No, a theef didn't steal my review...X-Files 7.14 "Theef"

I just forgot! I'm unemployed and have started aggressively cleaning my
apartment--I even framed all my posters! I think I'm obsessive
compulsive but it goes in remission for years. Then it comes out and I must CLEAN!
CLEAN!

I thought this episode was REALLY scary and cool for the first..forty
minutes or so, but then it sort of fell apart in the end. AGAIN, we are
in California (high falootin' Marin County) FOR NO GOOD REASON
WHATSOEVER. This episode could have taken place anywhere in the
country, wouldn't have
mattered. Again, Mulder and Scully make no mention of yet another trip
to California. Sigh. I think they are actively trying to annoy me. The
beginning was grizzly and scary and I was actually saying things like
"dont' do it! Don't go in there!" The villain was positively creepy, as
were his poppets--"It was sport, Uncle!" If you recall, playing with
poppets was one of the things that got Abigail and the girls in trouble
in Arthur miller's "The Crucible"--that and naked dancing. The poppets were
hella freaky, too. "Do you believe in Folk magic?" by the Loving
Spoonful, perhaps? Did anyone see them at the Hall of Fame induction?
It was pretty bad. Rusty is one thing, but it was just humiliating to watch
people give that bad a performance in front of such a talented audience.
I like their songs, but they didn't seem Hall worthy to be, not with Steely
Dan and Aerosmith getting passed over. But, what do I
know, maybe it's a 60's thing. Maybe i "had to be there." I have some of
their 45's, I'm not dissing them hardcore, just...softcore.

I liked the lady in the magic store, I liked how clinical she was--the
Scully of folk magic. I liked that she wasn't the flaky flowerchild
stereotype one would expect to be written into a San Francisco Magic
store. I missed Mulder and Scully interacting--remember how we used to spend
time with them in the car, at crime scenes, just listening to them talk to
each other? They just weren't that involved in this one until the dumb
ending. I liked Mulder when he was figuring it all out, but Scully's doubts were
vague--again, I think I've said this before--it's like the writers are
tired of writing the scenes where she doubts everything, but, especially
as we wind down (presumably) why not have her acknowledge SOME belief? They
don't want to write the same old scene, but they won't give us anything
new--so they give us nothing. Scully was afflicted by Voodoo in the
second season, and she has seen the spiritual at work--she's professed belief in
God's working in the world--why not Satan? Why not have her display a
belief in Satan? In Darkness? Not that she Hasn't, but X-Files seems to
want to play her belief as a totally amazing surprising thing everytime
it happens, and it just makes her look like a hypocrite.

An evil black magic nut-job is pursuing you--let's take you to a secluded
scary cabin in the forest--a decision worthy of a Friday the 13th movie,
and where the episode loses it's power. Scully get's poppet'd, her faith
in God offering no protection (as I believe it would) and they get the
bad guy. Mulder's "you keep me guessing" line at the end, echoing their
brief banter in the beginning episode is not Nearly as clever as our writing
team thinks it is. Rather then illustrating some poignant truth we've
discovered about our heroes, this cute little dialogue trick seems to be
the REASON scully believed in the stuff in the first place.

So, Strong start, weak finish. next week's episode will be written by
William B. Davis, aka Cancerman. I'm no longer fearful of all the
upcoming actor-penned episodes, because they aren't bored with writing this show,
which is more than I can say for the staff. I will be visiting my family
the next couple episodes so...I'll try to get the review to you all from
my parents computer or what have you. Hope it's a good week, christine :D>