Improbable
- Episode aired Apr 7, 2002
- TV-14
- 45m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
3.1K
YOUR RATING
Reyes, Doggett, and Scully are pulled into a bizarre serial murder case involving the number '3', numerology on a whole, and an eccentric man who likes to play checkers.Reyes, Doggett, and Scully are pulled into a bizarre serial murder case involving the number '3', numerology on a whole, and an eccentric man who likes to play checkers.Reyes, Doggett, and Scully are pulled into a bizarre serial murder case involving the number '3', numerology on a whole, and an eccentric man who likes to play checkers.
Amy D'Allessandro Stolz
- Amy
- (as Amy D'Allessandro)
Nick DeMarinis
- Pizza Guy
- (as Nick De Marinis)
Ray Buffer
- Neighbor
- (uncredited)
Kelly Knox
- Dancer
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThey had to stop the shooting several times because of Gillian Anderson's reaction when Burt Reynolds danced.
- GoofsWhen Burt Reynolds is playing 3 card Monte with Ray MacKinnon only the 3 cards are on the table but when it is flipped over the whole deck falls to the ground.
- Quotes
Mr. Burt: [held at gunpoint by Scully for the second time] So, you're saying I didn't have anything to do with it?
Dana Scully: [Mr Burt puts down his hands] Hey, keep you hands up!
Mr. Burt: Why?
Dana Scully: I don't know.
- Crazy creditsThe tag line of the opening credits reads "Dio Ti Ama," or "God Loves You" in Italian.
Featured review
A brighter spot in the last seasons of the X-Files
I don't understand how one cannot "get" the plot for this episode. Agent Reyes had been examining numerology when she hears of a recent murder, it allows her to connect this murder with previous ones. Scully, who is skeptical of numerology, notices that all the women have a particular mark, which ties the cases together.
We then see our killer, he is inside a bar where he kills another woman, and nearby is a strange man(Burt Reynolds). The next time we see the killer, he approaches Mr. Burt, who is playing three card monte, having recognized him from before.
Reyes goes to see a numerologist, who just as she finds something, is killed. Eventually, this leads to Scully, Reyes, Mr. Burt, and the killer all inside a parking garage. Mr. Burt convinces the agents to play checkers, which leads to Reyes noticing that their colors are red and black, which fits into the pattern of the serial killer, he had been killing women by patterns of hair, the last victim being blonde. Mr. Burt asks Reyes if the numbers are helping the killer, or if they are helping them catch him, which certainly hints at something about Mr. Burt, as well as his love of music, having seemingly every CD in the trunk of his car, and his viewing everything as a game.
The killer corners the agents and is about to shoot Reyes when Doggett, who had found the killer his own way, by recognizing a pattern in the locations of the victims, shoots him dead. Mr. Burt is nowhere to be seen.
The end of the episode shows to old Italian men singing a song as the body of the killer is hauled out of the parking garage, some kind of festival is going on, as the camera zooms out you see the face of Mr. Burt made from the lights of the city far below, and then the screen blacks out to the credits.
I took Mr. Burt as being God, who, although not directly, stops the serial killer by making his actions into a pattern that could be recognized, using numbers and other coincidences. Basically saying that God is looking out for people, albeit in a strange playful way, if the people are open to everything.
We then see our killer, he is inside a bar where he kills another woman, and nearby is a strange man(Burt Reynolds). The next time we see the killer, he approaches Mr. Burt, who is playing three card monte, having recognized him from before.
Reyes goes to see a numerologist, who just as she finds something, is killed. Eventually, this leads to Scully, Reyes, Mr. Burt, and the killer all inside a parking garage. Mr. Burt convinces the agents to play checkers, which leads to Reyes noticing that their colors are red and black, which fits into the pattern of the serial killer, he had been killing women by patterns of hair, the last victim being blonde. Mr. Burt asks Reyes if the numbers are helping the killer, or if they are helping them catch him, which certainly hints at something about Mr. Burt, as well as his love of music, having seemingly every CD in the trunk of his car, and his viewing everything as a game.
The killer corners the agents and is about to shoot Reyes when Doggett, who had found the killer his own way, by recognizing a pattern in the locations of the victims, shoots him dead. Mr. Burt is nowhere to be seen.
The end of the episode shows to old Italian men singing a song as the body of the killer is hauled out of the parking garage, some kind of festival is going on, as the camera zooms out you see the face of Mr. Burt made from the lights of the city far below, and then the screen blacks out to the credits.
I took Mr. Burt as being God, who, although not directly, stops the serial killer by making his actions into a pattern that could be recognized, using numbers and other coincidences. Basically saying that God is looking out for people, albeit in a strange playful way, if the people are open to everything.
helpful•5522
- johnstamosisdead
- Jun 17, 2007
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