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"Honey, what do you think? Is this place us or what?"
This episode succeeds at times precisely because it is simply so not them. In a season that has tried hit and miss to find humor in things like the unbelievable stereotypical hicks from "Rain King" or that embarrassing mirror dance from "Dreamland" this episode draws on the humor to be found in the most adorable couple on television finally playing an adorable couple. In doing so "Arcadia" becomes much more amusing than most of the intentionally light offerings we've had. Perhaps because it found humor in its situation rather than trying so darn hard to be funny. The big difference was they treated the episode seriously instead of reveling in "look how funny we are" antics.
This is a case of an episode that had to overcome its monster, and it was a big mess to overcome. Without the hook of the undercover investigation this could have just as easily been titled "Our Neighborhood" where the problem is "Crapzfildt-Junkob". For a first script, Daniel Arkin does an admirable job fairing much better than most. I love that initial moment, alone in the house, where Scully removes her coat with "you ready?" and the Mulder/Scully version of "let's get it on honey" means donning the prophylactics and getting down and dirty in investigation. It's this investigation that really saves the episode. They weren't just there for laughs. They were there for a purpose, acting like FBI Agents and doing a pretty good job of the undercover work.
Mulder, of course, takes full opportunity of the situation to amuse himself. He's hanging all over his "lovely wife" talking about spooning up like baby cats and pushing Scully as far as he can while she is clearly there to work. Anyone want to bet Mulder got a three-inch heel in his shin for those "new ager" comments? When Mulder and Scully play house, they suddenly transform into Yuppie!Mulder and Perky!Scully. Mulder pretending he's just stumbling across all the wrong questions to ask and Scully, never known for her acting abilities, raising the pitch of her voice and going all smiles with a hilarious fake laugh. My favorite moment in all the undercover silliness had to be that air kiss Scully tosses Mulder when he tries to grab her after dolphin safe tuna casserole. Clearly Duchovny and Anderson were having fun playing these moments. >From a relationship perspective, the telling scenes were when they were alone. I'd expect Mulder to get the gloves to the face after that sandwich bit (which was perfectly performed by both actors). Also, the fact that Scully had no problem parading around in front of Mulder wearing a facial mask says volumes about how comfortable they are with each other. There's no need for false modesty when your partner has yanked you naked out of alien goo before.
I thought the supporting cast for this episode was especially strong. Tom Gallop as Win Shroeder gave an interesting edge to the homeowner realizing that maybe, just maybe, a pink flamingo wasn't worth killing someone over. Abraham Benrubi, long one of my favorite supporting actors on "ER" , was well suited for the good natured doofus Big Mike.
The weaker moments, besides the obvious mud monster that really wasn't that scary (Oh, no! A broken bulb!), included once again saddling Gillian Anderson with X-Files Exposition 101 while Scully makes clinical home movies. I really wish they'd find ways to make this more interesting than giving an actor a page of dry dialogue to recite. I think it would have been much easier to stomach had they involved both actors or found a way to do it conversationally. Then there was Gogolak who I believe managed to utter almost every cliche' possible (which in my book is trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with D and that stands for dull). But that's not all! We get the obligatory character watching something pertinent to the story just to hammer the theme home a little harder for the slower members of the audience. I'd have rather Big Mike was watching something a little more befitting his character than "Look at Me I'm Important to the Plot TV". Finally, they went to the Scully in jeopardy theme not once, but twice for tension and both times inexplicably had her unarmed instead of carrying her gun.
Certainly far from perfect, but enjoyable none the less.
-Date Stamp: Scully tells us as she videotapes that it is February 24th. Too bad the 2nd unit folks were not paying attention as the watch close up inserts read the date as "7" and "9".
-The name joke was funny... for a while. I do like the way it was Scully (who was obviously not enamoured with Mulder's little joke) that was always the one to correct the pronunciation to sound like a scientific specimen dish.
-Gotta love that welcome gift basket that is about half Scully's size. Of course Mulder saunters in without helping, tossing his clothes about.
-Speaking of Mulder tossing his clothes. The reaction Gillian Anderson gave Scully as the sweatshirt barely cleared her head in the bedroom was priceless.
-16 pounds of pet? I have a cat bigger than that. I'd say Gogolak's "pet" weighed in a little more than that.
-I really enjoyed Duchovny in his "bring it on war" armed with lawn ornaments and orange juice. He certainly got a lot of mileage out of that carton.
-I can't quite figure out why this episode was postponed. It certainly wasn't due to major script changes based on the shooting script I have. I'm not sure how the UberMensher could have looked that much sillier, so the "special effects" delay excuse puzzles me. Personally, my guess is that they wanted to push this episode out of sweeps for something more serious. However, as this was a much better episode than "Agua Mala" , the decision is curious.
-I suppose it still works as their "first catch" back on the X-Files as "Agua Mala" could have been classified as a favor for a friend.
-Nice moment: Scully's reaction was exactly the way someone would act if indeed their china had been broken, but in this case she is mourning her lab equipment.
-Did Duchovny have something put in his contract this year that specifies a basketball must appear in at least a third of the episodes? I think the basketball got a better deal than most of the supporting cast this year. Well, better that than the porn references I guess.
-I'm trying to figure out why Scully's Sony had a little alien face key chain thing hanging off of it.
-Frank's Fashion Spot: Well despite the fact I am disappointed they did not have Scully in capri pants it was fun to see Mulder and Scully sporting suburban fashion for a change. However, I have to admit I am disappointed in the sleepwear choice for Scully. Those have to be the ugliest pajamas we've seen on her in the entire series history. Bring back the silk sets. Quick.
-My favorite line this episode: "Yes, this is Special Agent Dana Scully. I need a full forensic team to 450 Autumn Terrace." No reason. I just like the way Gillian said it. Really. That's all.
-Also even though we *know* the house was on Autumn Terrace the address on the Kline's package read something like "Clover Fields".
-Our Little Sailor: Well, it wasn't exactly swearing, but I think we all know exactly what Scully was calling Mulder when she said "That's right Poopyhead." -Nice Touch: Having Gogolak keep his "Contracts, Covenants and Restrictions" book on a Bible stand.
-Well, now we know how the show is making up those additional costs of moving production to Los Angeles: product placement. I was surprised in "Tithonus" to see an obvious Coke can on Mulder's desk. I mean these are the folks who in Vancouver were positively anal about changing brand names. This episode alone featured Ericsson, Izod, Tropicana, Sony, Mercury Villager, Omega, and even a Ford backhoe. I may have even missed one or two.
-While the teaser "Jurassic Park" water glass effect was going on anyone think Mrs. Kline would have been a lot smarter to crawl out one of those open windows rather than cowering on the bed?
Autumn
"If we ever go undercover again, I get to choose the names."