Line #6 Recap/TheXFilesS05E04Detour


1	[[WMG:[[center:[-'''RECAP:'''\
2	[[Recap/TheXFiles Index]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E01Redux 1]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E02ReduxII 2]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E03UnusualSuspects 3]] \| '''4''' \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E05ThePostModernPrometheus 5]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E06ChristmasCarol 6]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E07Emily 7]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E08Kitsunegari 8]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E09Schizogeny 9]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E10Chinga 10]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E11KillSwitch 11]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E12BadBlood 12]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E13PatientX 13]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E14TheRedAndTheBlack 14]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E15Travelers 15]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E16MindsEye 16]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E17AllSouls 17]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E18ThePineBluffVariant 18]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E19FolieADeux 19]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS05E20TheEnd 20]]]]-]]]
3	'''Season 5, Episode 04:'''
4	!Detour
5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thexfilesdetour.png]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:''"Those woods are as old as anything in the south and there’s 800 square miles of them. There’s no telling what's alive out there."'']]
7	->Written by Frank Spotnitz\
8	Directed by Brett Dowler
9
10	->''"What we’ve got here is a predator with low visibility and a high degree of motivation. And it’s got one advantage we don’t have – the entire Apilachacola National Forest."''
11	-->-- '''Fox Mulder'''
12
13	On their way to a team building seminar, Mulder and Scully are sidetracked by an investigation into a mysterious death in the woods.
14	----
15	!!Tropes:
16	* AtopAMountainOfCorpses: Played with. Mulder and Scully fell into a pit full of dead and injured people that were dragged there by the monsters of the week. They tried to stack them so that they could get out of the pit.
17	* ChekhovsGag: Building a tower out of something unusual. First it's mentioned as a team building exercise by the other FBI agents who are accompanying Mulder and Scully, then Mulder jokes about it with Scully, then they are in the hole in the woods building a tower out of human bodies.
18	* TheDarknessGazesBack: At the end, the surviving monster's eyes are visible glowing out from [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight beneath the motel bed]].
19	* DontGoIntoTheWoods: Par for the course with this show; the monsters lurk in the forest, and people go among the trees at their own risk. In this case, even if you get out of the woods, you're not safe.
20	* IntimateHealing: Discussed but, unfortunately for Mulder, not happening.
21	-->'''Scully:''' Mulder, you need to keep warm. Your body’s still in shock.
22	-->'''Mulder:''' I was told once that the best way to regenerate body heat was to crawl naked into a sleeping bag with [[CovertPervert somebody else who’s already naked]].
23	-->'''Scully:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Well, maybe if it rains sleeping bags, you’ll get lucky]].
24	* LapPillow: Scully moves Mulder to her lap for warmth and sleeping, while she keeps watch.
25	* MacGyvering: Scully opens a bullet with her bare hands and tries to use the gunpowder to start a fire. Subverted in that it fizzes out before it can actually set anything on fire.
26	* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Mulder and Scully go into the woods with Michele Fazekas and Jeff Glaser. Michele and, later, Jeff get taken by the creatures. Michele is found alive; Jeff is not.
27	* MonsterOfTheWeek: One of the weirder examples in the series. The monsters are apparently Spanish conquistadors from [[UsefulNotes/JuanPonceDeLeon Ponce de Leon]]'s expedition to find the fountain of youth, having evolved natural camouflage over the course of 400 years.
28	* RedEyesTakeWarning: The creatures' eyes shine red in the dark.
29	* ShoutOut: ''When Animals Attack'' and ''Literature/MobyDick''. Probably also ''Film/{{Predator}}'' given the jungle-like setting, invisible creatures, and use of infra-red technology.
30	* SuperPersistentPredator: The "invisible" creatures are extremely smart, whittling down Mulder and Scully's firearms advantage, splitting them up from their team and each other, and even following victims back to their homes or hotels.
31	* TrailOfBreadCrumbs: Michelle marks their trail with white stones. The creatures steal them almost as soon as they're put down.
32	* WasOnceAMan: The creatures were once Ponce de Leon's men before they eventually turned into immortal plantlike humanoids.
33	----

Context Recap / TheXFilesS05E04Detour