HUMBUG

                   He billed it a real life mermaid, and people went to see, and all they saw was a dead monkey                      with the sewn on tail of a fish....

We begin in Gibsonton, Florida, and two children playing in a back garden swimming pool, but little do they know that they are being watched from nearby bushes. The observer moves in closer and slips into the paddling pool, surfacing in between them. Fortunately for them it is their father, Gerald Glazebrook. He suffers from a congenital skin disease which means that he looks like a freak, so much so that he is actually part of a freak show and known as the alligator man. He tells his children to get inside as it will soon be bedtime, and relaxes in the pool. Little does he know that he is being watched.....and the observer slips into the pool and surfaces near him. However on this occasion we do not see the assailant....just that the alligator man is brutally killed....

Mulder and Scully arrive to take on the case, and an examination of the body reveals that the entry wound is of an undetermined weapon....and on a further note there are no other injuries and no trace of sexual molestation. Mulder states that this is the 48th such attack spanning a 28 year period, and these have occur din every state, starting in Oregon and the last being in Florida. Here we have victims of all ages, and their deaths appear motiveless.

At the funeral of Glazebrook Mulder and Scully meet a whole host of people with various abnormalities...that is those who are also part of the freakshows. The agents meet Sheriff James Hamilton, who tells them that the town was founded in the 1920s by a man called Barnham and that the victims skin condition kept him on the side show circuit. It seems that the town houses many freaks, and Mulder goes on to meet a local artist, Hepcat Helm, and whilst talking Mulder notices a menu with the Fiji Mermaid illustration on the front cover. Helm tells him that Barnham once billed a real life Fiji Mermaid and people flocked to see it - yet what they saw was a dead monkey with a sewn on tail of a fish. However Mulder has other ideas and shows Helm a picture of tracks that were found at several of the crime scenes - we these made by the Fiji Mermaid??? However shortly after their visit Helm is attacked and killed by what the viewer perceives to be the same creature. Mulder and Scully meanwhile meet Lanny, another freak who works at the holiday park.

The following day Mulder and Scully observe blood on the window of Hepcats basement and deduce that this was the point of entry for the killer. Whilst they have nothing else to go on they do meet a couple more freaks, Dr Blockhead and The Conundrum, with the latter best described as a large feral man who does not talk. They are suspects for one reason or another, and things become even more bizarre when they discover that the Sheriff himself was also a freak - Jim Jim the dog faced boy. Upon visiting the Sheriff they see him digging in the garden and admits his past as Jim Jim - however when he started to go bald he lost his career and became the Sheriff. Meanwhile the mysterious killer strikes again by crawling through a cat flap, and Dr Blockhead is taking into custody on suspicion of murder - even though he professes his innocence. Whilst in custody he sees Lanny in there too...and Lanny tells him that his twin Leonard has escaped by extracting itself from his body. We learn that Leonard is his conjoined twin, an anomolie exists that allows him to disjoin. Lanny explains that he is seeking another brother, and that it hurts not to be wanted....

It seems that Mulder and Scully have their killer - this twin which can best be described as a small, slithering blood soaked specimen. Lanny dies of liver failure and it becomes clear that the twin is not killing for the sake of it - he needs another brother, another host. They chase it through the theme park and into the funhouse before it disappears. All we see is "The Conundrum" lying on the ground and patting his stomach. It is strongly suggested that "The Conundrum" was attacked by Leonard, and ironically ended up eating him. At the end of the episode, Mulder observes "The Conundrum" in a state of discomfort, and he replies "Probably something I ate." Thereby uttering his first line in the show, and leaving confused looks on Mulder and Scully's faces.

Copyright(c) 2007 - 2025. All rights reserved