Yee
This hold was secured in hong kong. I don't know how this happened. It makes no sense. We found the cage still locked. Two of my men are missing.
Season 6 · Episode 16
Alpha
Character-labelled dialogue prepared from the official DVD subtitle track.
Production code6ABX16Original airdate · March 28, 1999
278 dialogue entries
Scene 01
Opening scene
[ speaking chinese ]
[ creature snarls ]
[ loud clattering ]
[ speaking chinese ]
[ siren wails ]
Dr. Ian Detweiler
Who's in charge here? You?
Yee
Who are you?
Dr. Ian Detweiler
My name is Detweiler. I'm the owner of this cargo. I was to be notified immediately of its arrival. There's an animal in here, damn it. It needs care.
Scene 02
FBI HEADQUARTERS
Dana Scully
Aren't you goin' home?
Fox Mulder
I am home. I'm just feathering the nest.
Dana Scully
What ya got?
Fox Mulder
Two merchant marines found dead this morning in san pedro. In the hold of their cargo ship.
Dana Scully
Mind if I ask the cause of death?
Fox Mulder
On the crime report it says "multiple bite wounds."
Dana Scully
From what?
Fox Mulder
Well, the hong kong manifest has the cargo listed as a dog.
Dana Scully
A dog? A dog dog?
Fox Mulder
Yo quiero taco bell. That alone is not what drew me to this case. The two men were found inside the container which was locked from the outside.
Dana Scully
What happened to the dog?
Fox Mulder
Dog gone. Dog gone. Doggone.
Dana Scully
Yeah, I got it. Did anybody examine the victim, Mulder? Look, bite wounds are rarely lethal in themselves. I mean, they are not the cause of death. They lead to it through the loss of blood. But it makes me wonder how accurate this report is.
Fox Mulder
Local p.d. Wrote it up. Department of fish and wildlife is on the case. I got an outside source says it was a dog.
Dana Scully
I don't have to tell you how absolutely and completely wrong that seems. I mean, they were found dead in a locked cage, right?
Fox Mulder
Yeah.
Dana Scully
Two grown men.
Fox Mulder
Mm-hmm.
Dana Scully
You're not gonna tell me that a dog did this.
Fox Mulder
Bad dog.
Dana Scully
Yeah.
[ barking ]
Scene 03
BELLFLOWER, CALIFORNIA
Jake Conroy
Quiet. Jojo, come on. Shh, shh, shh. That's enough, now. Come on. Come on. Come on. It's okay. Hey, get outta there! Go on, get! Come on. Inside. Come on, come on. Inside. Inside. Inside, jojo.
[ barking continues ]
Jake Conroy
Get outta here! Go on home! Go home!
Unidentified speaker
Jojo?
Jake Conroy
Here, girl! Better not be on the bed! There you are. What are you doin', girl? You nut. Big old lazy bones. Jojo, what are you doin'--
[ growling ]
[ snarling ]
Jake Conroy
Stay away. Go on. Go.
[ snarling continues ]
[ man screaming, groaning ]
Scene 04
SAN PEDRO, CALIFORNIA
Fox Mulder
Officer Jeffrey Cahn?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
Yeah.
Fox Mulder
I'm special agent Fox Mulder with the FBI this is my partner Dana Scully. I think the l.a. Field office would have contacted you that we were coming down today.
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
Oh, yeah. I hope you don't mind. I had a look around the ship with my men. We were pretty thorough.
Dana Scully
What did you find?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
Nothing conclusive, really. But I can tell you the dog's not likely still on the ship.
Fox Mulder
How'd you determine that?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
You ever owned a dog, sir?
Fox Mulder
Yeah.
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
Had to clean up after it?
Dana Scully
I don't suppose you can tell us what kind of dog this is?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
I'm not really sure. The man it was shipped to, his name is Detweiler. Dr. Ian Detweiler. Calls himself a, uh, cryptozoologist.
Fox Mulder
Cryptozoologist?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
Yeah. They deal with animals thought to be extinct.
Fox Mulder
Animals-- animals that aren't supposed to exist, like sasquatch, ogopogo and the abominable snowman--
Dana Scully
Don't mind him. He'll go on forever. Did you have a chance to talk to this dr. Detweiler?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
About five minutes ago.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
Officer Cahn, any progress?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
Agents, dr. Detweiler.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
Are you from the FBI? Yeah. Who should I be speaking to about the theft of this animal?
Fox Mulder
What do you mean, theft?
Dr. Ian Detweiler
Well, this is a very valuable animal that has disappeared. A rare breed and arguably a priceless specimen.
Dana Scully
A breed of what?
Dr. Ian Detweiler
Wanshang dhole. It's a canid.
Fox Mulder
That's an asian dog. Supposed to have been extinct for the last 150 years.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
Yes. That's right, actually.
Dana Scully
And you have one of these?
Dr. Ian Detweiler
I was on the expedition that caught it.
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
Be that as it may, we now have an unquarantined animal loose.
Fox Mulder
Loose? This animal's a little more than loose. It seems to have killed two people.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
Oh, no, let me assure you. This is not a predatory animal. Chinese folklore has imbued it with mythic qualities. But it doesn't even hunt. It scavenges.
Cop
Where's officer Cahn? I just got a report on the radio. Some kind of vicious dog attack in bellflower.
Scene 05
BELLFLOWER
Fox Mulder
Watch your step.
Dana Scully
Jake conroy, age 30. He was employed as a customs agent by the federal government. The bite marks match those of the victims on the chinese freighter. In this case, it bit off the man's hand. There's talk in the house... That he may have been involved in the theft of the animal and then it turned on him.
Fox Mulder
Talk about bitin' the hand that feeds ya.
Dana Scully
Well, it does make sense. I mean, a victim and his dog are attacked inside of a house with all the doors shut. It couldn't have happened unless the dog was being kept inside.
Fox Mulder
Well, if all the doors were shut, how did he get out?
Dana Scully
Well, then what?
Fox Mulder
I think we're speaking in common about an animal we're calling a dog... But which displays none of the behavior of man's best friend.
Dana Scully
You mean covering up crime scenes?
Fox Mulder
You get a biscuit, Scully.
Dana Scully
So you're talking about a dog that has human intelligence? Well, even if there were such an animal, where would we even begin to look for one?
Fox Mulder
With a human that thinks like an animal.
[ dogs barking ]
Scene 06
Scene 06
Fox Mulder
Karin? Karin Berquist?
Stacy Muir
No. Stacie muir. I'm just puttin' up this fence for her. She's been havin' some coyote problems. You two lookin' for Karin about boarding?
Fox Mulder
No, it's actually more of a behavior problem.
Dana Scully
Yeah. He, uh, doesn't listen, and he chews on the furniture.
[ chuckles ]
Fox Mulder
Just, can you tell her that the FBI's here to see her?
Stacy Muir
Right this way. Karin will be out in a moment, all right?
Dana Scully
Are you sure this woman's not an authority on bats?
Fox Mulder
Karin Berquist knows more about canine behaviorisms than anybody on the planet. She's lived with wild canids and wolves in the wilderness on five different continents.
Dana Scully
How is it that you know so much about her but you don't know what she looks like?
Fox Mulder
I never actually met her.
Dana Scully
Yet you assume that she's gonna help us?
Fox Mulder
No. It's not an assumption. She is the one who told me about this case.
Dana Scully
Oh, so you two are chummy.
Fox Mulder
Well, I've read her books.
Dana Scully
Oh. "the wolf inside. Dogs don't lie. Better than human." better than human?
Fox Mulder
She's not a real people person.
Dana Scully
Well, she seems to have made a connection to you.
Karin Berquist
All right, settle down. Settle.
Fox Mulder
Karin, I'm Fox. Fox Mulder. This is my partner, Dana Scully. It's nice to finally meet you.
Karin Berquist
I wish I'd known. I don't get many visitors. Stacy tells me you have a question about behaviorism.
Fox Mulder
Yeah, it's about the animal I'm tracking, the one you mentioned in your e-mail. About its intelligence.
Karin Berquist
Canids' intelligence is far superior to ours. If that's what you want to know.
Dana Scully
-intelligence enough to murder? -
Karin Berquist
Murder takes no intelligence. It's a human behaviorism.
Fox Mulder
What about hunting?
Karin Berquist
Coyotes use elaborate trickeries to draw out their prey. Many canids do, alone or in packs.
Dana Scully
What about a dhole?
Karin Berquist
If you mean the wanshang dhole, it's extinct. Is there any other reason you came here?
Fox Mulder
No. Thank you, Karin.
Karin Berquist
Come on.
[ dog barks ]
Dana Scully
Mulder. She's a friend of yours?
Fox Mulder
Well, we met on line.
Dana Scully
On line?
Fox Mulder
Two professionals exchanging information.
Scene 07
Scene 07
Officer Fiedler
This is Fiedler. I'm at an alley just south of cooper in signal hill. Looks like something's been scavenging. I'm gonna check it out.
Dispatcher
Copy that.
Officer Fiedler
[ clattering ] hey! Hello, sir. I'm with u.s. Fish and wildlife. Maybe you've seen a dog I'm lookin' for. Sir? Can you hear me?
[ growling, snarling ]
[ man screaming ]
Scene 08
8:34 AM
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
You wanna catch a killer? You arrest that crypto son of a bitch who shipped that dog over here.
Dana Scully
Is it the same dog?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
That's frank Fiedler over there. He's a friend of mine. Damn good at his job. You think this kind of thing happens here every day?
Fox Mulder
No, I'm sure it doesn't. We're just trying to catch this animal just like you.
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
Oh, you can catch it. I want to kill it.
Dana Scully
I don't think wolf woman is here to speak to me. I'm just, uh, gonna take a look at the body.
Fox Mulder
I didn't expect to see you.
Karin Berquist
"dog eats dogcatcher." story's all over the news this morning. It's sort of uplifting.
Fox Mulder
I'm joking. Sorry. Mm-hmm. That's okay.
Karin Berquist
I thought you might use some help.
Fox Mulder
You said that a dog, or a canid, only hunts what it needs. But I've got four bodies with bite marks on it... From an animal that seems to kill for no other reason.
Karin Berquist
Who are the victims?
Fox Mulder
There's two men on a ship that it came in on, a customs agent, and now an officer from fish and wildlife. In fact, all these men could have come in contact with the animal before the attacks.
Karin Berquist
Classic dominant, alpha territorial behavior.
Fox Mulder
No, this animal seems to have ranged many Miles to make its attacks. In each case, it seems to have outsmarted or tricked its victims.
Karin Berquist
Unlike we homo sapiens, a canid's motives are simple and direct. It would be an extraordinary case to find one who kills for sport. Likely we may never know. I'm sure someone will kill it first.
Fox Mulder
This guy over here? He claims to have caught it once. Maybe he can catch it again. He's dr. Ian Detweiler. Do you know him?
Karin Berquist
No, but I dislike him already.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
I've been over the area. If that was my animal, there's absolutely no evidence of it. No prints, nothing whatsoever I can find.
Fox Mulder
But it's still on the loose?
Karin Berquist
How did you say you caught it originally?
Fox Mulder
Oh, this is Karin Berquist.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
We tranquilized it, after tracking it for two weeks.
Karin Berquist
You admire it, don't you?
Dr. Ian Detweiler
I admire its ability to survive.
Karin Berquist
I think I'll look around too.
Fox Mulder
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
That's one strange bird.
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
I'm leaving my dart gun in the car. I'm going to live rounds from here on out. I don't care what the regulations say. I shouldn't be asked to risk my life. Neither should anyone else.
Dispatcher
No one's asking you to risk your life, Cahn.
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
Fiedler's lying dead. You realize that? [ clattering ]
Dispatcher
Cahn, are you still there?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
We need more men out here. How many more people have to go down before you guys listen? Look, I don't have a photo of this animal. No one's even seen it. Let's get more men out here so we can catch it and kill it. If you want pe-- you scared me.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
You kill that dog, and I'll kill you.
Scene 09
Scene 09
Karin Berquist
This man Detweiler said he could find no evidence at the scene. But with very little effort, I was able to find several tracks... On the floor of the building where the man was attacked.
Dana Scully
Did they tell you anything?
Karin Berquist
That this is a large, rangy animal... With primitive, even pre-evolutionary aspects. It isn't perfectly visible, but with the computer... I can enhance the print so that you can see it. A fifth toe pad on the right paw. Canids only have four toes.
Fox Mulder
He's got a vestigial toe pad on his front paws, right there.
Karin Berquist
The dewclaw. Serving no purpose now. Although some believe it was once a prehensile thumb.
Dana Scully
And that's what you think the print indicates?
Karin Berquist
I am told that this animal went in and out of closed buildings.
Dana Scully
But just yesterday you dismissed the possibility outright... That a dog, or a canid as you call it, would behave like this.
Karin Berquist
-I dismissed the idea of murder. -
Dana Scully
But you'll accept the idea... That it behaves in every other way like jack the ripper?
Karin Berquist
I'm just going by the facts. In chinese myth a dhole can be evil, capable of opening doors, stealing wives and disappearing into thin air. Maybe there is some basis in reality for this trickster myth.
Dana Scully
Oh, I'm fairly certain there is.
Fox Mulder
Everything okay, Scully?
Dana Scully
How well do you know this woman, Mulder?
Fox Mulder
How well do you know anybody you meet on the internet? She likes to talk.
Dana Scully
Well, I question her motives.
Fox Mulder
You're suggesting this case was to get me out here, to meet me? I'm flattered, but no. I don't know this woman, but I'll go out on a limb and say... There's no way she has anything to do with those four people being dead.
Dana Scully
She's enamored of you, Mulder. Don't underestimate a woman. They can be tricksters too.
Scene 10
6:21 PM
Angie
So, dr. Riley wanted me to give duke three pills a day. Is one bottle gonna be enough?
Peggy
We can get you a refill.
Angie
Okay.
[ barking ]
Angie
Duke. Duke, enough!
Dr. Ian Detweiler
Can't you control your dog?
Angie
He gets this way with strangers sometimes.
Dr. James Riley
Let's take him outside. Okay. Thanks. Excuse me. Excuse me. You got him? Duke, come on!
[ barking continues ]
Dr. James Riley
Good luck. Sorry about that. He's usually a well-behaved dog.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
I'm dr. Detweiler. I called about the animal tranquilizer.
Dr. James Riley
The telezol. I don't have much occasion to dispense it. If I have any, it's very little.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
I'll take whatever you've got.
Dr. James Riley
I have etorphine. Can you use that?
Dr. Ian Detweiler
Yeah.
Dr. James Riley
Can I ask what these are for?
Dr. Ian Detweiler
An animal escaped from a pier in san pedro.
Dr. James Riley
Not that dog that's been attacking people?
Dr. Ian Detweiler
I'm in a bit of a hurry.
Dr. James Riley
This dog you're looking for-- you're not looking around here?
Dr. Ian Detweiler
I'm afraid we are.
Dr. James Riley
Good night, Peggy. Be sure to lock the front door for me, would you? I'll lock up back here. Good night, sparky. Bye, dino.
[ whimpering ]
[ dogs barking ]
[ barking continues ]
Dr. James Riley
Hey, Buck. What's wrong, Buck? What's wrong, Buck, huh?
[ snarling, barking ]
[ sirens wailing ]
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
Come on! Where is he?
Dr. James Riley
He's trapped in a kennel.
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
How'd it get in there?
Dr. James Riley
It must have come around back.
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
Lomas, young, go around back. All right, I'm gonna open the door. Doc, you're gonna have to move back. I'm gonna have to shoot him. I see him!
Dr. James Riley
Did you hit him?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
I think so. He's down.
Dr. James Riley
[ whimpering ] duke. It's the wrong dog.
[ police radio, indistinct ]
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
You came out for nothing.
Fox Mulder
How's that?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
I took out somebody's pet.
Fox Mulder
What kind of pet?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
A st. Bernard. It was dark. I just saw something move.
Dr. James Riley
Okay, duke. All done, pal. You'll be all right. Now we gotta find out how you got back in here, huh?
[ Riley screaming ]
Dana Scully
I'm a federal agent! I'm armed! If you can hear me, don't move! Just stay where you are and tell me if you're okay. [ clattering ] Mulder?
Fox Mulder
Yeah?
Dana Scully
Come take a look at this. I'll call paramedics.
Scene 11
Scene 11
Karin Berquist
Where's Fox?
Dana Scully
Continuing his investigation. Come on.
Karin Berquist
You're not working together?
Dana Scully
No. This is my investigation.
Karin Berquist
Of?
Dana Scully
You.
Karin Berquist
I have no idea what you mean.
Dana Scully
I thought at first that they were eccentricities. Or affectations. The dark, the clothes. But it's photosensitivity. Your sleeves cover up skin lesions. It's why you're here amongst the humans instead of out in the field. Systemic lupus erythematosis.
Karin Berquist
Lupus, from the latin for "wolf." ironic, isn't it?
Dana Scully
Ironic or perverse?
Karin Berquist
I've ignored the symptoms for years. I've always felt more like a wolf than a person.
Dana Scully
But not with Mulder. With Mulder, you found somebody you could communicate with. Someone who challenged you. But that wasn't enough. You needed to lure him out here.
Scene 12
Scene 12
Dispatcher
Officer Cahn, we have an emergency phone call... We'd like to patch through to you. Officer Cahn, are you there? Officer Cahn, please respond. Officer Cahn, please respond.
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
This is Jeffrey Cahn. Go ahead.
Dispatcher
We have an FBI agent holding for you. I'm gonna patch him through now.
Fox Mulder
Officer Cahn?
Officer Jeffrey Cahn
Agent Mulder.
Fox Mulder
I'm back here at the clinic. Did you know Detweiler had been here?
Scene 13
LOS ANGELES COUNTY HOSPITAL
Fox Mulder
What are you doing here?
Unidentified speaker
Dr. Detweiler was there?
Dr. Ian Detweiler
Yei'd heard what had happened. I didn't know how bad he would be. I thought I might get a description of the animal.
Fox Mulder
How did you learn about the attack?
Dr. Ian Detweiler
I'd been in contact with officer Cahn. I learned through his office.
Fox Mulder
No, you didn't. No, you hadn't. Officer Cahn didn't want to have anything to do with you.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
He was going to kill it.
Fox Mulder
Does that frighten you?
Dr. Ian Detweiler
Please, sir, this is ridiculous.
Fox Mulder
You aren't hunting this animal. You know it can't be caught.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
Then how could I have brought it here?
Fox Mulder
That's what no one can figure out. Except for Karin Berquist. She knows what was in that cage, and she knows it must be killed. And that's a thought that she can't bear... Because she doesn't want this thing to be extinct any more than you do.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
You're not making any sense.
Fox Mulder
Oh, I think I am. You went to china looking for that animal. And you may have tracked it, as you claim, but the rest is far from the truth. You found the wanshang dhole. But you never caught it. It caught you. You may not have known what was happening at first, but you're well aware now. That when night comes, you stop being yourself.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
That's insane.
Fox Mulder
You become the trickster. A shape-shifting man who becomes an animal.
Dr. Ian Detweiler
I've heard enough.
Fox Mulder
No. You killed because you could. You may have resisted it at first. You may have hated what you'd become. Eventually it took you over. That's where the tranquilizer came in. I found traces of etorphine in animal blood at the clinic. You injected yourself with a tranquilizer hoping to stop the killings. But they didn't and they haven't and they won't.
[ quiet chattering ]
Karin Berquist
I protected you as long as I could. I won't any longer.
Scene 14
Scene 14
Karin Berquist
I can usually get a sense of a person right away from the dogs. Dogs are the best judges of character I know.
Fox Mulder
I'm sensing something myself here. I'm thinking maybe I've been misled. That you haven't been totally honest with me about this case.
Karin Berquist
I've been honest with you, though perhaps not myself. I was looking forward to meeting you. I wouldn't admit how much.
Fox Mulder
But you might also have admitted what you knew about this animal, that it wasn't an animal at all.
Karin Berquist
I heard the reports and called you out, if only so you could disprove them. What I knew was it couldn't be a dog responsible for those killings.
Fox Mulder
It's Detweiler, isn't it?
Karin Berquist
Yes.
Fox Mulder
So you knew that and didn't say?
Karin Berquist
I only realized it when I saw him. My failure was in thinking I was protecting the animal. That by deceiving you, it might be captured alive. He's got to be put down, Fox. It's the only way to stop this.
Fox Mulder
Well, I've got Scully on him, tailing him, watching his every move.
Karin Berquist
He'll elude her easily.
Fox Mulder
But where's he gonna go?
Karin Berquist
To the man he only wounded. To the hospital to finish the kill.
[ dialing phone ]
Fox Mulder
Scully, it's me. You gotta get to the hospital. You gotta make sure Cahn is protected. Yeah, he's in danger.
Scene 15
Scene 15
Dana Scully
Want to tell me why you pulled me away from the suspect and chained me to this chair? 'cause I haven't seen hide nor hair of Detweiler since I've been here.
Fox Mulder
That's aptly put. It's not yet dark. You should take a load off. We might be here all night.
Dana Scully
What do you mean?
Fox Mulder
It's Detweiler. It's not Detweiler, it's something he becomes.
Dana Scully
Mulder.
Fox Mulder
Through some blood curse, this man undergoes some kind of nocturnal transformation. He becomes the same shape-shifting trickster as that mythical dog.
Dana Scully
So is he gonna walk in here, skitter across the linoleum and pee in the corners?
Fox Mulder
It's about territoriality. He's gonna come back here tonight to make sure his dominance isn't challenged. He's gonna put down the threat he failed to eliminate when he attacked Cahn. Karin Berquist confirmed it.
Dana Scully
Mulder, the only thing Karin Berquist is interested in is you. You're kidding yourself... If you think that she hasn't manipulated this entire situation... For her own purposes.
Fox Mulder
He'll come here tonight, Scully. You'll see.
[ dogs whimpering ]
Fox Mulder
Okay. He's not comin'.
Dana Scully
[ sighs ] well, you've got no argument from me.
Fox Mulder
He's not comin' here tonight. Karin knew that. She lied to me.
[ phone ringing ] [ gasps ]
Fox Mulder
Karin, it's Fox Mulder. I know what you're doing. If you can hear me, lock your doors. I'm on my way.
[ growling, snarling ]
Karin Berquist
Come on, dog.
[ snarling continues ]
Karin Berquist
Come on. Come on.
[ dogs barking ]
Dana Scully
Mulder.
Fox Mulder
Yeah, it's Detweiler.
Scene 16
X-FILES OFFICE
Dana Scully
You going home?
Fox Mulder
Yeah, pretty soon.
Dana Scully
You think this is your fault.
Fox Mulder
I think that I... Believed her very quickly. I think maybe that was my fault, yeah.
Dana Scully
Why wouldn't you believe her?
Fox Mulder
I barely knew her.
Dana Scully
Well, she had a lot of secrets, that's for sure. I think that Karin Berquist lived by her instincts. She sized people up pretty quickly, and I think she figured you out to a tee. I think she saw in you a kindred spirit, Mulder. She may not have been able to express that to you. Maybe what she did was the highest form of compliment.
[ sighs ]
Dana Scully
You gonna be okay? Oh, this came for you.
Fox Mulder
Thank you.
No matching dialogue
Try another character, phrase, or keyword.
About this transcript
The dialogue comes from the official DVD subtitle track supplied by Boggsfiles. Speaker and scene attribution was cross-checked against character-labelled reference material. Subtitle wording is preserved while capitalization and spacing are standardized for easier reading.