"The X Files" Detour (1997)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Brett Dowler

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
Frank Spotnitz (written by)

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

23 November 1997 (Season 5, Episode 4)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Mulder and Scully travel to an FBI team seminar in Florida with two other agents. On their way to the seminar...

Plot Keywords:

FBI | FBI Agent | Alien | X Files | Conspiracy

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Colleen Flynn	...	Michele Fazekas
J.C. Wendel	...	Agent Stonecypher
Scott Burkholder	...	Agent Kinsley
Merrilyn Gann	...	Mrs. Asekoff
Anthony Rapp	...	Jeff Glaser
Alf Humphreys	...	Michael Asekoff (as Alfred E. Humphreys)
Tom Scholte	...	Michael Sloan
Tyler Thompson	...	Louis Asekoff
Simon Longmore	...	Marty Fox

Runtime:

Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Argentina:13

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Latin phrase "Ad Noctum" that Mulder finds carved into a post is grammatically incorrect. The correct Latin should be "Ad Noctem."

Quotes:

Scully: Mulder, you don't want me to sing. I can't carry a tune.
Mulder: Doesn't matter, just sing anything.
Scully: Jeremiah was a bullfrog... Was a good friend of mine... Never understood a single word he said... But I helped him drink his wine...
Mulder: Chorus...
Scully: Joy to the world... All the boys and girls... Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea... Joy to you and me...

Movie Connections:

Features The Invisible Man (1933)

Soundtrack:

Joy the World

Jeremiah was a bullfrog...

Detour continues with the strong start that season five has. Mulder & Scully hit the deep woods again, searching for "invisible" creatures. Frank Spotnitz wrote this stand-alone episode by himself. He usually sticks to mythology episodes or writes stand-alones in a threesome. He borrows the concept of the story from the movie "Predator", but the story is still exciting and engaging. Frank Spotnitz is excellent with dialogue, and Mulder and Scully deliver some classic lines. He really has the Mulder/Scully chemistry down pat. In this episode, the boy is watching "The Invisible Man". You can always bet that any TV show or movie being watched in the x-files is related to the theme of the show somehow. They're not just random shows. The special effects of the chameleon-like moth men is very good. The only flaw in the episode hearkens back to the teaser when the two surveyors each see the moth men in the ground. It's a nice special effect of their faces in the ground, but if they are evolved humans like Mulder says, then they wouldn't be part of the ground, like it shows, but just blend in with it. And, the moth man just laid there, allowing the surveyor to stick a stake in him? If the teaser had been consistent with the rest of the episode, I would give Detour full marks. But, as it is, Detour still is an excellent episode, with wonderful Mulder/Scully moments.