In Washington, D.C., an artist’s model is brutally slashed to death after he finishes a
session posing for a group of art students. The F.B.I. links one of the students, John Mostow,
to the model’s death, and to several other killings of young males over a three year period.
Agents Patterson and Nemhauser arrest an unruly Mostow in his studio apartment. During
the struggle, Mostow bites Nemhauser on the arm. Five days after the arrest, the body of
another young male victim, bearing the same facial mutilation, is found six miles away.
Mulder and Scully interview Mostow in his jail cell. He claims he was possessed by a
dark spirit, an entity that forced him to kill. Afterward, the agents meet with Patterson, who
worked on solving the serial killings for three years. In private, Mulder tells Scully that he
and Patterson have held a grudge ever since his days as a student at the bureau. Patterson
was well-respected and even envied by many students, but Mulder failed to step in line. He
didn’t believe in Patterson’s teachings that the only way to find a monster is to become one
yourself.
The agents visit Mostow’s studio, where they find sketch after sketch of gargoyles
covering the room. Mostow believed the images protected him from the demon. Mulder and
Scully discover more bodies-covered with clay-hidden within a secret room. Shortly
thereafter, a man employed as a glassblower is viciously attacked by a figure armed with a
carpet knife.
Mulder visits a library and reads literature pertaining to gargoyles. He then returns to
Mostow’s apartment, where he draws and sculpts images of the creatures. A dark figure
emerges from the shadows. Mulder chases the figure to an industrial area. The creature
attacks the agent, but during the struggle, Mulder falls from a gangway. The figure runs off
into the darkness. Later, Mulder tells Scully that the creature exists. Scully is skeptical, and
as she leaves the scene, she discovers broken pieces of a knife. The crime lab finds
Mulder’s finger print on the blade. Scully pays a visit to the F.B.I’s evidence room, but
Mostow’s confiscated knife, seized by agents, is no where to be found.
Mulder returns to Mostow’s studio, where he discovers Nemhauser’s dead body encased
in clay. When Patterson arrives at the studio, Mulder accuses him of killing Nemhauser and
everyone else murdered since Mostow’s incarceration. Mulder describes how Patterson
became so obsessed with finding the killer, imaging everything the killer imagined, sinking
himself so deeply into the case that finally, he became the very thing he so desperately
sought to catch. Scully arrives at the studio, distracting Mulder. Patterson runs off and
makes his way onto a rooftop. A struggle ensues, during which Patterson’s face transforms
into a hideous gargoyle. Mulder manages to grab his gun. He shoots Patterson, wounding
him. Patterson is taken to jail.
THE X-FILES “GROTESQUE” #3X14
Original Air Date: 2/02/96
CAST:
DAVID DUCHOVNY as Special Agent Fox Mulder
GILLIAN ANDERSON as Special Agent Dana Scully
GUEST CAST:
MITCH PILEGGI as Assistant Director Walter Skinner
LEVANI OUTCHANEICHVILI as John Mostow
KURTWOOD SMITH as Agent Bill Patterson
GREG THIRLOWAY as Agent Nemhauser
SUSAN BAIN as Agent Sheherlis
ZORAN VUKELIC as the model
JOHN MILTON BRANDON as Aguirre
JAMES MCDONNELL as the glass blower
PAUL J. ANDERSON as the paramedic
AMANDA O’LEARY as the Doctor
KASPER MICHAELS as the young Agent
WRITTEN BY:
HOWARD GORDON
DIRECTED BY:
KIM MANNERS
