The X-Files

All right, let's shoot this, Marty.

Hold it still.

Hold it still, Sloan.

I'd like to see you hold it still.

The sooner they pave over this swamp, the better.

It's not a swamp.

You're standing in a forest with indigenous plant and animal species...

You're obviously too ignorant to appreciate.

Mark it. Give me another position.

Let's shoot this one carefully. This is where they're gonna put the blockbuster.

You're a real moron, Sloan. You know that?

Tree hugger.

You should be sad to see the demise of an ecosystem that's lasted a thousand years.

We all should be.

Give me four feet to your left.

I can't. What do you mean, you can't?

I mean I can't because it's stuck. Then unstick it.

This is weird.

Sloan? Sloan?

X-Files Season 5 Episode 04 - Detour

Louis, let Bo do the work.

How's he gonna find a possum? Shh.

Animals sense things that we can't. That's how they survive.

Is that how Bo knows how to hunt?

Yep. Our ancestors were hunters too, but most of us have lost those instincts.

That's why we need a little help.

Dad, what's that?

Surveyor's equipment.

Someone left his stuff out here.

Stay close, Louis.

What is it, dad?

Dad? Bo. Come here, Bo.

What-- Quiet!

Listen to me. I want you to take Bo and run straight home.

What's the matter? I want you to run straight home,

And I don't want you to stop for anything.

- Louis, you understand? - I just--

All right, go.

Come on, Bo, come on!

Bo, no, no! Come on, Bo, come on!

Come on! Come on!

last year was something of a personal revelation.

We were doing an exercise called "team builders,"

Where we were given two minutes to build a tower...

Out of ordinary office furniture.

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.

Kill me now.

You ever been to one of these team seminars, agent Scully?

Um, I think I went to a constructive problem-Solving course...

When I first joined the bureau.

Did you play that game where you can't use any negative words?

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

I'm having that same problem right now!

Have you ever been to a team seminar, agent Mulder?

No. Unfortunately around this time of year...

I always develop a severe hemorrhoidal condition.

Well, it builds muscles you didn't even know you had.

Communication. That's the key.

Sorry, folks. It'll be a few minutes.

- What's going on, officer? - Got a little situation, is all.

Thank you, Jesus.

Where's he going?

Oh, excuse me! Are you from search and rescue?

No, I'm sorry. I'm just stretching my legs.

They said they'd have word what happened to my husband.

I need somebody to tell me what's going on.

Just slow down. I don't know what you're talking about.

My husband, Michael, he was teaching our son to shoot.

He said the dog got spooked, and then he heard gunshots.

Now they've found a jacket with blood on it, but they won't tell me about my husband.

I'll try to find out who's in charge, all right?

Thank you.

Now where's he going?

Hey, stonecypher, take a look at this.

This tree was here 20 years before Ponce De Leon landed.

We're gonna be late for the wine and cheese reception.

officer Fazekas? Yes?

- Can I help you? - My name is Fox Mulder.

I'm an agent with the F.B.I.

F.B.I.? Who called you guys out?

Nobody. We got stopped at your roadblock. Sounds like you have a shooting.

Shots were reported, but we have no evidence of anyone being shot.

What do you have evidence of?

A survey team working these woods didn't report in last night.

We found one man's bloody jacket, pretty torn up.

And this morning, a boy got separated from his father.

Separated by what? It looks maybe...

Like some kind of animal attack.

What kind of animal? I'm not sure yet.

I followed good tracks for the two surveyors,

But the trails became confused as they moved into the brush.

There was a third set of tracks leading away... I couldn't identify.

Couldn't identify as the surveyors'?

As man or animal.

- Mulder? - Just, uh--

H-Hold on a second. What about the boy's father?

I tracked him all the way down to where he fired the shot.

The ground's rocky, but from the depressions in the underlying soil,

I can tell you that he entered the bushes from over there...

Where I pick up another set of tracks,

Two distinctly different set of tracks that from the way...

The ground's upset, is probably where the man was attacked.

But no other sign of him?

You have panther in these woods? There's panther, bear.

But these tracks look like neither of those. No, sir.

You know of a good motel in the area?

Excuse me. I think we can handle this very well on our own. Thanks.

Mulder? We've got this conference.

They're waiting. Yeah.

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

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

See? We don't need that conference.

We have communication like that unspoken. You know what I'm thinking.

Look! He's all eaten away.

How do you like that, eh?

He's not coming back, is he?

Now, why would you say that?

Dad's a good shot.

If he hit what he was aiming at, he'd be home by now.

You gotta be brave, Louis.

We both gotta be brave.

We'll find out more about it in the morning.

Get some sleep now.

It's open.

Who cut the cheese?

Since you won't be making it to the conference.

Mmm! Par-Tay!

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.

Try any of that "tailhook" crap on me, Scully, I'll kick your ass.

It's a 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.

And what does that have to do with anything?

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

I thought this was a ploy to get out of the conference.

I think what we've stumbled upon here is something more than local authorities realize.

The scenario described by that boy sounds to me like a primitive culling technique.

We're in Western Florida. The closest thing to primitive down here...

Is living in a beachfront retirement condo.

Those woods are as old as anything in the south.

There's 800 square miles of it. There's no telling what's alive out there.

Where are you going?

I've gotta check something out.

Sometimes I think some work on your communication skills wouldn't be such a bad idea.

I'll be back soon, and we can build a tower of furniture.

Okay?

What is it, Bo?

Mom? It's all right, Louis. You go back to sleep now.

Bo?

Bo?

Bo, where'd you get to?

Bo, is that you?

- -

Come home, boy. Let's go back in.

- - All right, all right.

Stay there the night.

Louis?

Louis?

Louis!

Louis! Louis!

Louis! Louis!

Mom!

what is it, Louis?

It's in the house.

How's it going? He's still freaked out.

I might have some insight into this invisible creature he said was chasing him.

The invisible man was invisible. Right.

He said he was chased by a creature with glowing red eyes.

Let me show you something.

Mrs. Asekoff said she went outside with the dog.

When she came back, the door was locked from the inside.

And? Look at this.

We got some tracks here. Where?

Here and here. Dried mud against the tile,

Tracked in from the outside.

It could've been brought in by the dog. No, no.

You see the ball of the foot here? A large foot.

- And I count five toes. - Wait, I thought you said it wasn't human.

I'm not saying it is. The weight distribution is all wrong.

People walk heel to toe. Whatever this thing is, walks on the ball of its foot.

You're putting me on.

No. My dad and I were Indian guides. I know these things.

So if it's not man and it's not animal, what the hell is it?

Guess I'm a little late to this dance.

I found some tracks... right here.

Same as I saw before.

Where was that? In the woods.

Weight distribution's strange. They appear to be human,

But whoever left these uses the balls of his feet more like an animal.