Line #24 Recap/TheXFilesS03E17Pusher


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3	'''Season 3, Episode 17:'''
4	!Pusher
5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thexfilespusher.png]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:''"He is just a little man who wishes that he were someone big... and, and, we're feeding that wish."'']]
7	->Written by Creator/VinceGilligan\
8	Directed by Rob Bowman
9
10	->''"But the mechanism of suggestion is the same. It's just a lot more powerful in this case. I mean, this guy calls himself [[TitleDrop 'Pusher']]. Can't we take that to mean that he pushes his will onto other people?"''
11	-->-- '''Fox Mulder'''
12
13	Mulder hunts a hitman with the power to psychically "push" people into obeying his commands.
14	----
15	!!Tropes:
16	* AffablyEvil: Downplayed. For a remorseless sociopath, Modell is surprisingly outgoing and polite, and his actions have an air of childish mischief about them; he treats the entire affair like a game. He also shows a [[PetTheDog moment of kindness]] to an enthralled Holly when he notices her bruised face... right after willing her to break into the FBI's database (and suggesting that she [[EvilIsPetty make him some coffee]]).
17	* AwesomeMcCoolname: Frank Burst is one, according to Pusher.
18	* BilingualBonus: Mulder's pronunciation is off, but 押す (osu) actually is Japanese for "to push". Bonus points to his dictionary for even listing the plain form instead of a formal oshimasu.
19	* BlueIsCalm: The officer's uniform is a nice shade of blue. A type of Sky Blue. Cerulean Blue. Cerulean Blue is a gentle breeze. Not so gentle is the truck of the same color crashing into the car that was holding Pusher, because the driver was hypnotized into not seeing the truck.
20	* BulletproofVest: Scully and Mulder wear them going into the hospital, but Mulder removes his under Pusher's control, off screen.
21	* CallBack: When he realizes agents are surrounding him in a supermarket at the beginning of the episode, Modell says, "Let's get this show on the road," and pulls down a flap on an agent's windbreaker to expose his FBI insignia. At the end, when Mulder is about to go into the hospital to confront Modell, Mulder says the same thing.
22	* CannotTellFictionFromReality: When Modell applied to the FBI, he invented ''"a dozen self-aggrandizing lies", including that he had been trained by ninjas in Japan. He seemed to think that he could fake it if he read enough Eastern Philosophy books.
23	* CompellingVoice: Pusher's key element in forcing his victims to do what he wants.
24	* ContinuityNod:
25	** [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E02TheHost The Flukeman]] appears on the cover of a tabloid in the teaser.
26	** Mulder has purchased a Japanese dictionary after the events of "[[Recap/TheXFilesS03E09Nisei Nisei]]" and "[[Recap/TheXFilesS03E10SevenThreeOne 731]]".
27	** Modell brings up the fact that [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E25Anasazi Scully had previously shot Mulder]], and that [[Recap/TheXFilesS01E01 she'd been brought in to spy on him]], when urging Mulder to shoot her.
28	* CriminalMindGames: Modell plays with several policemen and FBI agents. Mulder becomes his prime target.
29	* DeadlyUpgrade: Modell's brain tumor, as detailed in IJustWantToBeSpecial.
30	* DoNotGoGentle: As Mulder points out, the only reason Modell confessed to 14 murders that he'd already gotten away with is because he's dying, and prefers not to go quietly.
31	* DramaticIrony: As well as trying to become a special forces soldier, Modell also applied to become an FBI agent. It's implied his feud with Mulder and Scully is partly a TakeThat to the organisation that rejected him.
32	* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: InUniverse. When Modell first enlisted in the military, his first choice was to be a Navy SEAL, or, failing that, a Green Beret, but he quickly washed out of both selection programs. He applied to the FBI for the same reason - he had only the vaguest idea what these organizations actually do, and cared even less; he just wanted the kind of authority and prestige that he could rub in other people's faces.
33	* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Modell thinks Mulder and Scully are awfully close for being just partners.
34	* FaceDeathWithDignity: Subverted. Modell brags about how his study of Japanese philosophy has erased his fear of death. When playing RussianRoulette with Mulder, he takes the first trigger pull without flinching, and calls it ''"[a] piece of cake."'' But when Scully pulls the fire alarm and breaks Modell's control, Mulder swings the gun from Scully back to Modell, whose smug expression dissolves an instant before Mulder fires.
35	* FromCamouflageToCriminal: Modell. Downplayed in that Modell's stint in the military was short and devoid of any actual combat.
36	-->'''Mulder:''' He wanted to be a [[UsefulNotes/NavySEALS Navy SEAL]] and then he wanted to be an Army Special Forces Green Beret. Promptly washed out of both, though not for lack of intelligence. [[SoldiersAtTheRear He ended up being a supply clerk at Fort Bragg]]. Served two years, general discharge.
37	* FromNobodyToNightmare: Modell washed out of everything badass that he tried to become before developing his fearsome mind control.
38	* GambitRoulette: Pusher escapes the cops by hypnotizing one of his escorts into letting a truck smash into their police car, which somehow kills the cops but leaves him unharmed.
39	* GunmanWithThreeNames: Robert Patrick Modell.
40	* GratuitousJapanese: Modell certainly loves Japanese culture.
41	* HeldGaze: Before Mulder goes into the hospital and gives Scully his gun, they share one of these while HoldingHands.
42	* HoldingHands: Mulder and Scully. Twice.
43	* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Robert Modell's CompellingVoice derives from a brain tumor that's killing him. He refuses to treat it because he doesn't want to live as a small man with no powers.
44	* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Though not a full-on fight, Scully tries to snap Mulder out of pulling the trigger of the gun by telling him he's "stronger than this" and Mulder uses all his willpower to stop himself, telling Scully to run and shooting Modell instead.
45	* IShallTauntYou: After Modell beats an evidentiary hearing by compelling the judge to let him go, he encounters the agents in the hall outside. Mulder says, "Hey, your shoe's untied." When Modell glances down, Mulder says, ''"Made you look."''
46	* ImmuneToMindControl: Skinner is the one person who Pusher actually fails to hypnotize.
47	* LastDisrespects: Downplayed. While looking at Modell, who is in a coma and not expected to regain consciousness before he dies, Mulder tells Scully that everything Modell did, was because he was, as Scully said, ''"a little man who wishes he were someone big."'' Scully takes his hand and declares, ''"I say we don't let him take up another minute of our time."''
48	* LoopholeAbuse: One possible interpretation of Mulder's actions at the climax. He does pull the trigger on Scully, as ordered, just not enough to actually fire the gun.
49	* ManipulativeBastard: Pusher.
50	* MonsterOfTheWeek: A very memorable one.
51	* TheMunchausen: One of several reasons Modell was turned down by the FBI was that ''"the screener caught him in a dozen [[LifeEmbellished self-aggrandizing lies]]"'', including claiming to have been trained by Gurkha commandos in Nepal and ninjas in Japan, when a rudimentary background check proved that he had never traveled outside the U.S.
52	* NotAfraidToDie: Model claims this, and claims that it makes him unbeatable. But his smug grin dissolves into a look of terror when Scully breaks his hold over Mulder, who takes aim at his chest at point-blank range.
53	* PetTheDog: Modell idly comments on Holly's horrible bruising and says that he'd [[MindRape make her assailant pay for it]] if he could.
54	* PhoneTraceRace: Modell ends up in one of these, lingering on the phone long enough to cause Agent Burst a heart attack. Downplayed when he then tells Mulder where he is anyway, pausing only to do some EvilGloating over Burst's death.
55	* PlotHole: A minor one: why didn't the FBI send Skinner to the hospital with the SWAT team? He already demonstrated his resistance to Pusher's mind control. But then, of course, we wouldn't have had that awesome showdown between Mulder and Pusher.
56	* ProfessionalKiller: Modell's ad reads "I solve problems".
57	* PsychicAssistedSuicide: Modell's MO.
58	* PsychicPowers: Modell's suggestive ability is a form of psychokinesis brought on by the brain tumor which he doesn't want to treat.
59	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: After three seasons of Mulder getting the stink eye from every law enforcement type he tries to help, Agent Burst goes to Mulder for help and brings photographic evidence to support his supernatural theory.
60	* {{Ronin}}: Modell sees himself as ronin, a samurai without a master who does not fear death.
61	* RussianRoulette: In the climax of the episode, Modell made Mulder play with him and nearly kill Scully.
62	* SelfImmolation: Modell forced Agent Collins to set himself on fire.
63	* SerialKiller: At first, he was a hired hitman, but then he targeted law enforcement.
64	* ShoutOut: ''Yojimbo'' and ''Svengali''.
65	** When Modell enters the FBI offices, he calls Skinner [[Series/TheDickVanDykeShow ''Mel Cooley."]]
66	* SleepCute: Scully falls asleep on Mulder's shoulder during a stakeout.
67	* SmallNameBigEgo: Mulder and Scully think Pusher is a "small man", and that he welcomes the idea of going down as an epic killer.
68	* TheSociopath: Modell has no regard for the feelings of others and perceives people as objects.
69	* SuicideByCop: Modell wants to go down as a big badass, and he believes playing Russian roulette with Mulder definitely counts.
70	* SuperpowerDisability: Modell's mind control is not only caused by a brain tumor that's slowly killing him, it also requires enormous amounts of caloric energy. He consumes tons of energy drinks to cope with this, and the second time he is apprehended, it is because he is too exhausted to keep fleeing.
71	* SWATTeam: They are used at the end of the episode during the climax in the hospital.
72	* TheWorfEffect: DoubleSubverted in Skinner's case: Skinner is the only one who wasn't influenced by Modell's compelling suggestions. However, we all get to know what Modell is up to when he gets Skinner beaten up anyway, and by petite Holly on top of that. In the final showdown, even though Mulder proved great force of will, at the end he couldn't actually resist him either. They would have lost if Scully hadn't pulled a fire alarm to break the spell of his voice.
73	* WorthyOpponent: Modell was looking for one, and found exactly who he wanted in Mulder.
74	* WrongGenreSavvy: Agent Burst would be an excellent agent were he tracking an ordinary serial killer. Against Modell, however, he's clearly outmatched.
75	----

Context Recap / TheXFilesS03E17Pusher