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Nothing Important Happened Today (Part 1 of 2)

Episode: 9X01
Airdate: 11/11/01
Written by: Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz
Directed by: Kim Manners
Starring: Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully, Robert Patrick as John Doggett, Annabeth Gish as Monica Reyes, and Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Also Starring: James Pickens Jr. as Deputy Director Kersh and Cary Elwes as Brad Follmer
Special Guest Star: Lucy Lawless as Shannon McMahon


PREVIOUSLY ON THE X-FILES

IMAGES FROM "NOTHING IMPORTANT HAPPENED TODAY" COMING SOON!!!


TEASER
A man sits at a bar. He uses his hand to take the ice cubes out of his drink.

He makes his way over to a woman, who we later learn is Shannon McMahon. They order drinks, and he tells the bartender not to put ice in it this time. He explains to McMahon that it’s not the ice that he doesn’t want, but rather the water. The government has started to put the additive Chloramine in it. She tells him that she heard about it, but that it is supposed to be good for you. He's not so sure.

He tells her that he didn’t mean to scare her; he came over for quite the opposite reason. She asks him if he wants to get some air.

The two of them take off in his convertible. He starts asking her some things, but she doesn’t answer, she just directs him where to go.

The come to the bridge and the gate comes down, as the bridge is ready to rise. She puts her hand on his thigh. Of course he is content. That is until she grabs the
gearshift and wheel and makes the car go faster. He yells at her to stop, but she doesn’t, and the go right through the gate.

The car goes right over the edge and into the water.

Underwater the man struggles with the seatbelt as McMahon is still.

Finally the seatbelt latch comes loose and the man starts to the surface. Suddenly McMahon grabs onto his leg, hard, and won’t let go.

The man screams as the camera pans away.

ACT ONE
WASHINGTON DC
48 HOURS LATER
In what we can tell is Scully’s bathroom, a man, obscured by the curtain, presumably Mulder, is taking a shower. (NOTE: Why is it that when we actually get to see Mulder’s naked outline, it’s not David???)

William is crying. The camera pans through the open(!) door to show William’s bassinet.

Scully walks past and shuts the bathroom door. She then picks up William to quiet him. Scully looks really sad.

As Scully carries William into the living room, the camera pans down to show packed suitcases on the floor.

There is a buzzing sound as the scene switches to a man lying on his back in bed. The buzzing is from his alarm clock. He stretches and turns over and we can see that the man is Doggett. He looks at the large bruise on his side and then sits up.

The scene changes again to show Reyes’ back as she lies on her side.

The phone rings and she sits up to get it. She is naked from the waste up.

The voice asks if he woke her. She identifies that it is Brad and tells him that she is awake. He questions that she is in town, and she tells him that she came on short notice. He asks her that if she is going to the Hoover building if she will stop at his office on her way in. She tells him that she will.

The scene changes again to show a kettle whistling. Doggett picks it up and pours himself a mug of it. A poptart pops from the toaster and he takes it.

As Doggett walking into his living room, there is a picture of the man from the teaser on the screen. The reporter says that Carl Rumis??, a deputy administrator for the EPA was pulled from the Potomac.

The scene changes again to show Brad Follmer watching the news. The reporter continues to say that it appears he drove his car through the barricade and off of the bridge. It appears that he was alone.

Follmer hears something and turns the television off. He walks over and opens his office door to find Monica standing over his secretary’s desk.

She tells him that she was going to leave him a not because his secretary wasn’t there and she didn’t want to knock.

She holds out her hand to tell him hello, and he shakes it. He invites her in the office and shuts the door. Then he grabs her and kisses her on the lips. After a few seconds she pulls away uncomfortably.

FOLLMER: What?
REYES: We're at work.
FOLLMER (smiling): You used to ask me to close the door back in New York.
REYES: Is that all you called me here for, Assistant Director?

He then says that he probably shouldn’t tell her how hot she looks, but that she does.

He asks her how long it’s been and guesses two years. She tells him that he’s right, and says that they really should catch up sometime, but she needs to go downstairs

He stops her by telling her that he has something for her. He pulls two videotapes out of the desk drawer.

He tells her to forgive him, but that it didn’t take a whole lot of digging to find out why she was in D.C.

She asks him what the tapes are, and he tells her that they are something that she will see anyway, but he wants to show her first. They’re of the FBI parking garage.

He says that one shows her arriving in a cab to meet John Doggett. She tells him that she is working with Doggett on a case. He says that he’s heard about it. Something about a chase, a crash, and a fire, and Doggett’s internal investigation of Kersh.

She asks what is so important that he had to show her, and asks what is on the other tape.

There is a ding and the scene changes to show the elevator doors open to reveal Doggett. Deputy Director Kersh enters.

Kersh asks him how the investigation is going and if he has turned up any incriminating evidence yet. He tells him that it is only Monday morning. He tells Kersh that
he hopes that he knows it’s nothing personal. Kersh tells him that they’ve always seen eye to eye, and he knows that if he can’t find anything on him, then no one can.

Kersh leaves the elevator.

Reyes sits with her glasses on, watching the television screen.

Doggett comes into the office. He’s angry and says that Kersh put him on the X-Files, and he is only doing what he is supposed to be doing. Reyes tells him that it's not going to be easy. He says that he knows that—he’s going after the Deputy Director. She tells him though that it might be impossible.

Reyes shows him the security tape of the garage. It's from two nights ago, but there is nothing on it. No chase, no car crash. No Doggett. He tells her that it's the wrong tape. She says that she's been backwards and forwards on it but there is nothing there. He tells her that he and Skinner were chased, and Nole drove his car into the garage wall and it went up in flames. She tells him that it's not on the tape.

Doggett takes the tape from the recorder and asks where she got it. She tells him that the person who gave it to her wanted to give her a heads up. He tells her that they can’t just make it go away—there was evidence in the garage, and victims. She tells him that she went down to the garage. What ever was down there, they’ve had forty-eight hours to clean it up. He tells her that there are witnesses, and she asks him if they will stand up to the tape.

Doggett leaves and slams the door.

There is a knock on a door. When no one answers it, the person opens it themselves. We see that it is Doggett, who is now in Mulder’s apartment. He calls out to Mulder, but no one answers.

Doggett looks around the house. It is completely empty, no furniture or anything else.

Doggett leaves.

GREATER MARYLAND WATER
RECLAMATION FACILITY
In the middle of the room is a large tank of water. The camera zooms closer to the water’s surface. McMahon’s head rises from the water.

A worker is looking at the article about the death of the man that she killed. Before he can finish his call he hears something. He turns around and sees a naked McMahon walking away from the tank. He drops the phone and chases after her.

Doggett knocks on Scully’s door and she answers. She asks him what is wrong. He tells her that he has been trying to call her. She tells him that she took the phone off of the hook because of the baby.

Doggett tells her that he got panicked and thought that she wasn’t going to be there either—that she left too.

Scully invites Doggett in.

Doggett tells her that he was looking for Mulder and he is gone. She already knows. She looks upset but is trying not to show it. He asks her where he is and she just shakes her head. He calls her ‘Dana’ and asks her again and she just says:

SCULLY: He’s gone. He’s just gone.

Back at the reclamation facility, the man follows wet footprints, looking for McMahon. He turns and suddenly sees her standing there naked.

She grabs him and pulls him into the tank and under water.

ACT TWO
Skinner is in his office talking to someone. He says that he doesn’t know where Mulder is and he doesn’t know if he would tell her if he did.

The camera pans to show Reyes.

The door opens and Doggett walks in. Reyes tells him that she checked movers, airlines, and car rental agencies, but she didn’t find anything.

Doggett asks if someone got to Mulder, if that is it. He says that he doesn’t think that seems possible. He asks where that leaves them—their word against Kersh and the FBI.

Reyes tells him to sit down. There is more to the investigation.

Doggett stays standing.

Skinner tells him to drop the investigation. Doggett is surprised and angry. He doesn’t understand why Skinner would want to drop it—not after what they had been through, barely escaping with their lives.

Skinner tells him that that is something worth thinking about. Doggett tells him that he is being unreasonable.

Doggett asks if they got to him too. He tells him that they didn’t have to. That is the point.

Doggett guesses that Skinner is afraid of them. He tells him that he’s not. Doggett presses, saying that he is afraid of something. He asks if he is afraid that the real tape will show up, showing that he killed Krycek.

Skinner tells him that he will stand by his own actions, but not by his—not if he is going to continue to push and push until he gets someone killed.

He asks him if he wants to know what he does fear. He fears for Mulder and Scully, and he fears for the life of the child. Doggett asks why he thinks that he
doesn’t fear the same things. Skinner tells him that if he did he would let it go.

Doggett questions then if that means that if he doesn’t drop it he is alone on it.

Skinner doesn’t answer. Doggett looks at Reyes, but she is silent.

Doggett turns to walk out the door, but Reyes stops him. She tells him that he is not alone, and then walks out with him.

At a bar, (presumably the same one from the teaser) Follmer is sitting and waiting.

Reyes comes over and he tells her hello. He asks her if it was presumptuous that he ordered her a martini. She tells him that the presumption is all hers. She is the one that called him and asked him out.

He tells her that he was confused this morning and had a crazy notion that she was avoiding him. Reyes tells him that maybe she was avoiding herself. Besides, the tapes that he pulled out weren’t exactly Pamela and Tommy Lee.

She smiles.

FOLLMER: I’d heard that, ah, you and John Doggett were tight.
REYES: You make it sound like I go home from work with post-its on my ass.

She continues to tell him that it is nothing like that. He tells her that he doesn’t get it. He asks her why she would risk her name and career getting caught up in this rabbit investigation of Doggett’s.

She tells him that there isn’t going to be an investigation any more.

He tells her that he didn’t think that Doggett would be thrown off so easy—not from what he had heard about him. She tells him that what ever he thinks about him, Doggett is not a fool.

Follmer says that now she is pissed off at him. She tells him that she’s not pissed at him, but because that it means that she will be shipping off to the New Orleans field office.

He tells her that he heard she was working on the X-Files. She tells him that when the investigation drops they are going to drop the X-Files right along with it. She says that he knows where her interests lie. This was her dream assignment, not to mention that she was excited to be in D.C.

Follmer smiles and says that she just got there.

There is a knock at Scully’s door. She carries William over with her to answer it. It’s Doggett.

He tells her that he is sorry but he needs her help. She tells him that she doesn’t know how to find Mulder.

Scully walks into her bedroom to put William down.

With his back to her doorway, he tells her that it doesn’t make any sense—Mulder leaving her all alone, walking out on her and not telling her where or why. She tells him that it makes sense in its own way. That is all that she can tell him.

He asks her why she suddenly can’t trust him. He protected her when she thought that her baby was in danger. He asks what has changed, and why suddenly he has become the enemy.

Scully walks back into the room.

Scully asks him to just let it go. He tells her that they tried to kills both Skinner and himself, and that they would have killed Mulder too. She tells him that he is exactly right, and they are unstoppable and in the FBI.

He says that she knows something that she isn’t telling him—that Mulder knows something. He asks her how long she can hide from it. He says that Nole told him that her pregnancy was a result from a government cloning experiment to create what he called ‘super soldiers.’

She tells him that she doesn’t want to hear it—there is nothing to any of it. He tells her that his ‘buddy’ Nole is one of the men that tried to kill them in the garage.

She tells him that her baby, her son, is fine. He says that he hopes that that is true; he just doesn’t want to pretend. She tells him that she is asking him to leave and not come back.

Doggett leaves.

Doggett is looking at a photo of a group of people dressed in camouflage gear. Nole is in the photo.

After getting information for a man, he calls Roger Erickson from the U.S. Marine Corp, and asks him if he knows what happened to Nole, like if he went into
special ops. The man tells him that he hasn’t heard from him.

Doggett crosses the one name off of the list and calls the next. It’s Shannon McMahon. She is also in the photograph.

Her answering machine picks up, and he leaves a message, telling her who he is, and to contact him at the FBI when she gets the message.

Shannon McMahon steps out of the elevator. Reyes watches her and then gets in.

Back at her apartment, Scully puts William into his bassinette. She whispers to him that she will see him in a couple of hours. She then lays down to take a nap.

As Scully sleeps there is a small creaking noise. The camera pans over her shoulder to show that William’s mobile is now spinning.

ACT THREE
Reyes is sitting at the desk in the office working on a file when her pencil breaks. She searches in the drawers for another one, but there are none to be found.

She looks up to the ceiling, and there, are the pencils that Mulder previously lodged in the ceiling.

Reyes stands on the desk and pulls a pencil out of the ceiling.

Suddenly she hears someone in the hallway. She gets off of the desk and goes to check.

She walks into the hallway and looks around. There is no one there.

She finds that someone has left them a clue—the victim’s obituary.

William is crying and he wakes up Scully. She turns over and sees the mobile moving, so she gets up and goes over to him.

She stands there for a few seconds watching the mobile. Finally she stops it with her hand. In a few seconds, William [sort of] points at it and it starts to spin again.

Reyes phone rings and she answers it. It’s Scully. She wants to talk to Doggett, so Reyes gives him the phone. Scully admits that something is wrong and tells him that she might have been wrong when she told him to drop it. He tells her that they didn’t drop it anyway.

He then tells her that they found something. They’re not sure how it fits in, but they are working on it. She asks him what it is, and he tells her that it’s a body.

FBI TRAINING ACADEMY
QUANTICO, VIRGINIA
6:28 PM
Scully walks into the morgue. Doggett thanks her for coming. He tells her who the victim is, and Reyes fills her in on what happened. She just asks, “And…?”

Doggett tells her that someone thought that it was important enough to stick the man’s obituary under their noses. Scully asks him who, but they don’t know.

Scully looks at the man’s report and she tells them that his blood alcohol level was high, he was drunk, and he crashed and drowned. Doggett tells her that there has to be more.

Doggett’s phone rings—it’s Skinner. He asks him what he is doing, and asks if he knows how many people are waiting to see him screw up, waiting to see him make a mistake like this. Doggett tells him that he didn’t know that he was making a mistake. Skinner tells him that he checked the guy out of the county morgue in Maryland without any jurisdiction. All of his former buddies at the FBI are not his friends anymore—not since he launched the investigation and attacked one of his own. He then tells him just to watch his back.

After hanging up, Doggett asks Scully how they could get a definitive answer on how the man died—what it would take. She tells him that it would take a careful autopsy. He then asks her how fast she could do it. She tells him that that was not what she was saying. Doggett then tells her that he understands if she doesn’t want to do the autopsy, but she is the only one that they can trust.

Back at Doggett’s apartment, the doorbell rings. He looks out the peephole and sees the Lone Gunmen.

FROHIKE: Collecting for the needy and unemployed. Open the door.

Doggett lets them in and thanks them for helping him.

BYERS: Yeah, like we’ve got anything better to be doing these days.

Byers and Frohike come in but Langly stands outside with his back to them.

Frohike tells him that they may need to hit him up for some coin. He asks what happened. Langly finally turns around and we can see that he still has a blue face (from “The Lone Gunmen” season finale).

LANGLY: Don’t ask.

Langly comes in and they start setting up the laptop. They were able to hack into the department of interior mainframe and got the EPA files on the victim.

They ask Doggett what he is looking for, but he doesn’t know. He had hoped that they would find something.

Langly says that there was nothing hinky in the files except for him having some kind of rabid obsession with water.

The scene changes to the morgue. Scully tells Reyes that the man died from asphyxiation induced by inhalation of water. He has contusions, but did not die from
impact, but rather from drowning. She says that she knows that Reyes was hoping for something more but there isn’t anything else.

Reyes tells Scully that that’s not it. She is just impressed that she can do this (the autopsy). Scully tells her that this is what she does. Reyes knows that. She means that she is doing it now.

After some silence, Reyes guesses that something did happen. She guesses that something is wrong with Scully’s baby.

Scully tells her that they can let their fears get the better of them—imagining things and making connections that aren’t there, like with the body.

Reyes just tells her that if she does need to talk she is there and would never betray a confidence.

Scully suddenly says that there is something—on the man’s ankle. Reyes looks and sees what appear to be fingerprints. Scully tells her that that is what they look like. Reyes guesses that maybe someone was holding him down. Scully says that she just doesn’t know how or who.

Follmer is in Kersh’s office talking to him. Follmer tells him that Scully is at Quantico called in by Doggett to autopsy a body that he has no authorization to touch. He thinks that Doggett has lost all his judgment, and that one man’s actions shouldn’t affect the entire FBI, and he should be punished.

Kersh thanks him for telling him, and says that he knows that he is in a difficult situation and he appreciates it. Follmer just tells him that it was the right thing to do.

Kersh tells him to let him know how it goes. Follmer tells him that he can’t do it because there is a conflict (Reyes). Kersh says that he can’t, and asks how it would look because he’s under investigation by Doggett. He says that Follmer has no personal ax to grind.

Scully’s mother is at her daughter’s apartment watching William when the doorbell rings.

Margaret asks who it is. The woman doesn’t answer. It’s Shannon McMahon. She tells Margaret that she works with Scully and is looking for her. She wants to know where she can find her. Margaret asks if she wants to leave a message for her.

Margaret sees the doorknob start to turn, but she has the chain locked.

McMahon tells her that she will leave a note if she wouldn’t mind opening the door. Margaret just tells her to leave her name and she will have Scully call her.

There is no response and after a few seconds Mrs. Scully looks out the peephole and sees no one. She opens the door and walks out into the hallway. The woman
is gone.

ACT FOUR
Scully takes some pictures of the body. She tells Reyes that they need to get the body refrigerated if they want to use it as evidence.

Reyes tells Scully that she can’t reach Doggett. Scully tells her that she doesn’t know what do say, but good luck. She has to leave.

The two walk out. Scully starts to tell Reyes that there is a cooler for cadavers there that they can use temporarily.

However, Reyes suddenly sees McMahon behind them. She tells Scully who quickly glances, and the keep walking. Scully asks who it is, but Reyes doesn’t
know. She has never seen her before that morning, and she has seen her twice already.

They get to the elevator and the door opens. Follmer and other agents step out.

They look behind them but she is gone.

Follmer and the agents walk back with them and he asks Reyes where Doggett is. She asks what he is doing. He tells her that he is doing his best to cover her ass. She asks him again what he is talking about. He holds up some pictures.

Finally Scully asks what’s going on. They enter where the body was a few minutes ago, but it is gone.

Follmer asks where he went. Reyes just asks him who. He wants to know where Doggett took the body. She tells him that he is making no sense—Doggett didn’t take the body anywhere. She gets angry and says that he is looking at her like he doesn’t believe her. She tells him to ask Scully. Scully just says that she has to go now. She’s got a child at home.

Follmer tells her that body or no body, they were there doing an autopsy. Doggett was there without authorization. He tells her that Doggett is out of control. He tells her to forget the X-Files because Doggett will take her down with him.

She gets angry and thinks he is the one who came down to the office. She accuses him of floating her the obituary to set Doggett up, using her. He tells her that he doesn’t know what she is talking about.

FOLLMER: You cam to me for help, remember? I’m only trying to help you help yourself.
REYES: I know exactly what you’re doing, Brad. Don’t forget to piss on all the corners before you leave.

Reyes leaves.

He says to the other agents that he didn’t float any obituary and doesn’t know what she is talking about.

At Doggett’s apartment the doorbell rings. Frohike stands on tiptoe trying to see out of the peephole, but he’s too short. Agitated, he opens the door anyway. It’s Reyes, whom Frohike is happy to see.

Reyes comes in, and tells him that considering the recent attempts of violence on Doggett, he might want to see who’s there before opening the door. Frohike sarcastically tells her that next time he’ll get a chair.

Byers tells Reyes that Doggett is gone. He and Skinner left for Maryland.

Frohike tells him to show Reyes what they found before she makes any nasty remarks.

Byers shows her the laptop and tells her that it took a lot of real hacking, but they found out that the victim had been receiving encrypted data from a water reclamation facility in Maryland. A man that worked there, Roland McFarland (injoke to action figures?) was sending it to him. She asks them what data. They don’t know, but maybe it’s what got them both killed.

At the water reclamation facility, Doggett and Skinner are looking around. Skinner looks at the desks and complains that there are no nameplates. Doggett just tells him that it has to be McFarland’s area.

Skinner finds a paper with an email address on it on one of the desks. He tells Doggett that it might be his desk, so he comes over and checks it out. Skinner tells him to just grab the whole computer hard drive so they can get out.

Doggett tells him that he’s not sure if it’s his desk. Skinner says that someone’s going to walk in and it won’t matter. Doggett just tells him to keep an eye out.

Skinner walks over to look out the door.

Doggett looks through files in the desk drawer. He asks Skinner what chloramine is. He asks him why, and Doggett tells him that there are tons of files on it in the drawer.

Skinner sees Follmer and the agents coming and yells to Doggett to grab the files so they can go.

The two of them start to run out.

Follmer and the other men come in but have missed them. As Skinner and Doggett continue to run, Follmer thinks that he hears something.

Skinner and Doggett keep running until Skinner gets snagged on something and cuts himself. Doggett runs ahead.

Skinner starts to run again, but Follmer catches up to him. He doesn’t know what was going on, and tells Skinner that it looks like they are chasing the same man. Skinner says nothing.

Follmer stops at the tank of water and looks in. It looks like there is something below the surface but it’s hard to tell.

The camera pans down underwater and we see Doggett holding onto a pipe, the files floating in the water.

Suddenly McMahon swims up from underneath him and grabs his leg, pulling him down.

She continues to pull him as the screen fades to black.

TO BE CONTINUED…