Small Potatoes

"Small potatoes" (other translations of the name – "Insignificant", "Insignificant", orig. "Small potatoes "is the twentieth episode of the fourth season of the X – Files, which is a" monster of the week "type and is not related to the main" mythology "of the series set in the pilot series.

Mulder and Scully arrive in Martinsburg, West Virginia, to find out why five different mothers gave birth to babies with tails at a local maternity hospital. One of the mothers, Amanda Nelligan, claims that the father of her child was Luke Skywalker. Chromosomal analysis reveals that all unusual children have the same father. The other mothers blame the local gynecologist for the incident. While visiting the clinic, Mulder accidentally bumps into a janitor, Eddie van Blandt, who has a scar on his back that resembles a removed tail. After a brief chase, Mulder apprehends Eddie, who turns out to be the father of all five children with tails. Scully believes that Eddie raped women by drugging them, but Mulder doubts that van Blandt, due to his unpresentable appearance and low social status, had such an opportunity.

Eddie escapes from custody, turning into a guard and knocking him out with a blow to the head. Mulder and Scully arrive at Eddie's father's house. Van Blandt Sr. once performed in a circus and still walks with a tail. During the conversation, the agents realize that the" father " is Eddie himself. Van Blandt, realizing that he was found out, runs away, hiding in the house of a neighbor whose wife he once slept with. Transformed into a neighbor, he hides in the bathroom to the surprise of the hostess of the house. When the real husband suddenly returns, van Blandt impersonates Mulder and, having completely confused the couple, calmly leaves. Mulder and Scully search the van Blandt house and find the desiccated body of Eddie's long-dead father in the attic. At the autopsy, Scully discovers an extra layer of muscle under the skin. Mulder concludes that Eddie may have inherited this trait and, thanks to it, can change his appearance.

Eddie, transformed into Mulder, visits Nelligan in the hospital and shows the woman his real photo. Nelligan replies that she knew the man at school, and he was a worthless loser. Disappointed, Eddie leaves, almost coming face-to-face with the real Mulder. The agent remembers from the conversation with Nelligan that he barely missed van Blandt, and rushes around the hospital in search of Eddie. After running into the gynecologist and the security guard, Mulder handcuffs both of them, believing that one of them is Eddie. Van Blandt, who has been hiding in an air vent all this time, stuns Mulder with a blow to the head and locks the agent in a secluded basement room. Once again transformed into Mulder, Eddie informs Scully that the case has turned out to be a waste of time, and it's time for them to return to Washington.

In Washington, Eddie pretends to be Mulder, but is reprimanded by Skinner for an illiterate report. In addition, despite his physical attractiveness, Mulder, as Eddie discovers, leads a miserable, by his standards, lifestyle. Taking a bottle of wine, Eddie goes to Scully's house and tries to seduce her. When he almost succeeds, the real Mulder bursts into Scully's apartment and forces Eddie to assume his real form. A month later, Mulder visits Eddie in prison. He complains to the agent that the muscle relaxants administered to him do not allow him to take the forms of other people. Eddie also tells Mulder that he was born a loser, and Mulder chose to become one, and recommends that he "live a little real life."

The antagonist of the episode has inherited genetic abnormalities that allow him to change his appearance. Throughout his body, an additional muscle layer is located under the skin, the tension of which allows him to change his appearance. In addition, he has an abnormality of the hair follicles, which, presumably, allows him to change his hairstyle.

In addition to these deviations, this character, his father, and all his children from birth have a small tail.