S7E7 · Orison

At a prison in Marion, Illinois, an inmate loses his fingers in a workshop accident. Time seems to slow down as another inmate, Donnie Pfaster (Nick Chinlund)—a "death fetishist " and serial killer who kidnapped Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) five years earlier —walks out of the room and leaves the prison. Hearing about the escape, Scully and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) investigate. They learn that three men escaped from three prisons, all of whom had contact with a prison chaplain named Reverend Orison (Scott Wilson). Eventually, the US Marshals corner Pfaster and Orison at a diner, but Orison uses his power of persuasion to distract the Marshals, allowing the two to escape.

Pfaster takes Orison's car and runs him over. Meanwhile, Scully keeps hearing the Dennis Edwards song " Don't Look Any Further " everywhere she goes, soon believing it is a sign. The agents find and question Orison, who is himself an ex-convict and claims that he is doing the work of God.

After a medical exam, Mulder finds out that Orison has three times the bloodflow capacity of the brain due to a hole he has drilled into his own head, allowing him to perform mental tricks by hypnotizing people. Orison hypnotizes the security guard in his room and easily escapes. Meanwhile, at Orison's apartment, a prostitute escapes when Pfaster attacks her for wearing a wig. Orison then finds Pfaster and takes him at gunpoint. In the woods, Orison digs a grave for Pfaster, who morphs into a demonic beast and kills him, burying him in his own shallow grave.

Pfaster then calls the police, telling them where Orison is buried, and goes to Scully's house. He attacks Scully, who tells him that the only reason he was not given the death penalty was because she asked the judge for life. He overpowers her and locks her in her own closet. Mulder thinks something may be wrong when he hears the same song on his radio and calls Scully. After receiving no answer, he goes over to her house and stumbles upon Pfaster, promptly arresting him. Meanwhile, Scully escapes from the closet and shoots Pfaster, despite him being unarmed, killing him. Scully later confides in Mulder, telling him she's scared because she's not sure who's in control of her, God or something else.