‘The X-Files’ 2016 Spoilers: Mulder Meets A Monster That Keeps His Desire To Believe Alive In Episode 3 [RECAP]

Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) has always been known for wanting to believe there’s something else out there, whether it’s aliens, strange creatures or other unexplained phenomenon on Fox’s “The X-Files.” Mulder’s belief had started to waver, but that changes when he and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) come across a lizard beast in episode 3 of the miniseries, titled “Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster.”

Episode 3 begins with two stoners in the woods who see an animal control officer, Pasha (Kumail Nanjiani), getting attacked by some sort of creature. They check to see if he’s OK and discover a body with its throat torn out. Meanwhile, Mulder and Scully are in their old office, where Mulder is going through old X-Files cases. He thought he’d be excited to get back to the X-Files, but he’s not sure if he wants to spend the rest of his days chasing “mothmen and Sasquatch.” Scully breaks the news that they have a new case — with a monster in it.

Scully and Mulder head to the Oregon woods where the creature was spotted and two more bodies were found. Mulder is convinced it was either a mountain lion or wolves, but Scully believes there’s some sort of human element to the killings.

The two then go to a gas station where a transgender woman was supposedly attacked by the creature. After Mulder and Scully question an eyewitness, they come across the animal control officer, Pasha, who was originally attacked. He says he’s searching the area for a missing puppy; Mulder and Scully check for the creature after finding another dead body. While Mulder and Pasha try to figure out a camera app, the monster comes running up to them.

Mulder and Scully chase the creature and it runs into a porta-potty. However, when they open the door there’s a man sitting there, Guy Mann (Rhys Darby). Guy comes out of the porta-potty when the agents leave, revealing horns on the back of his head.

Scully is doing the autopsy on the victim while Mulder goes through the pictures and videos he was able to capture on his phone for evidence. He tells Scully they’re looking for “a man-sized horned lizard with human teeth,” which Scully thinks sounds silly.

Back at the motel, Mulder hears the manager yelling about a monster. When he goes to check it out, the manager at first refuses to talk. When Mulder discovers the manager is a peeping Tom, he confronts the man, who says he saw a guest turn into the same lizard monster people have been seeing.

Mulder pitches his idea to Scully that they could be dealing with a real monster. Mulder was able to find a prescription bottle when searching Guy’s room, which leads them to a psychiatrist, Dr. Rumanovitch (Richard Newman). Mulder discovers Guy had visited the doctor, who believed Guy was insane.

Scully tracks Guy to a smartphone store where he works. By the time Mulder arrives to back her up, the store is trashed and Guy is nowhere to be found. Mulder remembers that Rumanovitch recommended Guy walk around in a cemetery to clear his mind, which is where Mulder finds Guy. Guy wants Mulder to kill him, but Mulder instead asks to hear Guy’s story.

Guy tells Mulder that he’s really a lizard that somehow turns into a human. He claims Pasha bit him and that’s when he first transformed into a human. He says he started to have human feelings like the need to wear clothes, get a job, drink coffee, eat fast food, buy a dog and watch adult films. Guy tells Mulder that he saw Pasha attack another person while he was out looking for his missing dog. Guy continued to bounce back and forth between human and lizard form.

When Guy finishes his story, he learns that Mulder is an FBI agent who is investigating the murders. Guy says he had nothing to do with the killings and he runs way from Mulder, calling him the real monster.

After drinking a bottle of alcohol given to him by Guy, Mulder wakes up in the cemetery to a phone call from Scully. She is at an animal shelter waiting to talk to Pasha. Mulder tells her they may actually be dealing with a lizard that turns into a man. Scully then gets attacked by Pasha.

Mulder hears the attack and calls for backup, but when he gets there Scully already has Pasha in custody. She figured out from the autopsy that one of the kills was from strangulation and the pole he left behind had DNA from previous victims. Mulder now knows Guy was telling the truth and he drives off to the woods where he finds Guy stripping down and preparing for hibernation. The two shake hands before Guy suddenly turns into the lizard creature and runs away. Mulder is left once again believing.

Other Major Moments From Episode 3:

• For the first time in the history of “The X-Files” Scully has a sex scene, except it isn’t with Mulder. During Guy’s fantasy he makes up a story about hooking up with her in a closet at the cell phone store. She is shown telling him what an animal he is, when Mulder calls him out for lying.
• Mulder doubts his beliefs in unknown creatures after he notices how much of the unexplained monsters he and Scully used to chase were able to be explained in their time away. However, Mulder’s desire to still believe is rewarded when he sees Guy transform in the end.