Travelers (The X-Files)

The episode was inspired by the story of Howard Dimsdale, a screenwriter who had been negatively affected by the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s. Dimsdale wrote several movies under the pseudonym "Arthur Dales"—a name which eventually made its way into this episode.[2] For many years, Dimsdale was an instructor at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, where he taught executive producer Frank Spotnitz and co-producer John Shiban. While developing this episode, the two decided to combine many of Dimsdale's stories of "paranoia, treachery, and double-dealing" with the idea that "the witch-hunt was actually a smoke screen to conceal something else".[2] The writers soon realized that by setting the episode in the past, they would also be able to "trace the roots of both Fox Mulder and the X-Files".[3]

Darren McGavin (right; promo photo from Riverboat) makes his first appearance as Arthur Dales in the episode.

Scully did not appear in this episode as Gillian Anderson was busy filming final parts of Fight the Future. Noted actor Darren McGavin appears as Arthur Dales. He was requested for the part especially by Chris Carter. Casting director Rick Millikan noted, "McGavin was Chris's inspiration for writing this series. He always had Darren in mind to use somewhere, and that was really his doing. He said 'I want Darren McGavin for this,' and he happened to be available, and we got him."[4] McGavin had originally been casting directors' first choice for the role of Senator Matheson for the second season opener "Little Green Men".[5] McGavin was later sought out to be Mulder's dad, but he again eluded the staff. In the end, McGavin finally agreed to appear on the show playing Dales.[5]

Because the show's fifth season was filmed under a number of financial and time restraints, production for "Travelers" was somewhat rushed.[3] Costume designer Jenni Gullet was forced to "frantically" rent or create the vintage clothing featured in the episode, and art director Gary Allen did extensive research to make J. Edgar Hoover's office look realistic. Allen also constructed the bomb shelter, because his father was a contractor who had actually built several.[3] Special effects supervisor Toby Lindala created the "alien spider" as well as a special facial appliance that Garret Dillahunt wore. The final film was slightly bleached in post-production to give it a "vintage appearance".[3] The production staff was pleased with the final product, noting that it "does justice" to both "the painful controversies of the 1950s" and The X-Files as a "contemporary TV series".[3]

The episode contains several in-jokes. The song playing in the German doctor's house is the popular song "Lili Marleen", of which a new recording was made specifically for this episode. The record sleeve attributes the track to "Paula Rabwini", a reference to one of the series' producers, Paul Rabwin. Agent Hayes Michel was named after the fiancé of series creator Chris Carter's executive assistant, Mary Astadourian.[3]

In several shots, Mulder can be seen wearing a wedding band. This was David Duchovny's idea; he explained "That was just me, you know, fooling around. I had recently gotten married, and I wanted to wear it." He later described the situation as "so Mulder to never have mentioned that he was married".[6] Series creator Chris Carter later told Duchovny that the situation "creates a problem. If we ever do a show that takes place seven years ago, you'll have to be married."[6] However, Duchovny reassured Carter by pointing out that there were not very many episodes, if any, that had been planned to take place seven years prior to the events in this episode. The inclusion of the detail caused an "Internet frenzy" and the minor detail was never resolved on screen.[6]

"Travelers" premiered in the US on the Fox network on March 19, 1998, and in the United Kingdom on February 3, 1999.[7] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.9, with a 15 share, meaning that roughly 9.9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 15 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[8] It was viewed by 15.06 million viewers.[8]

"Travelers" received mixed reviews from critics. In a 2000 review of season five for the New Straits Times, Francis Dass noted that the episode possessed a "nice retro feel throughout".[9] Dass was also complimentary towards the fact that "Mulder senior is shown in action" during the episode.[9] Emily VanDerWerff from The A.V. Club gave the episode a B and wrote positively of it, noting that, although the entry was designed as a "stall", it felt like a "weird backdoor pilot for [a show] that never happened."[10] She noted that the episode "isn’t as good as it could have been" but argued that the story was "still a mostly fun episode".[10] In addition, VanDerWerff wrote positively of McGavin's guest starring role and was complimentary towards the "alien spider thing", describing it as "wonderfully gross".[10]

Robert Shearman, in his book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode four stars out of five and called it "fresh and urgent".[11] He wrote that, while the episode was a stopgap, it "cannot be better placed."[11] Shearman further argued that "Travelers"'s use of the "Communist witch hunt" conceit and its idea that "serving" means being a patriot, whereas "resisting" means being a traitor —a reference to the previous episode's tagline—themes were well-played.[11] Shearman further praised McGavin's acting, noting that he was "the series' spiritual father".[11] In his "Politics of the X-Files" column at The Companion, A.J. Black observed that "‘Travelers" skirts the edges of what would be considered a ‘mytharc’ storyline, tethered to the alien mythology, by attempting to transform the fear of Communism directly into a fear of the extra-terrestrial, without ever using the word."[12]

Other reviews were more critical. Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a largely negative review and awarded it one star out of four.[13] She noted that the episode, much like the earlier season five entry "Unusual Suspects" was "filler", but that, unlike the earlier episode, "Travelers" was "not particularly entertaining."[13] Vitaris criticized the character of Arthur Dales and wrote that he was "not an intriguing character".[13] However, she did praise the visuals, describing them as "outstanding".[13]