7. Paper Hearts (Season 4, Episode 10)
"You bring my hearts and give them back to me...and I'll tell you everything you want to know." - John Lee Roche
In "Paper Hearts," Mulder begins to dream about the victims of a serial killer that he'd caught many years ago, John Lee Roche. Somehow, Mulder uncovers new facts about the case in his sleep and determines that Roche had abducted more young girls than the FBI had ever located. Roche, who had cut hearts from the clothing of his victims to keep as trophies, finally gives a clue that could change everything: one of the lost little girls may have been Samantha, Mulder's long-lost sister. From the very beginning of the show (and in just about every episode), Mulder has been portrayed as borderline crazy. One subject that never fails to get him to abandon reason and cross that border? Samantha. "Paper Hearts" is one of the few non-mythology episodes to deal with the Samantha mystery. Having long-believed her to have been abducted by aliens, Mulder finds in "Paper Hearts" that a far worse fate may have befallen his little sister: John Lee Roche. Roche, played by Tom Noonan, is so average-looking and casual and so
almost normal that it's remarkably easy to believe both that he murdered children and that their parents had invited him into their home. Through Roche, the darker and more desperate facets of Mulder's personality emerge, and it's clear from the very beginning of the episode that however it ends, it will not go well for Fox Mulder. "Paper Hearts" is well-done and emotionally exhausting. Long before the end credits roll, you have to begin to wonder: does Mulder really
want to find his sister?