S6E3 · Triangle

Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) lies unconscious at sea after wrecking his raft. He is taken aboard a passenger ship, SS Queen Anne, by its British crew members. When he is sent to meet the captain, Mulder tries to explain that Queen Anne vanished in the Bermuda Triangle in 1939 and claims that it has reappeared in 1998. The crew dismisses Mulder's story and suspect he is a Nazi spy. At that moment, Queen Anne is boarded by SS troops under the control of an Oberführer resembling the Smoking Man (William B. Davis), who sets the ship's course for Germany. The crew of Queen Anne lock Mulder in the captain's quarters, where he listens to a radio broadcast announcing the start of World War II. Mulder realizes that Queen Anne did not travel to 1998; he has traveled back to 1939.

In the present, the Lone Gunmen inform Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) that they have lost contact with Mulder, who had set out in search of Queen Anne. Scully first turns to Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), unsuccessfully, then attempts to confront Assistant Director Alvin Kersh (James Pickens Jr.) who is seen with the Smoking Man. She finally threatens Agent Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens) before Skinner shows up and provides her with Mulder's location. Scully leaves with the Gunmen to find Mulder. Meanwhile, aboard Queen Anne, a British sailor tells Mulder that the Germans are looking for what they believe is a weapon called "Thor's Hammer." Mulder tells him that Thor's Hammer is not a weapon, but a scientist who will build a weapon.

The sailor turns out to be a German spy and locks Mulder in the engine room with the ship's crew. One of the sailors, who strongly resembles Kersh, decides to steer the boat towards Jamaica, but Mulder tells them to sail back where they came from, in order to pass through the time warp and re-appear in 1998.

Eventually, Mulder is taken to the ballroom by the Nazis. Once there, he is ordered to identify the scientist or else the Nazis will begin executing passengers. After they have killed two men, a woman who resembles Scully tells the Nazis that they are killing innocent people for nothing, and that Mulder knows nothing. Mulder tells the Nazis that one of the men they shot was the scientist, but the true scientist steps forward. The Nazis prepare to shoot Mulder and "Scully", but before they are able, the engine is shut down.

British sailors descend upon the ballroom and begin fighting the Nazis. In the midst of the chaos, Mulder and "Scully" escape, at one time aided by a Nazi officer who resembles Agent Skinner and appears to be an Allied sympathizer. Meanwhile, Scully and the Gunmen find Queen Anne and board it, only to find that it is an empty ghost ship, unaware that the dimension in which Mulder and the passengers now exist is running parallel to their own.

Back in 1939, Mulder tells "Scully" that she has to turn the ship around and return to the Bermuda Triangle in order to get the ship out of the rift in space. Mulder grabs "Scully" and kisses her, "in case we never meet again." "Scully" punches him, and he jumps overboard. Mulder wakes up in 1998 in a hospital, surrounded by Scully, the Gunmen and Skinner. Mulder attempts to tell them about his experiences in 1939, and that Scully was there with him, but they all think he is delirious. After Skinner and the Gunmen leave, Mulder calls Scully back and tells her that he loves her.

Scully thinks his declaration is an effect of the drugs he has been given, rolls her eyes and leaves. As he lies down, Mulder winces as his cheek touches the pillow; the spot where "Scully" punched him in 1939 is still sore and visibly bruised. Mulder breaks into a knowing smile.