Born Again
Nitcentral's Bulletin Brash Reflections:
XFiles:
Season One:
Born Again
Synopsis: Police detective Sharon Lazard finds a lost girl and takes her back to the station, where she is interviewed by Detective Barbala. Suddenly, Barbala is flung out the window, and falls to his death, with the girl being the only other person in the room with him. Talking to Mulder and Scully, Lazard says that Barbala wasn't the type to kill himself. The girl, Michelle Bishop, claims there was another man in the room, who threw Barbala out the window. The description matches Charlie Morris, a detective who died nine years prior. Mulder suspects a ghost, but Scully points to a picture of Morris in the hallway, saying that Michelle probably saw the picture and made up the story. The agents interview Tony Fiore, Morris's former partner, who claims that Morris was killed by a vengeful gang. Later, though, Fiore meets with Len Felder, and reveals that says that he's afraid the truth of Morris's death will come out. Felder tells him not to worry, but is soon afterward dead, strangled to death by a scarf caught in a bus door, while Michelle watches. Mulder and Scully manage to find out about the insurance scam that resulted in Morris's death, but when they come to interview Fiore again, his wife, Anita, tells them that he has disappeared. Mulder notices a set of origami animals, which Anita reveals were made by her first husband: Charlie Morris. Mulder, remembering that Michelle was making similar origami figures, leaps to the conclusion that Michelle, who was born around the same time that Morris died, is the reincarnation of Morris, and is killing those who murdered him. Placed under hypnosis, Michelle begins to speak as Charlie, recalling the night of his murder. A sudden glitch in the video tape of the hypnosis is analyzed, revealing a figure of a man in a diving suit, which is identical to a figure in Morris's fish tank. The agents rush back to the Fiore house, where Michelle is using psychokinesis to hurl objects at Fiore. Thanks to Anita's pleading for Fiore's life, Charlie releases his hold on Michelle
By MikeC on Monday, June 14, 2004 - 7:30 pm: In the book, the Chief wonders how the X-Files are numbered, comparing this one to "Fire." While I assume that the writers probably put as much thought into the numbers as Classic Trek did with stardates, there is the possibility that the numbers are organized by case theme, so "40271" may signify it is in the "reincarnation" theme and have nothing to do with chronology.
And for some reason, when I first started watching The X-Files, this episode popped up all the time.
By a1215401901095 on Monday, July 07, 2008 - 5:45 am:good 1215401901095
By AWhite (Inblackestnight) on Monday, July 25, 2016 - 9:05 am:NANJQ: During Michelle's hypnosis, as Charlie Morris, she claims she's 24 years old. Did the picture of Charlie look much older than 24 to anyone else, by at least 10 years?
After what Scully witnesses during this ep, she should be a little less skeptical about Mulder's theories in the future, right??