chris Carter's contact at the FBI whom he goes to to check facts for accuracy.
+
* According to media reports, Kurt Crawford is actually the name of Chris Carter's contact at the FBI whom he goes to check facts for accuracy.
   
==Notes==
 
 
This episode originally had a kiss on the lips between Mulder and Scully. In the original version, Mulder kisses her forehead, then her lips, then they hug and she walks away. The aired version just has the kiss on the head.
 
This episode originally had a kiss on the lips between Mulder and Scully. In the original version, Mulder kisses her forehead, then her lips, then they hug and she walks away. The aired version just has the kiss on the head.
   
 
The date on the drawer holding Scully's ova is October 29, 1994 - a few days before she was returned to the hospital in the season 2 episode 'One Breath'.
 
The date on the drawer holding Scully's ova is October 29, 1994 - a few days before she was returned to the hospital in the season 2 episode 'One Breath'.
   
Mulder realises that the clones of the young boy he saw with his sister's clones in the season's premiere 'Herrenvolk', are younger versions of Kurt Crawford.
+
Mulder realizes that the clones of the young boy he saw working with his sister's clones in the season's premiere [[Herrenvolk]], are younger clones from the Kurt Crawford series.
  +
==Goofs==
+
===Goofs===
 
Just before Mulder goes into the lab with the Kurt Crawford clones, Byers sees the police getting out of their car at the front of the lab complex. Mulder spends several minutes in the lab with the clones; the scene then cuts to Byers at the front again and the police are just a few feet from their vehicle, although quite a few minutes have passed.
 
Just before Mulder goes into the lab with the Kurt Crawford clones, Byers sees the police getting out of their car at the front of the lab complex. Mulder spends several minutes in the lab with the clones; the scene then cuts to Byers at the front again and the police are just a few feet from their vehicle, although quite a few minutes have passed.
  +
==Links and References==
 
===Guest Stars===
+
==Cast==
  +
'''Starring'''
*[[Mitch Pileggi]] as [[A.D.]] [[Walter Skinner]]
 
*[[William B. Davis]] as the [[Cigarette-Smoking Man]]
+
*[[David Duchovny]] as [[Special Agent]] [[Fox Mulder]]
*[[Tom Braidwood]] as [[Melvin Frohike|Frohike]]
+
*[[Gillian Anderson]] as [[Special Agent]] [[Dana Scully]]
  +
*[[Dean Haglund]] as [[Richard Langly|Langly]]
 
  +
'''Also Starring'''
*[[Bruce Harwood]] as [[John Fitzgerald Byers|Byers]]
 
*[[Sean Allan]] as [[Dr.]] [[Kevin Scanlon]]
+
*[[Mitch Pileggi]] as [[Assistant Director]] [[Walter Skinner]]
*[[Gillian Barber]] as [[Penny Northern]]
+
*[[William B. Davis]] as [[Cigarette Smoking Man]]
  +
*[[Julie Bond]] as a [[Woman]]
 
  +
'''Guest Starring'''
*[[Sheila Larken]] as [[Margaret Scully|Mrs. Scully]]
+
*[[Sheila Larken]] as [[Margaret Scully]]
 
*[[David Lovgren]] as [[Kurt Crawford]]
 
*[[David Lovgren]] as [[Kurt Crawford]]
*[[Vanessa Morley]] as [[Young Samantha]]
+
*[[Gillian Barber]] as [[Penny Northern]]
*[[Casey F. Murphy]] as [[Young Kurt Crawford]]
+
*[[Tom Braidwood]] as [[Melvin Frohike]]
*[[Marilyn Norry]] as a [[Nurse]]
+
*[[Dean Haglund]] as [[Richard Langly]]
*[[Morris Panych]] as a [[Grey-Haired Man]]
+
*[[Bruce Harwood]] as [[John Fitzgerald Byers]]
  +
*[[Vanessa Morley]] as Young [[Samantha Mulder]] (uncredited)
  +
  +
'''Featuring'''
  +
*[[Morris Panych]] as [[Grey-Haired Man]]
 
*[[Sean Allen]] as [[Dr.]] [[Kevin Scanlon]]
 
*[[Julie Bond]] as a Woman
   
  +
== External Links ==
===References===
 
  +
*{{WP|Memento Mori (The X-Files)|Memento Mori}}
[[Betsy Hagopian|Hagopian, Betsy]]; [[clipper chip]]; [[clone]]; [[DNA]], [[human ova]]; [[Lombard Research Facility]]; [[MUFON]]; [[nasopharyngeal cancer]]; [[Vegreville]]
 
  +
*{{IMDb title|0751158}}
  +
*{{tv.com|memento mori 577}}
   
  +
<div class="hideheader">
{{TXF episode|season=4|prev=[[Never Again]]|next=[[Kaddish]]}}
 
  +
=<span style="font-size:0pt;">Episode Navigation</span>=
[[Category:X-Files episodes]]
 
  +
</div>
  +
{{navbox
  +
|bgcolor4=lightgreen}}
 
[[Category:TXF episodes]]
  +
[[Category:Mythology episodes]]
  +
[[Category:TXF Season 4 episodes]]

Revision as of 22:35, 4 June 2020

Memento Mori   Credits   Gallery   Transcript    

Template:Infobox xfiles "Memento Mori" is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of The X-Files. It was written by series creator Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz.

Directed by Rob Bowman, the episode premiered on the Fox network on February 9, 1997, and helped explore the series' Mythology arc.

Synopsis

Scully begins to come to terms with the fact that she has cancer, but her friends and allies begin fighting to save her life, even if it means making a deal with the devil...

Summary

Teaser

Scully stands in a hospital gown next to a bare lighted wall, studying a cranial x-ray that she holds. The x-ray shows an irregularly-shaped transparent mass, between the eyes and behind the nasal cavity.

Act One

HOLY CROSS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Agent Mulder visits Scully at the hospital where she is staying, bringing flowers to her. When he asks about her x-ray, Scully reveals it shows a cancerous tumor, also mentioning that Mulder is the only person she has called about it. She describes her cancer as not operable and extremely difficult to treat but Mulder refuses to accept this. Eventually, Scully confirms Mulder's suspicion that there are some people who have received treatment for her particular form of cancer.

Scully Mulder Skinner office Memento Mori

Scully asks Assistant Director Skinner to keep her situation confidential.

Assistant Director Skinner meets with the agents in his own office, sympathetically learning of Scully's plight and agreeing - on her request - to keep the matter confidential. Scully relates to Skinner that she is eager to start investigating her cancer and Mulder informs him that, in the previous year, the agents encountered a group of female purported-abductees who reported symptoms similar to Scully, after having implants removed from the base of their own necks. According to Mulder, one of these women, Betsy Hagopian, had been undergoing treatment but has recently been uncontactable.

ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

Mulder and Scully arrive at Betsy Hagopian's former property, only to find it is soon to go on sale. A female realtor opens the door to the agents, jumping to conclusions about their identities, and reveals that Betsy Hagopian recently passed away. After Mulder shows his FBI badge to her, the realtor reveals she is ignorant of Betsy's activities as a MUFON member. On Mulder's request, the agents are allowed inside, where Scully begins to recall having met the women. The agents discover that someone is remotely accessing a computer in the building's basement and Scully starts to call for a trace to be run.

She and Mulder arrive, at night, outside the apartment building where the hacker, Kurt Crawford, lives. The duo attempts to enter the building, Mulder heading up a fire escape at the property's rear. Kurt Crawford makes an escape attempt but is caught by the agents. Mulder notices blood running from Scully's nose but she insists that she is fine.

In Kurt Crawford's apartment, Scully cleans her nosebleed but exits to find that Mulder has released Crawford from handcuffs. Scully learns that Crawford is allegedly an innocent MUFON member who was downloading files for safekeeping, as he believes a dangerous government conspiracy is trying to cover up the files and were involved in the fates of the women. According to Crawford, virtually all the other members of the MUFON group that Scully met died from cancer in the last year, with the exception of Penny Northern, who is now hospitalized in critical condition. Mulder privately advises a reluctant Scully to not only admit that her condition was due to her own abduction but to also interview Penny Northern, as an investigator if a personal visit will be too difficult for Scully.

ALLENTOWN-BETHLEHEM MEDICAL CENTER

Mulder Kurt Crawford Files Memento Mori

Mulder tells Scully he has found valuable information with the help of Kurt Crawford.

Scully visits the bed-bound Penny Northern, who startles Scully by immediately recognizing her. Penny tries to remind Scully of having met each other during Scully's abduction but Scully apologetically explains that she has no memory of that experience. When Scully declares that she came to ask Penny some questions, Penny presumes that Scully's queries were to be about Doctor Kevin Scanlon, who treated Betsy Hagopian and is now treating Penny. According to her, Doctor Scanlon is close to finding the cause of the cancers.

Receiving a call from Scully at Betsy Hagopian's house, Mulder tells her he has found evidence, in the MUFON files, that some of the group members had been treated at a nearby fertility clinic. Scully lengthily asks Mulder to help her be readmitted into hospital, so Mulder helpfully agrees. He irritably departs and heads for the medical center. Armed with a gimlet weapon, the Grey-Haired Man subsequently enters the house and executes Crawford. As the man exits, Crawford lies dead, his remains becoming a puddle of green ooze on the basement floor.

Act Two

Scully Mother Hospital Memento Mori

Scully embraces her mother who is very upset about her illness.

Lying in bed, Scully slowly awakens to Doctor Scanlon standing in the window light. He reminds her - referring to her medical training - that the chemotherapy and radiation will be very traumatic for her. Scully's mother arrives so the doctor leaves. Although Agent Scully tries to assure her mother that she doesn't feel ill, Mrs. Scully is outraged that her daughter didn't immediately tell her about the cancer. Agent Scully professes that she had been waiting for answers and claims she has found some clarity in the hospital, as well as a possible way to fight back. An upset Mrs. Scully urges her daughter not to keep information from her and reminds Agent Scully that she is now her mother's only daughter.

Scully Scan Memento Mori

Scully undergoing radiation.

Scully begins chemotherapy and radiation during which she is comforted by Penny Northern. Mulder goes to the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Lehigh Furnace, Pennsylvania at night and attempts to run through the center's computer files. A man identical to Kurt Crawford is also there looking for data, and Mulder thinks he is dealing with the same man, not knowing about the first Crawford's execution. They manage to find information about the Lombard Research Facility, a fertility clinic at which Agent Scully's name figures in the directory. Mulder asks Assistant Director Skinner to arrange a meeting with the Cigarette-Smoking Man, but Skinner advises him to find another way, saying "you can't ask the truth of a man who trades in lies."

Act three

Lone Gunmen Mulder Memento Mori

Mulder seeks help from The Lone Gunmen.

Mulder decides to turn to The Lone Gunmen for help and they make their way to the Lombard Research Facility. Mulder sees Doctor Scanlon's name among the facility's doctors and urges Byers to run to Scully to tell her she should stop her treatment as her physician is not trustworthy. Mulder continues to explore the facility and sees light coming from one of the laboratories. Another man identical to Kurt Crawford opens the door wearing a white smock, and to Mulder's amazement, half a dozen of these men are keeping busy around the room, Kurt Crawford being part of a hybrid series, adult hybrids cloned after the same individual as the male Agrarian Drone clones Mulder had previously met in Alberta, Canada. The laboratory is filled with large tanks where maturing clones' bodies are nurtured in a greenish fluid. The Crawford hybrids reveal their intention to subvert the colonization project, saddened by the female abductees' lot who are in fact their biological mothers. One of the Crawford clones takes Mulder to a storage vault where ova from the female abductees are kept, including Scully's.

Ova Storage Kurt Crawford Clone Memento Mori

A Kurt Crawford clone takes Mulder to a storage room where female abductees' ova are kept.

Mulder takes one of the vials and walks out, just before the Grey-Haired Man's arrival, apparently warned of Mulder and the Lone Gunmen's break-in. The armed man pursues and attempts to shoot the agent through a bullet-proof glass door, but fails to do so.

Mulder runs to the hospital where Scully has already learned the news about Doctor Scanlon from Byers. Scully remains at Penny Northern's bedside all night and the woman gives up the ghost at dawn. Scully is distraught as she gives Mulder the sad news. She decides to cease her treatments and shares her struggle with Mulder who embraces and comforts her. Mulder calls Skinner to tell him Scully is coming back to work. It is then revealed that Skinner has contacted the Cigarette-Smoking Man after all and is about to make a deal in an effort to help Scully.

References

Betsy Hagopian; clone; DNA, human ova; Lombard Research Facility; MUFON; cancer

Background Information

Notes

  • A storage drawer holding Scully's harvested eggs was labelled with a card dated 10/29/94. This date should correspond to the time period of her abduction by the aliens.
  • Mulder gets the password to Scully's infertility file from a snowglobe with a large, Ukrainian Easter egg. The snowglobe is a knick knack from the real Canadian town of Vegreville, Alberta.
  • The title of this episode means "remember that you are mortal" in Latin. In Latin, it can also mean "Remember you will die". The phrase 'Memento Mori' also refers to a type of Victorian photography in which a recently deceased person is photographed postmortem, often with family members, dressed and posed as though in a deep sleep rather than dead. In the days of the Roman Empire, a military leader achieving great victories would be given a parade through the city of Rome where he in the end was told Memento Mori, so that he wouldn't forget his place in the world.
  • A scene with Gillian Anderson (Scully) and Pat Skipper (Scully's brother, Bill Jr.) was cut due to time constraints. The scene was significant for several reasons in that Bill Jr. voices his displeasure, or rather what he believes to be his parents displeasure, about Dana choosing to be an FBI Agent instead of a doctor and that now she has paid for that decision with her cancer. He also indirectly blames Dana for Melissa's death and, finally, he mentions their other brother Charles.
    • Pat would make his second 'first appearance' later in the season finale "Gethsemane".
  • It was for this episode that Gillian Anderson won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
  • According to media reports, Kurt Crawford is actually the name of Chris Carter's contact at the FBI whom he goes to check facts for accuracy.

This episode originally had a kiss on the lips between Mulder and Scully. In the original version, Mulder kisses her forehead, then her lips, then they hug and she walks away. The aired version just has the kiss on the head.

The date on the drawer holding Scully's ova is October 29, 1994 - a few days before she was returned to the hospital in the season 2 episode 'One Breath'.

Mulder realizes that the clones of the young boy he saw working with his sister's clones in the season's premiere Herrenvolk, are younger clones from the Kurt Crawford series.

Goofs

Just before Mulder goes into the lab with the Kurt Crawford clones, Byers sees the police getting out of their car at the front of the lab complex. Mulder spends several minutes in the lab with the clones; the scene then cuts to Byers at the front again and the police are just a few feet from their vehicle, although quite a few minutes have passed.

Cast

Starring

Also Starring

Guest Starring

Featuring

External Links

Episode Navigation