Project Blue Book: Beware the night when the Star People return

When a scoutmaster disappears, Hynek investigates what could be the first real proof of an impending alien invasion. Elsewhere, Quinn has a new assignment from General Harding.

Hynek investigates the disappearance of a scoutmaster in Bowling Green, Ohio. A family-friendly boys retreat turns sour when the evening campfire is interrupted by the presence of, what the witnesses believe is a spacecraft, hovering nearby. All they can find of their beloved scoutmaster is his trademark hat and camera.

After developing the camera film, Hynek finds a disturbing photo of the missing man. In it, he appears terrified as a UFO looms behind him.

One of the scouts believes their leader, Emmett, could have been taken by the Star People. The story of the Star People originated from a folktale. The scout takes Hynek to a cavern lined with petroglyphs depicting the tale.

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Upon witnessing the ancient artwork, the music swells, pulsing through the cavern, and the camera shifts to show an eerie picture of stick figures being abducted by a strange craft. Hynek’s face, white as a sheet, recognizes it instantly from the photograph he developed. “They’re identical.” He whispers. And on a nearby wall, someone has drawn the symbol that triggered Fuller’s death, the one Hynek has been obsessing over since seeing it in the brainwashing room.

Determined to get to the bottom of this impossible situation, Hynek visits a professor who is familiar with the legend. Together, they visit the spot of Emmett’s disappearance and Hynek takes particular interest in a nearby swamp. His findings lead him to believe the lights and strange phenomena have been caused by swamp gas, he announces this at a town meeting but is interrupted by a dramatic return from the scoutmaster in question.

Emmett is unwilling to believe swamp gas is a plausible explanation. He claims he actually shot an alien and brings Hynek to the place where its body fell. There, they excavate a strange, oblong-shaped skull. Might they have really discovered proof of the extraterrestrial after all?

I assume you haven’t lost your touch.

General Harding needs Michael Quinn’s expertise to retrieve a piece of crucial intelligence from an “escaped” prisoner, Rizzuto. In reality, Rizzuto was only released because intel believed he would be of more assistance to them if they were able to trail him and discover his contacts. Except Rizzuto took a sensitive piece of information with him, the type of information that could win the Russians the arms race if they were to get their hands on it. Harding needs Quinn’s “special skills” to retrieve it before it’s too late.

If the aim of “Scoutmaster” is highlighting the fundamental differences in how Hynek and Quinn approach their respective cases, then this is most evident in the method of choice Quinn uses to interrogate Rizzuto. Since he is interviewing a Russian, Quinn creates a Russian roulette style “game” to question his suspect about the missing intelligence. Rizzuto mistakenly slips up, revealing he doesn’t have it, but he knows who does.

That’s when things take a weird turn. Bolting out of his chair, a panicked Rizzuto yells to an invisible presence “He’s trying to kill me, you said he wouldn’t hurt me!” No, he isn’t calling out to a paranormal presence, as it turns out, General Harding set up this entire exercise as a way to test Quinn’s loyalty. The classified document went missing after one of Quinn’s visits to White Forest, fingering him as a prime suspect.

Quinn’s responses to Rizzuto’s attempts to sway him into betraying his government prove he is a man to be trusted. He wins Harding’s admiration. But the look on Quinn’s face afterwards conveys his doubt about whether or not that’s a good thing.

As it happens, I need to see you too.

With both Hynek and Quinn in precarious positions, they reach out to one another and agree to meet up. The theme of deception continues with the discovery that the entire disappearance of scoutmaster Emmett has been part of an elaborate hoax.

Why? Because a radio host was offering $100,000 for proof of alien life. The skull was stolen from a Native American grave, its oblong shape caused by an old custom known as head-binding. The photographs were staged and taken weeks before the disappearance. And as the final nail in the coffin, the sheriff submitted a telegraph to the radio host claiming they had proof days before Emmett ever disappeared.

With another case solved and put to bed, Quinn takes the opportunity to confront Hynek about the missing intel. Despite having spent weeks together solving cases and infiltrating government bases, it is evident that Quinn and Hynek’s fundamental values are too different for them to become trusting partners. At least, not yet.

If Hynek revealed the artifact in his possession, would Quinn have turned him, and it, into Harding? Or is his loyalty to the General and the air-force beginning to waver in respect to everything he has encountered alongside Hynek?

Odds & Ends

• Did the Project Blue Book writers really think we needed to see a flashback to the first time Hynek saw that symbol? It’s brief but it interrupts the tension of the revelation. The audience is smart enough to connect the dots, especially as the symbol has been seen in every episode since it was introduced.
• I was disappointed we didn’t follow up with Mimi at all this week. Hynek finally disclosed his secrets with his wife and I was hoping to see what the fallout of that would be, especially concerning the artifact.
• The final scene of the episode shows the mysterious alien artifact being stashed in Hynek’s trunk. Whatever it is, it causes the taillights on his car to crack. What kind of energy is it giving off? Could it be influencing Hynek? What else is this strange item capable of?

A new episode of Project Blue Book titled “War Games” premieres February 26th on the History channel.