As far as Mulder’s history at the FBI is concerned, in 1990 he was working in the Behavioral Sciences Unit. Three years later, he would be paired with Agent Scully on the X-Files, but for the fifteenth episode of season five, he was still on the Behavioral Sciences Unit in 1990.
When Edward Skur is shot by police in Wisconsin and utters the name Mulder as their last word, Agent Mulder believes they were actually referencing his father, Bill Mulder. Upon investigating, he finds that Skur was reported to have died in 1952. After seeking out Author Dales who investigated Skur in the 1950s, Mulder has to threaten a subpoena at the retired agent in order to get the man to talk.
Back in 1952, Author Dales arrests Edward Skur under suspicion of being a communist. After Skur hangs himself in jail, Dales goes to tell Skur’s wife but ends up seeing Skur alive and well. Dales then sees an appendage coming out of Skur’s mouth but before anything can happen, a neighbor interrupts and Skur escapes. Dales’ collegues convince him to alter his FBI report and he feels guilty about it.
Later, Dales meets Bill Mulder after getting a letter telling him to meet him at a bar and to come alone. Turns out, according to Bill, Skur and two others were experimented on by the government. Skur is on a revenge mission to kill the German doctor who experimented on him and that Skur will kill Dales and his partner too because he believes he is part of the plot. Dales is unable to prevent the murder of his partner.
Dales finds that the body of one of the other experiments is at a morgue and upon seeing the body, they find a strange creature sewn into the victims chest. Dales tries to warn Skur’s wife what has been done to him, but when she confronts her husband, the creature inside of him kills her. After getting hauled in front of J. Edgar Hoover, Dales finds Skur with the help of Bill Mulder.
Back in 1990, Mulder is unhappy that his father was involved. Dales explains that he believes that Skur was released in 1952 because someone was actually hoping that someone would eventually find out what happened to him. The episode ends with Bill Mulder giving Skur the keys to his car and walking away, letting the man disappear for 45 years.
While this isn’t one of my favorite episodes, it does give us a little history on how involved Bill Mulder was in government cover ups and conspiracies in his younger days. It doesn’t help explain how he became part of the alien colonization plans, but does give us an indication that he knew things he shouldn’t have and was able to keep secrets.
Fun Fact: David Duchovny wore his wedding ring in this episode (he was married to Tea Leoni at the time). Carter thought this would create continuity problems for the show, but I never even noticed that he was wearing it in this episode until I read about it.
Garret Dillahunt starred as Edward Skur in this episode. Dillahunt has a special place in my heart for playing John Dorie in Fear the Walking Dead. Dorie’s character is my favorite on that series and it wasn’t until I rewatched The X-Files after FTWD ended that I realized Dillahunt was in this episode. That makes me like this episode a bit more, but not by much. Garret Dillahunt also starred in Raising Hope, Justified, Deadwood, Millennium, and Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. In film he starred in Zach Snyder’s Army of the Dead, No Country For Old Men, The Road, and Winter’s Bone. Needless to say, he’s been in a lot of awesome projects. Check them out if you haven’t.
Skur’s wife was played by Eileen Pedde who has had a memorable career in Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, Tru Calling, Dark Angel, and four episodes of Millenium.
The elder Author Dales was brought to life by Darren McGavin who was Ralphie’s father in A Christmas Story as well as Adam Sandler’s father in Billy Madison. Young Author Dales was played by Fredric Lehne who is recognizable from the show Dallas, Sliders, Con Air, Men In Black, Firefly, Medium, and various television projects over a decades long career. Actor Dean Aylesworth played young Bill Mulder in three episodes in seasons four and five of The X-Files. This shows Chris Carter’s willingness to go into the past to tell his stories while also keeping the continuity correct – even if Duchovny thought wearing a wedding ring in this episode was okay.
While I don’t love this episode, I do love the monster effects with the spider crawling out of a dead body. It was pretty impressive and I’m sure it led to my love of creature features when I entered my twenties. That alone gets me excited to see this film. It was a few years later when Eight Legged Freaks was released and I always think of this when I watch it. I also like how many familiar guest starring actors are in it. If you frequent any of the sci-fi shows in the 1990s and 2000s, these actors each appear in at least one of them. Good stuff.
Until next week, the truth is out there.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
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Becky Tyler Art and Photography 
As far as Mulder’s history at the FBI is concerned, in 1990 he was working in the Behavioral Sciences Unit. Three years later, he would be paired with Agent Scully on the X-Files, but for the fifteenth episode of season five, he was still on the Behavioral Sciences Unit in 1990.
When Edward Skur is shot by police in Wisconsin and utters the name Mulder as their last word, Agent Mulder believes they were actually referencing his father, Bill Mulder. Upon investigating, he finds that Skur was reported to have died in 1952. After seeking out Author Dales who investigated Skur in the 1950s, Mulder has to threaten a subpoena at the retired agent in order to get the man to talk.
Back in 1952, Author Dales arrests Edward Skur under suspicion of being a communist. After Skur hangs himself in jail, Dales goes to tell Skur’s wife but ends up seeing Skur alive and well. Dales then sees an appendage coming out of Skur’s mouth but before anything can happen, a neighbor interrupts and Skur escapes. Dales’ collegues convince him to alter his FBI report and he feels guilty about it.
Later, Dales meets Bill Mulder after getting a letter telling him to meet him at a bar and to come alone. Turns out, according to Bill, Skur and two others were experimented on by the government. Skur is on a revenge mission to kill the German doctor who experimented on him and that Skur will kill Dales and his partner too because he believes he is part of the plot. Dales is unable to prevent the murder of his partner.
Dales finds that the body of one of the other experiments is at a morgue and upon seeing the body, they find a strange creature sewn into the victims chest. Dales tries to warn Skur’s wife what has been done to him, but when she confronts her husband, the creature inside of him kills her. After getting hauled in front of J. Edgar Hoover, Dales finds Skur with the help of Bill Mulder.
Back in 1990, Mulder is unhappy that his father was involved. Dales explains that he believes that Skur was released in 1952 because someone was actually hoping that someone would eventually find out what happened to him. The episode ends with Bill Mulder giving Skur the keys to his car and walking away, letting the man disappear for 45 years.
While this isn’t one of my favorite episodes, it does give us a little history on how involved Bill Mulder was in government cover ups and conspiracies in his younger days. It doesn’t help explain how he became part of the alien colonization plans, but does give us an indication that he knew things he shouldn’t have and was able to keep secrets.
Fun Fact: David Duchovny wore his wedding ring in this episode (he was married to Tea Leoni at the time). Carter thought this would create continuity problems for the show, but I never even noticed that he was wearing it in this episode until I read about it.
Garret Dillahunt starred as Edward Skur in this episode. Dillahunt has a special place in my heart for playing John Dorie in Fear the Walking Dead. Dorie’s character is my favorite on that series and it wasn’t until I rewatched The X-Files after FTWD ended that I realized Dillahunt was in this episode. That makes me like this episode a bit more, but not by much. Garret Dillahunt also starred in Raising Hope, Justified, Deadwood, Millennium, and Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. In film he starred in Zach Snyder’s Army of the Dead, No Country For Old Men, The Road, and Winter’s Bone. Needless to say, he’s been in a lot of awesome projects. Check them out if you haven’t.
Skur’s wife was played by Eileen Pedde who has had a memorable career in Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, Tru Calling, Dark Angel, and four episodes of Millenium.
The elder Author Dales was brought to life by Darren McGavin who was Ralphie’s father in A Christmas Story as well as Adam Sandler’s father in Billy Madison. Young Author Dales was played by Fredric Lehne who is recognizable from the show Dallas, Sliders, Con Air, Men In Black, Firefly, Medium, and various television projects over a decades long career. Actor Dean Aylesworth played young Bill Mulder in three episodes in seasons four and five of The X-Files. This shows Chris Carter’s willingness to go into the past to tell his stories while also keeping the continuity correct – even if Duchovny thought wearing a wedding ring in this episode was okay.
While I don’t love this episode, I do love the monster effects with the spider crawling out of a dead body. It was pretty impressive and I’m sure it led to my love of creature features when I entered my twenties. That alone gets me excited to see this film. It was a few years later when Eight Legged Freaks was released and I always think of this when I watch it. I also like how many familiar guest starring actors are in it. If you frequent any of the sci-fi shows in the 1990s and 2000s, these actors each appear in at least one of them. Good stuff.
Until next week, the truth is out there.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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