#Modell

[david-cross10]

[randomfoggytiger]

Pusher's Surveillance Scene, the Details

A few observations struck me, recently, in regards to Pusher's surveillance scene-- namely, that Vince Gilligan masterfully wove consequences and character beats into the subtlest details of even the quietest pauses.

THE SETUP

We open on Mulder calling the local payphone, eyes fixed intently on his objective. When that falls through, he hangs up, pivots to Scully-- who is sleeping on his shoulder-- and softly wakes her by brushing her cheek. When she bolts upright, he preemptively diffuses her tension with a smooth, "I think you drooled on me." Her reply ("Sorry") is short and relieved (and a little comedically self-conscious), and quickly jumps from the personal to the professional with a telling, "What time is it? No luck I take it?"-- which, in turn, gives Mulder the cue to fill her in.

This brief moment provides us with two telling details about both characters, and hands Modell a dangerously clairvoyant insight into Mulder and Scully's strengths and weaknesses.

FBI PROTOCOL

In Candace DeLong's Special Agent: My Life on the Front Lines as a Woman in the FBI, she explains the crucial aspects of an FBI stakeout:

It takes at least two people to work an effective stationary surveillance, one to have "the eye"-- that is, to hold his or her gaze locked on the objective-- and the other to assist with the surveillance and keep the log, a detailed record of every action taking place in the target zone. This is not just busywork, for the log may become the foundation of an agent's testimony in court and because, sometimes, a seemingly insignificant observation can hold the key to an entire case....

No matter how many hours you are stuck on surveillance, you can't read the paper or do your nails to pass the time, for your full concentration must stay focused on your target.... You can't even look around much, and that singularity of focus is one reason why surveillance can be dangerous. Agents have been shot to death sitting in cars, too intent on their targets to sense the approach of danger.

About the only thing you can do to stave off boredom on a lengthy surveillance is to eat. The longer you'll be sitting, the more sensory stimulation you'll want from your snacks, making potato and tortilla chips, popcorn, candy, and that beloved law enforcement staple, doughnuts, the foods of choice.....

MULDER'S CARE, SCULLY'S TRUST, AND MODELL'S ADVANTAGE

Scully (inadvertently) broke the FBI rules and regulations by falling asleep, which Mulder assisted and enabled by not only letting her rest but covering up the fact she'd nodded off. Further, when she woke, Scully didn't chastise or double down on protocol: instead, she politely apologized for drooling and moved on as if the night's missteps were second nature. Whether they are or not, Scully trusted that Mulder, the rule breaker, had her back.

Mulder knew the risks of their position but let his partner catch a few winks, regardless. While this betrayed official regulations, it wordlessly spoke to his priorities: people above protocol. Unfortunately, that propensity was regularly a blessing and a curse. In this case, Mulder had to overcompensate for the lack of backup, losing the ability to simultaneously scan the perimeter and keep an eye on their objective-- the payphone-- at the same time.

Modell, meanwhile, was able to leisurely watch the pair, then slip by, unnoticed, and make his escape. Not only that: he was also able to divine the virtue-and-vice flip coin of Mulder's and Scully's natures, using his observations to lure them both into his trap during the episode's proceeding events.

[benkaden]

Ansichtskarte

Neugestaltung des Berliner Stadtzentrums Restaurant „Moskau“

Berlin: VEB Postkartenverlag, Berlin C2 (B 7/60 IV 14-45 G 0121)

1960

[gifsbymel]

Cindy Mello via tiktok

[all-eyes-lead-to-the-truth]

All Eyes Lead to the Truth | Kitsunegari (5x08)

BEEEEEP

Her eyes burn while the heart monitor continues to flatline. 

She reaches down to hold her brother’s limp hand as he takes his last breath. Her heart constricts in time with her fingers squeezing his. Six months ago, she’d walked into this same hospital dressed as a nun and had simply urged him to wake up. Now, she has done the exact opposite.

“Goodbye, Bobby,” Linda whispers as a hot tear rolls down her cheek. 

She stands, unpinning the fake nurse’s ID, shakily jotting down an address to one of her vacant warehouse properties for him to find. With clenched fists, Linda Bowman walks away from her dead twin, revenge stoking the hot flame of rage burning in her chest. 

It’s time for this fox hunt to end. 

*** She knows exactly what to do while waiting in the shadows. It’s just like Bobby had said it would be between the FBI’s dynamic duo: an incredibly close yet opposing partnership, two complementary sides to a coin. The skeptic and the believer. Unfortunately for Fox Mulder, believing will be the death of him.

Linda flicks the safety off her gun and walks into the open. 

“Mulder?” Linda calls in Agent Scully’s voice. 

“Scully?” Agent Mulder starts running, but his Scully isn’t here yet.

Linda smirks. This man has essentially stolen the only family she has left. Has torn her heart apart with a single bullet and a life sentence cut short. 

Yes, Linda thinks, she will tear his heart to shreds. 

“Scully, what are you doing here?” he asks.

The words coming from her mouth are her own, yet in Agent Scully’s voice.

“…She’s making me do this. I can’t help myself.” His fear amuses her, so Linda keeps egging him on, putting on quite the show. “Mulder, make her stop!” she pleads as the little redhead.

“Linda Bowman!” Agent Mulder yells. “Show yourself!”

Linda Bowman, she almost scoffs, giving herself away. She became a Bowman out of necessity. Though her husband’s obsession with her long lost twin disgusted her, he had no idea she’d slithered her way into his life like a snake and pushed him to marry her. Marriage gave easy access to murder the man who put her brother away and presented the perfect opportunity to trap a Bureau Fox on the run. 

“Mulder…” Linda pretends to beg as vengeance spurs the gun to her faux temple.  

“NO!” Agent Mulder’s hollow scream resounds around the empty warehouse, sprinting towards the body he thinks is Agent Scully as Linda pulls the trigger. “NO!”

He falls to the floor, whimpering over the illusion of his pretty partner’s bloody head. 

An eye for an eye. A bullet for a bullet.

Heels clack along the concrete as Agent Scully, disguised as Linda herself, arrives. Right on time.

Agent Mulder angrily grabs the gun and aims it at fake Linda’s face. “I’m gonna kill you.”

They argue fruitlessly about him not forgiving himself if he kills her, his precious partner. Linda inwardly groans, wanting to shout, “Just shoot already!” 

“You killed her!” he cries pathetically to the real Dana Scully, and Fox Mulder’s devastation is nothing short of delightful. 

“Mulder…” 

“Shut up!”

“Modell warned you. Don't play her game,” Agent Scully cautions. Convincingly, too, and Linda panics. Instantly she knows her plan has gone to hell.

But Linda will finish what her brother started two years ago.

She stands, then is immediately knocked back down by an ear-piercing bang. Searing pain in her chest causes her illusions to drop. That little bitch shot her. 

Gasping, Linda watches the woman she wanted dead walk over and run a hand down a stunned Agent Mulder's arm. 

The last ounce of her fury flares at her failure. This isn’t over. 

“You think you can hold me?” she taunts. 

Linda’s vision blurs as she watches Agent Scully end the 911 call and gently run a hand down the bent back of her partner. Agent Mulder’s head hangs between his trembling legs, his hands clutching his knees. Even as her heart thumps within her ears, Linda can hear the soft sobs and sharp inhales of breath wracking his slender frame. 

“Mulder, breathe for me,” Agent Scully says, her head bowed down to his. “It’s okay. I’m okay.” Her tone is soft and tender, and Linda nearly sighs through her pain at the comfort of it. 

“No, it’s not okay,” he huffs. The rough grit of his words echo off the warehouse walls, keeping Linda from passing out as blood soaks her shirt. “I almost shot you, Scully, you… you could’ve-” 

“But you didn’t and I didn’t,” Agent Scully cups his cheek with the hand not rubbing small circles along his spine. Her touch rips his watery stare from the concrete floor beneath where Linda’s limp body lay, right where he’d thought a massive puddle of his partner’s blood had pooled. Their gazes lock. “Mulder, you wouldn’t hurt me. I trust you.”

His shuddering slows as his hand covers hers cradling his face. “Okay.” 

“Good,” Agent Scully glances back at Linda with disdain. “I’m going to monitor her until the ambulance arrives, all right?” 

“Go ahead, Scully.” Their hands slide slowly down his stubbled jaw as one while Linda can barely keep her eyes open. “I’m fine.”

“Sounds familiar,” she teases on an exhale.

Agent Mulder doesn’t smile. He stands up straight, his wild eyes raking over the petite woman from head to toe. “It’s not me I worry about.” 

“But I do,” Agent Scully says fiercely. 

Then, suddenly, warm fingers are pressed to Linda’s cold neck. She shivers.

Big blue eyes hover over Linda’s drooping ones. Cerulean blue. How ironic. It’s funny, Linda muses as the room starts to spin, what the mind focuses on as the body shuts down: this skeptic and believer see so much, but are blind to what’s right in front of them.

Sirens wail. The world darkens. And Linda’s mind shifts again, thinking of Bobby as her tear-filled eyes finally slip shut…

Read the rest of All Eyes Lead to the Truth on Ao3!

@monikafilefan

[unes23]

Jac Jagaciak by Craig McDean for Interview Magazine

[meisterdrucke]

Die Malkunst von Jan Vermeer van Delft (1665, Öl auf Leinwand)

[time4machine-de]

Entdecke die faszinierende Welt des Modellbaus mit Time4Machine! 🛠️

In meinem neuesten Blogbeitrag auf Time4Machine teile ich meine persönliche Erfahrung beim Zusammenbau eines Modells von Time4Machine. Es war eine Reise voller Herausforderungen, Entdeckungen und natürlich stolzer Momente. Wenn du dich für Modellbau, DIY-Projekte und mechanische Kunst interessierst, dann ist dieser Beitrag genau das Richtige für dich!

Hier geht's zum Blogbeitrag: Erfahrung beim Zusammenbau eines Modells von Time4Machine

Was erwartet dich in meinem Blogbeitrag?

Einblick in die hochwertigen Modelle von Time4Machine

Meine persönliche Erfahrung beim Zusammenbau eines Modells

Tipps und Tricks für angehende Modellbauer

Die Bedeutung von Modellbau als Hobby und kreativer Ausdruck

Warum ist Modellbau so faszinierend?

Modellbau ist nicht nur ein Hobby, sondern eine Leidenschaft, die uns mit der Welt der Technik und Kunst verbindet. Es ist eine Möglichkeit, unsere Kreativität auszuleben, unsere handwerklichen Fähigkeiten zu verbessern und eine tiefe Verbindung zu den Dingen, die uns umgeben, aufzubauen.

[higherentity]

[sketchonista]

Situationist FW23 shot backstage at Paris Fashionweek

[benkaden]

Ansichtskarte

Neugestaltung des Berliner Stadtzentrums Hotel „Berlin Tourist“

Berlin: VEB Postkarten-Verlag, Berlin C 2 ( B 7/60 IV 14-45 G 0124)

1960

[caniusmcmaine]

WeeklyPic - Wochenbild 08/2024

[espenhain]

[unes23]

Anabela Belikova by Rosamagda Taverna for Numero Russia

[astronnova]

yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa