Season 7, Episode 5: Rush

Synopsis

A high school student in Virginia named Tony Reed meets up with a bad influence named Max Harden and his girlfriend, Chastity Raines, on some private property to visit some sort of secret place. Reed's friends ditch him when a deputy shows up, but the cop is killed with his own flashlight and Reed becomes a suspect after handling the bloody weapon. Mulder thinks he's been wrongfully accused, since Reed is a model student and the extent of the deputy's injuries suggest that something else is going on.

Reed maintains his innocence, but also refuses to admit that anyone else was at the scene. Mulder wonders if a poltergeist is the culprit, but Scully suggests talking with Reed's friends instead. Harden, the son of the sheriff, shows up for a midterm with a minute of class left and aces it. The flashlight disappears from an evidence locker, so Reed is released. Mulder notices a motion blur on the security footage, and also finds what seems to be a melted strip of rubber on the floor. Harden takes Reed on a joyride in a stolen car, disappears at 120 miles an hour, and somehow gets Reed safely out before the car hits a tree.

Further analysis of the videotape shows that the blur likely has the same colors as the high school team ones. Harden's teacher thinks he cheated and flunks him; in the cafeteria, Harden blurs repeatedly as the teacher is killed, slammed into the wall and hit by a flying chair. Mulder now suspects psychokinesis. Harden and Raines start to become more tired, and though Reed is growing more wary of the friendship he decides to follow Raines into a mysterious cave and gains the ability the two people have.

Harden is hospitalized with fatigue and withdrawal, and also is found to have microfractures, ligament tears, and other uncharacteristic injuries. When Mulder finds that Harden's shoes are melted, he realizes that he's gained the ability to move extremely fast. Raines gets Harden out of the hospital and he gets another speed fix. His father finds several melted shoes and the dead deputy's flashlight in his room, and Harden attacks him. Reed comes to the sheriff's rescue.

Raines tells Reed that he shouldn't have intervened, and that they need to get back to the cave before Harden does. They don't succeed, and Reed follows Raines into the cave to find her unconscious and Harden pissed off. Harden threatens to mess up Reed, but is shot by Raines; telling Reed that she can't go back, she steps in front of the bullet and is also killed. An analysis of the cave finds no explanation for the effect, and the cave is sealed off. Reed is hospitalized, OK but seeing the world move a good deal more slowly.

Tom Bower, who plays Sheriff Harden, also played Dr. Curtis Willard. Michael Beardsley, uncredited as a high school student, played Humphries on Freaks and Geeks.

Episode Body Count

Deputy Ron Foster: has his skull caved in when Harden hits him at super-speed with Foster's flashlight.

Mr. Babbitt: killed when Harden flings cafeteria furniture at him at super-speed.

Max Harden and Chastity Raines: both killed by a bullet that Raines fires.

Humans: 4
Creatures: 0
Aliens: 0

Cumulative Body Count (144/202 episodes, 1/2 movies)

Humans: 1,574

Creatures: 113
Aliens: 62

Grand Total: 1,749