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IMDb > "The X Files" Improbable (2002)
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"The X Files" Improbable (2002)



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Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   337 votes
Director:
Writers:
Chris Carter (creator)
Chris Carter (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Improbable on IMDbPro.
Original Air Date:
7 April 2002 (Season 9, Episode 13)
Plot:
Reyes, Doggett, and Scully are pulled into a bizarre serial murder case involving the number '3', numerology on a whole, and an eccentric man who likes to play checkers. | add synopsis
User Reviews:
A brighter spot in the last seasons of the X-Files more (7 total)

Cast

  (Episode Credited cast)

Gillian Anderson ... Dana Scully

Robert Patrick ... John Doggett

Annabeth Gish ... Monica Reyes

Mitch Pileggi ... Walter Skinner
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shannon Maureen Brown ... Pretty Blonde
Amy D'Allessandro ... Amy Sheridan Aufsbergher
Nick DeMarinis ... Pizza Guy
Ernesto Gasco ... Heavy Italian Man
Ellen Greene ... Vicki Louise Burdick

John Kapelos ... Special Agent Fordyce
Kelly Knox ... Dancer

Ray McKinnon ... Mad Wayne
Benito Prezia ... Old Italian Man

Burt Reynolds ... Mr. Burt
Travis Riker ... Baby William
Larry Udy ... Middle-Aged Man

Angelo Vacco ... Guido / Bartender
Beth Watson ... Woman
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Additional Details

Runtime:
60 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Quotes:
Mr. Burt: [held at gunpoint by Scully for the second time] So, what you're saying is I had nothing to do with it?
Dana Scully: [Mr Burt puts down his hands] Hey, keep you hands up!
Mr. Burt: Why?
Dana Scully: I don't know.
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Soundtrack:
Torero more

FAQ

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19 out of 29 people found the following review useful.
A brighter spot in the last seasons of the X-Files, 18 June 2007
9/10
Author: DJ Cuomo from United States

I don't understand how one cannot "get" the plot for this episode. Agent Reyes had been examining numerology when she hears of a recent murder, it allows her to connect this murder with previous ones. Scully, who is skeptical of numerology, notices that all the women have a particular mark, which ties the cases together.

We then see our killer, he is inside a bar where he kills another woman, and nearby is a strange man(Burt Reynolds). The next time we see the killer, he approaches Mr. Burt, who is playing three card monte, having recognized him from before.

Reyes goes to see a numerologist, who just as she finds something, is killed. Eventually, this leads to Scully, Reyes, Mr. Burt, and the killer all inside a parking garage. Mr. Burt convinces the agents to play checkers, which leads to Reyes noticing that their colors are red and black, which fits into the pattern of the serial killer, he had been killing women by patterns of hair, the last victim being blonde. Mr. Burt asks Reyes if the numbers are helping the killer, or if they are helping them catch him, which certainly hints at something about Mr. Burt, as well as his love of music, having seemingly every CD in the trunk of his car, and his viewing everything as a game.

The killer corners the agents and is about to shoot Reyes when Doggett, who had found the killer his own way, by recognizing a pattern in the locations of the victims, shoots him dead. Mr. Burt is nowhere to be seen.

The end of the episode shows to old Italian men singing a song as the body of the killer is hauled out of the parking garage, some kind of festival is going on, as the camera zooms out you see the face of Mr. Burt made from the lights of the city far below, and then the screen blacks out to the credits.

I took Mr. Burt as being God, who, although not directly, stops the serial killer by making his actions into a pattern that could be recognized, using numbers and other coincidences. Basically saying that God is looking out for people, albeit in a strange playful way, if the people are open to everything.

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