01 x 04: Conduit

Right off the bat with this case we see that Mulder has spent no time wasting money. He has sent a form 302 to Blevins which is apparently a form where you request money or a budget for a case. To the best of my knowledge there isn’t really a form like this, but it gives us a chance to see just how much Mulder wants to overindulge with his investigations.

Mulder without fact checking his tabloid article ($4.99 for a tabloid) requests $11,000 to investigate the disappearance of a girl at Lake Okobogee in Iowa. Note that this number differs from the number I will come up with later. This could be factoring in their salaries for their time, or it could be a made up number a prop person came up with. Who knows.

I also tried to make the 302 more legible. I could only make out some of the writing, which is pretty insightful into Mulder’s psyche and ego.

Mulder has rated everything he might need to investigate this case as “absolutely essential”.

I dunno if it’s worse he’s filled out the form like this or that Scully backs Mulder up in her meeting with Blevins and tries to back up the claim they need this ridiculous sum of money to investigate this case.

While the episode focuses on Mulder’s motivation for visiting Iowa and how it relates to his sister who was presumably abducted by aliens, I can’t help but wonder what Scully’s motivation is.

Anyway the pair of them fly to Sioux City Iowa on August 26, 1993 ($274 a ticket). Now is a good time as any to provide a map of their travels.

Despite what the episode would lead you to believe, Lake Okoboji is not very close to Sioux City.

Lake Okoboji is spelled Okobogee in this episode for some reason and is located about 106 mile drive from Sioux City. Mulder and Scully rent what looks to be a 1993 Buick Century ($316 for 4 day rental).

They visit Darlene’s home to question her account of what happened to Ruby. Mulder creepily touches a picture of Ruby while Scully watches.

Darlene explains she is having a custody battle of her two children with her husband but of course he has nothing to do with Ruby’s disappearance.

It is here that her other child, a little boy named Kevin, is writing 0’s and 1’s on paper over and over again. It’s weird that Mulder’s first suggestion as to this odd behavior has nothing to do with emotional trauma, due to the fact that Kevin’s sister is missing. One would think Mulder’s degree in Psychology from Oxford would provide more insight into this, but instead his theory is shallow and stupid. Kevin must be receiving communications through the television static and transcribing it digitally onto notebook paper.

Mulder takes these 0’s and 1’s to the local sheriff’s station and faxes it to the cryptology section of the FBI. He calls someone who works this department (Danny) and asks for analysis of the 0’s and 1’s and offers to buy him Red Skins tickets ($300).

Mulder insinuates the sheriff isn’t working hard enough to solve the disappearance of Ruby. Scully tells Mulder he shouldn’t piss off local law enforcement; he says he can buy the sheriff a bundt cake ($18.50) as an apology.

While walking to their car from the police station, they find a note on the windshield directing them to the library where they find a girl who says a guy named Greg Randall had something to do with Ruby’s disappearance. She accuses Greg got Ruby pregnant and that Greg drinks.

I’m pretty sure these kids are under 21, so if Mulder and Scully wanted to bring them in for questioning couldn’t they get them for underage drinking or something?

That night they stay at the Stay and Save Motor Inn ($103 / night / room) in separate rooms. The NSA breaks down their doors ($418 each) because the 0’s and 1’s that Mulder found on the notepad have something to do with confidential security.

Please note the NSA wouldn’t have found this if it weren’t faxed over un secured lines to the FBI in the first place. The NSA demands to figure out where this information came from so Scully divulges Kevin was the source.

The next day the NSA ransacks Kevin’s room which Scully tells Ruby the FBI will pay for damages ($2000).

The next day Mulder and Scully go back to Lake Okobogee Campsite 53 based on information from the girl at the library.

They come across some wolves which I guess are supposed to be scavenging human remains?

In order to scare them off Mulder fires his gun into the air ($0.15 / bullet). He then realizes they were near a corpse so he begins to uncover it nearly totally ruining evidence in the process. Scully has to stop him to allow a forensics team to come to the scene. The body turns out to be not Ruby but Greg Randall.

They then bring Tess (the girl from the library) in for questioning since she told them about Greg in the first place. I assume the FBI must pay for the equipment ($2.99/ cassette tape) for the questioning of Tess.

In the one and only good investigating our team does on this case Mulder gets out of Tess that she in fact shot Greg (I think that’s the implication)

So at this point, she either must know what happened to Ruby. So couldn’t they go home?

No. Mulder is sure Ruby was abducted by aliens. Which again, wouldn’t Tess have seen the aliens since now we know that she, Ruby, Greg and everyone were at Lake Okobogee that night? Perhaps what everyone witnessed that night wasn’t aliens but Tess plotting the murder of Greg?

It’s very strange and we never get an explanation.

The pair go back to Ruby and Darlene’s house only to find Kevin has laid out papers of 0’s and 1’s in a grid pattern to make a giant picture of ASCII art of Ruby. And this goes nowhere and except for being a great visual, it actually does nothing to add to the story.

Mulder and Scully go back to Okobogee to see if they can find Ruby.

Long story short, they find Ruby and immediately Scully begins doing the worst chest compressions I’ve ever seen.

The following day, Mulder and Scully go to Ruby’s hospital room. Mulder is intent on questioning her about aliens but Darlene pulls him out of Ruby’s room and tells him off.

Mulder then tries to go back into Ruby’s room again to question her, and we get a great moment when Scully touches his shoulder so he won’t re-enter the room.

So… all in all this is one of the more expensive outings we have so far with the pair spending about $8,192.63 in today’s money.