I’m glad The X-Files chose to make the first few episodes of Season 6 humorous ones. After the depress-fest of Season 5, we sure could use it. This one has a body-swapping plot akin to Vice Versa, Like Father Like Son and 18 Again, with some government security shenanigans thrown in for good measure. Sculder are driving along a dark road toward Area 51. Dana is getting wistful about missed personal life opportunities (marriage, children, yadda yadda yadda) while Fox clearly has a different definition of the word “normal.” They get stopped and removed from the car at gunpoint. You know, that actually is normal for them. A different cigarette-smoking man named Morris Fletcher – played by Michael McKean who everyone knows from somewhere -- wants answers from them and insists flying saucers do not exist. He’s half right. A flying triangle arrives, warbles above them for a second, then continues on its way. Sculder leave … sort of. It looks like Mulder and Fletcher swapped bodies and no one but them noticed. It’s a Freaky Friday situation, even though this episode aired on a Saturday. On the upside, Mulder has free access to Area 51. On the downside, some stranger with unknown intentions just drove off with Scully. Decisions, decisions.
You’d think government agents assigned to Area 51 would have more official-looking ID badges. We could have made the same ones – back in the 1990s, mind you – and looked more official. Fletcher’s isn’t even grammatically correct, because if it is, then his name is Fletcher Morris, not Morris Fletcher. Mulder makes his way to Morry’s office, which is filled with photos of Fletcher’s family, the Reagans, Newt Gingrich and even some enemies of state. He tries to call Scully, who’s been put on gas-pumping duties due to the proximity of the rental car’s gas cap. She unfortunately doesn’t pick up the call in time. Mulder-as-Fletcher has to handle a mole in the organization as well as an irate wife – played by Nora Dunn – at home. Luckily, he has the porn channel to relax him. Fletcher-as-Mulder just gets to listen to cool music and smoke Morleys. General Wegman from Area 51 arrives at the flying triangle crash site. The pilots are alive; one is embedded in rock(!) and the other is speaking an unknown language. Scully and faux-Mulder make it back to D.C. and meet with Assistant Director Kersh, who is mad at them for violating protocol yet again. This Fox actually apologizes to Kersh, so Dana knows something is wrong with him. She gets another clue when he flirts with Kersh’s secretary … and when he smacks Scully on the butt.
JoAnne Fletcher wakes Mulder Morry, who is in for the shock of his life now that he has the “normal” family situation Scully was just talking about. His wife is unhappy, he doesn’t know his son from his daughter (literally) and he can’t even take his car keys without the family making a federal case out of it. Fox goes to change his suit … and finally gets a real glimpse in the mirror at his new physique. This is the funniest scene of the season so far. He does everything but the one thing you would expect -- he doesn’t look down his boxer shorts. (Although maybe he did that while watching those movies the night before.)Back in Area 51, General Wegman learns the triangle craft’s captain claims to be Hopi Indian Lana Chee. Lana, who soldiers found outside Area 51, identifies herself as the captain and explains to the general what happened the night before when he was at the controls of the aircraft. Faux Mulder is playing online golf when real Mulder calls Scully on the phone but Dana has doubts, at least until Faux Fox wants to handle it by notifying Kersh. Red flags everywhere, Scully!
Our Mulder buys some sunflower seeds at a local gas station, shortly before secret squirrel stuff hits the fan. Something has leveled the gas station and embedded the attendant halfway into the floor. The Area 51 agents clean up the mess by shooting the attendant and burning down the gas station. Dana goes to Fox's apartment where Kersh’s assistant (did they ever give her a name?), looking disheveled and satisfied, is leaving. She tries to yell some sense into “Mulder” about pursuing this X-file – his life’s work – but Faux Fox resists. Mulder-as-Fletcher learns the swapping and rock-embedding occurred because of a tear in the space time continuum caused by the triangle craft’s gravity-pulse mode. General Wegman said they have flown these crafts since 1953 without issues. Fox wants to undo it, but apparently Fletcher’s job is not to rectify the situation, just to cover it up. That’s probably Mulder’s worst nightmare. Dana arrives at the burned-down gas station and finds a dime and penny embedded together; it’s actually the change Mulder left the attendant when he bought the sunflower seeds.
Back at Casa Fletcher, JoAnne thinks Morris doesn’t find her attractive because he’s impotent. At least it’s given her hope they can save their marriage … until Dana Scully arrives at her front door. (Did I mention that Mulder-as-Fletcher mentioned Scully’s name in his sleep?) I wonder what the divorce laws are in Nevada because real Fletcher is probably going to lose everything. Fox, meanwhile, has never been so happy to see Dana, even though he can’t quite convince her the body swap occurred. And still Scully resists believing him, despite the unbelievable things she has seen over the years in the X-files. Faux Fox is a step ahead though and sets Faux Morry up for a fall. Faux Mulder also ratted out Scully’s location to Kersh, who is beyond fed up with her. Alvin orders Dana to set up Faux Fletcher/Mulder, who gets arrested by the military. No tidy ending today, you’ll have to wait until next week.Sestra Professional:
Season 6 quickly garnered a reputation as "X-Files Lite," and that probably springs as much from the two-parter that anchored a string of blithe fare as any move to Hollywood ever could. But like Sestra Am, I don't think it's such a bad thing. Not because I found Season 5 such a downer, but these aerier episodes lightened the load. Some bemoan the lack of more serious cases and mythology that got us into the show to begin with, but I'm not one of them because I think the conspiracy element already had gone off the rails to some degree.
Don't you ever just want to stop? Get out of the damn car? So the "Dreamland" concoction was pieced together by the writing trio of Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz and it does feel like that. Some from Gilligan's island, a little shucking and Shib-ing and a spot of -nitz. One of the signatures of their work is that Dana tends to exhibit a desire for a personal life outside the FBI. She also gets to quip on par with Fox.
The X-Files was definitely due for a look at Area 51. Because this is well documented and covered territory in the entertainment industry, perhaps Groom Lake was grist for the comedy mill in regards to our show. What could really be said or pointed out that hadn't been done before? Doing a little body switcheroo was just the ticket. I got a top secret for you: Michael McKean was an inspired bit of casting, even thought the role apparently was originally intended for David Duchovny's friend, Garry Schandling. If you need someone to play a version of Mulder in a lighter vein, you can't do better than the veteran of everything from Laverne & Shirley to This Is Spinal Tap. We don't crave another buttoned-down person in authority, we need someone who could play a little fast and loose with the words in the script. The kind of guy who can say "There's no such thing as UFOs" and then do a subtle doubletake a second later when one comes over the horizon.
This is a sharp episode for Duchovny too. Part 1 is basically all setup, and we see our male lead can deliver the subtle reactions just as well as McKean. "Dreamland" also calls for bigger acknowledgements -- showing the badge proves particularly key because it clarifies why we see Faux Fox and Faux Morris as the people they are on the inside. It's great to fun to watch Mulder playing the other side of the coin -- the people whom he is forever investigating and accusing. I'm just not myself lately: The irony of Fox forced to live out the life that just minutes earlier Dana had contemplated is a nice touch. Maybe it's a little bizarre that Mulder chooses to sack out in a stranger's living room with porn on the television, but the dude was uncomfortable. I guess he had to seek out something from his own life that made him feel more secure. His attempts to get Scully to believe him are fun to watch too, even thought the fact that he knew she'd been putting bee pollen in her yogurt probably should have done the trick.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Johnny Cash." And now a few words about that mirror scene. It's nicely reminiscent of the famous I Love Lucy scene between the star and Harpo Marx that was an homage to the Marx Brothers' routine in Duck Soup. But, well, don't you think Fox doesn't make the most natural movements while trying to trip up Morris? And Mark Snow's music cue for the mirror dance is off-the-charts ... well, to quote Dana ... "bizarre."
The other victims of the time-space continuum aren't having such an painless time of it either. The body swaps between the captain and the old Indian woman probably were a lot easier to live with than the guy in the rock or the shopkeeper in the floor. Watching Faux Lana Chee give details of the flight is a standout moment in the episode. I could have watched her explaining what happened when the captain was at the controls of the UFO technology for an hour without any of the Mulder body switching.This is an X-file ... your life's work ... your crusade: There's not a lot for Gillian Anderson to do in this one, except to react with surprise and astonishment to every single thing that Faux Mulder says and does. But it's different than Scully's usual scowls at the theories posed by Real Mulder and a nice chemistry develops as McKean plays perfectly off the physical cues that Anderson gives him. She does nail the final scene when Dana seem to finally start to suspect that maybe the strange man claiming to be her partner might be telling the truth.
Guest star of the week: Well, yeah, it's McKean, but he's even finer in Part 2, so I'm giving the nod to Nora Dunn here. She's someone who admittedly was not a favorite of mine on Saturday Night Live, but her sharp manner totally suits JoAnne Fletcher. Her tirades about Faux Morris' behavior, the children and the recurring Scully theme fit the proceedings to a T. Or an X, in our case.
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