“4-D” is episode four of season nine of The X-Files.
A man enters the lobby of an apartment building where Reyes is pretending to be working on a bike. Doggett and Follmer are watching on several cameras; Doggett thinks the man, Lukesh, know they are there. Lukesh is a serial killer who cuts out women’s tongues, then vanishes. Reyes follows Lukesh as Follmer tells her to keep her distance so that Lukesh doesn’t see her following. She enters a stairwell and Lukesh attacks her from behind.
The others rush in, but Reyes is dead with her throat cut. Doggett runs after; Follmer says that Lukesh has Reyes’ gun. Doggett follows Lukesh into an alley as two police cars pull up behind. Doggett turns away from Lukesh, then turns back to see he’s gone. The police cars are gone from behind Doggett, but Lukesh is there now. Doggett realises this and turns. Lukesh shoots him.
‘THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE’ is written in mirrored writing.
Reyes is unpacking in an apartment when Doggett shows. He’s just missed the movers, so there’s nothing heavy left to move. Which it sounds like Doggett knew quite well. He’s brought her housewarming gifts; hotdogs. Skinner calls Reyes; there’s no easy way to say this. Doggett has been found in an alley; he’s been shot. They’re taking him to hospital. Reyes is saying this is nonsense, but Doggett is no longer there.
Reyes arrives at the hospital to find Follmer; he’s in charge of the investigation. Follmer needs to know what Doggett was doing in the alley. Reyes says he wasn’t; he was with her in the apartment when Skinner called. Scully arrives; Doggett has been moved to ICU. It’s likely he will never move again. Reyes doesn’t understand anything; whoever they are talking about isn’t Doggett. Scully takes her to the room. It is Doggett.
Skinner is at ballistics when Follmer arrives. They’ve found a bullet. Follmer wants Skinner to keep lines of communication open, as he’s had the bullet for an hour. The bullet could have been fired from an FBI issue gun and Follmer wants it running through the database of FBI issued guns.
Reyes and Scully are at the hospital; Reyes is confused. Doggett was with her. Scully mentions seeing her father the night he passed away. She now believes he came to say goodbye. Reyes knows of such, but this isn’t what happened. Skinner calls Scully; he wants her to bring Reyes to a police station.
At the station, Follmer speaks to Reyes in an interview room. He wants to clear some things up. She said she was with Doggett when he was shot. Yes. Well, no; she was with him when Skinner called but he wasn’t shot. A man enters the observation room as Follmer is telling Reyes that ballistics showed the bullet came from her gun. And they have an eyewitness placing her at the scene. The witness is Lukesh.
Skinner and Scully find Reyes in Doggett’s room. With a guard. The case has a couple of potential holes in it. Skinner called Reyes and she was at home – he used her landline – 14 miles away. And her gun hadn’t been fired. Though the bullet matches. Doggett’s finger is twitching; Skinner recognises it as Morse code. Doggett spelled ‘LUKESH’; Reyes doesn’t know what that means.
Lukesh returns home to his apartment, where his mother is. She talks a lot and is an invalid. He has Reyes’ gun. Lukesh makes his mother a sandwich. With tongue as the meat.
Back at Reyes’, Skinner has the file on Lukesh. She’s never seen him before. Lukesh lives with his mother in an apartment adjacent to the crime scene. Reyes says he’s the one person they know was in the vicinity, and why did Doggett spell his name? Follmer calls; he wants Reyes taking to the hospital.
Scully is there too; Doggett has been set up with something to allow him to communicate. Follmer only wants Reyes to asks the questions he permits. He’s only letting her talk because Doggett won’t talk to anyone else. Doggett’s first word is ‘ALIVE’; however, he means Reyes, not him. Doggett types her throat was cut; Lukesh killed her then tried to kill Doggett. Both Reyes and Follmer are confused.
There are clearly more than one of Doggett and Reyes, and Reyes speculates about alternate worlds, with Lukesh having the ability to move between them.