Pusher (The X-Files)
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files.
In this episode, Mulder and Scully’s assistance is requested for a case involving a man, who goes by the pseudonym "Pusher", seemingly capable of bending people to his will.
Before he can leave, Modell is surrounded and arrested by FBI agents led by Frank Burst (Vic Polizos).
Burst, the only surviving agent of the crash, tells Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) about his pursuit of Modell—nicknamed "Pusher"—who has committed a series of contract killings over the past two years, making the acts appear to be suicide.
Mulder spots the word "ronin" written at the crime scene, and tracks down Modell's classified advertisement in a mercenary magazine.
Using the phone number in the ad, the agents track down Modell to a golf course in Falls Church, Virginia, where he makes a SWAT lieutenant pour gasoline on himself and then set himself on fire.
The agents look into Modell's past and find that he failed to enter the FBI after a psychological examination deemed him to be grossly egocentric and sociopathic.
Scully is unable to explain how Modell has his power, but now agrees with Mulder's theory that he can push people into doing whatever he wants.
Mulder suspects that a brain tumor has given Modell his psychokinetic ability, but that using his power is physically exhausting, forcing him to constantly consume the protein supplements.
Modell makes a taunting phone call to Agent Burst and causes him to have a fatal heart attack while they try to trace him.
Mulder surprises her by revealing that Modell's brain tumor was operable at all times, but he refused to have it removed, even as his health deteriorated.
Scully asks why, and Mulder repeats her earlier assessment of Modell — that he was always a "little man", and his psychic ability made him feel big.
[6] When Gilligan turned in his script, he told series creator Chris Carter that the episode was "the best work I'm ever gonna do for you.
After a series of tense negotiations, the producers refused to concede and the scene was included in the episode largely uncut; Gilligan later noted that he could not "believe we got away with it".
The tabloid that featured the Flukeman also had a small image of props master Ken Hawryliw and the American Ronin magazine that Mulder flips through contained a "blink-and-you'll miss-it" shot of production assistant Danielle Faith.
Initially, Gilligan considered Harvey Fierstein for the role of Modell, but Robert Wisden read the script and "blew us away".
"[11] Dave Grohl, the lead singer and guitarist of Foo Fighters and former drummer for Nirvana, made a cameo, along with his then-wife Jennifer Youngblood, in the episode during the scene wherein Modell sneaks into the FBI building.
Club gave it an A−, describing it as "smart, well-paced, and exciting, and Modell is memorable for being a very human monster who manages to be both well-drawn and unsympathetic".
"[20] Den of Geek listed "Pusher" as their seventh best episode of the series, and called it "a good game of cat and mouse".
