Thursday, November 5, 2009

Season 7, Episode 14: Theef

Synopsis

The father-in-law of a successful California doctor named Robert Wieder finds a figure of man drawn in dirt on a guest bed; soon after, he writes "Theef" on a wall with his own blood and hangs himself. Mulder recognizes the remains of the dirt symbol as an indication of hexcraft (ie, a curse). The culprit seems to be Orel Peattie, a creepy man who also appeared behind the father-in-law right before his death. Scully determines that the father-in-law had a strange brain disease and that his wounds were self-inflicted, but Mulder feels he may have been compelled to kill himself.

After Peattie creates a "poppet" doll and leaves another dirt figure in Wieder's bed, Wieder's wife is stricken with another rare disease. Mulder feels that Wieder can't win a battle against hexcraft, but Wieder is confident that his wife can be cured. After Wieder finds that his wife's brain scans all include the word "theef," Peattie confronts him and mentions the name Lynette Peattie. Wieder doesn't recognize the name, but then discovers that she was a Jane Doe he treated who didn't make it.

After realizing the wonders of the microwave and "poppin' corn," Peattie nukes a poppet representing Wieder's wife to kill her. When "theef" shows up branded on her body, Wieder tells the agents that Lynette Peattie was the victim of a bus accident and that he took about 20 minutes off her life by giving her an overdose of morphine to end her pain. Mulder thinks the girl's father is killing off Wieder's family as revenge. Scully takes Wieder and his daughter into protective custody.

Peattie's landlady discovers the Lynette's body in his room, and contracts a rare disease after Peattie finds her. Seeing a newscast on it, Mulder warns Scully that Peattie is after them. Peattie breaks into Scully's car and uses one of her hairs to make a poppet doll and blind her. Peattie confronts Wieder, saying he would have been able to save his daughter. He starts to torture Wieder using another poppet doll, but Scully manages to shoot him, possibly after Mulder arrives and removes her impediment. As Peattie recovers in the hospital, Scully tells Mulder she would have done what Wieder did if someone was beyond saving and in terrible pain, but also seems to be considering whether Peattie's magic may have worked on his daughter.

James Morrison, who plays Dr. Robert Wieder, also plays Bill Buchanan on 24.

Episode Body Count


Dr. Irving Thalbro: hangs himself after seeing a hexcraft symbol in a guest bed.


Lynette Peattie: died of a morphine overdose that Wieder gives her after she suffers extreme injuries in a bus accident.


Nan Wieder: exposed to extreme radiation after Orel Peattie puts a poppet doll in a microwave.

Humans: 3
Creatures: 0
Aliens: 0

Cumulative Body Count (153/202 episodes, 1/2 movies)

Humans: 1,705
Creatures: 114
Aliens: 62

Grand Total: 1,881

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