Orison



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Orison


Episode: 7X07
Airdate: 01/09/00
Written by:
Chip Johannessen
Directed by:
Rob Bowman
Starring: David Duchovny as Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully
Special Guest Star: Scott Wilson
Guest Starring: Nick Chinlund as Donnie Pfaster, Steve Rankin, Emilio Rivera, and Lisa Kushell


IMAGES FROM "ORISON" (40)




TEASER

In a small room at the jail, Reverend Orison is conducting church service. When he says "Glory. Amen." all the inmates make stomping motions with their feet to a rhythm, except for Donnie Pfaster. Note injoke: On the wall is written something about Ephesian (I couldn't catch it all) but I'm assuming it's a reference to "TFWID."

The inmates are at work. Donnie brings his work up to a guard who starts yelling at him and saying he's sick. Suddenly there is a scream at the back of the room as an inmate has cut himself on a saw. The tips of his fingers are gone. The guards rush over leaving Donnie there. Donnie proceeds to walk out unnoticed.

ACT ONE

Scully wakes up from the sound of wind at her window. She shuts it and walks back. Suddenly she notices that the clock says "6:66." Startled she shakes the clock and it goes out. She continues to shake it and the electricity comes back on. The clock now says "6:06."

U.S. PENITENTIARY
MARION, ILLINOIS

The marshal (He played an agent in FtF) meets with Mulder and Scully who are now on the case. Some of the history of the case is explained. The marshal says that they are known for things of the supernatural. Scully tells him that there is nothing supernatural about the case. Donnie is just plain evil.

Scully walks into the room where the church service was held. She looks around. She hears a song coming from the vent.

Mulder walks in and tells Scully that the case is closed.

Mulder tries to get Scully to back away from the case.

MULDER: Why are you here? Go home, Scully.
SCULLY: Mulder, this case doesn’t bother me.
MULDER: The man abducted you. Donnie Pfaster did a number on your head like I've never seen. It's okay to…walk away.
SCULLY: Mulder, this man does things to people no one should ever have to think about. It's not a question of if I should stay. I don't have a choice.

Two prisoners had escaped from separate maximum-security prisons unnoticed. He tells her that at 6:06 that morning Donnie Pfaster made it three. Mulder tells her that they were dozens of witnesses in each case, but none of them could remember what happened, and it took them awhile to even notice that the prisoners were missing.

Scully asks Mulder if they caught the prisoners. He tells her that none of the men have ever been seen again.

Mulder and Scully interview the man who was cut in the teaser, but his hands are perfectly fine. He thinks it was an act of God. Mulder raises his hand as the guy repeats "Glory. Amen." With each raise of Mulder's hand, his feet move up and down.

Mulder tells Scully that Reverend Orison is still in contact with Donnie and the other inmates. He thinks Orison is using group hypnosis.

MULDER: Post-hypnotic suggestion. Did you see him?
SCULLY: You mean, did I see him raise his foot? Yes, I saw that.
MULDER: Programmed behavior prompted and manifested by suggestion. In this case, a rhythmic motion of the hands, producing an unconscious act in a conscious state.
MULDER moves his hand up and down again.
MULDER: Doesn’t work on you.
SCULLY: I know what hypnosis is, Mulder.
MULDER: Group hypnosis.
SCULLY: If you're suggesting that Donnie Pfaster escaped from prison using a technique from a Vegas lounge act, I’d think again.
MULDER: Mesmer was able to hypnotize and command entire audiences.
SCULLY: So how would Donnie have acquired this amazing ability?
MULDER: I'm not saying that it was Donnie.
SCULLY: Well then, who?
MULDER: Three inmates are missing from three separate prisons. One man has had possible contact with each of those cons. The prison chaplain. (Mocking) Glory. Amen. Not God; the chaplain.
SCULLY hearing the song again, turns her head towards the vent
MULDER: Scully? What?
SCULLY: That song. Can you hear that?
MULDER and SCULLY walk over to the vent
MULDER: Barely.
SCULLY: I haven't heard that song since high school. That's the second time I've heard it in the last hour.
MULDER: Well, I think if it was a make-out song it would be ruined forever now, hugh?
MULDER smirks

HARRISBURG, ILLINOIS
12:52 PM

At a diner, Donnie sits. A girl - really dirty and scungy - comes over and sits across from him. He looks at her nails and offers to give her a manicure. She asks if he is a freak. He tells her that he just got out of jail. She doesn't believe him.

Reverend Orison comes up behind Donnie.

ORISON: You receive the Lord’s grace, and this is your thanks?
DONNIE: What?
ORISON: Who do you think got you out of prison?
DONNIE turns around towards ORISON
DONNIE: I don’t care. I’m busy right now.
DONNIE turns back to the girl
ORISON: The grace of God got you out, and it’s the only thing that will keep you out.
GIRL: I thought you were kidding.
ORISON: He’s chosen you, Donnie.
DONNIE notices U.S. marshal cars pulling up outside. ORISON and the GIRL turn towards the window
GIRL: Later.
GIRL quickly leaves
DONNIE: You called them on me.
ORISON: No.
DONNIE: Then do something.
ORISON: I have a car.
DONNIE: We aren’t going to make it to the car.
ORISON: It’s within His power.

Some cops start coming into the diner. Orison starts saying "Glory. Amen," as before, this time holding out a cross. At a scream, the cops turn from Donnie to see a woman screaming and throwing coffee on a man. Everything moves in slow motion. When they turn back, Donnie, as well as the Reverend, are gone.

Donnie drives away with the girl, purposely hitting Orison with his car.

ACT TWO

Mulder and Scully go to the diner, but no one remembers what happened. They’re not even sure if they really saw Donnie.

The radio is playing in the back. Scully asks the woman working to turn it up. It’s the same song they heard through the vent.

ST. CLARE MEDICAL CENTER
HARRISBURG, ILLINOIS

At the hospital, Scully talks to Orison.

SCULLY: You're lucky to be alive Reverend Orison.
ORISON: Who are you?
SCULLY: Special Agent Dana Scully.
ORISON: Believe in the Lord, Agent Scully. He believes in you.
SCULLY: That's nice. But my partner and I are more concerned with several disappearances from maximum-security facilities, that seem to involve you.
ORISON: Don't be concerned. God has them.
SCULLY: What do you mean?…(At no answer)Reverend?
ORISON: You're a believer, aren’t you?
SCULLY: This has nothing to do with me, Sir.
ORISON: It has everything to do with you. You have faith...have had faith. You hear Him calling you, but you're unsure of what to do.
SCULLY touches her cross.
SCULLY: It’s not exactly a long shot, Sir.
ORISON: You stand as you do now. Neither here, nor there. Longing, but afraid. Waiting for a sign…When the signs are everywhere.
SCULLY: Where happened to the inmates, Sir?
ORISON: Everything has a reason, Scout.
SCULLY looks startled
ORISON: Everything on God's earth. Every moment of every day the devil waits for but an instant. As it is, it has always been. The devil's instant is our eternity.

Mulder enters the room.

MULDER: Good Reverend, how do you do? Or, Maybe I should say, how do you do it?
ORISON: His is the Word. I am but the messenger who delivers it.
MULDER: Well, this delivery is running a little late. A little late, and a little cold, as a matter of fact.
MULDER tosses ORISON a crime scene photo of a woman in a bathtub, dead.
MULDER: I thought you’d wanna see it.
ORISON: What is this?
MULDER: The blood of the lamb, Reverend. The handiwork of Mr. Donnie Pfaster. The young girl he picked up at the bus stop.
ORISON: Oh, Lord!
MULDER: Where is he Reverend?
ORISON (upset): He took my car. She wasn't supposed to die.
MULDER: No, Donnie was supposed to die. You were supposed to kill him. That’s why you freed him. God knows you're capable of it.
MULDER turns to SCULLY
MULDER: Reverend Orison is really Robert Gailen Orison, convicted in 1959 of first degree murder. Served 22 years in Solidad.
ORISON: God spoke to me. He told me to look after Donnie.
MULDER: When God spoke to you, Reverend, did he happen to mention where Donnie was headed?

Mulder and Scully walk out of the room. Mulder starts to leave.

SCULLY: Where are you going, Mulder?
MULDER: To prove that man is a liar.
SCULLY: How do you prove that somebody isn't being directed by God? You don't believe that it happens?
MULDER: God is a spectator, Scully. He just reads the box scores.
SCULLY: I don't believe that.
MULDER: You think God directs that man? You think He directs him to kill?
SCULLY: Donnie Pfaster isn't dead and we don't know that the other inmates who escaped are dead either.
MULDER: So, what, you think that God directs him to...let the prisoners out to kill?
SCULLY: No. But I believe that the Reverend believes what he’s saying...that it’s God working through him.
MULDER: Plenty of nutbags do. (Off Scully’s look) Has He ever spoken to you?
SCULLY: I'm trying not to take offense.
MULDER: What'd he say?
SCULLY: Mulder, I have heard that song three times now. That may not mean anything to you but it means something to me.
MULDER: What does it mean?
SCULLY: I never thought about it before. It never meant anything to me until yesterday when it made me remember something.
MULDER: What?
SCULLY: When I was thirteen, my father was stationed in San Diego. I was listening to the radio, to that song, when my mother came in and told me that my Sunday school teacher had been killed. He’d been murdered in his front yard. And that’s the first time that I ever felt there was real evil in the world.
MULDER: Mulder, Reverend Orison called me "Scout." That's the same name that my Sunday school teacher called me. Donnie Pfaster escaped from prison at 6:06AM. That’s exactly the same time that I woke up yesterday morning, when, when my power went out.
MULDER: So, what do you think that God telling you?
SCULLY doesn’t answer
MULDER: Come with me, Scout. I'll show you how the Reverend talks to God.

Donnie is sitting in Orison’s car on the side of the road when a radio announcement comes on. It is warning people about what kind car Donnie is driving.

Donnie gets out of the car and rips the cover off of it. He then walks around and looks through Orison’s stuff that is in the trunk. He finds his house keys.

At the hospital, Mulder shows Scully an X-ray of Orison’s head. He has a hole in his skull that was self-inflicted. It lets more oxygen into his brain, allowing three times as much blood as normal to pump through his vein. He says that Orison probably did it when he first was in prison, and first learned how to use its powers. Some people believe that having more blood flowing into your brain can give you powers, such as the power of hypnosis.

Orison starts saying "Glory. Amen," as the guard watches over him. Orison leaves, unnoticed by the guard. He takes the man’s gun on the way out.

EQUALITY, ILLINOIS
5:02 PM

At Orison’s house, Donnie has a prostitute over.

PROSTITUTE: Are you Donald?
DONNIE: Yes.
PROSTITUTE: I'm from Tip-Top Gentlemen's Service?
DONNIE lets her in
PROSTITUTE: This isn't your place, is it?
DONNIE: No. Why?
PROSTITUTE: 'Cause I was coming up the stairs and got stopped by the landlord. Like it's any of his business. He told me some Reverend Orison lives here. Now, you ain't no preacher, are you?
DONNIE: No.
PROSTITUTE: Good. They always like the weirdest things. You know what I mean?
DONNIE stares at her nails
PROSITUTE: You okay?
DONNIE: Yes.
PROSTITUTE: Something you wanna say?
DONNIE: Love your hair.

ACT THREE

The prostitute is soaking in the bathtub when Donnie asks about washing her hair. He says in the same voice as in "Irresistible:"

DONNIE: Is your hair chemically treated?

She gets angry and tells him that she’s not dirty, and that if he is going to be like that she is going to leave. She asks him for a towel, and he holds one out to her.

When she turns around, he can see that she has a red wig instead of being a real red head. He screams at her for it, saying she lied, but she throws a candle in his face. He bangs his head on the sink, and she gets away.

When Mulder and Scully get to Orison’s hospital room, he is gone, and the guard is in a trance-like state. Mulder shakes him awake, but he doesn’t remember what happened.

Scully finds a note from the Reverend on a pad of paper. It says "Don’t Look Any Further" which is the title of the song they have been hearing. Mulder tells her that maybe he overheard them talking, but she tells him that she never said the title of the song. Mulder says then that maybe the message is meant for her, and not to look any further.

Donnie gets up from the bathroom floor. Orison is behind him pointing a gun at him.

ORISON: Who so ever shedeth man’s blood, thy man shall his blood be shed.
DONNIE turns around to face ORISON
DONNIE: What are you doing?
ORISON: Taking you home.
DONNIE turns around to face ORISON
ORISON: The wicked will be punished.

Later Orison digs a grave for Donnie, trying to make him repent before he kills him.

ORISON: Pray for God's love, Donnie. Find the humility in yourself to allow God into your heart. All you have to do is believe. Repent. You'll feel God’s love come to show you the way to his heavenly kingdom.
DONNIE starts to cry. ORISON takes out his gun.
ORISON: Are you sorry for what you've done?
DONNIE mumbles
ORISON: What did you say?
ORISON moves closer to DONNIE as he continues to mumble
ORISON: Why are you crying?
ORISON moves even closer
ORISON (pointing his gun at Donnie): Beg his forgiveness for what you did to those girls. For what you did to all those poor helpless girls.
DONNIE: My violence is always waiting for an instant. For when His back is turned...you can see it now.
ORISON: Are you crying for your sins…or for yourself?
DONNIE: No, Reverend. I cry for you, because you cannot kill me.

Orison sees him as the same demon that Scully did in "Irresistible." Donnie kills Orison.

Mulder and Scully arrive at the scene and look at Orison’s body.

MULDER: You know, it’s funny. When all is said and done, there's not much mystery in murder.
SCULLY: And for that I owe you an apology, Mulder.
MULDER: What do you mean?
SCULLY: Well, you were right. I was looking to hard for connections that weren’t there. Orison was a murderer, plain and simple. He liberated those prisons so he could bring them out here and pass judgement on them.
MULDER: I guess in his own twisted way he was making good with his God. Glory, Amen. Let’s go home, Scully.
SCULLY: You know, Donnie Pfaster placed the call to the police that led us out here. It’s almost like he’s begging us to hunt him down.
MULDER: This X-File is over. Lying dead there in a grave he dug himself. Let’s let the U.S. marshals take over from here…Don’t look any further, Scully.

Donnie enters Scully’s house. He goes into her bedroom. There, he finds Scully’s Bible. He picks it up and puts it in a drawer. He hides when she comes home, as he watches her get ready for bed.

ACT FOUR

Scully notices her clock – it says 6:66 again. When she picks it up, the light goes out. She knows something’s wrong, so she starts to run out. Donnie stops her.

On Mulder’s answering machine:
"Agent Mulder, Marshall ?? (didn't catch the name). Just talked to a call girl who ID's Donnie Pfaster as an attacker. Claims Pfaster got real upset when she was wearing a red wig. Upset she wasn't a redhead. This mean anything to you? Appreciate a call back."

Mulder walks into his apartment.

Donnie throws Scully against the wall.

Donnie starts choking Scully, so she pokes him in the eyes and punches him. She reaches her gun, but he knocks it away from her and slams her into a mirror which breaks. Scully and Donnie struggle for a long time. It seems Scully has won as she starts to run away, but he catches up to her and he ties her up.

DONNIE: Who does your nails, girly girl?

Scully tells him that the only reason that he’s alive is because she asked the judge for life. He says to her:

DONNIE: You’re the one that got away. You’re all I think about.

She tells him that she is a federal agent, and that if he hurts her they won’t give him a break this time.

DONNIE: I’m going to run you a bath.

Scully screams, but Donnie covers her mouth with his hand.

Mulder is brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed. He sets his alarm, and on the radio is the same song as before.

Scully’s phone rings, but Donnie ignores it and turns on the stereo. It’s the same song.

Mulder is lying on his bed on the phone, and finally hangs it up.

As Donnie prepares a bath, Scully keeps trying to get loose. She manages to get her hands over so they are in front of her, and she comes out into the main room, trying to get to her gun on the floor.

Suddenly, everything is in slow motion. Mulder comes into the room with a gun on Donnie, but Scully comes into the room and shoots Donnie.

After, Scully is upset. Mulder tells her that Donnie would have killed again, and was evil. He says that she way he sees it, she had no choice, and that his report will reflect that, if she is worried about it. She tells Mulder that she doesn't know why she shot him, or what force was at work when she pulled the trigger. Mulder asks if she thinks God was directing her, but she says that she questions if He was.

 


IMAGES FROM "ORISON" (40)


Overall Rating : 8
*Shippy Rating: 6.5
*Based on the Redux II scale (1-10, as Redux II being a 10 [now with Triangle being an 11, and Millennium being a 12, above the scale])*


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