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This is one of those episodes that makes it oh so easy to laugh at those misguided "X-Files has gone mainstream" comments.
Ten years from now at 11PM when we are deciding whether to go to bed or stay up and check the TV Guide to see that channel 20 is showing "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" that night, maybe you'll decide you're not so tired after all.
There are hits, and there are misses, and there are *misses*. This, my friends, is a *hit*.
From the "loollapawhatsa" murder in the crystal ball to Scully with her new found pet thrashing out against the psychic this episode was top notch.
We are firmly in September now in the X-Files universe, the haunts of April/May remain only in *our* memories for now. In this universe we have cream pies and keystone cops and Mulder isn't the spooky one. Instead we have facial hair ...or not.
Darin Morgan is brilliant as an X-Files writer. He give us the humanity and the humor we crave after the intensely dramatic episodes we have seen, but instead of appearing "out of character" advances our knowledge of our favorite heroes.
The left turns are joyous. It is Mulder, not Scully, who gives off the "negative energy" - something she relishes. He gets the line "skeptics like you make me sick". Not Scully, who, once again, despite her own beliefs proves she is the psychic again.
The vision parallels were interesting (Bruckman in the head of lettuce, and let's just hope Dana never runs out of dog food). Mulder's discomfort at the "auto-erotic- asphyxiation" was priceless.
She may deny it, but we *know* Scully is psychic because:
-She sees killer both times at crime scene.
-She doubts Mulder with "Oh so now you're psychic?" obviously questioning one who would challenge her .
-Bruckman catches Scully's interest entirely. Once he alludes to Mulder's death she is all ears.
-She is "jealous" at Bruckman's capabilities.
-She solves the case on a tarot card and a thread. You go girl!
The dialog was great. I doubt we will ever have an episode with so many Mulder and Scullyisms. The "I see us in bed together scene" was a joy to watch. I know I have been waiting for a tagline to replace "Mulder, toads just fell from the sky" or "That would be bad for the fish". Current contenders are "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to give off any negative energy" and "I'm not one who readily believes in that sort of thing" --- DUH Dana!
Any episode that makes me laugh so much, that lets us see Dana's curiosity get the best of her ("All right so how do I die?") with such a wonderful X-Fileish answer "You don't", and still manages to scare me is in my mind an instant classic.
Darin Morgan, thank you. I loved "Humbug", I love this, thanks for making us laugh amongst the tragedy that is the X-Files. We needed it.