Red Museum

Infobox Television episode | Title = Red Museum


Caption = "Red Museum"
Series = The X-Files
Season = 2
Episode = 2X10
Airdate =
Production =
Writer = Chris Carter
Director = Win Phelps
Guests = None
-
Prev = Firewalker
Next = Excelsis Dei|

"Red Museum" was the tenth episode of the second season of "The X-Files" science-fiction television series created by Chris Carter.

Plot

Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate a number of kidnappings in which children are recovered half-naked and drugged, with either the phrase "He is one" or "She is one" written on their backs. Due to the nature of the drugs given to the children, the agents conclude that the culprit is likely a medical doctor. At first they suspect the leader of a religious vegetarian cult, who at one point practiced as a doctor, but he denies it categorically.

The agents then discover that all the kidnapped children have at one point been treated by the same man, Dr. Larsen, and begin to suspect him instead. Another kidnapping occurs, but this time the kid does not return alive. A local man, Gerd Thomas, finally confesses to having kidnapped the children, but denies having anything to do with the murder. During his questioning, he reveals that Dr. Larsen has been inoculating children with the same substance that he has been giving to cattle preparing for slaughter.

Putting the pieces together, Scully tells Mulder of recent tests which show that the children have been injected with the same substance as found in the Erlenmeyer flask from the episode of the same name. This substance is believed by Mulder to contain extra-terrestrial DNA. She also remembers recently seeing the man responsible for Deep Throat's death, and believes he is in town. She holds him accountable for the murder.

Mulder gathers all the people who have been given the substance in the cult's meetinghouse, and, without alerting Scully, he goes to the local slaughter house where he confronts Deep Throat's murderer. During their struggle, he becomes locked in the meat freezer, but luckily Scully acts on the same hunch, and brings the police to his rescue. The sheriff kills Deep Throat's killer as he is about to burn the slaughter house and the evidence stored there. The meat contained in the slaughter house is, however, inconclusive as evidence, and the agents fail to solve the case.

Despite the aforementioned developments of the show's mythological plot arc, there is also more subtly the first explicit reference of a detail that is only finally confirmed (both for the audience and for Mulder) in the very last episode of the series - The Truth (I and II) (episodes 9X19/9X20) - seven seasons later.

ee also

*Walk-in (Term used by Mulder to describe the members of the cult)

References and external links

*imdb title|0751185|Red Museum
* [http://www.tv.com/the-x-files/red-museum/episode/524/summary.html Red Museum] at TV.com