Guest Starring Mitch Pileggi as A.D. Skinner, Tom Braidwood as Frohike, Bruce Harwood as Byers, Dean Haglund as Langly, David Denman as Wallace Schiff, Robyn Lively as Angela Schiff and Jim Beaver as The Coroner.


Wallace and Angela Schiff return from a hike on Brown Mountain. Angela lets Wallace know that she doesn't care much for hiking. After a scary moment in the shower, where Angela sees some green goop, they go to bed. They face each other and hug. And that's just how their skeletal remains are found in a swampy field on Brown Mountain, North Carolina.

At FBI HQ, Mulder shows Scully a slide of the hiker's skeletal remains. The couple was only missing three days when the bones were found. They conclude that the bones could not have been stripped of all the flesh under normal circumstances. Scully believes that they were the victims of a ritualistic murder. Mulder believes that they were victims of aliens, because Brown Mountain has been known for it's strange lights in the sky for over 700 years. Scully says: "Extraterrestrial visitors from beyond who apparently have nothing better to do than buzz one mountain over and over again for 700 years." Mulder replies: "Sounds like crap when you say it." She asks why he can't, for once, come up with a logical explanation that doesn't have something to do with UFOs or Big Foot? He asks: "Scully, in six years, how... how often have I been wrong?" He says that he's been right 98.9 percent of the time. "I just think I've... earned the benefit of the doubt here." Scully looks at him like he's exaggerating just a bit.

They go to the Boone County Morgue in Asheville, NC to take a look at the bones. Scully asks the coroner if he's sure that they are the right two bodies and not two others that have been lain out for six months? He says that they triple checked the dental records. There is no doubt about it. He shows them pictures of Wallace and Angela. Mulder asks for directions to the place they were found while Scully takes another look at the bones. She finds some greenish yellow goop on one of the bodies. Mulder heads out to Brown Mountain while Scully remains behind to check out the goop.

Mulder's trip begins when he drives to the area where the bodies were found. His car runs over some mushrooms which release a poof of spores. He finds some green goop in a muddy area, then he sees Wallace Schiff. When he calls out his name, Wallace takes off. Like Alice chasing after the rabbit, Mulder follows Wallace into a small hole that leads to a cave. Meanwhile, the coroner brings Scully the analysis on the goop. It's a digestive secretion. Even more puzzling, it contains a digestive substance from a plant. Back on the mountain (This is a small mountain.) Mulder crawls into the cave. Meanwhile, the coroner shows Scully an old report on two other hikers who were found where the Schiffs were. They thought nothing of it at the time because those bodies had been gone for months if not years. Scully tries to call Mulder, but his phone is out of range. She asks the coroner to send the goop to the Quantico FBI lab for a complete analysis. She barrows the coroner's truck and heads for Brown Mountain. On Mulder's trip, he catches up with Wallace who says that he and his wife were abducted by aliens. They still have her. He tells Mulder that the skeletons were fake. The aliens made them so no one would bother to search for them. "They have that kind of technology."

Scully's trip begins as she pulls up next to Mulder's car. She gets out and calls for him. She sees some shoe prints in the mud and follows them. It's only seconds before she steps on some mushrooms that give off a poof of spores. On Mulder's trip, he tells Wallace that they have to find a way out of the cave. Wallace says that there's a way right behind him. Mulder says that it was solid rock just a moment ago. Wallace says that they are playing with their minds and there's know way to know what's real. Mulder says: "Wallace, let's get out of here." Suddenly, there is a loud rumbling sound and a bright light shines into the cave. Wallace says: "They're out there, man!" Wallace runs deeper into the cave and Mulder chases after him. On Scully's trip, she is shining a flashlight into the cave opening. She calls for Mulder, then walks away from the cave.

Mulder's trip intensifies: The rumbling and lights stop. Mulder says that they may have come for something else. They look around and find that Angela has been returned. Wallace gets a cup of goop, he thinks is water, for her. Angela tells Mulder how the aliens abducted her and did tests on her. Angela answers, yes, to every question Mulder asks. When Mulder asks about the fresh scar on the back of her neck, she yells: "What scar?!" Mulder tells them that everything that happened to them is textbook except for the skeletons. "I don't understand that. It doesn't make any sense to me." Wallace says that they didn't want anybody to find them. They didn't want anyone to know the truth. Mulder says: "We gotta get out of here." The Schiffs don't want to leave the cave. They are afraid the aliens will take them back. The rumbling and bright lights start again. Angela yells: "They're here!" She runs away as Mulder walks into the bright light. Scully goes to Mulder's apartment where she finds him and the Schiffs. She wants to know why he disappeared in North Carolina, then calls her to meet him in D.C.? He asks if anyone knows she's there? She snaps: "No." The Schiffs tell Scully that the aliens planted decoys so everyone would think they were dead. Scully is skeptical about what they have to say. Mulder asks her to put aside her scientific bias for a moment. He says that he was out there and he found it. She asks, what? He says: "The truth." Angela tells her about the abduction and the implant they put into her neck. Mulder says that it's just like what happened to her. She says that from what she understands about this case, it's not what happened to her. Mulder says that there is more. He takes her into his bedroom. A too cute Gray peeks from behind some boxes. Mulder says: "I abducted him. It's a Gray." He tells Scully that it speaks to him telepathically. It told him everything. She says that she can hear him, too. "Oh, my God!" They return to the living room. Scully tells Mulder that he has been right for so many years. He was right about the Grays, the abductions, the UFOs, the Brown Mountain lights... He interrupts her: "What about the skeletons?" She says that they were decoys. He asks: "You're buying that decoy theory?" He asks about the goo that she found? She says that it was bog sludge. Mulder rubs his forehead as though he has a bad headache. He says: "That doesn't sound like you, Scully. God, I can't believe you're buying this." She says that she's admitting that she was wrong. He continues to rub his forehead, and she asks if he's all right? He goes to the sink to splash some water on his face. For a moment, it looks like the green goop. He returns to the living room and tells Scully that nothing makes sense. Suddenly, everyone in his apartment dissolves into green goop and he's back in the cave.

Scully's trip intensifies: She and the coroner go to search for Mulder. She finds some goop coming up out of the ground. The coroner finds the skeletal remains of what they believe to be Mulder. It's laying in a bog area of the field near the mouth of the cave. At the morgue, the coroner brings in Mulder's dental records. They prove that the body is Mulder. Scully asks if it's possible that the digestive stuff could have stripped his bones? The coroner says that she's overlooking the most logical explanation. It's a murder with ritualistic overtones. He tells her not to worry; they will ship his body back to D.C. At FBI HQ, Scully turns in her report to Skinner. He tells her to take some time off. She asks why he is willing to accept her report? He asks why she is questioning her report? She says that she was unable to fully explain Mulder's death and how his body was found the way it was. Skinner says that a ritual killing is the most likely. She says that it was only one scenario which she thought was the least plausible. Her job has been to base her findings on a scientific basis -- to be a counterpoint to Mulder. He says: "And you have done that. You have performed admirably." She asks: "Have I? How many X-Files has my scientific approach fully and satisfactory explained?" He says that her reports have consistently made sense of Mulder's conclusions. She says that this one makes no sense at all. He says that, because of her work with Mulder, she may be looking for a paranormal explanation. She cries as he says: "I promise you we'll get the bastard who did this."

The Wake: Scully arrives at Mulder's apartment for his wake. A few of his friends are there, including Skinner and the Lone Gunmen. Mulder is in a closed coffin in the bedroom. There is a lovely cross of flowers standing behind the box and a few mourners are milling about. Skinner gives his condolences to Scully. The Gunmen comfort her. Frohike offers her a glass of whisky. Before long, he's drinking right from the bottle. The guys tell her that they have launched an investigation. Scully says that she was beginning to think that she was the only one who was suspicious. Frohike says that they will find him. Scully asks: "Find who?" Frohike says: "The son of a bitch who killed Mulder!" They say that they read a copy of her report and they concur with her findings that it was a ritualistic murder. Scully insists that those were not her findings. She yells: "Something else is going on here. Am I the only one who believes that?" She holds her forehead as though she has a bad headache. She begins yelling: "Where is he? Where is Mulder?" There is a knock on the door. Scully opens it and Mulder walks in. When she looks around, the apartment is empty.

Mulder's trip converges with Scully's: She asks how he got back to his apartment? He says that the aliens brought him back. She asks why he would knock on his own door? He rubs his forehead in pain and confusion. She theorizes that they may both be hallucinating back in the cave. She remembers stepping on a mushroom that gave off spores. They could be in the cave being digested by a large fungal organism. There are documented cases of these kinds of organisms, only this one is carnivorous. He rubs his forehead again. Scully says: "What if we're still underground, Mulder? What if we're moving deeper into the cave? Or being moved? Mulder, what if we are being digested? Right now." Mulder watches as Scully melts away.

Scully's wants her trip to end: Back in the cave, Mulder reaches through the loose dirt. He pulls himself and her out of the clutches of the giant organism. They give their report to Skinner. The organism is ten acres in size, most of it is underground and the spores act similar to LSD. All the appropriate authorities have been contacted about the giant fungus. Mulder questions Scully about how they escaped. He asks if they were released from the spell once she figured out that they were under a chemical influence? She says: "That's right." He asks how they could simply will themselves out of a chemical hallucination? Mulder comes to the conclusion that they never escaped. He says that this is not real. "I'll prove it, Scully." He pulls his gun and shoots Skinner. Skinner just sits there oozing green goop from the bullet holes. She watches as Mulder melts away.

Back in the cave, Scully and Mulder mumble to themselves as goop slowly digests them. Above, Skinner and a search team, protected with masks, search for the missing agents. [How they knew where and why to search: the coroner lent Scully his truck to catch up with Mulder. When he didn't hear from them, he went looking and found his truck and Mulder's car. He called the FBI to let them know that they were missing. Of course, he didn't step on any mushrooms. The FBI analysis of the goop showed that it was a plant derived digestive substance with hallucinogenic properties. Protected with masks, they went searching.] Skinner sees Mulder reach up through the dirt. They pull them out before the goop had a chance to do any damage. Scully says: "Mushroom." The coroner says: "We found it." Scully and Mulder are put into a 'Forest Service' van. Mulder reaches for Scully's hand. She reaches for his. The 'Shippers pronounce them man and wife.


Critique *** (of five) This season's theme seems to be hallucinations and dreams. I liked the first few episodes with this scenario, but to hand us this TRIP, as the next to the last episode of the season, is a let down. I sometimes think that Carter is going to end the series with him sleeping on the beach. He wakes up and says: "Wow, that was some dream." Or maybe the CSM will pull a page from his typewriter and set it on top of his latest story for his hit comic book "The X-Files!" Okay, I know this is just a TV show, but I do want to believe -- just a little. So please stop with these fantasies within a fantasy. And another thing: why did it take three of 1013's best writers to come up with this slightly better than average episode? "Mitch, we need you to get shot again. Don't worry, it's not the end of your character." I like going on a trip, but this ride is disappointing. "Field Trip" is disappointing because I really want Mulder to meet up with an alien and show it to Scully. Mainly, I want Scully to get a grip on what is going on around her. If Mulder has to throw her a party hosted by a bunch of Grays, then let's do it -- for real. No more hallucinations, dreams, metaphors and convenient memory losses. After all that ranting, you might expect me to give this TRIP one star or less. But it wasn't as awful as "Detour" or turgid like "Grotesque." It's much better than those dogs, so I will go with a strong three of five. "Hey, anybody want mushrooms with their steak?" "NO!" "Just asking." "NO!"

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