The X-Files/Recap/S01/E05 The Jersey Devil

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In 1947, a man is attacked while fixing a flat tire on the road near the Pine Barrens in New Jersey. His corpse is later found with his leg chewed off, and a hairy humanoid is killed nearby.

Back in present-day Washington D.C., Scully brings to Mulder's attention news about a body found in New Jersey with its arm and shoulder missing. Upon arriving at the Atlantic City morgue, Scully and Mulder discover that the body was eaten by a human. However, the local detective, Thompson, denies the agents access to the investigation. Scully returns to Washington to attend her godson's birthday party, while Mulder stays in New Jersey. At the party, Scully meets Rob, the divorced father of one of the guests. Meanwhile, Mulder questions homeless people about the case. A man shows him a drawing of a humanoid and tells him that he saw it and that the other homeless people and cops know about it. Mulder gives his hotel room key to the man and sleeps in the alley, where he sees a shadowy, human-like creature. He chases the creature, but is arrested before he can catch it.

The next morning, Mulder calls Scully to come bail him out. Afterwards, Scully brings Mulder to meet with Dr. Diamond, a professor of anthropology at the University of Maryland, before going on a date with Rob. The local park ranger contacts Mulder after finding the corpse of a wild man in the woods who he believes could be the Jersey Devil. Scully and Mulder bring the ranger and Dr. Diamond to the morgue, where the body has mysteriously vanished. Mulder believes that the Jersey Devil they are hunting is actually the creature's mate, who has headed into Atlantic City in search of food after her mate's death. The agents, along with the ranger and Dr. Diamond, search for the creature in an abandoned building. As they do so, Detective Thompson arrives with a SWAT team.

Mulder spots the creature and chases after her. He is attacked by the creature, which wounds him before Scully scares her away. The creature then escapes into the woods. Scully, Mulder, Dr. Diamond and the ranger manage to find the creature, which again escapes after being shot with a tranquilizer dart. However, the SWAT team soon finds and kills her. Mulder asks Thompson why he killed the creature; he responds that it is the same reason one would kill a rabid animal. The autopsy reveals no prehistoric bone structure, although human bones are located within her digestive tract. The autopsies of the male and female creatures also reveals that they likely had children. Mulder leaves to talk to an ethnobiologist at the Smithsonian; Scully turns down a second date with Rob to join him. Meanwhile, in the woods, the child of the creatures appears, watching a father and son hiking.

Tropes used in The Jersey Devil include:

• Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti
• Godiva Hair
• Idiot Ball: Mulder complains when the Atlantic City police kill the Jersey Devil, saying "Why did you shoot her?" This is despite the fact that she was a CANNIBAL.
• I'm a Humanitarian: The Jersey Devils
• The Jersey Devil
• Nubile Savage

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