X-Files 6.4 "Dreamland" You might be a geek if....

You were all a tingle with the mention of the words: "Time Space
Continuem."

I was :D!!!!

[Preface: I enjoyed this episode....BUT]

Hokay. I don't want to be a wet blanket here, but I really wish they'd
mix up these humorous episodes. I mean, here we are again: Mulder and Scully
are NOT together, and worse, I feel as though the powers that be are
playing with my emotions!! They're throwing Mulder and scully's
"dynamic" in our faces. They know that many of us want them together in a romantic
sense and they know that we know that can't really happen or the show
would be ruined, so they're throwing us crumbs and bones and every once in a
while, that's cool, but coming on the heels of the kiss (that only
happened in Mulder's mind) we now have Scully getting her butt slapped by Mulder
(but his mind's not there) and her thinking he's getting it on with
Kersch's secretary etc. Next week we'll have Scully once again (as in
season 4's "small potatoes") deal with an amorous faux mulder. I get
that they wanted to do more with that concept, but is anyone else itchin' for
a straight monster story with no self conscious explorations of the M&S
dynamic? X-Files, As a great woman once said, "Stop Draggin' My Heart
Around!"

OK. Again, let me state, if this episode had come later in the year,
say after an angsty mythology two-parter or a freaky gross mutant story or
something, I wouldn't be so alarmed. I just feel that having three light
episodes in a row is...too much light for what has always been a dark
show. I really really love this concept, of people being switched. This
explores an area touched on in "Deep Throat' the second episode of the
first season. in that show, test pilots exposed to extreme alien
technology have their brains scrambled. Then mulder gets his brain
erased and Scully saves him. It rocks! ANyway, I liked the idea of going back
to that, the concept of the military using recovered alien technology to
build super scary vehicles that are often mistaken for UFOS.
i must interject here to say i personally do not beleive we've been
visited nor do I care in even the remotest sense about "Area 51." i 'm
sure some people (perhaps many) have been waiting for them to get to area 51,
me...not so much. But I really dig this story so i'm not complaining.
When Scully was wistfully talking about settling down and raising a
family, anyone else have a vague hope that she was dropping a hint in
Mulder's direction? Of course, he's blind to her dreams and desires and
to the pathetic void that is his OWN life. As Scully complained about the
"same old same old" of their X-File solvin' routine, it was clear that
this episode was going to break the mold, but as I said (at length, i know)
that wasn't the case last week, and in fact, M&S have been apart all year
(on-screen). SO, I was glad to see them in the rental car together, that
is the X-Files, isn't it?
The smarmy bad guy, the tall one with the dark hair also plays a
weaselly D.A. on NYPD BLUE (I may never fully recover form Bobby's death, by the
way, but that's a different story...a different show!) so i was
predispossed to think he was a creep. I hope none of you Republican
viewers were too offended by the fact that sleazy Morris was a pal of
Newt and the Reagan's AND Saddam. Actually, the Saddam picture looked
SOOOOOOOO
fake! I was very disappointed. They can do such cool fake UFO"S and
stuff, and then they give us this picture with Lenny and Saddam and it
looks worse than those ones in the tabloids with congressmen and aliens
together. WHile i'm thinking about it, one of the people on this list (my list:))
is Steve. Steve is a special-effects guy working on "Nightman." Steve
wroteme back after i raised a warning flag about the evil Canadian empire, and
told me I should lay off because he's now living in Vancouver (Yeah,
X-Files moves to LA and THEN one of my freinds moves up there) and he's
becoming a "landed immigrant" and he's dating a Canadian...Steve, how
exactly does it weaken my theory when you tell me that they are actually
RECRUITING??? Steve is also a graduate of" Ithaca College" an
organizatoin bent on taking over the world by means of one day controlling the
entertainment industry. these people are everywhere, I'm telling you.
And Ithica is in upstate New York which isn't THAT far from Canada, and most
of my Ithican friends like hockey...it's worse than I thought.

Scully doesn't really react to morris's excessive use of her first name,
which i found troubling, again, becasue it therefore felt that it was
something they were doing for the audience. the only time I can think
of, off the top of my head, that Mulder called her Dana was after her father
died (Beyond the Sea) and she definetely noticed it. Much ado has been
made of their calling one another my their last names, like it's silly
thatit's over-stating the fact that they have this professionl distance at
all times, but I feel it's a very cute thing between the two of them that
actually speaks to their closeness. It's like a pet name. I love that
Mulder refers to scully as scully when he's talking to her Mom, for
example. That's adorable!

Did you notice that Scully is a bit annoyed at "mulder's" bossiness at
the gas station, but not freaked out? In other words, it's certainly not out
of the ordinary for Mulder to be a pissy jerk. So sad, Mulder taking
comfort in his "porn, sweet porn." Like the idea that Mulder is switched
with his anthisis: a guy who hides the truth for a living and who has no
integrity whatsoever. Ala "small Potatoes" , morris is very aware of
what mulder seems to be blind to: Scully's a babe and mulder's...well, a fox.

Was Kersch's secretary the blond that was singing on the ghost ship last
week? Was that the Monkey that Mulder was doing in the mirror? If not,
plese name that dance.

i HAVE NO OBJECTION, MORAL OR OTHERWISE, TO ANY EPISODE THAT FEATURES
MULDER DANCING IN FRONT OF A MIRROR IN HIS UNDERWEAR.

I am not made of stone.

Whwn mulder awakens from his porn-induced sleep, the first thing he says
is "Scully." Yup.

Love that Scully and mulder don't have walls anymore.

Loved the fact that liking Golf was a sign of mental defect.

Loved kersch's secretary as she sashayed past scully and gave her tha
alpha-babe look, like she's queen of the pack.

AS I said before, "Space Time continuem" stuff makes me so happy,
although it does get me missing Star trek the next generation. Voyager Sucks.

Scully does seem to be putting two plus two together--now that she's
found the other two! Poor Scully forced to be lando Calrissian to Mulder's Han
Solo and sell him out to the big bad government. I think mulder could
have come up with at least one secret he could have told scully--iced tea?
(Tooms) three dog Night? (detour) QueeQueg? (Quagmire) that would have made her
more inclined to believe him, and he only mentioned ONE BROTHER!!!
AAAARRRGGGGHHHH!! You know how I feel about Charlie, the forgotten
brother (Roland, One Breath, Christmas Carol). Maybe Mulder always forgets him
because Scully never mentions him because he's a dangerous loner. DO NOT
get me started on how important this "character" is to me.

Anyway, next week should be fun, and the week after that HAD BETTER BE
SCARY! Hope you all had a nice thanksgiving--I have pumpkin pie in the
fridge just waitng for breakfast :d mmmmmmmmm! Until later!

Christine

X-Files 6.3 "Triangle"

Well well well, now that's Entertainment! I loved that the episode was
letterboxed, and I enjoyed the opening "Jaws-cam." Mulder's destroyed
boat is called "Lady Garland," in case you were unsure that the Wizard of Oz
angle was intentional or not. I do not know what the other tagline was,
so anyone who does, please send me the translation, I'll be much obliged.

Mulder is so quick to beleive he's on the missing ship in the time-warp,
which speaks to this being a dream. vickie, if you have any dream
analysis to offer, I'd love to hear it. (i.e is it significant that Scully is
wearing Red?) Of course, it can't be all bad an alternate universe when you get to
knock Spender's block off. It appeared to me that Mulder recognized the blond
singer in the ballroom, but I didn't. If you did, please let me know.
Gillian is so perfect for this era, and I have always maintained that she
belongs in a project set in this era. Loved her straight out of a 40's
movie dialogue, and her dead-on delivery--that girl's got moxie!
cancerman as a nazi is understandable...but Skinner?? Perhaps this has to do with
his being an authority figure...A few random continuity "issues," nothing
serious: mulder got horribly sea-sick in "Dod Kalm" and needed Scully to
drive the boat in "Quagmire" ["Everything after 'I'm sorry?'"] but it's
certainly Mulderish to go out into the middle of the ocean regardless,
and may speak to Scully's frantic concern on his behalf. scully just has no
respect for skinner, does she? This is not the first time she insults
his integrity, his manliness, I dare say, when he won't help her--and he
loves it, obviously. He always going out on a limb for her (does he know he
sold his soul to cancerman on her behalf? Does she know that she's his hero?
The wind beneath his wings? I would quibble with the fact that Navy brat
Scully doesn't know anyone at Naval intelligence, but maybe she doesn't
want any of her Dad's old friends knowing what a Bureau black sheep she's
become. Kersch is conspiring with Cancerman, so Scully....now, I'm
unwilling to believe that Scully was STUPID in going to Spender for help,
so I'm gonna say that she was cocky. She just assumed (as most people
would) that she could push the twerp around. Loved that she had
everything memorized--Scully doesn't need the piece of paper, she's Scully. Talk
about your steady-cam, my word!! She battles snotty secretary's with
aplomb! Of course Skinner moves heaven and earth to help his beloved
Scully, and the kiss she plants on him means more to him than she may
ever know!

For Mr. "the government is bad", Mulder is sure doin' a lot of
flag-waiving as he mouths off to the spy. In any and all universes,
Scully rules as we see her standing up to the Nazi's. Anyone else get a "Darth
Vader/Princess Leia" vibe as Scully glared defiantly at Cancerman? maybe
I'm just still drunk off the Star Wars preview i've been watching all
weekend, heehee.

***Flashback**

The Century Dome theater in Pleasant Hill, California.

Late May, 1983. (David Bowie's "Let's Dance" playing)

A 12 year-old me strolls toward my parents' station wagon, grinning from
ear to ear, having just seen "Return of the Jedi." It had been three
long years since I had last seen my heroes in "The Empire Strikes Back." As a
>mere nine-year old, I used to lie awake in bed (Olivia Newton John's
"Magic" playing) worrying about Han Solo's fate--surely, he wasn't dead.
HE CAN'T BE DEAD, despite what my friend Rachel's older brother said.
But Han was indeed alive, and that movie ruled (this was when I first started
saying "ruled" actually, and I'll probably be saying it when I'm 80--
"That tapioca pudding ruled!."). This was also before I got older and came to
hate the Ewoks. Anyway, I remember thinking to myself, "I can't believe
I'll be in high school in three years, when the next trilogy begins....I
hear it's a prequel. Maybe we'll find out about Luke and Leia's mother.
I wonder if I'll even care about Star Wars when I'm 15..."

I'm 27. I STILL haven't seen that damned movie and I still care, very
very much.

Sorry that flashback couldn't have been a split-screen, in keeping with
the tone of the episode.

ANYWAY.....where was I? Oh yes. I loved how OSS Scully had such clear
disdain for Mulder. The scene where she passes through herself was a
work of art--kudo's for everyone involved in the post-production of this
episode.

THE KISS. No matter how you look at it, this COUNTS. I wish it hadn't
been shot so dark, but it was at least long. But even though it wasn't
REALLY Scully, the point is, Mulder REALLY wanted to kiss her, and was
thrilled with the experience. I mean, it's his dream right? Scully's
right hook was awesome. Scully's ubiquitous "Mulder it's me," at his
bedside was a great way to bring him back to this plane, and I loved how
patronizing she was with loopy Mulder. Skinner brings flowers...for
Mulder, of for Dana? And Mulder's joy at the idea that scully would actually
believe him and take one of his theories seriously is quite telling. His
sincere profession of love is lost on Scully who has heard him joke about
the subject too many times ("Tooms," "Piper Maru," and last year's one
with the doll...I'm so bad with names for last season.) to believe what she
assumes is a drug-induced rambling. What matters is that I believe him
:)

Next week looks fun, although I'm curious about the fact that our heroes
aren't spending too much time with each other so far this year. Happy
Thanksgiving everyone! :)

Christine

X-Files 6.2 "Drive"

Hello everybody--say, I thought X-Files once again kicked ass! I mean,
it moved so quickly, it was an
interesting story, it feels as though everyone was rejuvenated. This
episode was written by my favorite writer
(in the abscence of Darin Morgan) Vince Gilligan, and directed by this
summer's movie director Rob Bowman. The opening was great--anyone else fooled into thinking"X-Files" was really being interrupted by
a stupid high speed chase? For those of us who live in LA, it's not unheard of.
In fact, that's one of the roots of this story: several months ago, Chris Carter
was en route to speak at...I beleive it was Long Beach
State, his alma mater...anyway, he got stuck in traffic for hours and
hours when the freeway had to be closed
because of that guy that set his car on fire and then blew his head off
on live TV? Remember that? So,
Diana, we were wondering when the episode involving that would air and
here it was. Of course, in real life,
these guys are never interesting--they've usually just stolen a car and
are extremely stupid. Remember the
guy that stole a spear-gun from the aquarium? Crazy. Say I've driven
West on I-80 from St. Louis to San
Francisco in the early 80's--spend a couple days in a small car with
your family and see how sane you remain:
But we did visit Yellowstone Natl. Park, Dodge City and, YES, Elko
Nevada--that's a real city they stopped
that guy in. I point that out only because "Loleta" California is
probably a psuedoname for "Goleta"
California, near Monterey I believe. In the first season, in the
episode with all the clone Eves (loved that
episode) they track down the girls in a resort town called "Port
Reyes." There's no such place, but those of
us from the Bay Area know it's "Point Reyes." So, i don't know why
some cities get real names and others
don't but that seems to be the case.

Loved Mulder and Scully's exciting new job--say, I guess protecting us
from terrorists is pretty lame,
huh Mulder?? Sheesh! Loved that they get a literal s**t job, heehee.
LOVED David Duchovny's haircut this year.
This is a critical element of any season (remember the
horrible buzzcut in season 2?) and hum- baby, all is right with the world.
When he waggled his eyebrows at Scully, you knew she was going to
Nevada--who could resist? Loved how he could tell she was into the
idea as he was, Scully's so stoked she
gets to do an autopsy--they've taken away her dead people, that's how
much trouble she's in with the bureau! And Scully rules so hard-core in this
episode! The local Medicical examiner chick is grateful for the assist,
and Scully orders EVERYONE around in this episode. DId you catch her
phrasing with both the Sherriff
and later the hazmat guy? "I want." She said it a dozen times--not "I
need" or "We need" or "Please do this"
or "i have an idea." No, it's "I want this, I want that," and she gets it."
Love when Scully yells at people. Giving orders in is in her blood, it
would seem (more on that later).

Loved Mulders figuring out that speed
was the key without being told, and Scully figuring out the why and
wherefore--they're smarter than the
average FBI agents. Loved Mulder's anguish at being seprated from his
beloved Scully when Crump
smashes his cell phone.
Director Kersh calls (the "Another World" guy) and makes it clear that
Scully is in the doghouse even worse than she was before. Mulder's claim that they could investigate this bizarre case without being found
out turns out to be as wrong as when he told her they'd have a "nice
trip to the forest" in Season 1 and they
got the life sucked out of them by those freaky green bugs(Darkness
Falls). Scully isn't as intimated though,
as she would have been even last year--she seems comfortable with her
rogue statis, and goes on with her DUTY, solving the case she's involved in
irregardless of how she came
to BE involved in it. Crump's racist
comments to Mulder about his (possibly? probably?) being Jewish are
intriguing. This is the second episode
in which a racist has assumed Mulder to be Jewish, and both times
Mulder has neither confirmed nor denied
it. It would be interesting--especially as his father worked with
Nazi's on the project (Anasazi, The Blessing Way). David Duchovny
has stated in interviews that he assumes his
character is Jewish, and will until he has
been told otherwise (Duchovny is half-Jewish himself). It is clear by
this episode and "Kaddish" from the 4th
season (I think) that the writers are keeping this a possibility but
for one reason or another, aren't setting it in
stone (why, I don't know). In "Conduit" (Season 1) the episode ends
with Mulder crying in a Christian
church--which could elude to his being brought up in two traditions or
in neither his parents traditions or he
just stumbled in looking for solace. In subsequent episodes
("Revelations" season 3 and last years rip off of
same...the one with the scary angel that was killing those girls?)
Mulder has displayed contempt for religion
(at least Scully's Catholicism) and indeed for God himself. It would
make sense that mulder was angry at
God for "taking" his sister etc., and it would be interesting to
explore this side of Mulder. At the very least, I
hope that the next time they decide to bring up Mulder's "potential
Judaism" it would be in a more positive
and enlightning construct than some red-neck using the word Jew as an
insult. If Mulder has any kind of religious upbringing, let's explore it.

Go west, young man....OR DIE!!!!! Heh heh heh. My sister and I let
out a cheer when they crossed
>into California's borders. A thought crossed my mind as i was
listening to all the clearly American extra's. In
the past, we often heard Canadian accents come from the mouths of yokel
law enforcement, now, they are
pulling form LA's store of actors, and those poor Vancouverites are
trying to get jobs on "Nightman." The
thing is, much of the casting of recurring characters was done in
Canada, and this inlcudes Cancerman and
most of the Bad Guys! SO now it's like, an EVIL CANADIAN plot to take
over the world (that's where the
bees and clones were in season 4's"Herrenvolk" weren't they?) George
Lucas has said that he intentionally
cast the Imperail Empire as British, and most of the heroes as
American. Chris Carter has merely stumbled
into this but it made me laugh anyway and made that whole thing about
"the longest un-protected border in the world" seem vaguely ominus--any thoughts or comments A-Lynn? :D

Loved how Scully takes her mask off--she's so sure her theory is right
she's bets her life on it: Scully,
you show off! As someone who used to get nosebleeds quite frequently,
freak people out--I'm glad they tapered off before I started watching
this show, or I'd have thought I was
dying of brain cancer, an alien abductee and driving really fast all
the time. Loved Scully's interaction with
the navy guy--she grew up on Navy bases, remember, and is NOT
indimidated by the unifroms or the
attitudes. When she realizes this guy's incompetence, she gives him a
look that seems to say "My dad could
kick your ass, sailor!" This brings me to mind of how much I would
love to see Scully involved in a case that
also involves one or both of her brothers. We know Bill is a Navy
Commander, and Charlie...well, we just
know his name, but still, wouldn't it be cool if one of them was one of
the guys stone-walling her, or one of the guys tha't tips her off to the truth.
Just a thought. You all know by now that the Scully family is one of my
obsessions:) Loved CHiPs delivering the phone and the end was rather
affecting. Kersh's comments about
Mulder's relishing playing a martyr were delicious (I'm sure Mulder cut
Scully a check for his share of the damages), as was Scully's new found
pride in being a trouble-maker.

Next week looks awesome--I don't
know what I relish more, the "kiss", or Scully thretening Spender. I
write this from Northern California, but I
will be back in LA by tonight.

Until next week,

Christine :p

X-Files 6.1 "The Beginning"

Hey everybody! welcome back to the X-files, didn't that kick ass? I
am very optimistic about the new
season, as I've been reading a lot of reviews and interviews, and
everyone seems rejuvenated and excited
about the X-Files. I am currently visiting my family up in Northern
California, and am at my sister's computer,
so it's all a little different. Actually, I've just quit my job of
2and a half years, so everything's very weird and
different, so hey, I'm down with Mulder and Scully....Ok, I'm not in
disgrace or anything, but go with me
here. I read that Chris Carter had shot a new opening title sequence
that tweaked the music, added graphics
etc., but he chickened out and kept the old one. I may be in the
minority, but I think the opening is cheesy--
very derivitive of "Remington Steele." But what do I know? I like
that they are shooting in California--
Hey, it was two different planets in "Return of the Jedi," it can
certainly double for the rest of the US. I mean,
if you recall "Conduit," from the first season, they're in Iowa,
supposedly, and there's mountains and
redwoods--pretty lame. And Night is Night, dark is dark. You don't
need to be in Canada to be moody.
They shot 21 Jump Street up there, that wasn't moody.

Anyway, I thought the episode was great: bloody, creepy with some nice
character moments. Notice
the "Roush" name on the van in the beginning? That name came up in
the beginning of last season too. I
was so excited that we were finally watching a new episode of the show,
I kept turning to my sister and
saying "I don't know what's going to happen next!" Loved the tribunal,
Mulder giving his usual Rebel Yell,
while Scully looked uncomfortable. Scully hates being on the outside,
hates being in the doghouse, Mulder
doesn't give a rat's patootie. Carter did a marvelous job recapping
the movie and it's convoluted plot by
having it mocked by Wendie Malick's mean FBI big shot. Mulder and Scully
have a great fight right off the bat, and was it just me, or did Scully seem a little excited by it?
Dirty Diana and Pencil Neck as the anti-
Mulder and Scully, what the X-Files could be when David and Gillian
leave: lame. Love Mulder's open
contempt for Spender. I miss John Neville as the bad guy I liked. SO
sad to see him blow up in the movie.
Loved Scully being "rule girl" at the crime scene--the Homer Simpson
homage at the nuclear plant
was a bit too cute for me, and unnecessary, as Scully is indeed Lisa
Simpson all grown-up. When Mulder
was trying to explain how the aliens hatched from the body of that guy,
my sister thought Mulder should have
said "Didn't you see 'Alien', Scully?" Just keep robbing from the
best, and you'll be fine, Chris. If anyone
> wants to read about an evil murderous baby, I highly recommend "the
Small Assassin," by Ray Bradbury. A
very creepy short story in "The October Country." Anyway, loved Cancer
Man's saying "I'm not afraid of you," the
way a child would. Mulder and Scully's next fight is great--Scully
grabs his hand as she reminds him of his
expressed devotion and respect for her that he made in the film--is she
reminding him of the kiss? Weren't
you all thrilled to see that in the recap, as if to assure us they
won't pretend that didn't happen? Loved how
pissed she looked when he said her science was wrong--"my science is
never wrong!" she seemed to say with her eyes.
A happy face is one that's securly fastened to yur skull: 'nuff said,
yee! Scully, as she was in last season's finale, is the only one who seems truly interested in Gibson as a person, and I loved that Gillian is
able to convey her memories of Cancer treatment and Alien
experimentaion through her eyes and body
language--we don't need her to say "Gee, I know how you feel, I felt
helpless and scared when I went through this, and this reminds me of what
happened to Emily, too!" Thanks for trusting us Chris! Diana is so
obvious, coaxing Mulder with her "I'm as kooky as you" ass-kissing
stuff, and Mulder falls for it, the dope,
ditches Scully (that's once already this year, for those playing at
home). Diana's easy, a paranormal slut, if
you will, whereas Scully plays hard to get. Still, Mulder cheats on
Scully with his old partner, taking her to
the crime scene. I liked how mulder was stricken by finding the face.
Scully's yelling at the hospital staff
about Gibson's mysterious disappearnce harkens back to her mysterious
hospital arrival in Season 2's "One
Breath", and Mulder's righteous indignation on her behalf. Vickie,
remember when we were saying that one
>of the few things we disliked about the film was that we would have
liked Mulder and Scully to be reassigned
for a bit, answering to other people, doing other jobs and solving
X-Files on the side? We got our wish!
Their new boss is an "Another World" vet, by the way, which is always
nice to see. Scully shows Mulder
the truth about Diana's evil ways but he refuses to see the truth about
her, that will be a fun dynamic in
episodes to come, I hope. Loved how Scully's theory was even weirder
than Mulder's--she blinded him with
science! Her science wins in the end. SO we're all aliens eh? Sounds
a bit too L. ron Hubbard for me, but
it's interesting. Next week: The "CHiPs" episode of X-Files, can't wait:D

Hope you all have a great week :D

Christine