A dark figure chases a terrified teenage boy, Ronnie Strickland, through a field in Texas.
When Ronnie trips and falls, the figure pulls out a wooden stake and plunges it through his
chest. Scully’s voice calls out, and when the figure turns, we see that it is Agent Mulder.
Pulling open the teenager’s mouth, Mulder shows Scully two sharp incisors, much like
vampire fangs. Upon closer examination, Scully determines the fangs are, in fact, a set of
fake plastic teeth. Mulder realizes he has made a most egregious error.
When the agents return to their offices, they agree to discuss the events that led up to the
killing before they speak with Skinner (as they both face potential prison sentences). Scully
recounts her story first. As the tale unfolds, Mulder and Scully examine slides of dead cattle,
the victims of a series of exsanguinations in a small Texas town. Mulder reveals that a
vacationer from New Jersey, Mr. Funt, met the same fate, and authorities located two small
puncture marks on his neck. The agents fly to Texas, where they meet with Sheriff Hartwell,
a handsome man who immediately catches Scully’s attention. With Hartwell’s permission,
the agents examine the victim’s body. Mulder notices that Funt’s shoes are untied, but is
unsure of the clue’s meaning. While he and the sheriff stake out a local cemetery, Scully
performs an autopsy on the corpse. Later that night, Scully and Mulder regroup at their motel
to discuss their findings. Scully reveals that the victim was drugged with chloral hydrate,
more commonly referred to as knockout drops. Scully believes someone doped Funt and
then withdrew his blood using a syringe, perhaps emulating vampires seen in the movies.
Mulder then reveals that there has been another victim. As a tired Scully sets out to perform
yet another autopsy, Ronnie the Pizza Guy (the same teenager Mulder staked in the opening
teaser) shows up with a delivery. Scully tells the teenager to deliver the pizza to Mulder as
she heads for her car in the motel parking lot.
During the second autopsy, Scully realizes that both victims consumed pizza as their last
meal. She races back to the motel, where she finds a drugged Mulder lying on the floor. The
pizza guy springs into view, prompting Scully to fire several rounds. This concludes Scully’s
version of events that led up to the teenager’s death. Mulder, however, disagrees with
Scully’s details, and tells his version of the story.
As Mulder’s version unfolds, it becomes clear that he is painting himself in a
good-natured light, while Scully is depicted as being suspicious of his every word. After
examining slides of the dead cows, the agents fly to Texas, where Scully finds herself
attracted to Sheriff Hartwell. In Mulder’s version, however, Hartwell is affected with large
buck teeth and a substantial loss of I.Q. The agents split up: Scully performs the first
autopsy, while Mulder and Sheriff Hartwell stake out the cemetery. While surveilling the
cemetery, Mulder begins pouring sunflower seeds on the ground, explaining that vampires
are obsessive-compulsive. Should a vampire appear, it would have to pick up the
seeds–just like it would have to untie shoelaces. The sheriff is dispatched to investigate a
disturbance at an RV park. Mulder tags along. There, the pair discover the body of the
second victim. Tired and frustrated, Mulder returns to the motel, where he regroups with
Scully. He informs his partner of the need for a new autopsy, and after Scully leaves, he
accepts the pizza delivery from Ronnie. Later, he finds himself in a drug-induced stupor.
Ronnie enters the motel room, his fangs exposed, his eyes glowing red. Thinking quickly,
Mulder manages to throw sunflower seeds onto the floor. Unable to resist the
obsessive-compulsive disorder, Ronnie drops to his knees and begins picking them up.
Scully finishes the second autopsy, and realizing Mulder is in danger, races to the motel.
She draws her weapon and fires, striking Ronnie right in the chest. Though still in a
drug-induced haze, Mulder gives chase, eventually staking Ronnie.
Back in the present, a coroner inadvertently reanimates Ronnie’s corpse by removing the
stake. Skinner informs the agents of the new development, and the pair fly back to Texas.
There, the pair meet up with Sheriff Hartwell. As Scully and the sheriff stake out the
cemetery, Mulder makes his way to the RV park, certain it contains Ronnie’s resting place.
Sheriff Hartwell, it turns out, is a vampire. He drugs Scully’s coffee, and she passes out.
Meanwhile, Mulder discovers Ronnie’s coffin inside an RV. Using handcuffs, he traps the
vampire inside the box. When the vehicle is surrounded by the undead, Mulder uses two
pizza breadsticks to form a cross. The vampires shrug off the cross and pull Mulder
downward. The next morning, a groggy Scully finds an unconscious Mulder inside his rental
car. Mulder awakens–only to discover that the RV lot is now completely empty. The agents
recount their bizarre tale to Skinner… who can only stare back at them.
THE X-FILES “BAD BLOOD” #5X12
Original Air Date: 02/22/98
CAST:
DAVID DUCHOVNY as Special Agent Fox Mulder
GILLIAN ANDERSON as Special Agent Dana Scully
GUEST CAST:
Mitch Pileggi as Assistant Director Skinner
Patrick Renna as Ronnie Strickland
Luke Wilson as Sheriff Hartwell
Forbes Angus as the Funeral Director
Brent Bunt as the Coroner
Marion Killinger as the Detective.
WRITTEN BY:
VINCE GILLIGAN
DIRECTED BY:
CLIFF BOLE
