7X08 The Amazing Maleeni
When a magician, the Amazing Maleeni is heckled during a routine performance at the Santa Monica Pier in California by an unimpressed man in the audience. He announces he will attempt the feat of the Egyptian Dedi, and turns his head completely around on his neck, the audience applaud.
But after the show the pier manager finds the Amazing Maleeni's headless body in his car.
The following day, Mulder and Scully examine the scene, although Scully is less interested believing it to be merely a murder case. Mulder is intrigued by video footage a tourist took of the Amazing Maleeni's trick, although they can not make out the heckler's face, Scully notices him throwing away a soda cup on film. The fingerprints on the cup lead them to Billy LaBonge, a small-time magician with a criminal record.
They question him, but he claims that The Amazing Maleeni was just an old man with a gambling debt. However when Scully's autopsy reveals that The Amazing Maleeni's (real name Herman Pinchbeck) head had been carefully sawed off and then stuck back on with spirit gum, and that he had died of a heart attach and been stored in a refrigerator for over a month, suspicion falls on Albert Pinchbeck, Herman's twin brother, and also a magician. Mulder believes that Albert performed the show on the pier in his brother's honour, so that his reputation would be guaranteed after his death. And that he knows Billy LaBonge and is working with him, in an effort to pull off the perfect bank robbery.
Noteworthy Quote
Billy LaBonage: "It's about... originality. Style. And more than
anything else... soul. Because that's what separates the great ones... from the hacks. We can't do this halfway. We're dealing with powerful forces at work here. Energies far beyond our mere... mortal... understanding."
Mulder: "Enough to make a magician lose his head?"
Credits
| Writer: |
Vince Gilligan |
| |
John Shiban |
| |
Frank Spotnitz |
| Director: |
Thomas J Wright |
Cast:
| David Duchovny |
Special Agent Fox Mulder |
| Gillian Anderson |
Special Agent Dana Scully |
Guest Cast:
| Ricky Jay |
The Amazing Maleeni/Albert Pinchbeck |
| Jonathan Levit |
Billy LaBonge |
| Robert LaSardo |
Cissy Alvarez |
| Jim Maniaci |
Bullethead |
| Rick Marzan |
Holding Cell Officer |
| Mark Chaet |
Bank Officer |
| Dennis Keiffer |
Bullethead |
| Dan Rice |
Uniform Cop |
| Sherri Howard |
Female Employee |
| J David |
Young Boss |
| Steven Barr |
Courier Guard |
| Adam Vernier |
Driver |
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