The X-Files - 5.

German title: Gute Patrioten
translation: Good Patriots

Japanese title: Tabibito
translation: Traveler

Spanish title: Viajeros
translation: Travellers

US Airdate: March 29, 1998

writers: John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz

director: William A. Graham

STARRING:

David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder

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 Gilder as old Edward Skur

Dean Barrett as Cohn's Assistant

Roger Haskett as Coroner

David Fredericks as The Director

Cory Dagg as Bartender

IN THE 1950S, TWO FBI AGENTS INVESTIGATE STRANGE DEATHS SOMEHOW LINKED

TO MULDER'S FATHER.

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 immigrant, 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.

Notes

Still working on a full update, thanks for your patience.

Quotes

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Dales: "How long have you been in the bureau? Do you know what an x-file is?"

Mulder: "It's, uh... it's an unsolved case."

Dales: "No. It's a case that's been designated unsolved."

____________________________________________________________

Dales: "Have you ever heard of HUAC, Agent Mulder? The House Un-American Activities Committee? No, no, no, it was before your time. You wouldn't know. They hunted communists in America in the '40s and '50s. They found... practically nothing. Do you think they would have found nothing unless nothing... was what they wanted to find? Hmm?"

Mulder: "Uh... I'm sorry, sir. I-I, uh... I don't, I don't see the connection."

Dales: "Maybe you're not supposed to."

____________________________________________________________

Cohn: "We are fighting a powerful enemy in a war of ideology. In any war there are secrets, truths that must be kept from the public in order to serve the greater good."

Dales: "You want me to amend my report? Take out any reference to Edward Skur? I don't understand..."

Cohn: "You're not supposed to understand. You're supposed to follow orders."

____________________________________________________________

Dales: "What are you talking about? What is this, some kind of communist plot?"

Bill Mulder: "Skur's not a communist. He's a patriot. All of these men are patriots."

Dales: "What are you talking about? What men?"

Bill Mulder: "There were three men, veterans, working at the State Department. Skur, Gissing and

Oberman."

Dales: "Gissing and Oberman. I read those names on a censored report."

Bill Mulder: "They're dead now."

Dales: "Murdered?"

Bill Mulder: "No. Dead by their own hand. They couldn't live with what they'd become ... what they'd been turned into. And Skur's the last."

Dales: "Why did they put out that story about him hanging himself?"

Bill Mulder: "Because they had to do something to cover up what they'd done to him. Label him a communist, say he killed himself and put him up someplace where no one's going to look for him. But his escape threatens everything."

Dales: "Threatens what? What did they do to him? Look ... you asked me here."

Bill Mulder: "And I risked my career and my family by coming here. But the crimes these men have committed against innocent people ... I can't have that on my conscience anymore. Someone needs to know the truth."

Dales: "Who are you?"

Bill Mulder: "My name is Mulder. I work at the State Department."

____________________________________________________________

Cohn: "You wanna test me, see how fast I can pull the chain and flush you? You want to see your name on a list? Are you now, or have you ever been...?"

Dales: "What are you talking about? I'm no communist."

Cohn: "You are, if I say you are. This is a matter of national security. Take this body out of here. Get it out. (to Dales) See? You're a patriot again."

____________________________________________________________

Dales: "What is this?"

Dorothy Bahnsen: "The deposition that names Edward Skur and these other two men as communists."

Dales: "It's all censored."

Dorothy: "By the committee, to protect the identity of the witness."

Dales: "There was no witness. This whole thing's been manufactured. Edward Skur is no communist. Neither are these other two men, Gissing and Oberman. I wanna see their files, Gissing and Oberman."

Dorothy: "I already checked. They're missing but I recognize one of these names. It's in an X-file."

Dales: "An 'X-file'?"

Dorothy: "Yes, unsolved cases. I file them under 'x.' "

Dales: "Why don't you file them under "u" for "unsolved"?"

Dorothy: "That's what I did until I ran out of room. Plenty of room in the "X"s."

Dales: "Who decides when a case gets an "X"?"

Dorothy: "The director's office. It's, uh... it's kind of a dead end. No one's supposed to see them, but it makes for interesting reading. Here it is. A German emigre, Dr. Strohman patriated here after the war. He was found dead in his office last week at the VA."

Dales: "Let me guess. They weren't able to explain how. His body just kind of collapsed, right?"

Dorothy: "Yes."

Dales: "Gissing? His name's in this file, somewhere?"

Dorothy: "Yes. He was a patient. Found dead on the scene. Suicide. I guess he didn't much care for his treatment."

Dales: "They think he killed his doctor and then killed himself? How did Gissing kill this man?"

Dorothy: "That's why it's an X-file. They don't know."

____________________________________________________________

Skur: "Did you come here to kill me or save me?"

Dales: "I'm here to help you, just like I told your wife."

Skur: "My wife is dead. 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? 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."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "I can't believe my father threw in with these men. He let them dictate his conscience."

Dales: "Oh, don't fool yourself. None of us are free to choose. I was ruined for my insubordination. You keep digging through the ... the x-files and they'll bury you, too."