The Grand X-Periment Day 21

10/21/11

54) Monday- Season 6, Episode 14- Or as I like to call it, Groundhog's Day The Episode. The cold open is Skinner storming into a tense hostage standoff outside a bank. A woman runs up and tells him he has to stop what is coming. Inside we see Mulder bleeding out from a gunshot wound as Scully cradles him. A man with a gun freaks out when cops storm in and blows up the whole bank, killing our heroes and everyone else. So far, so X-Files.

After the opening credits we get Mulder waking up in his mysterious new waterbed (an aftereffect from the Dreamland story that no one involved in remembers). It has sprung a leak, soaking his floor, killing his clock radio and ruining his cell phone. Mulder has to pay his downstairs neighbors (by the way, how much would it suck to live under Mulder with the constant gun play and fisticuffs going on above you?) and he is late for work. We see the opening play out again but this time, the ending is slightly different. And then Mulder wakes up again...

Each time through the story, something subtle changes. The major beats are still the same (waterbed is always leaking, Mulder is always late for the most boring meeting ever) but the details are tweaked each time. Every time Mulder or Scully go in the bank, the bomb ends up going off. The only person who is aware of the replaying is the bank robber's girlfriend. She keeps trying to throw a wrench in his plans but it always goes the same way.

The resolution is sufficiently X-Filesarrific and dark. Mulder wanting to believe is the only thing that breaks the cycle. Scully's skepticism seems to perpetuate it. A fun episode all around.

55) Arcadia- Season 6, Episode 15- It was tough to pick between this one and an earlier episode called Terms of Endearment (where a demonic Bruce Campbell tries to plant his demon seed). Ultimately, this one won a spot in the marathon because of Mulder and Scully having to go undercover as a married couple. Mulder tries to take advantage of the forced closeness at every opportunity but it finally occurred to me how Scully generally sees Mulder. He is a big ol' dork. She loves him but, sometimes, he is like a kid with ADD and not half as charming as he thinks he is.

The gist of this one is that residents of a gated community keep vanishing when the break the rules of the neighborhood (no tacky lawn displays, your mailbox must me the right shade of beige, etc.). Watching Mulder screw with the status quo is fun. This isn't a very deep episode or anything. The threat is novel for the show (and luckily, I have been reading Dr. Sleepless so I know all about the monster in this one) and comes to a satisfying conclusion.

Tomorrow, my beloved Season 6 comes to an end with Duchovny's directorial debut, a sequel to the Lone Gunmen ep from last season and the three part finale/premiere that I have never seen before.