WRITTEN BY
David Amann
DIRECTED BY
Richard Compton
AIRED ON
December 3, 2000
RUNTIME
44 minutes
STARRING
VIEWS
465
LAST UPDATE
2024-08-13 08:30:06
PAGE VERSION
Version 2
LIKES
0
DISLIKES
0
SUMMARY
The episode centers on a baffling case involving the sudden reappearance of a boy named Billy Underwood, who had vanished ten years earlier. Agents Mulder and Scully are called in when Billy is found, unchanged and unaged since his disappearance, leaving the local community in shock and confusion. As the agents investigate, they uncover disturbing clues suggesting supernatural forces at play, including links to a mysterious figure and strange occurrences around the boy's family and school. The episode explores themes of lost innocence, the passage of time, and the haunting nature of unresolved trauma, weaving a chilling narrative that challenges Mulder and Scully's understanding of reality and the paranormal.
STORY
No story yet.
BEHIND THE SCENES
- - The song that is being heard throughout the episode is "All the Pretty Little Horses" (also known as "Hush-a-bye"). It is a traditional American lullaby.
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REVIEWS
Very good story about child abduction
Written by
Pike on 2015-12-31
★
★
★
★
The episode's opening sequence is quite good, even though it is very similar to the opening scene from The Calusari (S02E21). The soundtrack and direction are quite good.
Then, we follow Doggett and Scully in yet another new investigation without Mulder. Once more, this episode is a great addition to the excellent and strong beginning of season 8. The themes are quite dark and the episodes work extremely great. It's always a pleasure to see the dialogues between Doggett and Scully.
Also, the mystery of the episode is very well implemented. You want to know the secret until the very end.
I give the episode a 4 out of 5: Very good.
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A nice one for David Amann
Written by
Gruic on 2017-10-13
★
★
★
I'm not a big fan of Amann work, but this one is, if not a solid episode, an interesting one.
Robert Patrick is a great actor, playing Doggett at 200% and the plot gives him the possibility to run and scream and I love when Robert do that.
I also like the photography of this episode.
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An old recipe
Written by
DuaneB on 2018-05-12
★
★
★
★
★
This episode perfectly illustrates this magnificent alchemy of respect and repulsion that rages between Dogget and Scully.
The story of the rapture echoes some of the best episodes in the series:
-Conduit
-The Calusari
-Oubliette
Above all, this episode echoes Samantha's kidnapping. The emotional alibi is very simple: in order to better love Dogget, the writers wanted to create a story about the disappearance of a loved one -in this case his son- to make a kind of continuity of a missing Mulder. Emotional continuity in the mind of a skeptic.
The Dogget Scully relationship is at its peak of arguments, opposing opinions, and it is with a certain enjoyment that we appreciate this new relationship. Scully's masculinity makes her shine as a woman; and Mulder's femininity at times too much in emotion is replaced by a doggetian virility that plays with Scully's electric batteries. This magnificent repulsion, in addition to a successful story and a very x-files photograph, as Gruic rightly says, gives us a superb survey. In addition, Dogget's frustration and Scully's response sum up perfectly the spirit of the show.
The secondary characters are very well played. The lost leader and the follower-victim also lost are perfect in their records. The good woman and her trailer give a popular side that contrasts very well with the American family and classic residential. We have the social side that X files often picks up; sometimes more adroitly than others. But this is very well found.
I give a 9/10 for all these reasons.
TRANSCRIPT
SCENE 1
WEBSTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
DEXTER OKLAHOMA
SEPTEMBER 21, 1990
(Elementary school playground. A school festival is going on. First shot is an aerial view of a large five-armed wheel centered around a pedestal that is turning slowly as each of the five ponies hitched to the arms walk clockwise. Each has a child on it's back. A MAN is supervising the "ride." The tune of the lullaby, All the Pretty Little Horses is underscoring the scene. It is a hauntingly beautiful song, minor. Nearby, a seven year old blonde boy, BILLY UNDERWOOD, is swinging in the playground area.)
BILLY: Mom! Watch me!
(His mother, LISA UNDERWOOD, is about 11 1/2 months pregnant. She is standing about 20 feet away, hands resting on her enormous belly, and talking to a friend. She glances up at BILLY's voice.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Okay, Billy!
(She smiles and returns to her conversation. A dark-haired, morbid looking teenage boy is watching BILLY.)
BILLY: Mom! You're not watching!
(LISA UNDERWOOD continues laughing with her friend.)
BILLY: Mom!
(Camera is moving in slow motion. The TEENAGE BOY moves closer and looks at the cartoon dinosaurs on the back of BILLY's book bag. Amid the crowd of people in the playground we see BILLY swing into and out of view again, then just the empty swing seat swings into view. Finally, LISA UNDERWOOD looks back up. BILLY is gone.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Billy?! Billy?
(She walks over toward the swings.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Billy! Billy!
(Every parent's worst nightmare has happened. Clutching her belly tightly, she keeps looking, her voice growing more and more panicked.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Billy! Billy! Billy!
(No Billy. Nearby, the TEENAGE BOY holds the dinosaur book bag a moment, an odd look on his face, then drops the book bag to the ground and walks away. LISA UNDERWOOD, now crying and screaming, continues helplessly looking around the playground for her son.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: My little boy... My Billy... Billy! Billy!
[OPENING CREDITS] [OPENING CREDITS] [OPENING CREDITS] [OPENING CREDITS] [OPENING CREDITS]
SCENE 2
WEBSTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
DEXTER OKLAHOMA
TEN YEARS LATER
(Same elementary school is letting out for the day. LISA UNDERWOOD drives up in a minivan and gets out. On her way into the school, she sees a 10 year old dark-haired boy, JOSH UNDERWOOD. She is surprised to see him.)
JOSH: Mom!
LISA UNDERWOOD: Hi. Josh. I was just coming in. They know you're supposed to wait.
(JOSH is not happy about the situation.)
JOSH: They're looking for you.
LISA UNDERWOOD: Who? Who's looking for me? Hey, what is it?
JOSH: Go look, Mom.
(Near the playground, LISA UNDERWOOD sees a group of teachers and school staff. They are all staring at her. She slowly walks to them.)
PRINCIPAL: Mrs. Underwood, we tried to call you. You must've already left.
LISA UNDERWOOD: What is everyone staring at? What is going on?
(The school staff parts to reveal a small blonde boy swinging on the same swing set we saw in the teaser. We see him from behind. LISA UNDERWOOD stares at him in shock, then slowly goes to him.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Oh... Billy?
(The boy gets off of the swing and turns to face her. It is BILLY, still seven years old, dressed in the same clothes. His face is serious. He just looks at her.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: My beautiful boy. Billy? Oh... Oh... Oh...
(Softly crying, she kisses his cheek and hugs him. BILLY is looking at JOSH over her shoulder. JOSH watches, not sure what to think.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: (crying) Oh, Billy.
SCENE 3
DEXTER COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
11:02 AM
(In an observation room, SCULLY is examining BILLY. DOGGETT is watching and listening to them through the glass window. He is holding the ten year old "Missing" flyer of BILLY.)
SCULLY: I'm just going to shine this light in your eyes, okay? You're doing great. See? Nothing to it.
(SCULLY turns and looks at DOGGETT through the window. SHERIFF SANCHEZ joins DOGGETT at the window.)
DOGGETT: He won't speak?
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: No, not even to his parents.
DOGGETT: Are they here, his parents?
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: Oh, they've been here around the clock. I took his prints... It's him. Boy should be a teenager by now, but look at him. Explain to me how that can be.
DOGGETT: I can't say, Sheriff. I'm just here to find out who took him.
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: I talked to everyone at school and no one saw him come back or how. The boy just come out of the blue.
(SCULLY comes out of the room and closes the door. Down the hall, two DEPUTIES are carrying boxes.)
DOGGETT: Are those the case files?
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: Oh, yeah. Plenty more where those came from. There's lots of files. There's just not much in them. We never even had a suspect.
DOGGETT: (pointing) Have them set them over there, would you.
(SHERIFF SANCHEZ steps away to direct the DEPUTIES.)
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: Set those on that table.
SCULLY: (speaking quietly to DOGGETT) Okay. Well, what we've got here is a healthy seven-year-old boy who was born 17 years ago.
DOGGETT: And a healthy boy who won't speak.
(LISA and DOUG UNDERWOOD come down the hall to SCULLY and DOGGETT.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Excuse me? Are you finished with Billy?
SCULLY: Mr. and Mrs. Underwood?
LISA UNDERWOOD: Um, you're with the FBI...
SCULLY: Yes. I'm Agent Scully, and this is Agent Doggett. We are, uh, investigating this case.
LISA UNDERWOOD: (smiling with delight, looking toward BILLY) It's a miracle, isn't it?
(SCULLY and DOGGETT look at each other. He steps away.)
SCULLY: Mrs. Underwood... whatever your son has been through, it has somehow affected his physical condition.
LISA UNDERWOOD: So we've been told by every doctor here. We just want to take him home. After ten years, can we do that?
(DOGGETT takes a large paper evidence bag from one of the file boxes.)
DOGGETT: Not yet. I want to talk to him first.
(SCULLY is surprised. DOGGETT goes into the room with BILLY and closes the door. SCULLY and the parents watch through the window.)
DOGGETT: How you doing, Billy? My name's John. I'm gonna have a seat over here, is that okay? Is that all right?
(DOGGETT sits at the table. BILLY doesn't say anything, just keeps drawing the same symbol on a piece of paper with a black magic marker.)
DOGGETT: Billy, I want you to know that you're not alone. I've talked to lots of other boys and girls who've been hurt just like you. Sometimes when they talk about it the hurt starts to go away. You want to talk about it, Billy?
(No response. SCULLY and the UNDERWOODS are watching.)
DOGGETT: You know, maybe you think bad things happened to you because you've been a bad boy... but I'm here to tell you, that's not true. The bad guy is the one who took you away and it's up to you and me to get the bad guy. See, 'cause as big and tough as I am, I can't do it alone. I need your help. Can you tell me about him, Billy? What's his name? What did he look like?
(No answer. DOGGETT opens the evidence bag and sets the backpack with the dinosaur design on the desk.)
DOGGETT: You remember this, don't you, Billy? Would you like to have that back?
(BILLY reaches for the backpack. DOGGETT takes it away again.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: What is he doing?
(SCULLY is at a complete and embarrassed loss for words.)
SCULLY: Uh...
DOGGETT: All I want is his name.
(LISA UNDERWOOD angrily enters the room and picks up BILLY and the backpack.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Who the hell do you think you are? He's only a little boy.
(She carries him out of the room.)
SCULLY: Mr. Underwood...?
(DOUG UNDERWOOD follows his wife out of the hospital. SCULLY goes to confront DOGGETT.)
SCULLY: You think this is a game?
DOGGETT: A serious game; one we have to win.
SCULLY: Have you really worked kid cases before, Agent Doggett? Child abductions?
DOGGETT: I worked the child abduction task force. I know the horror stories, but this kid can help us.
SCULLY: This isn't just a horror story. This is a biological impossibility.
DOGGETT: Well, that's your area of expertise. I just want to put the person who did this out of business. Billy just didn't show up. He got away or was let go. And if he can talk, he can tell us by who. Or he can look at photos in the files and point to the man who did this so this doesn't happen to some other little boy.
SCULLY: You are ignoring the fact that he is still seven years old.
DOGGETT: Failure to thrive. Isn-isn't that the term? I mean, aren't there diseases that delay puberty and so on?
SCULLY: I told you... he's not sick.
DOGGETT: Good. Then he can talk.
(DOGGETT turns his back on her and walks away, closing the door behind him.)
SCENE 4
(The UNDERWOODS pull up outside their nice suburban house in their minivan. LISA UNDERWOOD gets out and opens the right-side sliding door. BILLY looks at her.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: We're home, honey. Safe at home.
(DOUG UNDERWOOD opens the other sliding door.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: I'm going to go pay the sitter, Doug. You bring Billy in.
(DOUG UNDERWOOD watches his wife go to the house. BILLY stares at his father. DOUG UNDERWOOD is uncomfortable. He unfastens BILLY's seatbelt.)
DOUG UNDERWOOD: Are you glad to be home, Billy?
(Inside the house, we see the backyard through a pair of glass doors. There is a playhouse and JOSH is playing ball with a dog.)
DOUG UNDERWOOD: A lot's new here, son. You have a younger brother now. Josh. See that big dog out there with him? That's Sparky.
(BILLY shows no interest, just stares at JOSH.)
DOUG UNDERWOOD: Would you like to go play with him?
(DOUG UNDERWOOD starts to open the door. SPARKY THE DOG sees BILLY standing behind the sliding glass doors, and runs up barking ferociously, snarling, and trying to get to BILLY.)
DOUG UNDERWOOD: Sparky, stop it! Get down! What's gotten into you? Sparky! Sparky, hey! What's going on?
(JOSH is looking at BILLY.)
DOUG UNDERWOOD: Hey! Knock it off!
(More barking and growling. LISA UNDERWOOD comes to them.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: What's the matter, Doug?
DOUG UNDERWOOD: I don't know. The dog just went off... Sparky, what is wrong with you? Come on, let's go.
(LISA UNDERWOOD holds onto BILLY as DOUG UNDERWOOD grabs SPARKY THE DOG by the collar and drags him off into the yard. LISA UNDERWOOD turns to BILLY and holds him comfortingly. BILLY doesn't seem upset.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Honey, it's all right. He just didn't recognize you, that's all. He's a nice dog, Sparky. He just doesn't realize that you're part of the family.
(BILLY is not looking at her. He and JOSH are staring at each other.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: But you are, Billy and we're just so glad that you're finally home.
SCENE 5
DEXTER COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
9:48 PM
(DOGGETT is reading files in an office. SCULLY enters the room and closes the door.)
SCULLY: You going to sleep here, too?
DOGGETT: What time is it?
SCULLY: I spoke with the doctors who treated Billy. I looked at his charts.
DOGGETT: And what, did you find something?
SCULLY: Yes and no. What showed up is that Billy is the same boy who was taken ten years ago.
DOGGETT: We know that.
SCULLY: No. I mean the ?same- boy. He has no cavities. He has no tooth decay. He still has four baby teeth that he's never lost. He had a routine blood test six weeks before he disappeared in 1990. His cell counts, his enzymes, his hormone levels, they are all exactly the same as they were ten years ago.
DOGGETT: Now how can that be possible?
SCULLY: It's medically impossible.
DOGGETT: So, what's the punch line? Where are you saying he's been?
(Pause. SCULLY looks down for a moment, deciding how to phrase her next words.)
SCULLY: There are ? X-File cases that describe similar paranormal findings. Alien abductees who came back with anomalous medical stats.
DOGGETT: You know, these words: "Anomalous," "supernatural," "paranormal..." They purport to explain something by not explaining it. It's lazy.
(He drops the file on the table and turns away from her.)
SCULLY: I'm not saying that I can explain it, Agent Doggett, but this is definitely not normal.
(DOGGETT gets another file.)
DOGGETT: I went back to the witnesses at the crime scene the day Billy vanished, to this guy, Ronald Purnell.
(DOGGETT shows SCULLY a mugshot of the teenager we saw in the teaser, RONALD PURNELL. #DSDJ-91 850, about 66 inches tall.)
DOGGETT: He was detained, questioned and dismissed as a suspect.
SCULLY: What's your interest in this guy?
DOGGETT: He's a high school dropout, convicted of possession, arson, and shoplifting since 1990.
SCULLY: These are juvenile records. These are sealed by the court, Agent Doggett. We're not supposed to have these.
DOGGETT: And we're at a standstill here.
SCULLY: (angry) Yeah, and you're breaking the law.
DOGGETT: Look, I want to catch this guy, Agent Scully, whatever it takes.
(Tension in the room.)
SCENE 6
UNDERWOOD RESIDENCE
10:14 PM
(Barking outside. Inside, LISA UNDERWOOD is tucking BILLY into bed in his old room, apparently. His eyes are closed.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: We love you so much, Billy. It's so good to have you back-- to be tucking you in. Sleep tight.
(She turns out the light, leaves the room, and closes the door. Immediately, BILLY sits up. Creepy music. BILLY goes out into the hall and listens to his parents arguing in their bedroom.)
[CLOSED CAPTIONING ALSO HAD:
LISA UNDERWOOD: He's asleep.
DOUG UNDERWOOD: Billy or Josh?
LISA UNDERWOOD: Both, but I meant Billy.]
DOUG UNDERWOOD: Of course you did.
LISA UNDERWOOD: What is that supposed to mean?
DOUG UNDERWOOD: It means that you're blind to what's going on here, Lisa.
LISA UNDERWOOD: Ten years we prayed for this. Every night we prayed to God.
DOUG UNDERWOOD: I prayed for our son. That is not the boy I knew, Lisa.
LISA UNDERWOOD: What do you expect him to be? They told us this will take time.
DOUG UNDERWOOD: Even Josh is afraid of him.
LISA UNDERWOOD: He is nothing to be afraid of.
DOUG UNDERWOOD: I wish I could believe that.
LISA UNDERWOOD: How can you sit here and say these things to me? I thought this would make us both so happy.
[CLOSED CAPTIONING ALSO HAD:
DOUG UNDERWOOD: We should have tried to get more answers. We were too quick to pull him out of the hospital.
LISA UNDERWOOD: We weren't quick enough, Doug.
DOUG UNDERWOOD: For all we know he may need some kind of medical attention.
LISA UNDERWOOD: Don't try to make this sound like you're concerned for Billy. It's sickening.
DOUG UNDERWOOD: What I'm concerned about is this family. Something is wrong with him, Lisa.
LISA UNDERWOOD: He is our son!]
(BILLY turns away from their room and walks down the hall. He is holding a large hunting knife. He opens JOSH's bedroom door, enters, and closes the door behind him. Crayon drawings, including one of JOSH's name, decorate the door.)
SCENE 7
BAKER COUNTY, OKLAHOMA
7:42 AM
(Rundown trailer in a grassless barnyard. DOGGETT arrives in his rental sedan and gets out of the car. Oil drill in the background.)
DOGGETT: Anybody in there? Hello? Ronald Purnell?
(No answer. An old beige rusted and dented car pulls up in the yard. Unseen by DOGGETT, a woman in her 40's, MARCIA PURNELL, peeks out one of the windows of the house. RONNIE PURNELL, now in his twenties, is driving the car. He looks just as moody and depressed as before. DOGGETT goes to the car window.)
DOGGETT: Ronald Purnell?
RONNIE PURNELL: Yeah.
DOGGETT: Can I talk to you?
(RONNIE PURNELL avoids eye contact.)
DOGGETT: Can you come out, and we can have a conversation?
(RONNIE PURNELL reluctantly gets out of the car. He is wearing clothes that are too big for him.)
RONNIE PURNELL: Is this about my probation?
DOGGETT: It's about a little boy named Billy Underwood. You know that name? Ring a bell?
RONNIE PURNELL: (looking down) No.
DOGGETT: It does to everybody else in this area. He vanished from a school fair you were at ten years ago.
(RONNIE PURNELL looks uncomfortable.)
DOGGETT: You remember him now?
RONNIE PURNELL: Yeah. I remember him.
DOGGETT: You think he'd remember you?
RONNIE PURNELL: Me?
DOGGETT: You. Your face.
(RONNIE PURNELL chuckles humorlessly and shakes his head.)
RONNIE PURNELL: You're a trip, man. You know that?
DOGGETT: This has nothing to do with you being stoned or violating your probation. All I'm asking is that we go see Billy. See what he says.
(DOGGETT opens the passenger door of his car. RONNIE PURNELL stares at him in confusion.)
RONNIE PURNELL: See what he says where?
DOGGETT: Where? Wherever. Wherever you want. I'll make sure he's there.
RONNIE PURNELL: You're not making sense, Dude. Just leave me alone.
(RONNIE PURNELL goes into the house. DOGGETT watches him go, then slowly gets back into his car. He sits a moment, then takes out his wallet and pulls out a fairly new looking picture of a smiling little boy, perhaps eight years old. The boy looks very similar to DOGGETT. DOGGETT sighs. [CarriK: Credits listed a LUKE DOGGETT.] )
SCENE 8
(UNDERWOOD house, next morning. LISA UNDERWOOD enters BILLY's room. The door is not completely closed, and the bed is empty. Death music from Swan Lake is playing.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Billy? Honey, are you here?
(She goes into JOSH's room. He is still asleep. There is a bloody hunting knife sticking up out of the mattress very close beside JOSH. LISA UNDERWOOD screams hysterically, waking up JOSH.)
JOSH: What?! What are you doing?!
(He jumps up as she runs to him.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Joshey! Oh, my god! Are you hurt?
JOSH: No.
(There is blood on his nightshirt.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: You're bleeding.
JOSH: Mom!
(She points at the knife.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Where did that come from?
JOSH: I don't know.
(They both turn and see BILLY standing in the room, staring at JOSH.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: (gently) Billy. Billy... Billy, honey... what are you doing here?
(JOSH stares at BILLY, clearly freaked out.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Please, Billy, answer me.
SCENE 9
DEXTER COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
11:09 AM
(SCULLY and DOGGETT are looking at the bagged, bloody knife held by SHERIFF SANCHEZ.)
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: Just got word back from the lab. Ran the blood twice and no doubt about it. It's the little boy's.
DOGGETT: But I thought you said he wasn't cut.
(DOGGETT takes the knife.)
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: No. You're misunderstanding. It's the other son I'm talking about, Billy-- the boy who was kidnapped.
DOGGETT: That doesn't make any sense.
SCULLY: No. Billy wasn't cut either.
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: No, but he definitely handled the knife. His prints are on it.
DOGGETT: Where did he even get it?
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: His father's never seen it before. He's no hunter. Never cleaned an animal, which is about all a knife like that's good for... except for killing, of course.
SCULLY: Well, I hate to say this ? but I think that the best thing for Billy and his family is if he's removed to an institution under the observation of people who are experienced in these things.
DOGGETT: You mean, remove him? Take him away? After all his family's been through?
SCULLY: This is not a normal child, Agent Doggett, and this is not a normal act.
DOGGETT: You make it sound like he's possessed. Call the exorcist. He's a kid-- a kid who's been through who knows what kind of hell. Give him a chance. How do you know he's not trying to communicate something?
SCULLY: And what's the message?
(DOGGETT has no answer.)
SCULLY: Yes, he's a kid, Agent Doggett, you're right. He's a kid who materialized out of thin air, unaged. Do you not somehow recognize how strange this is?
(DOGGETT looks back down at the knife. A simple five-armed symbol is engraved on the handle of the knife.)
DOGGETT: Did anybody notice this? This symbol?
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: Yeah. Yeah, uh, I was going to mention that to you 'cause it's... uh ?kind of weird.
DOGGETT: Weird how?
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: Well, like I told you, we tried everything to find that boy, and who abducted him went so far as to bring in a police psychic ten years back-- came up with that very same symbol.
DOGGETT: Well, how exactly did he come up with it?
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: She. Sharon Pearl. Couldn't say how it came to her.
SCULLY: I've seen this symbol before, too.
DOGGETT: You have?
(SCULLY goes into the observation room. She picks up the sheet of paper that BILLY was drawing on and holds it up against the window for the men to see. It is covered with many small copies of the same symbol.)
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: I'll be damned.
SCENE 10
(BILLY's bedroom. LISA UNDERWOOD is dressing him. He stands still, not resisting, just staring at her. "All the pretty little horses" is playing.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: We love you so much, Billy. Whatever happened... we want to put it behind us. Be a family again. And if you could help us to understand what you're going through, we could move forward.
(She finishes dressing him and reaches for him. For the first time, he tries to pull away, resist.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: No, we're just going to go see a doctor, someone you might want to talk to. We're coming right back.
(She picks him up and carries him tenderly out of the room and down the hall.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Nothing's going to happen. Mommy won't let anything happen to you.
(JOSH opens his door a crack to watch them leave. BILLY stares at him.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Billy, I just want you to get the help you need so we can all live here together and be happy. Okay? Come on, sweetie.
(As they go down the stares, JOSH sighs, closes the door, and goes to the window where he can look down at the driveway where DOUG UNDERWOOD is getting the minivan ready. LISA UNDERWOOD leads BILLY outside and DOUG UNDERWOOD sighs as he buckles BILLY into the back seat. LISA UNDERWOOD is watching from the other side of the van.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: (slightly irritated) I'll take him, Doug. If it's such a strain on you.
(DOUG UNDERWOOD closes one of the cars sliding doors and looks up to JOSH's window. LISA UNDERWOOD closes the other sliding door and joins her husband in front of the car.)
DOUG UNDERWOOD: Look, if you think a shrink can give us some answers, fine. I just don't want this to ruin our other son's life in any way.
(He gets in the minivan and starts the engine. When he looks over his shoulder to back out of the driveway, BILLY has vanished from his seat.)
DOUG UNDERWOOD: Billy? Billy?
(Billy is not in the van. DOUG UNDERWOOD gets out of the van and he and LISA UNDERWOOD begin calling for him.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Where's Billy?
DOUG UNDERWOOD: Billy?
(THEY CONTINUE CALLING HIS NAME AS: )
(Upstairs, JOSH turns from where he was looking out the window. BILLY is standing right behind him.)
JOSH: (screaming) Dad!
QUICK CUT TO:
(PURNELL's trailer. MARCIA PURNELL is following her son out of the house.)
MARCIA PURNELL: I don't want no more trouble here, Ronnie. Whatever you're doing, you do it somewhere else.
RONNIE PURNELL: You ever get off your lazy ass to do anything but hassle me?!
MARCIA PURNELL: Watch your mouth. I got company coming and he won't take your lip.
RONNIE PURNELL: Who?
(An old pick-up drives up to the house. A truly revolting man, CAL JEPPY, is driving. He is about 50, balding, thick red-brown mustache and goatee. Probably smells bad and doesn't brush his teeth often. RONNIE PURNELL is not happy to see him.)
RONNIE PURNELL: You tell him to stay out of my face.
(CAL JEPPY gets out of the truck and walks swiftly toward RONNIE PURNELL as RONNIE PURNELL avoids his gaze and tries to get away.)
RONNIE PURNELL: Get away from me.
(CAL JEPPY corners him and begins taunting him.)
CAL JEPPY: Where you going, weirdo? Hey. Hey. You steal those clothes off a fat man.? Or'd... you just shrink? Hmm?
(RONNIE PURNELL tries to get past him, but CAL JEPPY blocks him.)
MARCIA PURNELL: (smiling) Hey, you going to get your butt in this trailer, traveling man?
(CAL JEPPY finally lets RONNIE PURNELL get around him, then he walks over to MARCIA and they begin the redneck mating ritual.)
CAL JEPPY: Yeah. All depends on, uh... what you've got in mind. Hmm?
(They kiss. Eww.)
BOTH: Mmm.
(They laugh and she squeals as he slaps her behind and chases her into the house. RONNIE PURNELL walks into the woods nearby. He finds a spot on the ground next to a large twisted stump, and, with effort, pulls out a small shovel hidden under the leaves. He begins digging. Only a few inches below the surface, we see that he has uncovered a small skull.)
SCENE 11
UNDERWOOD RESIDENCE
5:53 PM
(The living room of the UNDERWOOD house. As SCULLY and DOGGETT watch, a woman, SHARON PEARL, about 40, is testing a handheld tape recorder.)
SHARON PEARL: ( on tape ) Testing, one, two, three...
(DOUG UNDERWOOD comes over to SCULLY and DOGGETT. He is quietly frustrated.)
DOUG UNDERWOOD: This is great. Now, I've got a psychic sitting in my living room who's going to tell me what's wrong with my son.
SCULLY: I understand your misgivings, Mr. Underwood, but perhaps you can look at this as just another avenue.
DOUG UNDERWOOD: An avenue to what?
DOGGETT: We're going to solve this case, Mr. Underwood. We're going to find out who did this to your son.
DOUG UNDERWOOD: And then what? What am I left with? A kid who stabs knives into his brother's mattress? You don't know the half of it. He gives everyone but his mother the creeps with that stare of his.
DOGGETT: I just know that this is going to tear you apart. It's going to tear your family apart. And you can't let it. You've got to save them from the damage this can do.
(JOSH comes down the stairs.)
DOUG UNDERWOOD: I'll be happy to save what I can. Come on, Josh. Let's go.
(DOUG UNDERWOOD leaves the house with JOSH.)
SHARON PEARL: (looking at her watch) Is this going to happen?
DOGGETT: Shouldn't you be telling us that?
(SHARON PEARL smiles.)
SHARON PEARL: You're no doubt confused, Agent Doggett. I take psychic readings not see through walls.
(LISA UNDERWOOD brings BILLY downstairs.)
LISA UNDERWOOD: Sorry to keep you waiting.
SHARON PEARL: Mrs. Underwood. I'm Sharon Pearl. I consulted on your son's disappearance back in 1990.
(LISA UNDERWOOD nods. SHARON PEARL kneels down to BILLY's level.)
SHARON PEARL: And you're Billy?
(She looks at him. Her warm friendly expression shifts to shock, then horror.)
SCULLY: Ms. Pearl? Are you okay?
SHARON PEARL: (voice trembling) There are very powerful forces at work here. Working through this boy. Drawing him to his brother. I feel this force...
(She lets go of BILLY's hands and stands.)
SHARON PEARL: I feel this force...
(SHARON PEARL tears her eyes away from BILLY and looks straight at DOGGETT.)
SHARON PEARL: ? coming through you. You lost someone just like Billy.
(SCULLY looks at DOGGETT in surprise. Suddenly SHARON PEARL begins convulsing and speaking gibberish.)
[CLOSED CATIONING: SCULLY: Call 9-1-1.]
(SCULLY and DOGGETT run to where SHARON PEARL has fallen onto the couch.)
DOGGETT: What's happening to her?
[CLOSED CAPTIONING:
SCULLY: She's having a grand mal seizure.]
(SHARON PEARL's forehead begins to swell. The skin ripples into the five-armed symbol. She seems to be in agony.)
SCULLY: Oh, my god.
(SCULLY and DOGGETT look at each other, then back at the woman.)
(PURNELL trailer. As RONNIE PURNELL comes out of the woods and gets into his car, CAL JEPPY comes out of the house. He is wearing a brown sleeveless shirt and drinking a beer. He looks pretty relaxed. Eww.)
CAL JEPPY: Hey, Fartknocker.
(RONNIE PURNELL tries to start his car engine. It won't turn over. CAL JEPPY leans in the car window.)
CAL JEPPY: Where are you going in such a big hurry? Hmm? What's the matter? Got something in your ears?
(CAL JEPPY sticks his finger in RONNIE PURNELL's ear. RONNIE PURNELL flinches and avoids looking at him.)
RONNIE PURNELL: Don't .. don't touch me, Cal.
CAL JEPPY: Oh, listen to him. No wonder he wears them baggy britches. Our Ronnie's a big man now.
(He takes a swig of the beer.)
CAL JEPPY: Your old lady said the cops came and talked to you. Hmm?
(In a sudden burst of violence, CAL JEPPY smashes the beer bottle against the side of the car and holds the edge of the broken neck against RONNIE PURNELL's head.)
CAL JEPPY: I am talking to you, not the side of your head. Better mind your Ps and Qs, Jones. Or I'm going to tell them what you did to that little boy. I'm going to tell them what you got buried out there in the woods.
(RONNIE PURNELL slowly turns to look at him. CAL JEPPY stabs him with the bottle right behind his left ear. RONNIE PURNELL gasps in pain and puts his hand to his head as MARCIA PURNELL looks out the front door.)
MARCIA PURNELL: What's going on with you two?
CAL JEPPY: Talking about cars.
(CAL JEPPY "affectionately" slaps the hood of the car and RONNIE PURNELL's shoulder, then walks back to the house as RONNIE PURNELL gets the car started and drives away quickly, tires spinning in the dirt.)
SCENE 12
(Night. Outside the UNDERWOOD house later. An ambulance is pulling away. LISA UNDERWOOD leads BILLY back into the house. SCULLY joins DOGGETT in their car.)
SCULLY: Well, they've got her stabilized and it looks like she's going to be okay... if you're at all curious about her condition.
DOGGETT: I'd be more curious if I believed it.
SCULLY: Believed what?
DOGGETT: The act.
SCULLY: You think that was an act?
DOGGETT: It's pretty standard fare, isn't it? Float a few choice revelations, as if they came from on high, roll around on the floor.
SCULLY: You saw that symbol appear on her forehead.
DOGGETT: It's a damn good trick. Don't ask me how she does it.
(SCULLY takes out the tape recorder and pushes play. We hear the recording of SHARON PEARL speaking gibberish. DOGGETT does not want to hear it.)
DOGGETT: Agent Scully, please.
SCULLY: No. I think you want to hear this.
(More gibberish.)
SCULLY: Now listen to it backwards.
(She pushes the reverse button. A garbled singing plays.)
VOICE: (singing) When you wake ?
DOGGETT: What was that?
VOICE: (singing) ? you shall have ?
SCULLY: It's a child singing.
VOICE: (singing) ? all the pretty little horses...
SCULLY: Lyrics.
(SCULLY hums the tune along with the voice.)
VOICE: (singing) Hush-a-bye, don't you cry... go to sleep, little baby...
SCULLY: You hear that, under the noise? Now...
(SCULLY looks back down at the recorder. DOGGETT notices RONNIE PURNELL's car pull up across the street.)
DOGGETT: What's he doing here?
(RONNIE PURNELL stops his car in front of the house. As he is looking at the house, a small hand touches his shoulder. RONNIE PURNELL turns and stares in shock at the calm face of BILLY.)
RONNIE PURNELL: Get away from me.
(RONNIE PURNELL starts to get out of the car, but DOGGETT has come up to his window.)
DOGGETT: (knocking on the window) Ronnie, open up the car!
(DOGGETT also sees BILLY sitting in the passenger seat. Panicked, RONNIE PURNELL starts the car and drives away.)
DOGGETT: Ronnie. Ronnie, stop the car!
(DOGGETT, ala Terminator 2, begins chasing the car.)
DOGGETT: (yelling) Agent Scully, he's got Billy!
(SCULLY slides over to the driver's seat and circles the block to cut off RONNIE PURNELL on a side street. They screech to a halt. SCULLY gets out of the car, gun ready.)
SCULLY: Get out of the car! Now!
(He does, hands up. DOGGETT catches up with them, and roughly turns RONNIE PURNELL against the car.)
DOGGETT: Don't move, Ronnie.
(DOGGETT sees that BILLY is no longer in the car.)
DOGGETT: Where's Billy?
SCULLY: I thought you said Billy was in the car?
DOGGETT: Where's Billy?
(RONNIE PURNELL doesn't answer. DOGGETT gives him a small shove, and then turns away angrily.)
SCENE 13
DALE'S FOOD AND GAS
9:17 PM
(DOUG UNDERWOOD starts filling up the gas tank. JOSH is waiting in the car.)
DOUG UNDERWOOD: I'm going to go pay. You want anything?
(JOSH shakes his head.)
DOUG UNDERWOOD: Josh, are you okay, buddy?
(He nods. DOUG UNDERWOOD goes into the station. JOSH's sits up eagerly as he sees a man leading a saddled pony to a horse trailer next to another pump.
JOSH: Dad, can I...?
(Dad can't hear. JOSH can't wait. He's ten years old and it's a pony! He gets out of the van and goes over to the trailer.)
JOSH: Mister?
(The pony has already been loaded into the trailer. No sign of the man. JOSH looks through the slats on the side of the trailer.)
JOSH: Pony, hey, pony. Hey, there you are.
(He reaches his arms through the slats.)
[CLOSED CAPTIONING:
JOSH: are you in there? Is it okay if I pet you? Hey, there you are. Come here, pony. Come here, boy. I'm just going to pet you, okay? Come on. ]
(Suddenly, JOSH's body slams up against the side of the trailer as his arms are grasped from within. The front of the dusty trailer advertises "Cal's Pony Ride-Along" and has the five-armed symbol as the central motif. JOSH screams as the pickup truck pulls the trailer and him away.)
JOSH: Help! Help!
SCENE 14
(Sheriff's office. DOGGETT watches as SHERIFF SANCHEZ books RONNIE PURNELL. DOGGETT is pacing impatiently.)
SCULLY: Count to ten, Agent Doggett.
DOGGETT: He took Billy.
SCULLY: (sighs) He couldn't have.
DOGGETT: How are you going to back that up with Billy now missing from his home?
SCULLY: By the certain knowledge that not five minutes earlier, I saw him enter his home with his mother.
DOGGETT: I saw him! I saw Billy riding in the car with Ronnie. Why else would Ronnie take off like he did?
SCULLY: It's impossible, Agent Doggett, like everything else about this case. Like how Billy can be in his home one minute and then in Ronnie's car the next. Everything about this case is impossible.
DOGGETT: This kid is the key, Agent Scully. I've been saying that from the beginning and I'll say it now.
(SHERIFF SANCHEZ opens the door.)
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: Agent Doggett, Agent Scully, I got bad news on top of worse. Josh, the Underwood's other little boy, has disappeared.
(They both look at him.)
SHERIFF SANCHEZ: I'm not joking, not even close. I got the parents out here now. Come on.
(SCULLY follows SHERIFF SANCHEZ into another room where the UNDERWOODs are waiting, worried. DOGGETT calls after her.)
DOGGETT: I've got to talk to this kid, Agent Scully. I'm absolutely sure.
(SCULLY gives him a look, then turns to the parents.)
SCENE 15
(RONNIE PURNELL is escorted into an interrogation room.)
DOGGETT: Have a seat, Ronnie.
RONNIE PURNELL: (sitting) I know what you're going to ask... but I got no answer.
DOGGETT: Well, there can be only one answer, right? I mean, why else did you go to the house? You went there for Billy, to get him back.
RONNIE PURNELL: No.
DOGGETT: You had him in your car.
RONNIE PURNELL: I don't know how he got there.
DOGGETT: Then why go to the house at all?
RONNIE PURNELL: Because I didn't believe you.
**(RONNIE PURNELL has a flashback of BILLY at the fair swinging and calling to his mother, "Mom!" He sees himself standing next to the swing, something hidden in his palm, maybe the knife?)**
DOGGETT: You didn't believe what? What's so hard to believe, Ronnie?
RONNIE PURNELL: You said I could talk to him.
DOGGETT: (cop mode) You needed to talk to him. After all those years, you couldn't live without him. You wanted him back. All those years, Ronnie. All those years. Where'd you keep him?
**(Another flashback, this of himself looking a BILLY, bound and gagged, perhaps under the slatted floor of a barn.)**
RONNIE PURNELL: Man, you don't understand.
DOGGETT: You were sorry you let him go.
RONNIE PURNELL: (voice starting to tremble) No, I... I couldn't let him go.
**(Flashback of himself using the knife through a metal grate to cut the rope binding BILLY's wrists together. He is singing softly to him in the voice we heard on the tape. "When you wake you shall have all the pretty little horses." He looks over his shoulder in fear at someone entering the barn.)**
DOGGETT: Who else knew about him? Your mom?
RONNIE PURNELL: No.
DOGGETT: Where'd you keep him?
RONNIE PURNELL: I didn't.
DOGGETT: What did you do to him?!
RONNIE PURNELL: I didn't do anything. I took care of him. I-I sang to him... you know, so he wouldn't be afraid.
DOGGETT: (pause, then gently) Afraid of who? Who was he afraid of, Ronnie? Somebody else involved? Somebody else make you do it? He take that other kid, too? Billy's brother? He take him?
(RONNIE PURNELL looks worried.)
DOGGETT: You're afraid of him, too, aren't you? You're a victim, just like those other kids. Is that right? You... me, Billy. This is our chance, man. What's his name?
(RONNIE PURNELL hesitates, his lips moving, almost ready to speak.)
SCENE 16
(Later that night, PURNELL trailer yard. Overhead shot of the five-armed pony walker we saw ten years ago. The horse trailer is parked outside the barn. Police cars arrive. DOGGETT and SCULLY get out of their car and run to the barn door.)
DOGGETT: FBI! Cal Jeppy! Come out!
(They enter the barn and find JOSH, bound and gagged under the floorboards. Together, they open a trapdoor and metal grate to free the boy.)
DOGGETT: All right. It's okay, Josh. You're okay. We're not going to hurt you.
(SCULLY looks out through the slatted side of the barn and sees CAL JEPPY running toward the wooded area.)
SCULLY: Agent Doggett... He's on the run.
(Leaving SCULLY with JOSH, DOGGETT runs out of the barn and after CAL JEPPY. He yells to the backup officers.)
DOGGETT: He's in the woods!
(The others follow DOGGETT.)
DOGGETT: Watch your fire! There may be another boy!
(Gasping, CAL JEPPY runs through the woods. DOGGETT, flashlight in one hand, gun in the other, catches up with him.)
DOGGETT: Down on your knees!
(Panting, CAL JEPPY obeys.)
DOGGETT: Hands in the air! Where's the kid?!
CAL JEPPY: He's in the trailer.
DOGGETT: Other kid!
CAL JEPPY: There's no other kid.
DOGGETT: Billy Underwood!
CAL JEPPY: (terrified, confused) There's no other kid.
(DOGGETT turns and looks behind him. BILLY is standing there, a few feet away. DOGGETT turns back to CAL JEPPY and the other officers arriving.)
DOGGETT: Get this man in cuffs! Read him his rights! The kid's over...
(DOGGETT turns to show them where BILLY is. BILLY is gone. As the other officers cuff CAL JEPPY, DOGGETT walks over to where he saw BILLY standing a moment before. He looks down at the ground and stares at the small exposed skull that RONNIE PURNELL uncovered earlier.)
SCENE 17
(Next morning. Area is taped off with crime scene tape. The simple melody of "All the Pretty Little Horses" is heard. DOUG and LISA UNDERWOOD are looking at the little crude grave. DOUG UNDERWOOD is softly crying. DOGGETT watches them a moment, then crosses to join SCULLY a few yards away. They speak quietly and urgently.)
DOGGETT: I don't believe it.
SCULLY: Okay, the clothes, the age and condition of the bones, the location of the grave. There is no doubt that that is Billy Underwood's skeleton that is in that grave.
DOGGETT: We spent time with this boy. Doctors took Billy's blood. You examined him yourself. Now, I can't accept it. I can't believe we're asking them to.
SCULLY: I know, but the forensic evidence is going to come out, and what then? What if I'm right?
DOGGETT: Well, what then, Agent Scully? What we do? We move on, let it go, case closed?
SCULLY: Look, I know where you are with this. I have been there. I know what you're feeling-- that you've failed and that you have to explain this somehow. And maybe you can.
DOGGETT: Not if that's Billy's body, I can't.
SCULLY: But maybe that's explanation enough. That that's not Billy's brother lying in that grave, too. That that man who did this is never going to be able to do it again. Isn't that what you wanted, Agent Doggett?
DOGGETT: Agent Scully, don't ask me to believe that this is some kind of justice from beyond the grave.
SCULLY: All I'm saying is that maybe you succeeded... whether you're willing to see that or not.
(Lullaby melody again. She holds his gaze for a moment, then walks off alone into the woods. DOUG UNDERWOOD wipes his face and stands up from the grave. He and his wife embrace each other tightly. DOGGETT watches them silently.)
ALL THE PRETTY LITTLE HORSES
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry
Go to sleep my little baby.
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses.
Dapples and Grays
Pintos and Bays
All the pretty little horses
Way out yonder, down in the meadow
Poor little baby crying, "Mama."
Birds and butterflies, flutter round your eyes
Poor little baby crying, "Mama."
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry
Go to sleep my little baby.
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses.
Dapples and Grays
Pintos and Bays
All the pretty little horses.
[THE END]
No history.
