In the year 1990, a sheriff escorts a landlord into a boarded-up, dilapidated house for the
purpose of evicting the tenant, Edward Skur. Once inside, the pair smell a terrible odor, then
discover a human body, collapsed, as if all of the internal organs have been removed. A
figure springs from the shadows and the sheriff opens fire. The attacker, an elderly man,
falls to the ground, mortally wounded. His last words are, “Mulder… Mulder.”
FBI Agent Mulder, still a year away from working on the X-Files, pays a visit to a man
named Arthur Dales. Mulder questions Dales, a former special agent with the Bureau, about
his work on an unsolved case from 1952… one focusing on Edward Skur (the attacker from
the opening teaser). According to the censored report, Skur disappeared 38 years earlier
before he could be arrested for a series of killings in which the victims’ internal organs were
removed. When Mulder utters his own last name, a flash of recognition passes on Dales’
face. Dales makes cryptic reference to HUAC, and the communist witch hunts of the 1950s,
prompting Mulder to review newsreel footage of the McCarthy hearings. While watching the
tape, Mulder notices his own father sitting amidst McCarthy’s group. When Mulder returns to
Dales’ apartment, Dales elaborates on Skur, who, years earlier, was labeled a communist.
The story flashes back to 1952. A young Ed Skur is arrested by FBI agents Dales and
Michel, and charged with contempt of Congress for failing to appear before the committee.
That night, Dales relaxes at a bar called the Hoot Owl. He receives a phone call from his
partner, informing him that Skur hanged himself inside his jail cell. Dales travels back to the
Skur residence to inform the family of the death. But before he exits his car, he sees Skur
walking down the street. An incredulous Dales gives chase. A struggle ensues, during
which black tendrils creep out of Skur’s mouth. The fight attracts attention, and Skur runs off.
Dales files a report about the farfetched incident. Shortly thereafter, he is summoned to
the office of Special Assistant Roy Cohn. Cohn tells Dales to amend the report by removing
any reference to Skur. Dales does as he is told. A short time later, he and Michel are
dispatched to a homicide. They discover the body of a dead German doctor, his body
flattened. Dales notices a coaster from the Hoot Owl, on the back of which is a message:
“come alone.” That night at the bar, Dales is approached by a young Bill Mulder. He explains
that it was he who summoned the agents to the doctor’s home. He confirms that Skur is the
perpetrator. He also explains that Skur is not a communist, but a patriot. Skur, along with
two other men, Gissing and Oberman, worked for the State Department. Gissing and
Oberman both took their own lives. Skur was arrested, and his death faked, so that the
government could cover-up what it had done to him. Bill Mulder wants the truth to be known,
explaining that Skur was a colleague. But he warns that Skur believes that Dales and Michel
are part of the conspiracy against him. Shortly thereafter, Skur attacks Michel. A spider-like
creature crawls from Skur’s mouth and enters Michel.
Cohn orders that Michel’s body be transported to Bethesda instead of allowing a county
coroner to perform the autopsy. Dales protests„until Cohn threatens to label him a
communist. When Dales returns to the Bureau, he notices a heavily-censored document on
the desk of Dorothy Bahnsen, a clerk. Dorothy explains that the document is a deposition
that branded Skur and his co-workers communists. She then states that she recognized one
of the men named in the document from an X-File. She explains that an X-File pertains to
unsolved cases„and that only the director’s office decides which file is designated with the
“X.” She pulls out the file on the man whose named she recognized. It belongs to a German
*migr*, Dr. Strohman. Dales recognizes Strohman as the man found inside the house. Dales
tracks down Gissing’s body and supervises an autopsy. Inside the corpse is a cocoon
containing a spider-like creature, which Dales kills. Later, Dales informs Mrs. Skur that her
husband, along with two co-workers, was tricked by the government. He elaborates,
explaining that all three men underwent surgery for treatment of war injuries, but, in reality,
received an operation called xenotransplantation„the grafting of a species into the human
body. That night, Bill Mulder and Cohn’s assistant escort Dales to the bar where he is
scheduled to meet Skur. Dales is equipped with a hidden microphone and told that Skur will
be arrested the moment his guard is lowered. Later, Skur enters the empty bar. He tells
Dales the other men will not be coming, explaining that they assumed he (Skur) would kill
him.
Dales sees the logic of Skur’s words. A struggle ensues, during which Dales is able to
handcuff Skur to the bar. Back in 1990, Dales finishes telling his story to Mulder. But the
puzzle still remains: why did Skur die saying the name of Mulder’s father? The story then
flashes back to 1952… when a young Bill Mulder stopped on a road and gave Skur the keys
to his handcuffs.
THE X-FILES “TRAVELERS #5X15
Original Air Date: 03/29/98
CAST:
DAVID DUCHOVNY as Special Agent Fox Mulder
GILLIAN ANDERSON as Special Agent Dana Scully
GUEST CAST:
DARREN MCGAVIN as Agent Arthur Dales
MITCHELL KOSTERMAN as Sheriff
J. DOUGLAS STEWART as Landlord
GARRET DILLAHUNT as Edward Skur
BRIAN LECKNER as Hayes Michel
FREDRIC LANE as Young Arthur Dales
EILEEN PEDDE as Mrs. Skur
DAVID MORELAND as Roy Cohn
JANE PERRY as Dorothy Bahnsen
DEAN AYLESWORTH as Young Bill Mulder
ERIC W. GILDER as Old Edward Skur
DEAN BARRETT as Cohn’s Assistant
ROGER HASKETT as Coroner
DAVID FREDERICKS as The Director
CORY DAGG as Bartender
WRITTEN BY:
JOHN SHIBAN
FRANK SPOTNITZ
DIRECTED BY:
BILL GRAHAM
