Paper Hearts
"Paper Hearts" | |
---|---|
Rob Bowman | |
Written by | Vince Gilligan |
Production code | 4X08 |
Original air date | December 15, 1996 |
Running time | 44 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Paper Hearts" is the tenth episode of the
The show centers on
Gilligan came up with the concept for "Paper Hearts" when thinking about the series' longest running storyline, the abduction of Samantha Mulder; he came up with a story questioning whether Samantha had not been abducted by aliens, but was rather murdered by a child killer instead. "Paper Hearts" was written specifically with Tom Noonan in mind for the role of Roche, and was amongst the first television work the actor had done.
Plot
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) dreams of a red light that leads him to the corpse of a young girl buried in a park in Manassas, Virginia. When he awakens, he heads to the park and finds the girl's skeleton. The girl was determined to have been murdered by John Lee Roche (Tom Noonan), a serial killer who murdered thirteen girls throughout the 1980s; his modus operandi included cutting a heart out of the clothes of each victim. Mulder had captured Roche by deducing that he committed the murders while traveling as a vacuum cleaner salesman. Roche's hearts were never found, although he confessed to all of the murders.
The next day, Mulder asks Roche where he was the night Samantha was abducted. Roche claims he was on
Upon arriving at his family's old summer house, Roche explains exactly what happened the night of Samantha's abduction. However, Mulder tells him that the house was bought by his father after Samantha's abduction, convincing him that Roche is not telling the truth. Mulder plans to bring Roche back to prison, but—following another dream about Samantha—awakens to find Roche gone, with his badge, gun, and phone stolen.
Using Mulder's credentials, Roche kidnaps a girl in Swampscott, Massachusetts, whom he met on his flight with Mulder to Boston. Scully and Skinner arrive and the agents head to the site of Roche's old apartment in Revere. They find him with the girl in an abandoned bus nearby. Roche holds a gun on the girl and tells Mulder that he'll never know for sure whether the last victim is Samantha or not if he kills him. As Roche starts to pull the trigger, Mulder shoots him. In his office Mulder stares at the final cloth heart and puts it away, unsure of whether it belonged to Samantha or not.[1]
Production
"Paper Hearts" was written specifically with
Guest actor Tom Noonan, who played the killer John Lee Roche, recalled filming the scene in which his character is introduced, playing basketball in prison. Noonan, a capable basketball player, was asked to "downplay" how well he could play; although he regretted not being able to play against David Duchovny, who had played basketball for
Broadcast and reception
"Paper Hearts" premiered on the Fox network on December 15, 1996, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on November 12, 1997.[8] The episode's initial broadcast was viewed by approximately 16.59 million people, which represented 16% of the viewing audience during that time.[9]
Both
Website IGN named "Paper Hearts" their sixth favorite standalone episode of the show, calling it "creepy and unsettling", and claiming Noonan's character was "one of the most disturbing villains to make an appearance in the series".[11] Noonan's acting has also been praised by Vince Gilligan, who says the "understated" manner in which Roche is portrayed "sends chills down [his] spine every time".[5] The A.V. Club's Emily VanDerWerff reviewed the episode positively, rating it an A. She felt that Noonan's performance was "terrific", noting that the actor "makes Roche into one of the series' great human monsters"; and believed that the episode's premise was important to developing the character of Mulder further.[12] The website later named the episode the sixth best example of a television dream sequence, noting that it "suggest[s] how this methodical man [Mulder] might puzzle over cold cases in his subconscious".[13] The article also complimented the entry's metaphor that laser pointers were Mulder's mind that pointed "out bits of evidence his conscious brain missed all those many years ago."[13] Starpulse named it the second best episode of the series.[14]
Footnotes
- ^ Meisler, pp.84–91
- ^ a b Rabin, Nathan (November 20, 2009). "Tom Noonan | Film | Random Roles". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ a b Meisler, p.92
- ^ Chris Neumer. "Tom Noonan Interview - Interview - Stumped?". Stumped?. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ Twentieth Century Fox & Ten Thirteen Productions.
- ^ a b Meisler, p.93
- ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, pp.126–127
- Fox.)
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link - ^ Meisler, p.298
- ^ "Primetime Emmy Award Database | Emmys.com". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
- ^ Collura, Scott; Fickett, Travis; Goldman, Eric; Seghers, Christine (May 12, 2008). "IGN's 10 Favorite X-Files Standalone Episodes - TV Feature at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
- ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (November 27, 2010). ""Paper Hearts" / The Wild And The Innocent" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ a b Adams, Erik; et al. (March 18, 2013). ""What a nightmare!" - 21 TV episodes that do dream sequences right". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
- ^ Payne, Andrew (July 25, 2008). "'X-Files' 10 Best Episodes". Starpulse. Archived from the original on December 19, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
Bibliography
- Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
- Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105386-4.
External links
- "Paper Hearts" at IMDb