Sunday Mornings with Mulder and Scully – Russian Roulette

Did you know that up until 1996, Russian Roulette was never featured in a network television series before? When series creator Chris Carter wanted it to be the finale of an episode in season 3, Fox pushed back over concerns that it would not be allowed to air by censors. Producers persisted and in episode 17 of this season, Pusher became the first episode of any series to feature a game of Russian roulette for television.

Also featured in this episode are inside jokes meant for loyal observant fans. A tabloid features the Flukeman from season two episode The Host. The same tabloid also had a photo of X-Files prop master Ken Hawryliw. At one point, Mulder is reading a copy of American Ronin magazine and there is a pic of production assistant Danielle Faith. Blink and you’ll miss all of these so paying attention even during rewatches is something I always try to do.

Speaking of blink and you’ll miss it, Dave Grohl – lead singer and guitarist of the Foo Fighters – and his wife Jennifer Youngblood were also in this episode during a scene where the antagonist sneaks into the FBI building. Grohl has been open about his interest in UFO lore in the past and refers to the episode as his acting debut.

Pusher, written by series writer Vince Gilligan who would later work on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, is one of the standout episodes of the series. Gilligan is rumored to have stated to Chris Carter that he probably would not top this episode going forward because he thought so highly of it. While not tied to the greater mythology of the series, this episode features one of the better villains played by Robert Wisden who beat out Harvey Fierstein and Lance Henrickson to get the role. Like Gilligan’s other male characters – Walter White and Saul/Jimmy – the role of Robert Patrick Modell in this episode plays with themes about about characters who feel like losers and do terrible things to make themselves seem special. Like Walter White, Modell is ill, suffering from a brain disease he refuses to have cured because he will lose his ability to manipulate people into killing themselves.

Mulder and Scully are given the case after Modell spent two years worth of contract killings and making it look like the victims committed suicide. Mulder believes that he has psychic abilities that push people into doing his will. One of the more gruesome killings that Mulder and Scully try to stop is a SWAT agent who has been manipulated into pouring gasoline on himself and lighting it on fire. A gruesome scene that exhausts Modell who is finally arrested by Mulder and Scully nearby. Not that it mattered. Modell uses his ability to convince the judge to let him go during his arraignment.

Modell’s psychic powers are so strong that he writes the word “pass” on a piece of paper and infiltrates the FBI building as the security team sees it as a real government credential. Modell convinces Holly, a FBI worker, to pull Mulder’s file, Walter Skinner intervenes only to have Modell push Holly to accuse him of mugging her. She pepper sprays and beats Skinner. This was something that really bothered actor Mitch Pileggi who was growing tired of having Skinner beaten up so often. He would get his own episode near the end of this season, but that didn’t stop Pileggi from voicing concerns that fans would see his character as weak.

At Modell’s home, Mulder and Scully find medicine for epilepsy which is when they realize that he probably has a brain tumor and that is where his psychokinetic ability came from. Modell calls a taunting phone call which causes the agent who answered to have a heart attack. He stays on the line anyway so they can get a trace on the call to a hospital where Modell captures Mulder.

Scully finds Mulder and Modell sitting at a table whilst Modell forces Mulder to play Russian roulette with him. As the game progresses, Modell forces Mulder to point the gun at Scully but she pulls the fire alarm breaking the connection between Modell and Mulder. Later, Modell is in a coma and Mulder reveals that his tumor was always operable, but he refused to have it removed because it made him feel like a bigger man. Like the psychokinetic ability made him feel important.

The scene during which Mulder is playing Russian roulette with Modell is probably one of the more tense scenes through the entire series. Duchovny is at the top of his acting game as his character struggles with not wanting to do what Modell tells him but being forced to anyway, even when Scully is beside him yelling for him to stop.

In 1997, the year after this episode aired, the film One Eight Seven was released. It features Samuel L. Jackson as a teacher who is stabbed in school and moves to another city for a fresh start. The police code for murder or homicide is 187. The teacher deals with student gang activity at his new school and ends up playing a game of Russian roulette with one of these students. The film was written by a teacher about the violence that teachers face in inner city schools. While it wasn’t received well by critics at the time because of the grim ending, I remember thinking about this episode of The X-Files when I originally saw the film. It was later when I learned that Fox was afraid of airing Russian roulette on television. Pusher proves that if used in the right way, in the right context, it can have a successful effect on a project. Now more than ever, I give full respect to the producers of The X-Files for fighting to keep it in the episode.

Actor Robert Wisden would reprise his role as Modell in season 5. He also starred in a couple episodes of Millennium, The Twilight Zone, and Battlestar Galactica. Also in this episode is actor Roger Cross who guest starred in five episodes of The X-Files as different characters throughout the series. He also starred in 24 as CTU agent Curtis through several seasons of the show.

As I leave you today, if you haven’t given this episode a rewatch in a while, I suggest you do so. This was peak X-Files territory, proving the show was at its best when it gave us a terrifying villain and did not shy away from doing something that hadn’t been done before on television. Not everything about the series has aged well, but this episode is timeless.

Until next week, the truth is out there.