The X-Files - 5.

Italian title: Minaccia territoriale
translation: Territorial Threat

Japanese title: Ukai
translation: Detour

Spanish title: Regreso
translation: Return

US Airdate: November 23, 1997

writer: Frank Spotnitz

director: Brett Dowler

STARRING:

David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder

Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully

Guest Cast:

Tom Scholte as Michael Sloan

Simon Longmore as Marty Fox

Alf Humphreys as Father

Tyler Thompson as Louis Asekoff

Scott Burkholder as Agent Kinsley

J.C. Wendel as Agent Stonecypher

Merrilyn Gann as Mrs. Asekoff

Colleen Flynn as Michele Fazekas

Anthony Rapp as Jeff Glaser

THE AGENTS INVESTIGATE WHEN SEVERAL PEOPLE DISAPPEAR IN A REMOTE REGION

OF FLORIDA.

In a remote section of North Florida, two surveyors, Michael Sloan and Marty Fox, encounter a strange creature with glowing red eyes. Sloan is suddenly yanked downward, disappearing beneath the dense brush. Shortly thereafter, Marty is also attacked. While hunting for possum,

twelve-year-old Louis Asekoff and his father discover Marty's abandoned surveyor's transit. Sensing something isn't quite right, the Father sends Louis home with the dog. As the boy runs home, two shotgun blasts echo through the forrest.

Meanwhile, Mulder and Scully ride with agents Michael Kinsley and Carla Stonecypher on a highway stretching through rural Florida. Their destination: an FBI creative team seminar, in which participants are required to use their imagination to perform constructive problem solving exercises (a gathering which Mulder views as a waste of time). The agents' journey comes to a sudden halt when state troopers set up a roadblock on the highway. His spirits lifted by the unexpected diversion, Mulder suddenly exits the vehicle for some detective work. Search and Rescue leader Michele Fazekas tells Mulder that several people are missing, and that a set of tracks found at the scene could not be identified as man nor animal. His interest piqued, Mulder arranges for he and Scully to lodge at a nearby motel... saving himself the torment of attending the teamwork seminar. That night, something sneaks into the Asekoff residence. A terrified Louis tells authorities he was chased by an invisible creature with glowing red eyes. Though the story is dismissed as the product of a young boy's imagination, Mulder discovers a set of tracks inside the house. Mulder tells Fazekas the creature must be found before it can do more harm. Aided by Jeff Glaser, a "tech head" who possesses an infrared tracking device, Fazekas, Mulder and Scully set out in search of the predator. During the journey, Mulder theorizes that the creature is attacking humans in response to encroaching development.

The infrared device detects two creatures in the dense brush, each moving in opposite directions. The group splits up and a chase ensues. Suddenly, Fazekas is yanked downward, and disappears beneath the undergrowth. Mulder realizes that the creatures deliberately separated the group into two units, allowing for easier access to the leader (Fazekas). As the threesome embark on a rescue mission, Mulder recounts an X-File from the early 1950s in which a town in West Virginia was terrorized by primitive-looking men with piercing red eyes. The creatures were dubbed "moth men" by local residents.

Mulder, Scully and Glaser accidentally stray from the marked trail. Their journey is interrupted when the mysterious creatures make another appearance. Guided by directions from Glaser and the infrared device, Mulder ventures deep into the brush. Suddenly, a creature springs from its hiding place. Mulder opens fire, but the creature disappears from view. Shortly thereafter, Glaser separates from the group and he, too, disappears.

While discussing the encounter with Scully, Mulder is suddenly yanked downward. When he resurfaces, like a jack-in-the-box, Scully opens fire, shooting into the bushes nearby. Mulder goes into shock, and Scully does her best to keep him warm as darkness falls. The following morning, as Scully searches for food, she suddenly drops from view. Mulder rushes to her aid and realizes she fell into a small cave. Inside the chamber, Scully discovers Fazekas and Louis' father, barely breathing and strapped to thick poles. When Scully realizes one of the creatures is nearby, Mulder tosses her his gun. A few moments later, when the second creature approaches, he jumps from his vantage point and lands next to Scully in the cave. One of the creatures rushes the agents. Scully opens fire, striking the predator. The agents move forward for a closer look and realize their attacker is a man who lived like an animal. Kinsley and Stonecypher arrive and call for help. Mulder notices the words "Ad Noctum," or "into darkness," carved into one of the poles. He points out that Spanish conquistadors carved warnings on posts in the same manner... then notes that Ponce De Leon sought the Fountain of Youth in the area 450 years earlier. He concludes that the predators perceived humans as a threat to their territory, and acted accordingly. Stonecypher notes the creatures would pursue anyone who had entered the woods. Fearing the worst, Mulder suddenly rushes to Scully's motel room. He finds his partner safe and sound, and the pair leave the area.

Staring out from beneath Scully's bed, however, is a pair of glowing red eyes.

Notes

"And I told her it would be a nice trip to the forest."

Mulder in Darkness Falls

Different episode, I know, but deja vu all over again. Before I had to go offline, it was this one episode that was slowing me down from updating properly. I really didn't want to devote the hours to it that I normally do, rewatching, taping quotes, going through the plotline scene by arduous scene. Other than the ones I've transcribed below, especially the motel room scene with Scully and her wine, and the Conversation On The Log, nothing else was really that exciting, fun, scary or whatever. At least for me. I will do a full update soon, but for now, here are some good links if you're interested. Thanks for your patience:

<http://www.mindspring.com/~ron/mothtxt.html> "The Mothman Prophecies" by John A. Keel

This one book was mentioned to me over and over again, sounds like a good read. You can even order it from here, if you'd like.

<http://tenthmuse.com/paranormal/erly.html> The Paranormal Project: Mothman

Bit more info to explore.

Finally, if the line, "Try any of that Tailhook crap on me Scully, I'll kick your ass." had you shaking your head, have a look here, <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/navy/tailhook/91.html>

FRONTLINE: Tailhook '91 In Brief to learn more.

Quotes

____________________

Scully and Mulder are in the back seat of a car being driven by Agent Kinsley, with Agent Stonecypher in the passenger seat, on their way to a team seminar ... no, really!

Agent Kinsley: "Last year, I had something of a personal revelation. We were doing an exercise

called "Team Builders", where we were given 2 minutes to build a tower out of

ordinary office furniture."

Agent Stonecypher: "When I stood on Mike's shoulders, and I put that electric pencil sharpener on

top of the pile, we both knew. We could never have done it alone."

Mulder (to Scully): "Kill me now." (she smiles, trying not to laugh)

Agent Kinsley: "Ever been to one of these team seminars, Agent Scully?"

Scully: "Ummm ... I think I went to a "Constructive Problem Solving" course when I first joined the

Bureau."

Agent Stonecypher: "Did you play that game where .. ummm .. you can't use any negative words?"

Agent Kinsley: "I couldn't believe how hard it was not to use the word 'but.'"

Mulder: "I'm having that same problem right now!" (Scully smiles again)

Agent Stonecypher: "Have you ever been to a team seminar, Agent Mulder?"

Mulder: "No, you know, unfortunately around this time of year I always develop a severe

hemorrhoidal condition." (he smiles at Scully, again, she smiles back, boy that Mulder's on

a roll!)

Agent Kinsley: "Well, it builds muscles you didn't even know you had."

Agent Stonecypher (to Scully and Mulder): "Communication. That's the key."

____________________________________________________________

The car is stopped at a road block, Mulder sees an opening and gets out of the car

Mulder: "Thank you, Jesus."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "How do I say this without using any negative words, Scully?"

Scully: "You want me to tell them that you're not gonna make it to this year's teamwork seminar."

Mulder: "Yeah. You see that? We don't need that conference. We have communication, like that,

unspoken, you know what I'm thinking."

____________________________________________________________

Scully knocks on Mulder's motel room door

Mulder: "It's open! (Scully walks in carrying a tray with wine and cheese) Who cut the cheese?"

(bad joke alert!)

Scully: "Since we won't be making it to the conference..." (she closes door)

Mulder: "Par-tay!"

Scully: "However, I must remind you this goes against the Bureau's policy of male and female

agents consorting in the same motel room while on assignment." (she puts down the tray

and opens the wine bottle)

Mulder: "Try any of that Tailhook crap on me Scully, I'll kick your ass. (Scully pours them each

some wine) Pop quiz. What animal will attack the strongest leaving the weakest to

escape? The answer is none. Not one of the over 4,000 species native to North America

will attack the strongest when the weak is vulnerable."

Scully: "And what does that have to do with anything?"

Mulder: "It makes me think that what we're dealing with here is no ordinary predator."

Scully (hands him a glass of wine): "I thought this was just a ploy to get out of the conference."

Mulder: "I think what we've stumbled on here is something more than the local authorities realize.

The scenario described with that boy, sounds to me like a primitive culling technique."

Scully: "Mulder, we're in western Florida. The closest thing to primitive down here is living in a

beach front retirement condo."

Mulder: "Those woods are as old as anything in the south. And there's 800 square miles of 'em.

There's no telling what's alive out there." (he gets up and starts to leave)

Scully: "Where are you going?"

Mulder: "I gotta check something out."

Scully: "You know Mulder, sometimes I think some work on your communication skills wouldn't be

such a bad idea."

Mulder: "I'll be back soon and we can build a tower of furniture. (gives her That Mulder Grin)

Okay?"

____________________________________________________________

in the Asekoff kitchen, the morning after the boy was chased by the mothman

Mulder: "Look at this, we got some tracks here."

Scully: "Where?"

Mulder: "Here and here, dried mud against the tile. Tracked in from the outside."

Scully: "That could have been brought in by the dog."

Mulder: "No, no. Do you see the ball of the foot here? A large foot, and I count 5 toes."

Scully: "Wait a minute, I thought you said it wasn't human?"

Mulder: "Well, I'm not saying it is, the weight distribution is all wrong. People walk heel to toe,

whatever this thing is, it walks on the ball of its foot."

Scully: "You're putting me on?"

Mulder: "No, my Dad and I were Indian Guides, I know these things." (big Mulder grin)

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "Civilization is pushing very hard into these woods. Maybe something in these woods is

pushing back."

____________________________________________________________

Scully: "What do you think killed those men?"

Jeff Glaser: "Nature is populated by creatures either trying to kill something they need to survive or

trying to avoid being killed by something that needs them to survive. If we become

blinded by the beauty of nature, we may fail to see its cruelty and violence."

Scully: "Walt Whitman?"

Jeff Glaser: "No. 'When Animals Attack' on the FOX network."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "Witnesses described them as primitive-looking men with red, piercing eyes. Became

known as the 'mothmen.' I got an X-File dating back to 1952 on it."

Scully: "What would that be filed next to, the Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati?"

Mulder: "No, the Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati is in the 'C's, Mothmen's over in the 'M's."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder's been hurt by one of the Mothmen, they're in the woods, Mulder seated on the ground with his back up against a log, Scully is trying to get a fire started with a couple of flint stones

Scully: "You were an Indian Guide. Help me out here."

Mulder: "Indian Guide says maybe you should run to the store and get some matches."

Scully: "I would, but I left my wallet in the car." (she walks over to the log, sits down beside him

and picks up her gun)

Mulder: "What are you doing?"

Scully: "Trying to open my gun. If I can separate the shell from the casing maybe I can get the

powder to ignite."

Mulder: "Oh, and maybe it will start raining weanies and marshmallows."

Scully: "Do I detect a hint of negativity?"

Mulder: "No! Yes. Actually, yeah."

Scully: "Mulder, you need to keep warm, your body's still in shock."

Mulder: "I was told once that the best way to regenerate body heat is to crawl naked into a sleeping

bag with somebody else who was already naked."

Scully: "Maybe if it rains sleeping bags you'll get lucky. (there's a pregant pause) You ever thought

seriously about dying?"

Mulder: "Yeah, once, when I was at the Ice Capades."

Scully: "When I was fighting my cancer, I was angry at the injustice of it. It's meaninglessness.

And then I realized that that was a struggle. To give it meaning. To make sense of it.

It's like life."

Mulder: "Nothing in nature is supremely indifferent to whether we live or die. I mean, if you're lucky

you get 75 years. If you're really lucky you get 80 years. And if you're extraordinarily lucky,

you get to have 50 of those years with a decent head of hair." (a slight Scully laugh)

Scully: "I guess it's like Las Vegas, the house always wins. (she opens up the bullet) Oh! Ta-da."

Mulder: "Go girl. (Scully goes over to the fire pit and pours the powder on the sticks) Hey, who did

you identify with when you were a kid? Wilma or Betty?"

Scully: "I identified with Betty's bust-line."

Mulder: "Yes! I did too." (she's banging the rocks together again)

Scully: "Never'd been married to Barney though. The kids were cute."

Mulder: "Yeah, but where are they today?" (Scully finally lights the powder, but it only sparks for a

couple of seconds, then she turns to Mulder)

Scully: "Moth men? Really?"

Mulder: "Yeah, but there seems to be only 2 of them. (Scully walks back to the log, puts her arm

around Mulder and pulls him gently towards her, so as not to hurt his arm, he winces, but

it doesn't kill that Mulder Charm as he says ... ) I don't want to wrestle."

Scully: "Come over here. I'm gonna try and keep you warm."

Mulder: "Ow."

Scully: "Sorry."

Mulder: "One of us has got to stay awake, Scully."

Scully: "You sleep, Mulder."

Mulder: "If you get tired, you wake me."

Scully: "I'm not gonna get tired."

Mulder: "Why don't you sing? Something."

Scully: "No, Mulder."

Mulder: "Well if you sing something, I'll know you're awake."

Scully: "Mulder, you don't want me to sing. I can't carry a tune."

Mulder: "Doesn't matter. Just sing anything."

Scully (after a long pause, she sings..): "Jeremiah was a bullfrog, was a good friend of mine, never

understood a single word he said, but I helped him drink his wine."

Mulder: "Chorus..."

Scully: "Joy to the world, all the boys and girls, joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you

and me..."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "Ponce de Leon came here 450 years ago looking for the fountain of youth."

Agent Kinsley: "You mean you think that these ... that .. that .. that ... that body, the one that

Agent Scully shot ...? No."

Mulder: "After 400 years in the woods don't you think they might have adapted perfectly to their

environment?"

Agent Kinsley: "You're just making this up."

Mulder: "Why do you say that?"