X-Files Episode Guide: Travelers

Written by John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz

Directed by William A. Graham

Understandably, this episode never had the best reputation. It was written, much like the Unusual Suspects was earlier this season, as a stopgap when neither Anderson nor Duchovny were available for much filming. An episode with no Scully and precious little Mulder was never going to be at the top of any fans list. However, considering what we've learned in previous seasons about the conspiracy and what Mulder suspected about our government's role in it as recently as the last episode, Travelers could not be better placed. And the story that it relates is far more compelling, and relatable then so many other of the mytharc stories.

Considering the general liberality of the FBI's politics when X-Files aired, it is fascinating to remember the period when the Bureau's policies were far more dictatorial. Arthur Dales is no hot-shot profiler who questions authority; rather he's just a workaday agent following orders when it comes to arresting Communists.  It's fascinating to see the series, which has been questioning the very government the FBI works in service for the last five seasons, finally tear into the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and give the idea that it, like almost everything else in the series mainstream, was another front. Throughout Season 3 and 4, we considered that the alien mytharc might be the front for something far more banal; now we get to see that one of the most frightening periods in  American history was actually a front for something far more supernatural. And it may actually give a reason for why Bill Mulder may have been far more willing to go along with the Consortium than everything else.  Fox was involved with the Bureau when its governing principles were far more enlightened; poor Bill was up against a monster far more frightening.

It is almost laughable to consider the idea that any episodes of this series might be considered historically accurate, but the fact of the matter is the portrayals of Roy Cohn and J. Edgar Hoover are a lot closer to reality than the series usually gets. Even if you question the mythology that we learned about last season in Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man, one can certainly see Hoover going along with this sort of thing if it had to do with his paranoia when it came to the Communist Party. And considering the generally smarminess of Cohn's personality in general, one can certainly see him going along with anything as long as it led to him having power.

Dales is one of the most fascinating characters the series has ever introduced. An ordinary man who believes in the integrity of what he's doing, he finds himself, much like Mulder would be nearly forty years later, a man determined to get to the truth. There's no great trauma motivating before the episode begins, but his determination to pull forward is one of the more endearing qualities. There's none of the cynicism that we find attached to much of the characters associated with the series. And after years of hearing reasons as to why the X-Files were creating, one of the show's best jokes is that it's done for the pure reasons of a bureaucratic matter. (And let's face it, 'The U-Files' just wouldn't have had the same ring to it.)

About the only thing that doesn't real gel as smoothly as everything else connecting with this episode is the actual presence of the alien creature that has been grafted into Edward Skur's body. The episode is such as good one when it comes to dealing with the creatures when it comes to metaphor--- the idea of being a Communist or resistance is something of an alien enough, that actually having a monster appear seems to be a little over the top. It's not that the effect isn't a good one, cause let's face it, this show has been a little short on gore the last couple of episodes, but the metaphor gets a little crowded when we actually have to have a literal monster of the week. It almost interferes with everything we've seen.

Otherwise, this episode is one of the better ones of the fifth season. By now, the late Darren McGavin's connection with the X-Files has been repeated so often, there's almost no need to mention it again, but the fact remains, since he's the literal father of the X-Files, it's fitting that this was the role he finally appeared in. But the other performances are all nearly as good. Frederic Lane is superb as Dales the younger, and considering the importance of his role, he'd have to be. And it's also fascinating to see the young Garret Dillahunt, still a few years away from his moments of brilliance on Deadwood, playing a role far more sympathetic than either of those.

It's not a perfect episode, and the fact that we see Mulder smoking and wearing a wedding band, elements that Duchovny threw in but never bothered to explain, is obviously a little odd. But Travelers is a superb episode, and actually grows on you the more you see it.

My score: 4.25 stars.