Apison, Tennessee, once the site of a Civil War battle, is now the home of the Temple of
the Seven Stars, a doomsday religious cult that believes in reincarnation. A member named
“Sidney” calls the FBI with accusations of child abuse and weapons stockpiling. Fearing
another Waco or Jonestown, the BATF and the FBI lead a joint raid on the compound. No
weapons are found. Neither is Vernon Ephesian, the cult’s dangerously charismatic leader,
who dominates his followers with a mix of Biblical prophecy, New Age channeling and
old-fashioned intimidation.
An odd compulsion leads Mulder to search a nearby field where he finds an underground
Civil War bunker concealing Ephesian and his six wives–all on the verge of committing
mass suicide. One of the wives, Melissa, catches Mulder’s attention. She feels somehow
familiar to him. Ephesian, his wives and the cultists are taken into custody. But with no
evidence of abuse or illegal weapons, the FBI can hold them for only one day. Mulder and
Scully are assigned to interrogate Ephesian and his wives. Preaching fire and brimstone,
Ephesian admits nothing.
Melissa is a different story. Under questioning, this withdrawn and hostile girl suddenly
shifts personalities into the mysterious informant Sidney, a gruff male New Yorker. But
somehow Mulder knows Melissa’s case is even more unusual than Multiple Personality
Disorder. He is certain that “Sidney” is one of Melissa’s past lives. Scully, who has a hard
enough time with MPD let alone reincarnation, can’t understand why Mulder is so obsessed
with Melissa, and so certain he is right.
Then comes a revelation that surprises even Mulder. Melissa shifts into yet another
identity: a Civil War nurse named Sarah Kavanaugh. She tells them she watched as her
fiancee Sullivan Biddle died in the aftermath of the long-ago battle. And that Biddle is one of
Mulder’s past lives. Mulder unconditionally believes her. Desperate to discover the
truth…Mulder has himself regressed.
Scully listens as Mulder cycles through a series of his past lives. He says that same
souls reincarnate together over and over again: he, Samantha, Scully, even the
Cigarette-Smoking Man are destined to play out many lifetimes together. Melissa and Mulder
are soulmates…fated always to be star-crossed lovers.
The current Melissa hears Mulder’s story, but she won’t allow herself to believe. She
returns to Ephesian. Scully doesn’t know what to think–especially when she discovers
photographs of Sarah and Sullivan in historical archives.
After Ephesian and his cultists are released, everyone’s worst fears come true. Ephesian
leads the cult in a mass suicide. Mulder discovers the body of Melissa…clutching the
photograph of Sarah Kavanaugh in her hand.
THE X-FILES “The Field Where I Died” #4X05
Original Air Date: 11/03/96
CAST:
DAVID DUCHOVNY as Special Agent Fox Mulder
GILLIAN ANDERSON as Special Agent Dana Scully
GUEST CAST:
MITCH PILEGGI as Assistant Director Walter Skinner
KRISTEN CLOKE as Melissa Riedal-Ephesian
MICHAEL DOBSON as BATF Agent
MICHAEL MASSEE as Vernon Ephesian
LES GALLAGHER as the attorney
DOUG ABRAHAMS as Harbaugh
DONNA WHITE as the therapist
ANTHONY HARRISON as Agent Riggins
DOUGLAS ROY DACK as Mighty Man
WRITTEN BY:
GLEN MORGAN AND JAMES WONG
DIRECTED BY:
ROB BOWMAN
