Never Again
- Episode aired Feb 2, 1997
- TV-14
- 44m
Mulder takes a vacation to visit Graceland while sending disaffected Scully to Philadelphia to look into Russians with ties to UFOs. She becomes attracted to a secretly unstable young divorc... Read allMulder takes a vacation to visit Graceland while sending disaffected Scully to Philadelphia to look into Russians with ties to UFOs. She becomes attracted to a secretly unstable young divorcee whose tattoo is telling him to kill women.Mulder takes a vacation to visit Graceland while sending disaffected Scully to Philadelphia to look into Russians with ties to UFOs. She becomes attracted to a secretly unstable young divorcee whose tattoo is telling him to kill women.
- 'Betty'
- (voice)
- Detective Gouveia
- (as Jay Donohue)
- Hannah
- (as B.J. Harrison)
- Ms. Vansen
- (uncredited)
- Mrs. Shima-Tsuno
- (uncredited)
- Cindy Savalas - Ed's Ex-wife
- (uncredited)
- Bartender
- (uncredited)
- Ed Jerse's Lawyer
- (uncredited)
- Cindy Savalas' Lawyer
- (uncredited)
- The Judge
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJodie Foster was a longtime friend of the show's casting director, Randy Stone, and also a huge fan of the show. So when she was asked to provide a voice, she readily agreed. Foster nailed her line readings in one hour in a recording booth.
- GoofsWhen Ed Jerse broke into the apartment below him to attack Kaye Schilling, he damaged the door upon entering. Later, when the two people of faith came calling, they knocked on the door but left assuming no one was home. It's unlikely the door to the apartment would have been repaired with no one inspecting the apartment or looking for Miss Schilling to find out how it got damaged.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Dana Scully: Not everything is about you, Mulder. This is my life.
Fox Mulder: Yes, but it's m...
- ConnectionsFeatured in The X-Files: Trust No 1 (2002)
When Mulder is dragged into taking a vacation, an embittered Scully is dispatched to investigate a potential X-File in Philadelphia, where she bumps into heartsick divorcée Ed Jerse. The set-up for the plot makes perfect sense in the context of the series, and the frustration that hangs over Scully like a rain cloud is perfectly relatable to anyone who has been pushed into close quarters with someone for a lengthy time. This frustration makes even more sense given the events that took place in "Leonard Betts," in which Scully discovered that she had developed cancer as a result of her abduction (a fact that, due to unfortunate scheduling changes, was not referenced in this episode; nonetheless it does not disrupt the flow between that episode and the subsequent one, "Memento Mori").
Jerse suffers from auditory hallucinations that take physical form in the tattoo of "Betty," voiced brilliantly by none other than Jodie Foster. Whether the hallucinations stem from Jerse's psychosis or a chemical poisoning is not made clear, but it leads to a cool ambiguity throughout the episode. When he meets Scully at a tattoo parlor he persuades her to get a tattoo of an Ouroboros. The sexual chemistry in this episode is unrivaled by most and "Never Again" remains notable not only for its frustratedly handsome performance from Rodney Rowland, but also for one of the most widely circulated Scully screenshots of the entire series.
Quentin Tarantino was reported as having been contracted to direct this episode, but DGA red-tape prevented this from happening. Irregardless, Rob Bowman does wonders behind the camera, making a brooding jungle out of a claustrophobic apartment building. The directing in this episode feels quite different from his other works, but makes for some neat moments, including a rose petal that segues into a bloodstain on Jerse's bandage. With enough amount of rich character study for the "philes" to sink their teeth into, "Never Again" remains a highlight.
10/10
- DWilliams1089
- Aug 22, 2010