“Underneath” is episode twelve of season nine of The X-Files.
Brooklyn, 13 years ago, and a cable van pulls up outside a house. The driver takes down a rosary and kisses it. A voice in the back tells him to get going and do his job. Though there doesn’t seem to be anyone there.
Inside the house, the daughter answers the door when the man knocks. She doesn’t think the cable is out, but maybe her father called it in. The father comes down and says there’s nothing wrong. He asks about the cable guy’s work order. The man looks down at it when it is covered in blood. The father is in a pool of blood on the floor. As are the mother and daughter. Police arrive and check the place. One of them is Doggett.
In the present, Reyes is heading to the office when she hears shouting. Doggett is on the phone telling someone that something is wrong. He shows Reyes the paper, where a headline says that DNA clears the Screwdriver Killer. Doggett explains once his off the phone that the ADA wants to let the killer, Robert Fassl, go. Fassl killed seven and Doggett doesn’t care what the DNA sys, it’s wrong. He was there and 20 seconds earlier they would have seen the murders. Scully arrives; the DNA fingerprinting does exonerate the man. Doggett wants her to run it herself. She tells him it will take 48 hours. Doggett thinks that’s too long. He’s going to New York; he can’t wait for Fassl to kill again.
Fassl is being released from Sing Sing and his lawyer speaks to the press about how they’re looking to see damages. Fassl is staring across the road and sees a bearded man. He doesn’t seem happy to see the man.
Doggett and Scully have gone to see the ADA, Kaylor. They plan to settle with Fassl and Kaylor doesn’t want them to look at the documents, because Fassl’s lawyer, Jana Fain, could paint it as a vendetta, until Doggett points out that the victims’ families are going to be asking questions.
Looking at the paperwork of the original murders, Scully comments that the case must have been a career maker for Doggett. He says it didn’t hurt when he ran for detective. Scully tells him that even good cops make mistakes. Doggett agrees; he’s made plenty. This wasn’t one of them. He’s also not feeling guilty for sending an innocent man to prison. A cop once told him that you don’t clock out at the end of the shift until you’re sure you did everything you could. This is Doggett not clocking out.
Fassl is staying with Fain; she has a large house. She says her parents were rich and she tries to use her family’s resources to help others. Fassl says she’s a good person. Jain takes Fassl to his room. When she leaves, Fassl retrieves his rosary and kisses it before starting to pray. Then realises that there’s blood on his hands and ‘KILL HER’ written on the wall in blood.
Doggett meets his old partner from the original crime, Duke Tomasick. Duke says they arrested the man; that’s it. Doggett says he isn’t clocking out, just like Duke told him.
Fassl is praying again when Fain enters his room. She talks about faith. When she leaves, the bearded man appears. Fassl begs him not to hurt her. The man hits Fassl and leaves, holding a screwdriver.
Scully finds Doggett still with the files. He’s been looking for something else to link Fassl to the murders. Scully has done the DNA retest. It’s not Fassl’s. But she knows why the hair was identified as Fassl’s 13 years ago. It matches 123 out of 13 identifying points. The DNA is similar to Fassl’s. So close, it must be a blood relative. Doggett says Fassl is an only child and his parents died when he was 13. Scully knows that. Which makes it impossible.
Fain finds Fassl on the floor. She wants a word with him; someone went through her things last night when she was out. She wants Fassl to respect boundaries. Now, she has to go; Fassl should help himself to breakfast. Her housekeeper is late this morning. Fassl sees blood dripping when Fain has gone. The housekeeper is dead. Fassl disposes of her body.
The killer is clearly connected to Fassl, closely enough that Fassl has disposed of bodies. But he clearly doesn’t look to be Fassl either. Doggett does not think this is an X-file. Matters suggest otherwise.