Sestra Amateur:
I really hope I enjoy this episode because it’s the last one I’ll get to watch without Fox Mulder’s presence. In Van Nuys, California, a couple of righteous dudes, Blake McCormick and Michael Daley, are drinking beer across the street from the Brady Bunch house. They enter the house as groovy burglars and play with the bric-a-brac, which includes Carol’s vase and Greg’s football. One jive turkey panics and decides to go wait in the car. Blake goes upstairs and encounters Bobby and Cindy Brady in the hallway. Somehow the space cadet gets thrown through the roof … and across the street. To paraphrase Bobby, Mom always says don’t break into our house.
FBI Special Agents John Doggett and Monica Reyes are called in to investigate. John initially thinks the victim fell from a helicopter. Local coppers bring Michael Daley -- played by Married with Children alum David Faustino -- back to the scene of the crime. He tries to convince Team Johnica it’s the Brady Bunch house. Luckily – or unfortunately – Monica knows the true house and claims this ain’t it. And judging by Doggett’s reaction, he is not impressed with Reyes’ pop-culture knowledge.
John and Monica make contact with the current homeowner, Oliver Martin (Cousin Oliver!?), who is played by Lost and Person of Interest star Michael Emerson. Daley enters the house with Team Johnica, but it is nothing like the 1970s museum he observed the previous night. Doggett does some old fashioned police work and finds a recently patched hole on the roof of the house. Sure, his explanation of what happened sounds far-fetched, but it’s nice to see him embrace the impossible, even as Reyes surprisingly doubts it. To paraphrase Jan Brady, "Monica, Monica, Monica!"
Of course, FBI Special Agent/Doctor Dana Scully does the autopsy on poor Blake but before she can begin, she gets supernaturally shocked by her scalpel. Team Johnica talk to Scully via Zoom (OK, OK, 2002’s version of Zoom) at the FBI field office located in Los Angeles’ version of Los Angeles. (They finally got the geography right!) Dr. Dana supports Doggett’s theory and mentions McCormick’s current electrical state. Meanwhile, Michael Daley is back at the house, watching Alice feed the Brady family dinner through the window. The spaz breaks in, but the Bradys are nowhere to be found. Daley confronts Oliver, who tries to get Michael to leave. Too bad something gets a hold of the trespasser and sends him through the ceiling – and to his death in the yard. That’s what happens to snitchers, Michael! Ask Cindy.
Team Johnica go to the fresh crime scene, but Oliver Martin isn’t cooperating this time. Scully arrives in L.A. with someone who can help: Dr. John Rietz, who knew Oliver as a young telekinetic boy named Anthony Fogelman. Meanwhile, Oliver is patching up the new hole and imagining Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby and Cindy running down the stairs when Dr. Rietz calls. Martin reacts to him but doesn’t answer the phone. Back at the FBI field office, Monica realizes Oliver Martin took Cousin Oliver’s name. Dana adds to the revelation by pointing out how Cousin Oliver considered himself a jinx.
Doggett takes Dr. Rietz to Oliver’s and sees the house in all its Brady Bunch glory. John confronts Martin but he wants Doggett to exit the normal way. Since John won't oblige, Oliver’s temper gets the better of him and Martin sends Doggett through the ceiling and into the attic! Luckily, John goes feet first, which probably saves his life. Unfortunately, now he’s upside down. Dr. Rietz helps Oliver release his hold on Doggett, so he painfully crashes to the floor. Luckily he doesn’t end up with Marcia’s football-to-the-face nose.
Scully and Reyes arrive to assist John. Monica is enthralled by accuracy of the Brady Bunch house. Martin displays his powers by changing the interior to a beautiful landscape. Of course, this looks computer-generated, unlike the house interior. Doggett wants to leash Oliver’s power, but Dana wants to study it. Too bad Oliver still doesn’t have complete control over it. The group takes Martin to meet Assistant Director Walter Skinner and Dr. Jacocks at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC.
Oliver manages to put a smile on Walter’s face (and creepy ones on almost everyone else’s) by levitating and spinning Skinner. Just when things look alarmingly positive for our intrepid heroes, Oliver suffers a seizure because the power is causing his organs to shut down. The Brady clan visits Martin’s bedside to say goodbye. Doggett realizes Dr. Rietz has a choice to make: Oliver’s ability or Oliver. The good doc picks Oliver, I mean Anthony. And Team Johnica move one step closer to each other. At least, I think they’re getting closer. Or maybe like Jan, I just need glasses.
Sestra Professional:
While Sestra Am set out to enjoy the last Mulder-less episode, my focus was squarely upon the fact that "Sunshine Days" was the final Vince Gilligan effort for the series. (Is it my imagination or was Fox mentioned more here than he was for large parts of this season?) Gilligan wound up too busy breaking great with Breaking Bad to be involved with the revival seasons. I always surmised that he had the idea of using The Brady Bunch in his back pocket for a while (I thought that about his directorial debut on Season 7, Episode 21's "Je Souhaite" too), and in his last hurrah -- or because he was out of other ideas -- he made it happen in his swan song.
On the surface, it seems like the lightest episode we've had in some time, but in true Gilligan fashion, there's much more going on. Still, we've been dealing with some heavy stuff, dudes, between the departure of William and the resolution of the Doggett's son murder mystery. So it's kind of nice to transport the show lock, stock and horse sculpture to a place that reminds us of a simpler time, sitting in front of the TV after school and watching reruns. Except for Oliver, no one needs to be reminded of Oliver. It's like being reminded of Diana Fowley.
Who's on crack now, huh? We know we're in an X-Files episode, though, when we see the youngest Bradys Bobby and Cindy in the hallway during the opening teaser and they seem more like the twins at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. Ultimately, the ep winds up being more in the Stephen King milieu of Carrie with the "Mozart of psychokinesis."
Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish seem very relaxed for the penultimate effort of the season. Now unburdened by Doggett's past, John and Monica get to quip and he admits he's finally getting the hang of the job. On top of that, we learn that Scully was one of us -- she watched The Brady Bunch regularly too. Pretty good for someone who would never partake in bar trivia (although we could surely use her for science questions).
A to B to C: To me, this episode has always felt reminiscent of "Field Trip" (S6E21), the teleplay for which was co-written by Gilligan and John Shiban. It's got that end-of-season looseness. It's a melting pot of "we've been thinking about these things for a long time, so let's get them into a show while everyone is too tired to rationalize them." And I think it's a little too loosey goosey. Sure, it's fun, well, except for the victims who flew through the air like they were in a cartoon, but obviously weren't.
It's strange for Scully to want to hang nine years of searching for incontrovertible proof on this case. But it's nice to see her smile again (particularly when Skinner goes pate over tea kettle). And it's definitely nice to see Walter at all. But after Vince was involved in jumping the shark with the demise of the Lone Gunmen three episodes ago, we're now on the other side of that pop-culture phenomenon. There are aspects of his vision to be enjoyed, but on the whole, his episode isn't quite up to Gilligan snuff. I loved "Sunshine Days" when it first aired, but like The Brady Bunch itself, I've let it go as the years have gone by.
I don't particularly want to rain all over Vince's exit parade, he gave so much to the series over many years. And he imbues his final X-Files creation with the most important reminder -- family isn't just blood. (Fox Mulder will be happy to hear that since his biological pop is C.G.B. Spender.) You truly become family when you invest in other people emotionally. For that reason, Vince will always be X-Files blood (good and "Bad.")
Guest star of the week: Michael Emerson reminds me so much of Mike White (School of Rock) that, for years, I thought the latter was the star of this episode. But I hereby cast aside my incorrect impression of Anthony/Oliver. We need to have empathy for a character who kills a couple of people, including Bud from The Brady Bunch antithesis Married with Children. And we do, thanks to Emerson.
