“Brand X” is episode eighteen of season seven of The X-Files.
Agents are outside a house in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Skinner is inside with a couple. The wife tells her husband that he doesn’t have to testify; it’s not worth it. These people have a long reach and are powerful. The husband says he has to do it. Skinner explains when he will leave to testify in front of the grand jury tomorrow. The man, Jim, is coughing a lot. When he leaves the room, the glass he was drinking from contains blood. And some sort of beetle. Later, his wife finds up to see he’s not in bed. She knocks on the bathroom door, then tries to open it, but can’t and calls for Skinner. He forces the door open to find Jim dead, with part of his face eaten away.
Mulder and Scully arrive and Skinner explains that Dr Jim Scobie was an R&D biochemist for Morley Tobacco – CSM’s brand – who was supposed to be giving testimony before a federal grand jury against his former employer. Not even his wife and lawyer know what the testimony was about. Scobie had received death threats and Skinner was charged with his protection. Skinner thinks someone made good on those threats, but he doesn’t know how they did it. Acid is ruled out, as Scobie would have screamed in that case. Skinner wants Scully to do the autopsy.
Scobie didn’t smoke and Mulder thinks this seems a rather high-profile way of killing him. Skinner suggests intimidating potential witnesses. Skinner is also going to see Scobie’s supervisor, Dr Peter Voss; Mulder wants to come with. Mulder also notices the glass of water, and the beetle in it.
Morley isn’t that willing to let them in but the head of security, Daniel Brimley, allows it. He says that Scobie had a lot of friends in the building and, though not happy about Scobie’s decision, his death couldn’t have come at a worse time. Brimley has no problem with them speaking to Voss. Well, Voss and lots of lawyers who prevent him saying anything of use as it would violate his confidentiality agreement. Mulder asks Voss what the beetle is. A tobacco beetle; there are lots around. The lawyer wants to know where Mulder is going with the question. Mulder can’t answer; it would violate FBI confidentiality.
Voss arrives home and encounters a man who says he and Scobie had an agreement and he assumes that agreement slides to Voss. Voss hands him some packs of cigarettes and promises more. The man says it’s too bad about Scobie. He has his own theory as to why Scobie died.
Scully’s autopsy of Scobie reveals that the damage to Scobie’s face extends into his lungs. It’s not the result of a chemical reaction. Strictly speaking, he died from an inability to transfer oxygen from his lungs to his bloodstream. Because his lungs were reamed out. Skinner thinks someone must have done it. Mulder doesn’t. He suspects tobacco beetles, especially given Voss’s reaction to them.
The man is smoking and it’s drifting into another room whose occupant complains. Then coughs up blood and collapses. Beetles are everywhere. Mulder, Scully and Skinner arrive; the man died in the same manner as Scobie. But there’s no other connection. Mulder doesn’t think either were murdered. He’s found more beetles, and suspects those on Scobie left through the open window. Scully admits there might be a contagious agent in the building. They go door to door; Mulder finds the smoker who doesn’t provide any useful information. Though he likely does know what happened. And he lights up whilst Mulder is in the room.
Scully knows an entomologist and Mulder heads to see Voss again. He tells Voss there’s been another victim that died the same way. There were tobacco beetles all over him and Mulder thinks that’s what killed them both. Mulder is right, and in this case the dangers of passive smoking are extreme. And Mulder has inhaled the smoke.