“Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” is episode four of season three of The X-Files.
A man is reading the predictions of a psychic in the newspaper; he doesn’t think much of them. He buys a lotto ticket, a pint of whiskey and a copy of the paper. He crosses the street, doing a brief dance with a man heading to a palm reader. In the palm reader’s, the second man asks why is he going to be doing the things he’s doing. The palm reader tells him she isn’t a psychologist. The man says he’s seen a glimpse of his future, sees himself doing things that seem out of character, things he doesn’t want to and can’t imagine himself capable of doing, yet he still does them. He’s holding the palm reader’s hands so hard now that it’s hurting her. He apologises, but tells her that she’s a fortune teller and should have seen this coming. As he lunges over a table and attacks.
Eyeballs and entrails are on a table and one detective is asking another if it’s true he’s asked for help. They are talking about the guy, calling him an expert, a glory hound and a bit spooky. When Mulder arrives, this isn’t a surprise. Except they aren’t waiting for him. They’d forgotten the FBI was coming. Mulder tells them that Satanists take the eyes and leave the body, not the other way around. They have a profile for the killer and a possible explanation for the attack. Anthropomancy; the vivisection of humans to read the future in their entrails.
All the victims were professional prognosticators. The detectives comment that the latest was a professional doll collector, though. And an apprentice tea leaf reader, according to Mulder. He may not believe, but he’s pretty sure the victim was convinced, as the leaves were telling her she was about to be murdered.
The person the detectives were expecting arrives at this point. The Stupendous Yappi, the psychic whose predictions were being read in the paper at the beginning. His predictions are vague and he decides someone is blocking him with their negative energy. He decides, after staring intently at Scully, that person is Mulder and orders he leave the room. Mulder believes in psychic ability; just not his. On the way out, Yappi tells Mulder that sceptics like him make him sick. The police are impressed with Yappi’s help. Mulder is not; he says the statements are so vague that they appear true after the fact. Scully, naturally, is not convinced either.
The man from the beginning, Clyde Bruckman, is an insurance salesman and is trying to convince a young couple that the man needs life insurance, not a boat. Then tells him precisely how and when he will die. That’s why he needs life insurance, not a boat. Later, at his apartment, Clyde gets his neighbour’s garbage and has a vision of her dog eating her body. He checks she has enough dog food. On taking the garbage outside, he sees something.
That something is the body of the palm reader. The detectives are impressed; Yappi said the body would be dumped elsewhere, and here it is, in a dumpster. Mulder and Scully are still not impressed. They speak to Clyde, because he said he didn’t touch the body. Yet he knew her eyes had been cut out, despite the body being face down. Clyde also knows the eyes were cut out with shards of a crystal ball – obvious for a fortune teller. He also knows about the entrails, which hasn’t been released to the press. Clyde knows far too much and Mulder wants him to come with them. Not to the station, though; to the murder scene.
Mulder doesn’t think Clyde is the murderer. He does think he can help. Clyde starts saying he doesn’t have any such powers then stops midsentence, walks to where the body parts were and throws up. Clyde says the killer doesn’t feel in control of his own life – which Yappi also said – but continues, by asking who is? Which was Scully’s objection. The difference is that the killer really believes it. He sees himself as a puppet. Clyde makes a prediction as to them finding a body tomorrow. He states a specific lake in which the body will be found, watched by a fat little white Nazi stormtrooper.
The body is found precisely where Clyde said. And there’s a short, round, white propane tank watching. Mulder doesn’t believe Clyde is the killer; Scully doesn’t believe he’s psychic. Mulder returns to Clyde, who doesn’t really want to help. He considers his gift a curse, as he knows how and when people are going to die. Not knowing has its drawbacks, of course; that’s why you need a good insurance policy. How is Mulder for that? Clyde asks how he can see the future unless it already exists? Mulder asks if it’s already written, then why bother? Now he’s catching on, is Clyde’s opinion. Then goes into a lengthy talk about paradox, before agreeing to help.
Clyde’s only gift seems to be knowing when people die. Mulder tries him with some object reading which fails completely, until Scully brings a keyring. Then Clyde gives a lengthy description of the owner of the company that uses that keyring, which is spot on. Only not through psychic powers; Clyde just sold him life insurance. Clyde’s approach to life is rather depressed, and he’s continually rather dry. Even when he speaks to the killer in person again.