The X-Files Recap: Episode 13 - Beyond The Sea

Posted by Brian Cramer on 07.08.2008

He'll be your friend 'til the end.

Cast:
David Duchovny - Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson - Dana Scully
Brad Dourif - Luther Lee Boggs
Don S. Davis - Captain William Scully
Sheila Larken - Margaret Scully
Lawrence King-Phillips - Lucas Jackson Henry
Fred Henderson - Agent Thomas
Don MacKay - Warden Joseph Cash (as Don Mackay)
Lisa Vultaggi - Elizabeth 'Liz' Hawley
Chad Willett - James 'Jim' Summers

I’m incredibly pressed for time this week, so this is going to be an abridged version of the column. I’ve actually wanted to do one of these anyway, to see how receptive you fine readers are to an even shorter version of the recap. Here’s your chance to let me know. The “title” contest is still on-going, for the record, so get your submissions in. The X-Phacts will also be condensed this week but there’s a biggie that needs to be acknowledged.

The X-Phacts: (still courtesy of Twitch) *drum-roll*

Luther Lee Boggs is played by Brad Dourif, none other than the voice of everyone’s favorite murderous doll – CHUCKY! Hah. While we don’t get a sampling of Chucky’s voice, we do get a reminder of how good an actor Dourif is, in his portrayal of Boggs.

Episode 13 – Beyond The Sea

Scully has Mom and Dad over for dinner. Mom and Dad leave. Scully wakes up in the middle of the night to see Dad sitting across the room from her, silently mouthing something. A phone call draws her attention and when she looks back, Dad’s gone. The phone call is from Mom – an hour prior, Dad had a massive coronary. He didn’t make it.

*cue The X-Files introduction credits and theme song*
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

JACKSON UNIVERSITY
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

Two college kids are mackin’ it in a car. A “cop” shows up and knocks the dude out after he gets out of the car.

FBI HEADQUARTERS
WASHINGTON, D.C.

In the X-Files office, Mulder tells Scully that an inmate, Luther Lee Boggs, on death row claims to have information about the teenagers that were kidnapped – purportedly via psychic ability. Mulder is skeptical. Scully insists that she needs to work to take her mind off her father. After Mulder leaves the office, she pulls out his file labeled, “VISIONARY ENCOUNTERS w / THE DEAD”.

Scully and her immediate family look on as her father’s ashes are distributed into the ocean.

CENTRAL PRISON
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

Mulder gives Boggs a torn piece of cloth to “channel”. He rants some about where the teenagers are being held. Mulder then informs him that he tore the cloth off of his New York Knicks t-shirt. Ha. Pwned. As Scully goes to leave, Boggs starts singing the song that was playing at her father’s service. He then calls her “Starbuck”, as her Dad always did, effectively freaking her the fuck out.

On her way back to the motel, Scully notices a few of the things Boggs “saw”, leading her to an abandoned warehouse where she finds a necklace and some candles.

Back at the motel room, Mulder is upset that Scully bought into what Boggs was saying (still unaware of his comments relating to her father). This is an interesting dynamic – Scully as the believer and Mulder as the skeptic.

CENTRAL PRISON
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

Mulder gets a faux newspaper article made up in hopes that Boggs will call his accomplice wondering how the teens were “found safe”. Boggs doesn’t bite and instead calls Mulder. Scully insists that due to the timeframe, they have to follow Boggs’ lead.

He gives the agents a pretty accurate description of what’s happening with the teenagers and a location to work with. He then tells Mulder not to go near “the white cross” because he sees his blood spilled on it.

At the docks that Boggs spoke of, they find the girl but not the boy. Mulder, while canvassing the area, gets shot at from a boat. Scully tends to him and looks up to see two white beams forming a cross. D’oh.

Mulder gets worked on at the hospital while Scully goes back to the prison and rips Boggs a new asshole for setting them up. He rattles on for a while, eventually settling on the fact that Scully doesn’t get to talk to her father – and they get no more information from him in general – until he gets a deal.

CENTRAL PRISON
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

Scully actually tries to get him a deal and fails.

At the hospital, Mulder warns Scully that Boggs is full of shit and pleads with her not to deal with him.

Back with Boggs, she lies to him and tells him she got the deal. He “channels” the other murderer, Lucas Jackson Henry, and gives her a location. He says he know she lied but he also knows she tried. He then warns her not to “follow Henry to the devil”.

Scully and some other agents find Henry and the boy where Boggs said she would. They secure the boy and give chase to Henry, who eventually ends up on a wooden landing right underneath a painting of a blue devil on the wall. Scully notices this and stops momentarily – just long enough for the wood to give way under Henry, causing him to fall to his death below. Good thing Scully didn’t follow him to the devil, eh?

At the prison, Scully tells Boggs that she believes…that if he orchestrated the whole thing, his partner would’ve known about the danger he warned her about. He tells her that if she wants her father’s message, to show up at his execution that night.

She doesn’t show up and Boggs looks heartbroken. They mix the chemicals and the gas starts producing.

Back at the hospital, Scully tries to rationalize how Boggs knew the things he did. She tells Mulder that she already knew her father’s message. Mulder asks her how. She tells him the same thing her mom told her earlier – because he was her father.

*cue credits*

The 411: Another kick-ass episode in the books. No down-time here, as the progression of events just flowed almost flawlessly. It has to be noted that this episode was written so well and Dourif portrayed Boggs so believably, that by the end, you almost HAD to feel bad for the guy. That's how you write an antagonist.

We obviously got some background on Scully, as her Dad died and we learned a little bit about her insecurities as far as being accepted by her parents. We also got the interesting and refreshing dynamic as Mulder as the skeptic and Scully as the believer. A nice change of pace, if only for one episode.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]