Our episode starts out on a cruise ship in the Pacific, where the boys are chasing down a man they think is Elvis, still live and kicking. All our guys get some funny bits, but the scene that stole the teaser for me was Jimmy's not-too-bad-at-all Elvis imitation! "Elvis" turns out to be an embezzler, and not Elvis at all.

As the first act opens, the Gunmen's warehouse basement office is approached by a little old lady, Alberta Pfeiffer, who has been a faithful reader of their zine since day one. She approaches them individually, with comments on their character and personalities, then begs Byers to get her son out of prison -- Douglas Robert Pfeiffer, alleged murderer, being held on death row in Texas.

Our boys, being who they are, come up with a plan, first voiced by Jimmy, then supported by Byers: they'll break into the prison to talk to Pfeiffer, who has refused to speak to anyone after initially pleading innocence.

After setting up the plan, the boys head for Texas, and stay at the Sam Houston Motor Lodge -- the very same seedy hotel used by Scully and Mulder in the episode Bad Blood, about the mobile-home vampire colony. Jimmy and Byers get themselves into the prison, posing as convicts named John Wesley and James Dillinger. It's obvious that Byers is more than slightly shell-shocked by the treatment they get as part of the check-in procedure, but Jimmy seems to deal with it stoically. We get what is sure to be one of the most memorable scenes of the first season when we have Jimmy and Byers naked in a shower with a room full of other prisoners. They apparently also get yet another Full Body Cavity Search, made infamous by the Pilot.

Once inside, they spend time trying to learn where Pfeiffer is being held, only to discover that he is in the infirmary. Byers decides that the only way to get to him is to get himself beat up so that he will be transferred to the infirmary as well. Jimmy is against this, very obviously concered for Byers' safety and well-being. When Byers insists that he is the one who has to do the deed, Jimmy attempts to play along, and even tries (though perhaps vainly) to threaten Lowry if he hurts Byers too badly -- by shouting that John was his "bitch" and to get to Byers, Lowry would have to come through him.

Meanwhile, Frohike and Langly, along with Yves, are trying to investigate the murder itself, to discover any evidence that Pfeiffer may be innocent -- instead, they find that he's quite guilty of murder. They also uncover the disturbing and dangerous fact that Pfeiffer's lawyer, Jeremy Wash, is behind the whole thing, financing two murders and framing an innocent man, in order to make a play for some land to develop. The reason for Pfeiffer's silence is that Wash has threatened his mother if he doesn't keep his mouth shut about the details -- and his mom will be well cared for if he does stay silent. Yves is asked to infiltrate the prison as a visitor for Jimmy, as Frohike and Langly blew their attempt to get in to see Byers as his brothers when Langly was found carrying a firewire card. Yves agrees, and enters the visiting room dressed as trailer trash, to visit her 'husband'.

When Yves enters the facility, Byers is in the process of making his move to get Lowry to beat him up. Unfortunately, his plan goes rather awry when the guards are distracted by Yves on their surveillance screen, and Lowry gets in a hell of a lot more damage than Byers had planned on taking. He does, however, end up in the infirmary, where he has a chance to talk to Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer threatens to slit Byers' throat if he mentions the murder again.

In the visiting room, Yves manages to pass Jimmy a tiny, quite sophisticated communications device. Jimmy actually proves to know enough about it to understand it and turn it on. (He also knows the word 'conjugal,' which amazed me, after his 'angina' error in Three Men and a Smoking Diaper.) Eventually he manages to communicate with Langly and Frohike, who inform him of the true nature of the situation. He then needs to get a message to John, in the infirmary, to ask for the information they actually do need.

Six hours later, the message reaches Byers, who acts on it immediately, pleading with Pfeiffer to come clean with a confession and implicate his lawyer in order to free Spike, the roach dude, who was wrongfully imprisoned and sentenced to death. As this happens, an attack is made on Pfeiffer, which had been arranged by the lawer with Lowry. Byers manages to save the day (and get a teensy taste of revenge) by whacking Lowry over the head with a bedpan and knocking him out. He and Jimmy are then taken by the guards and released into the custody of Frohike and Langly, who arranged a transfer for them by way of "computer error."

The tag is sweet, sorrowful and poignant, with Jimmy and Byers waiting outside the prison after midnight, awaiting the news of Pfeiffer's execution. Alberta Pfeiffer, who had so enthusiastically approched the Gunmen as an admirer, slaps John in the face before walking away without a word. Despite the fact that he and Jimmy had done everything they could, had saved the life of an innocent man, and done the right thing as best they could, her son was still executed, and her faith in the Gunmen destroyed. Byers is crushed by this, but Jimmy does his best to comfort his friend.

Spike -- or Wallace Crendall Atherton -- goes on to found a rescue clinic for roaches, and presumably lives more or less happily ever after.