Travelers

Closer examination reveals the hand of a desiccated corpse. As he stares transfixed at the blackened corpse, he is suddenly attacked from behind by the seldom seen resident, Skur. Getting off a shot at his attacker, the sheriff rushes to the top of the stairs as Edward Skur tumbles to the bottom. His dying word is "Mulder."

Dales asks if Mulder has heard of HUAC - the House Un-American Activities Committee who hunted communists in America in the 40's and 50's during the red scare. Dales says they found practically nothing which he considers suspicious. "Do you think they would have found nothing unless nothing was what they wanted to find?"

Later that night in his apartment, Mulder watches a videotape covering background for the communist hunters, mentioning J. Edgar Hoover, Joseph McCarthy, and Roy Cohn. It heralds the partnership between these men who will now be able to fight the red menace within the government. Mulder suddenly rewinds and reviews a portion. Sitting at the hearings, he sees his own father.

Letting Mulder into his apartment, Dales begins to offer what he knows. He says all the victims died the same way; all the soft tissue and internal organs were removed without tearing the skin. "We had no idea who, or what, Edward Skur really was."

Flat on his back, with Skur straddling him, he is horrified to see a spider-like creature begin to emerge from Skur's mouth. Two segmented legs reach out as Skur's eyes roll back in his head and he gags as the creature tries to come out and most likely force its way down Dales' throat. But the gruesome scene is interrupted when a man in a house adjacent to the alley shouts down at them to see what all the ruckus is. Skur leaps off Dales and rushes off leaving Dales shaken but unhurt.

As Cohn expounds on the red menace, Dales says he doesn't interest himself in politics but Cohn says, "Everything is political, Agent Dales." He's referring especially to the report Dales filed that morning and it's clear he wants Dales to amend it, removing the name of Skur. When Dales says he doesn't understand why, Cohn says, "You're not supposed to understand. You're supposed to follow orders."

Mulder says he came to warn Dales about Skur, saying he killed the doctor and he'll kill Dales if given a chance. He tells Dales that the other two men, Gissing and Oberman, have already committed suicide. "They couldn't live with what they'd become; what they'd been turned into. And Skur's the last."

Cohn doesn't like Dales stepping on his authority and calls him aside. He threatens Dales, telling him he can have his name on his list of communist agitators in the blink of an eye. Dales protests that he's not a communist and Cohn says, "You are if I say you are." With the threat hanging in the air, Cohn orders the body removed saying it's a matter of national security. Turning back to Dales he says, "See? You're a patriot again."

Dales is unfamiliar with the X-Files and wants to know what they are and how they got their name. She says they are unsolved cases, but the "U" drawer was full and since there was plenty of space in the "X" drawer, they became known as X-Files.

Agreeing with some misgivings, the coroner opens Gissing's chest and they find recent sutures near the esophagus. There is a sort of sac that the coroner says must have been surgically inserted. As they open the sac, one of the spider-like creatures begins to climb out.

He explains to her that Skur and the other two men underwent surgery for war wounds but that was just a cover-up. Instead it was xenotransplantation; the grafting of another species into the human body. Dales says it was a procedure that Nazi doctors experimented with during the war and he believes they continued their work here after the war ended with Skur and his companions as unwilling test subjects.

Hoover says, "If we are to defeat the enemy, we must use their tools. We must go further. We must do those things which even our enemies would be ashamed to do. It is only through strength that we can make our enemies fear us, and thereby ensure our own survival. You have one chance, Mr. Dales, to save yourself--to demonstrate that you have the strength to serve your country."

Alone inside the bar, Dales sits looking beaten down and disillusioned. Skur approaches, saying, "Did you come here to kill me or to save me?" Dales says he wants to help Skur, just as he told his wife. This prompts Skur to admit that he killed his wife, "I'm dead, too - inside...because of this thing they put in me. For what? To turn me into some kind of killing machine? Or just to see what would happen?"

Inside the bar, Dales is fighting for his life as the creature emerges but he manages to get his handcuffs free and snaps one end around Skur's wrist and the other around the bar railing. With the sounds of struggle at an end, Mulder and the car's other occupants, go inside the Hoot Owl and are surprised to see both Skur and Mulder very much alive.

Mulder is shocked that his father threw in with these men. "He let them dictate his conscience." Dales says, "Oh, don't fool yourself. None of us is free to choose. I was ruined for my insubordination. You keep digging through the...The X-Files and they'll bury you, too."

Dales tells him that he heard rumors over the years; some saying Skur was dead and others that he was being kept in some secret lab while they finished up their experiments. "I even thought maybe...maybe some poor innocent bastard - somebody with a conscience - might have let him go."

We see 1952 and Mulder driving a handcuffed Skur down a rural road. Pulling to the side of the road, Mulder gets out and walks around to the passenger side, looking in the window at Skur. Throwing the handcuff keys inside, Mulder walks away from the car and, as we pull back, we see the car continue on down the road with Skur at the wheel as Mulder walks slowly back in the opposite direction.

Mulder asks Dales, "Why would anyone do that? Why let a killer go free?" Dales replies, "In the hope that by letting him live, the truth of the crimes that were committed against him and the others might someday be exposed."

Travelers

1990 - In a rural area of Wisconsin, a landlord and the local sheriff go to the residence of Edward Skur to evict him from his dilapidated residence. The sheriff seem reluctant but it's obvious the place is in a state of disrepair and the landlord says when he meets the old guy, he won't feel as bad. They knock repeatedly on the door but nobody answers. Finally, the sheriff draws his weapon and they enter trying vainly not to smell the place which the sheriff notes "smells like a whole lot of something went bad."

As they search the house, they can see the extent of the damage and general mess. Aside from the smell, there are flies buzzing around but no sign of Skur. No Edward but cockroaches...lots and lots of roaches. Heading up the stairs, the landlord pushes open the bathroom door and begins to heave, covering his nose and mouth. He rushes down the stair retching as the sheriff takes a look inside. His first view is what he believes to be an old glove but closer examination reveals the hand of a desiccated corpse. As he stares transfixed at the blackened corpse, he is suddenly attacked from behind by the seldom seen resident, Skur. Getting off a shot at his attacker, the sheriff rushes to the top of the stairs as Edward Skur tumbles to the bottom. His dying word is "Mulder."

Back in Washington, DC, we see Mulder entering an apartment building and walking down a rundown hallway. Knocking on the door of one of the apartments, he asks the man who answers if he is Arthur Dales. Speaking to the man half-hidden by the chained door, Mulder explains that he's a profiler with the behavioral sciences unit of the FBI and wants to speak with him about an old case of his on Edward Skur. Dales asks if Mulder knows what an X-file is and, when Mulder says an unsolved case, he clarifies saying a case that is "designated" unsolved. Apparently the file that Mulder's unearthed from 1952 lists Skur as the main suspect in a series of stranger killings where the victims' internal organs had all been removed. Skur disappeared before he could be arrested and had been missing for 38 years until last week when he was shot and killed by the sheriff who tried to evict him.

Dales says if the latest victim, found in the bathtub, was already dead, then they don't need his help and prepares to slam the door but Mulder stops him by blurting out, "My name is Mulder." This causes Dales a momentary pause. Mulder wants to know why both he and Skur knew the name Mulder. Dales asks if Mulder has heard of HUAC - the House Un-American Activities Committee who hunted communists in America in the 40's and 50's during the red scare. Dales says they found practically nothing which he considers suspicious. "Do you think they would have found nothing unless nothing was what they wanted to find?" Mulder runs a hand through his hair in confusion and tells Dales he doesn't see the connection. Dales tells him, "Maybe you're not supposed to."

[The hand through the hair gesture is a running annoyance through the episode and was done mostly to attract attention to a wedding band on Mulder's hand. It was Duchovny's idea to wear the ring in this episode and in The Usual Suspects where it also made an appearance. There is also a point later in the episode where we see Mulder in a cloud of smoke, as if he just took a drag off a cigarette. This was also Duchovny's idea and I mention it here since it goes with the ring and hair affectation.]

Later that night in his apartment, Mulder watches a videotape covering background for the communist hunters, mentioning J. Edgar Hoover, Joseph McCarthy, and Roy Cohn. It heralds the partnership between these men who will now be able to fight the red menace within the government. [The episode takes its name from the Americans thought to be sympathetic to the communist cause who were called fellow travelers.] As he listens and glances at the video, he is also going over Dales' old case file on Skur. It is a mass of black marks from being censored and only a few things are left unmarked, two of which are names. Also in the file is a communist party card in the name of Edward Skur. Glancing at the video Mulder suddenly rewinds and reviews a portion. Sitting at the hearings, he sees his own father.

The next day, Mulder is back at Dales' door bright and early with a cup of coffee as an offering. He wants to know why Skur died with his father's name on his lips. Dales wants to know why he doesn't ask his father but Mulder says they don't really speak. Mulder threatens to subpoena Dales to get to the truth at which point Dales finally gives in. He tells Mulder that Skur worked for the State Department, as did Bill Mulder. Mulder wants to know if his father was somehow involved in the murders from 38 years ago.

Letting Mulder into his apartment, Dales begins to offer what he knows. He says all the victims died the same way; all the soft tissue and internal organs were removed without tearing the skin. Dales says that Skur was accused of being a communist but they said that about all of them. He said Skur was just another name on a list, another commie spy at the State Department. "We had no idea who, or what, Edward Skur really was."

As Dales speaks to Mulder, we see a flashback to 1952. Dales and his partner, Hayes Michel, knock on the door of Edward Skur's house. His wife answers and they say they just want to talk to her husband but when Skur approaches the door, they grab him and arrest him claiming he's in contempt of congress for failure to appear. As they haul him out, Michel claims to find a communist party card on Skur but it's an obvious plant. They drag him from his home in front of his wife and kids who huddle in the door as Skur tries to reassure them. Dales appears uncomfortable and embarrassed by their treatment of Skur and tries to apologize to the wife but she tells him to get out.

Later that night, Dales is drowning his disillusionment at a bar called the Hoot Owl. He receives a call from Michel informing him that Skur hung himself in his cell and is dead. Michel doesn't seem too concerned but it's obvious Dales feels bad and partially responsible for his government's actions. He drives to the Skur residence and bolsters his courage by taking a few swigs from a whiskey bottle before his planned talk with Mrs. Skur. Unsure of what to say, he sits in the car for over an hour and before he even gets a chance to go to the door, he sees Edward Skur walking up to his house. Calling out to him only causes Skur to run. Dales jumps from his car and pursues Skur but loses him then is jumped from behind as Skur attacks him. Flat on his back, with Skur straddling him, he is horrified to see a spider-like creature begin to emerge from Skur's mouth. Two segmented legs reach out as Skur's eyes roll back in his head and he gags as the creature tries to come out and most likely force its way down Dales' throat. But the gruesome scene is interrupted when a man in a house adjacent to the alley shouts down at them to see what all the ruckus is. Skur leaps off Dales and rushes off leaving Dales shaken but unhurt.

The following morning, despite the previous night's events, Dales says the world still seemed clear and he thought he knew who the good guys and the bad guys were. But all that was about to change. While sitting at his desk, Dales is approached by his partner who wants to have a little chat. Apparently, it's not considered good form to pursue a suspect who died two hours before Dales claimed to have seen him. Michel even shows him the pictures and Skur does appear to be less than among the living. Michel wonders if maybe this could be explained by a few too many drinks and a simple mistake. Michel thinks he might be better off leaving Skur's name out of his report altogether but falsifying his report does not sit well with Dales and besides, he already filed it and hour ago. Before he can comment further, he receives a phone call from the Justice Department with a summons. Apparently, they have already taken notice of his report.

Dales is called in to speak with Roy Cohn, Special Assistant to the Attorney General, and an underling of Cohn's. Cohn wants to know if Dales knows who he is and how important his work is to the future of the country. As Cohn expounds on the red menace, Dales says he doesn't interest himself in politics but Cohn says, "Everything is political, Agent Dales." He's referring especially to the report Dales filed that morning and it's clear he wants Dales to amend it, removing the name of Skur. When Dales says he doesn't understand why, Cohn says, "You're not supposed to understand. You're supposed to follow orders."

Dales returns to his desk and reluctantly changes the name in his report from Skur to "unknown". A clerk, Dorothy Bahnsen, brings him a file he had requested earlier on Edward Skur. The file is so heavily censored it is mostly a page of black marker-filled lines. The only visible items are the names Skur, Gissing, and Oberman. (This looks like the same file Mulder was perusing in 1990.) His partner, Michel, arrives and says they have a case. Apparently the name Skur would not slip into obscurity as easily as Cohn hoped since the case involved a murder and Skur seemed the likely suspect.

Arriving at the crime scene, they find the victim to be a German doctor. No police officers are there despite the call being an advise and assist. They find the body which appears wrinkled and odd looking, as if the insides have been removed. Two policemen suddenly burst into the room, guns drawn, as if they didn't expect to find the agents there. Apparently, there had never been a request by the police since they only came because the doctor's nurse had reported him missing. While they are sorting things out with the officers, Dales spots a coaster from the Hoot Owl bar on a dresser. Picking it up, he sees the words "Come Alone" written on the back. Sticking it in his pocket, he doesn't mention the message to Michel.

The summons to the bar was from a young Bill Mulder. He had preceded both Dales and Michel and the police officers to the crime scene that morning and wanted to impart some information to Dales. Information and a warning. Mulder says he came to warn Dales about Skur, saying he killed the doctor and he'll kill Dales if given a chance. Dales thinks Mulder may have killed the German doctor but he denies it, saying he had gone to the house to warn him but had been too late. Dales asks if this is a communist plot but Mulder explains that Skur was a patriot...all three men had been veterans. He tells Dales that the other two men, Gissing and Oberman, have already committed suicide. "They couldn't live with what they'd become; what they'd been turned into. And Skur's the last." Mulder says the entire communist angle and the suicide were part of a cover story to hide Skur away so no one would ever know the truth but his escape threatens everything. He says that he has put himself and his family at risk by meeting with Dales. "But...the crimes these men have committed against innocent people...I can't have them on my conscience anymore. Someone needs to know the truth."

While this meeting is taking place, we see Dales' partner Michel arrive home and settle in for the evening with his cat, Myrtle. He's brought some groceries home with him and grabs a beer as he heads for the couch. He sits down in front of the TV and watches McCarthy expounding on the evils of communism and cheers him on. Something spooks Myrtle and the cat leaps across the table upsetting Michel's un-opened beer bottle. Picking up the shaken bottle and opening it, he ends up wearing most of the contents.

Back at the bar, Dales says, "All right then, Mr. Mulder. Who is this "they" you want me to arrest?" Mulder is evasive, saying they can't just be arrested; that it's political. Dales thinks he's implying that Cohn and possibly McCarthy are involved. Mulder says Skur wants vengeance for what was done to him and he'll kill to get it. Skur now believes that Dales and Michel are part of that conspiracy and, with this thought planted in his head, Dales rushes to the bar phone to call and warn his partner. Back at Michel's apartment, we see the phone lines are cut so Michel, oblivious to the danger, is going about changing his beer soaked clothes when Skur suddenly attacks. Thrown to the ground, he finds Skur straddling his chest as we see the creature's two legs emerge from Skur's mouth. With his head thrown back, in the gagging throws of the attack, the creature is more successful than with its attack on Dales. As more of the creature emerges, we see the two legs are attached to a spider-crab-like body as it descends toward Michel's mouth to dive in for a dinner of human organs and soft tissue. Bon appetite!

Dales views the aftermath as the coroner asks if he's sure a man did this. He can't imagine a cause unless someone force-fed a corrosive agent down Michel's throat. He tells Dales they'll do a toxicology report to determine the cause and he should have the results in six to eight weeks (!). In the meantime, he can do a physical exam on the remains. Cohn makes the scene and wields his authority, telling them to take the body to Bethesda because Michel is a veteran. Dales interrupts to say the body should go to the county morgue for an autopsy. Cohn doesn't like Dales stepping on his authority and calls him aside. He threatens Dales, telling him he can have his name on his list of communist agitators in the blink of an eye. Dales protests that he's not a communist and Cohn says, "You are if I say you are." With the threat hanging in the air, Cohn orders the body removed saying it's a matter of national security. Turning back to Dales he says, "See? You're a patriot again." Despite being threatened, Dales can't just let the cause of death of his partner be swept under the carpet. He figures by looking into the files on Gissing and Oberman, he might be able to solve Michel's death as well.

Back at the FBI, Dales heads to the file room and reviews Skur's file. He also asks Dorothy to get him Gissing's and Oberman's files. She tells Dales they're missing but with an eye for detail, she remembers one of the names from an X-File. Dales is unfamiliar with the X-Files and wants to know what they are and how they got their name. She says they are unsolved cases, but the "U" drawer was full and since there was plenty of space in the "X" drawer, they became known as X-Files. She tells him that the FBI director's office decides when a case is classified unsolved and then nobody is to see them. The X-File she's looking for turns out to be a case file on another German doctor. This doctor had been found dead in his office, the same as all the other organ-deficient victims, but Gissing was also found dead at the scene. He had been a patient of the doctor's and his death was listed as an apparent suicide.

Dales goes to see the coroner and finds that, amazingly, Gissing's body is still there. The body has a scar on the upper torso from a recent surgery. Dales wants the coroner to open Gissing up but the coroner balks, saying the family will have his head. Dales explains that Gissing and Skur were both patients of the same doctor and Skur killed his partner, so an autopsy on Gissing might help to answer some questions about a murderer who's still at large. Agreeing with some misgivings, the coroner opens Gissing's chest and they find recent sutures near the esophagus. There is a sort of sac that the coroner says must have been surgically inserted. As they open the sac, one of the spider-like creatures begins to climb out. They are surprised and, most likely revolted, but the creature doesn't jump out or try to attack them.

With this new information, Dales returns to the Skur residence. Mrs. Skur says he has a lot of nerve coming to her home but Dales tells her he's aware that her husband is not dead. She says, "How dare you," but she doesn't really seemed shocked at the accusation. Dales goes on to say that a crime was committed on Skur against his will and that's what led to their attempt to discredit him as a way to cover up their own crime. She is still convinced that Dales is part of whatever was done to her husband. He explains to her that Skur and the other two men underwent surgery for war wounds but that was just a cover-up. It wasn't what they thought but instead was xenotransplantation; the grafting of another species into the human body. Dales says it was a procedure that Nazi doctors experimented with during the war and he believes they continued their work here after the war ended with Skur and his companions as unwilling test subjects. "I want to expose what was done to your husband, Mrs. Skur. I can't do that unless I have his help." Handing her the coaster from the Hoot Owl bar, he walks away but is detained at the curb by Cohn who orders him into his car. One of the car's occupants is Bill Mulder.

As Dales suspected, Skur is still alive and has been in contact with his wife. In fact, he is hiding out in their backyard bomb shelter. As Mrs. Skur descends into the semi-darkness, she calls for Ed and, when she sees him looking haggard, is distressed. "I told you not to come down here," he says. She tells him that Dales came back and wants to help him but Skur is beyond help, it seems. He says he's getting worse; it's too late and he can't help himself anymore. He advances on his wife and, as the camera pulls back to the outside of the shelter and the calm of the backyard, we hear the dying screams of Mrs. Skur.

Dales is escorted to the office of the FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover. He wants a private meeting with Dales, booting a surprised Cohn out of the room. He proceeds to expound on the evils of communism in a rambling monologue. He says, "The threat of global communist domination is a reality that can be ignored only at the risk of our own annihilation." Dales points out that the men they arrested weren't communists but Hoover continues on saying, "If we are to defeat the enemy, we must use their tools. We must go further. We must do those things which even our enemies would be ashamed to do. It is only through strength that we can make our enemies fear us, and thereby ensure our own survival. You have one chance, Mr. Dales, to save yourself--to demonstrate that you have the strength to serve your country."

Dales is taken to the Hoot Owl bar where he was to meet with Skur. They give him a recording device and tell him to go in as planned and put Skur at ease; Mulder will come in "when the time is right." An angry Dales says, "Is this why you came to see me, Mr. Mulder? Make me your stalking horse?" Mulder says he was just following orders. Despite his protest, Mulder takes Dales' gun and he is sent inside with the order that they want Skur alive. Alone inside the bar, Dales sits looking beaten down and disillusioned. Skur approaches, saying, "Did you come here to kill me or to save me?" Dales says he wants to help Skur, just as he told his wife. This prompts Skur to admit that he killed his wife, "I'm dead, too - inside...because of this thing they put in me. For what? To turn me into some kind of killing machine? Or just to see what would happen?" Seeming to know the score, Skur says, "They're not coming, you know. They wanted me to kill you, or you wouldn't be here. You're part of their test now, too." Dales tells Skur he doesn't want to kill him and Skur says he knows, then proceeds to attack Dales.

Out in the car, Bill Mulder is listening in on the conversation in the bar and makes a move for the door when the scuffle begins but he is motioned to remain in the car by one of Cohn's men. As the struggle continues, the men in the car wait patiently for the expected conclusion, apparently fulfilling Skur's prediction that they wouldn't be coming to Dales aid. Inside the bar, Dales is fighting for his life as the creature emerges but he manages to get his handcuffs free and snaps one end around Skur's wrist and the other around the bar railing. With the sounds of struggle at an end, Mulder and the car's other occupants, go inside the Hoot Owl and are surprised to see both Skur and Mulder very much alive.

We are back in 1990 and Mulder is shocked that his father threw in with these men. "He let them dictate his conscience." Dales says, "Oh, don't fool yourself. None of us is free to choose. I was ruined for my insubordination. You keep digging through the...The X-Files and they'll bury you, too." Mulder still wants to know why Skur died saying his father's name. Dales says he hasn't the faintest idea. Mulder wonders aloud how Skur was able to get away and live in obscurity for the last 38 years. Dales tells him that he heard rumors over the years; some saying he was dead and others that he was being kept in some secret lab while they finished up their experiments. "I even thought maybe...maybe some poor innocent bastard - somebody with a conscience - might have let him go." As he says this, we see 1952 and Mulder driving a handcuffed Skur down a rural road. Pulling to the side of the road, Mulder gets out and walks around to the passenger side, looking in the window at Skur. Throwing the handcuff keys inside, Mulder walks away from the car and, as we pull back, we see the car continue on down the road with Skur at the wheel as Mulder walks slowly back in the opposite direction.

Mulder asks Dales, "Why would anyone do that? Why let a killer go free?" Dales replies, "In the hope that by letting him live, the truth of the crimes that were committed against him and the others might someday be exposed."