IMPROBABLE

At a casino bar, an unpleasant man known as "Wayno" (Ray McKinnon) meets a mysterious, mustachioed man (Burt Reynolds) who seems to know a lot about him. The mysterious man speaks in an enigmatic way, but his words do not seem to make any difference to Wayno, who murders a woman in a casino restroom shortly after the mysterious man tells him to "surprise him" by leaving the casino rather than following the woman into the restroom.

Agent Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) is investigating the woman's murder as the latest in a series of cases that she believes are linked by numerology. She realizes that when she adds the numbers of letters in the victims' names with the numbers in their birthdates, a pattern arises. While explaining the case to Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who rejects the idea that numerology is relevant or that the world can be broken down into one simple equation, Scully discovers another possible clue—marks on each of the victim's cheeks that looks like three small circles, likely imprinted by the killer's ring while he beat the victims. On consulting a numerologist, who happens to have an office in the same building as the killer's apartment, Reyes ties the murders together. However, the killer also finds the numerologist, murdering her as she is on the phone with Reyes.

Reyes' numerology theories do not go down well at the FBI, but the pattern of the killings, when viewed on a map, seem to line up as the number six (6). After looking at the pictures of the victims, Scully realizes that the pattern on the victims was not three circles, but instead, three sixes, the mark of the devil. Meanwhile, Wayno has several additional run-ins with the mysterious man, who continues to give cryptic advice.

Scully and Reyes revisit the murdered numerologist's office and meet the killer in the elevator. Scully recognizes the ring on the killer's hand as the agents exit the elevator, and draws her gun on him. The killer slips back into the elevator and gets to the parking lot first. Reyes and Scully arrive only to see a car fleeing the garage and the gate closing behind it. Scully and Reyes are locked in the garage without a way out and their phones are without service.

They see another person hiding in a car and demand that he come out. It is the strange man. He says he is meeting a friend to play checkers, but does not know when his friend is coming. He does not have any identification and does not have a phone. The pair demand that he open his trunk. Inside are many CDs—the man proclaims his love of music—and a checker board. To pass the time, the mysterious man engages Reyes and Scully in a game of checkers. They play several rounds. Reyes eventually realizes that the checkers' colors (red & black) are surrogates for Scully (a redhead) and herself (a brunette); The pair realize that the last victim, the numerologist (victim number 7) was a blonde, and that the murderer has been following a pattern of killing a blonde, then a redhead, then a brunette. Thus, a redhead and a brunette are the anticipated hair-colors of the next two victims. Scully and Reyes also realize that, although they assumed that the car that exited the garage was the killer, it was possible that the killer might still be inside the garage with them. Scully and Reyes begin searching, but are surprised by the killer, who shuts off the lights, grabs Reyes and eventually gets hold of her gun. However, John Doggett (Robert Patrick), also realizing that the number "6" pattern is actually a "9" and that the killer must intend to have two more victims, arrives in the nick of time to shoot him. Reyes attempts to ask the killer why he did what he did. The killer begins to mouth a word, but dies before being able to speak to Reyes. Scully and Reyes then realize that the mysterious man is no longer in the garage.

At the end of the episode, Scully and Reyes are getting ready for bed. Scully suddenly calls Reyes and asks her what her assigned numerology "number" is. Reyes informs Scully she is a "9" which means she has risen above the other numbers and understands that there is more to life than this world. The clock shows us that it is 9:09 pm. In a nearby Italian neighborhood, an Italian festival is in progress. Two men sing a jovial song in Italian and lead a crowd through the streets. The camera zooms out to reveal that the entire neighborhood, when viewed from above, suggests the appearance of Burt's face, hinting at the fact that he might be God

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