Página PrincipalInternal dating: No date given, but if the air-date order tracks internal order, this episode happened in March 1994, after Miracle Man (around March 7th 1994) and before Born Again (starts March 27th). This is all rather odd, considering that Mulder and Scully were rather badly damaged by the events of Darkness Falls, which should also fall into this three week period.
Browning, Montana. In a storm, a father and son (Jim and Lyle Parker) get their guns and search for creature that's killing their livestock. Lyle is attacked by something that looks very beast-like, and his father shoots the creature, staring in amazement as a naked young Native American man falls dead to the ground instead.
Mulder and Scully question the Parkers about the incident. Jim Parker, who'sfree on bail, admits that he is engaged in a land dispute with the TregoIndians, but hotly denies that he killed the young man, Joseph Goodensnake,deliberately. He swears that it was a beast he shot - one with red eyes andfangs.
Outside, Lyle Parker says that for months there's been unnatural silence inthe night, with none of the normal animals. "I got a feeling there wassomething not human out there, watching," he tells them. "It gave methe creeps." "The creeps?" Scully questions. "Yeah, thecreeps," he replies. "Don't you ever get the creeps?" Scullygives Mulder what looks like a defensive glance, in return for his enquiringstare.
Examining the crime scene, Scully asks Mulder why he's interested in thecase, but Mulder doesn't answer, kneeling down and staring at animals footprintsthat suddenly seem to turn into human prints. "Well, there seems to benothing unexplainable about this case," Scully says, a little later. "No.Not a thing," Mulder says, holding up a piece of skin, which she describesas "so odd.... almost like a snake skin." She suggests the Parkersbegan to strip their victim, although Mulder says there was no record of this.
Visiting the reservation, Mulder and Scully get a hostile reception as theylook for Sheriff Tskany. "Go home, FBI," a man (Ish) says from theshadows, saying he could smell they were FBI a mile away. Mulder cracks a jokeabout wearing woman's deodorant, but the man doesn't look impressed. "Youdon't believe in us, and we don't believe in you," he says, talking of theFBI. "I want to believe," Mulder says, walking towards him. Ish asksthem what they're looking for. Scully begins to explain, using official wordslike "homicide," but Mulder cuts in, saying they're looking for acreature that can make animals tracks one minute and human the next. "Parkerkilled what you're looking for," Ish says, but the dead youth's sister cutsin angrily, complaining that everyone's too scared about some "stupidIndian legend" to do anything about her brother's murder.
The sheriff takes them to see the dead man's body, which is in his office,guarded by two traditionally dressed Indians - the guardians of the dead. Thesheriff explains that they're only allowed as far as the door. "I keep theancient beliefs out there and the police work in here," he says. Mulderasks about the legend that the woman, Gwen Goodensnake, talked about, but herefuses, saying he gets no federal help when he wants it, so why should he doany more than he has to when they want his help?
Scully and Mulder examine Joe Goodensnake's body, finding old scars of ananimal attack on his shoulder, and two teeth elongated into fangs. When theycheck his dental records, they find his teeth used to be normal, although Scullyhazards some half way plausible medical reason for this. The sheriff says JimParker was looking for an animal and, seeing the unusual teeth, "saw whathe wanted to see." Mulder asks if they can do an autopsy to see if theabnormality extends beyond the teeth, but the sheriff refuses outright as it'scontrary to Indian beliefs. "You're a law enforcement officer," Scullyprotests. "You can't destroy evidence." "Don't tell me what Ican't do," he says, angrily, saying the Native Americans believe there arelaws above that of the US government. In a few days, he says, Mulder and Scullywill be gone, but he's got to stay and answer to the people, so can't go againsttheir beliefs.
In their car, waiting for Joe Goodensnake's cremation, Scully questionsMulder, saying he seems to have been expecting all the evidence before they evenfound it. "What aren't you telling me?" she asks. "Why are wehere?" He shows her the very first X-File, opened by J Edgar Hoover in1946, in which the police cornered and shot an animal, after a series of odddeaths, but found only a man's body. Because of the unexplained nature of thecase, Hoover locked it away, hoping people would forget it, but similar casesrecurred in 1954, 59, 64, 78 and now 94. He relates it to the old Indian legendof the Manitou, but Scully says it's lycanthropy - a form on insanity whenpeople believe they can turn into a wolf. "No-one can physically changeinto an animal," she says, firmly. Mulder accuses her of dismissing theevidence, but she says that, whatever the explanation, Joe Goodensnake's deadand will soon be cremated, taking all the evidence with him. "End ofmystery," she says. "Let's hope so," he mutters.
At the ceremony, Gwen Goodensnake is hostile, telling them they don'tbelong, but Scully offers her condolences, saying she understands the grief oflosing a family member. She says he was her whole family, and gives Scully acharm, saying it's ritual to give away a dead person's possessions, and herbrother had "more possessions than friends."
Mulder asks the sheriff off the record what he really thinks happens, butthe sheriff refuses to answer. "Go home," he says, then "this isa funeral," when Mulder asks him if he believes in shape shifters.
The cremation begins, but is disturbed when Lyle Parker rides up, taking hishat off in respect. Gwen spits at him, saying she wants him to feel what she'sfeeling. He rides away, saying he regrets this death more than anything.
That night, Jim Parker is attacked and killed by a certainly inhuman beastwhile sitting on the porch. Looking at the body the next morning, Scully wondersif it's retaliation for Joe's death. The sheriff tells her that Gwen has beenmissing since the funeral, and Lyle is missing also, presumed dead. Exploringthe woods, Mulder finds a clump of hair and a patch of shed skin, while Scullygets a shock from a caged mountain lion, then finds Lyle Parker, naked andsuffering from exposure, unconscious in a field. She takes him to the hospital.
Mulder asks the sheriff what he's hiding. "I thought it was over,"the sheriff replies, looking shocked. He says he can't tell him any more, butwill take him to a man who can.
At the clinic, Lyle tells Scully he had a drink, but can't remember anythingelse after the funeral. Scully asks him if he talked to his father at all thatnight, but he says he's have been mad at him for going to the funeral. he sayshe has an image of him sitting on the porch, but can't remember if he talked tohim. Scully then breaks the news that his father's dead, attacked by an animalor murdered. "I lost my father recently and I know how overwhelming...."she begins, but he breaks in. "Was it my fault?" he asks, wondering ifhis going to the funeral angered the Indians into killing his father. "If Icaused it.... If I brought it on... I couldn't...." He breaks down in tearsand Scully touches his arm, comfortingly.
Mulder and the sheriff visit Ish, who talks about seeing the Manitou withhis own eyes a long time ago. "I sense you are different, FBI," hetells Mulder, saying he seems open to Native American beliefs than some NativeAmericans (this with a glance at the sheriff). "You even have an Indianname - Fox," he says. "You should be Running Fox, or Sleeping Fox."Mulder smiles. "Just as long as it's not Spooky Fox," he says. Ishthen tells him more about the Manitou, saying that someone who's attacked by theManitou in turn becomes one themselves, though the man form has no memory of thewolf form. He explains the recurring attacks over the years by saying the thingcan be passed through blood-lines, from which the sheriff concludes that Gwencould be affected too. Hearing a noise outside, they rush out apprehend Gwen,trying to drive away in the Ish's car. She seems terrified, saying she saw "it"kill Parker and has been hiding in the woods ever since.
Mulder calls Scully at the clinic, but is told that she's taken Lyle Parkerback to the ranch. The doctor also tells him he's found traces of his father'sblood type in Lyle's blood, which could only be there by ingestion.
As Scully drives back to the ranch, Lyle starts looking menacing, as thecamera lingers on the full moon. As he gets into the house, his suddenly bendsover clutching his stomach, and Scully helps him to the bathroom.
Mulder tries desperately to call Scully, but the mountains block the signal.
Inside the bathroom, as Scully shouts anxiously outside, Lyle changes into abeast, with much roaring and grimacing. Scully tries to unpick the lock, but thecreature bursts out of the door and she gasps.
Mulder and the sheriff arrive to find everything silent. Mulder creepsaround in the dark, his torch beam falling on deep scratches in the wall and thesmashed door. He catches sight of a beast and shoots it, but it turns out to beonly a stuffed bear (no, a big one, not a teddy bear). Upstairs, somethingattacks him in a dark room, but it's only Scully, hiding from the thing thattried to attack her outside the bathroom. Together they go a-huntin' andsomething leaps out at them, but the sheriff shoots it. Lyle Parker falls dead.Scully is immediately ready with her explanation, saying it was an escapedmountain lion that attacked Lyle and tried to attack her, but Mulder tells herthe mountain lion was safely in its cage the whole time.
Later, the sheriff tells them Gwen had moved away. "Maybe she sawsomething she wasn't ready to understand," he says, looking at Scully. "Maybe,"Scully says, thoughtfully. As they leave, Ish calls out to them. "See youin about eight years," he says. "I hope not," Mulder replies.
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