Travelers (The X-Files)

Travelers (The X-Files)

List of Season 5 episodes
List of The X-Files characters

"Travelers" is the fifteenth episode of the fifth season of American science fiction television series The X-Files, and the 111th episode of the series overall. It was written by John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz, directed by William A. Graham and aired in the United States on March 29, 1998 on the Fox network. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.9, being watched by 15.06 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed reviews from television critics.

The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this flashback episode, a young Fox Mulder visits retired FBI Agent Arthur Dales (Darren McGavin), who tells him about one of the first X-Files, a case that Mulder's father, Bill, was involved in.

"Travelers" was written as a tribute to Howard Dimsdale, a screenwriter who was victimized by Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s and explored the idea that "the witch-hunt was actually a smoke screen to conceal something else". Noted actor Darren McGavin appears as Arthur Dales. McGavin was requested for the part especially by Chris Carter and had been approached to play various characters on the series before. In order to create a "convincing period movie", various special effects were used, including a special facial appliance that allowed the "alien spider" to crawl out of Skur's mouth and into his victim, and a bleaching job for the final film to give it an aged feel.