This episode, Small Potatoes, is a prime example of Scully's forensic expertise being of importance to their investiagtions. She literally explains the entire show - providing a scientific basis in her findings for the otherwise obvious unexplainable Eddie Van Blundht. The comedy in the scene, Mulder breaking off the tail just as Scully says the luck of the body being intact is well acted, and a very funny scene. I also have to comment on the face shield at the beginning of the scene - a very nice touch indeed. ;-)
-Ah, a pathologist and her power tools - plus yet another entry in the Scully fashion headgear for autopsies.
MULDER: So what killed Eddie the monkey man?
SCULLY: It's difficult to say. The quicklime burned the tissue even as it preserved it, so what killed him is one of two things I haven't figured out yet.
MULDER: What's the other thing?
SCULLY: That would be this. It's striated muscle tissue.
MULDER: What's unusual about that?
SCULLY: In and of itself, nothing. Where I found it however-
MULDER: Where did you find it?
SCULLY: Everywhere. His entire body. As far as I can tell, this man has a thin stratum of voluntary muscle tissue underpinning the entire dermal layer of his skin. That's not normal. This man's body is quite a scientific specimen, and thankfully it's preserved and intact.
SCULLY: In other words, there are six hundred and fifty four muscles in the human body, and this man essentially has six hundred and fiftyfive.
MULDER: Um, could that somehow be related to his uh, having a tail?
SCULLY: Possibly. It could be a linked gene birth defect.
MULDER: What would be the, uh, purpose of, of this, uh...muscle?
SCULLY: You got me, Mulder. Maybe none. It appears to be atrophied,although it may look that way as a result of the mummification.
MULDER: Could this be a "like father like son" kind of a thing?
SCULLY: What do you mean?
MULDER: Uh, could Eddie junior have, uh, the same anomalous muscular structure as his dad here?
SCULLY: Maybe. What are you suggesting?
MULDER: Well, um, if this musculature underlies the entire skin, then maybe it could be utilized to remold the skin's shape and texture. Which would go a long way to explaining why we're looking for a man who can appear to be his own father, or anyone else for that matter.
SCULLY: Isn't it much more likely, Mulder, that this man simply has an identical twin?
MULDER: Check that out.
SCULLY: Where are you going?
MULDER: Something about Van Blundht's MO confuses me. His victims were four married women who wanted to get pregnant ...
SCULLY: ... and one single woman who didn't.
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