Autumn Tysko's X-Files Reviews

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Rain King

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"Don't look at me, this was your idea."

Timing is everything in scheduling.

You know, at this point I wonder if I could have seen "Bad Blood" for the first time last night and my reaction might have been "eh". I think this episode would have been better served if it had been tossed on the shelf and trotted out towards the very end of the season. At a time when the fans are not so starved for a strong, scary episode that they find themselves inexplicably yelling at the screen like Tourette's Syndrome sufferers. I swear I could hear things echoing around the country like: "For God's sake hit him we need some MulderTorture" as Daryl tosses fumbling swipes in Mulder's direction or "Would somebody PLEASE make Scully cry she does it much better" when confronted with the racoonish specter of Sheila Fontaine channeling Tammy Faye upset.

The thing is, first time writer Jeffrey Bell wrote himself a nice little script. Emphasis on nice. Bell gives both Mulder and Scully some great lines and has some fun with the characters. His dialogue had a snap to it and he had some wonderful visual ideas. I mean having Mulder and "the Missus" fly in on a puddle jumper to an airfield consisting of an airstream trailer and a baton twirling welcome committee to be greeted by Mayor Hoss Jr. in a feed store gimme cap - it just doesn't get much more fun than that. It was very nicely done. The problem is, right now we don't want nice. We've had nice until our teeth hurt. Heck, last week in the first "scary" episode in God knows how long, we even had to have a rather nice "monster". They really could have aired this episode any time. There are no references to the current status of Mulder and Scully in that we don't know if they are just freelancing on their weekend and trying to get away under Kersh's radar or this tale takes place sometime either in the past or the future when they have the X-Files back. The only really important character insight it offers as far as the Dynamic Duo is concerned is Scully's little women's room confession cloaked in advice which makes me suspect this takes place post movie. In the long run, I'm willing to bet this episode fairs much better than the initial reaction we will see to it. I'm thinking if we sit down with it six months from now it won't suffer so much from poor timing in the airing schedule.

Timing is everything in acting.

In some ways this was almost like watching two different shows. The most delightful thing about this episode was enjoying the sly comedic timing of Anderson and Duchovny. Anderson has the ability to make me crack up with just a well placed sideways glance or classic reaction to some Mulder absurdity. I always enjoy these cases where Scully thinks their presence is ridiculous but tags along anyway just for the looks and the chance of getting others to back up her theories about "cow incidents" and the like. The triumphant "I told you so" delivery in "Thank you. Can we go now?" and the faux serious "Mulder did they check you for head trauma?" were vintage Scully.

Duchovny made the most of his silence in the beginning looking oh-so-innocent as, per usual, he makes Scully piece things together on a flaky case in which he is "vague as to the specifics". Mulder seemed to like that "Missus" comment a little too much. I also enjoyed the way he tried to studiously ignore Holman's queries about the "beautiful" and "enchanting" Agent Scully until he just couldn't stand to not say something.

It is no mystery to us. Duchovny and Anderson together are gold, and if nothing else "Rain King" gave us that. From the so-them-it-is-perfect-exchange of "C'mon Scully, you act like I intentionally mislead you" /"A man... controlling... the weather," to their synchronized sway to "The Things We Do For Love" , to giving good cell: "Mulder when was the last time you went out on a date?" /"I will talk to you later," this was the tag team acting I've come to love on the show.

However, beyond Mulder and Scully all sense of subtlety ended. David Manis as Hardt was probably the most restrained, yet even he succumbed to gawky overblown stuttering in his "big scene". Victoria Jackson ran hot and cold as Sheila. Managing to only gain a sliver of sympathy in me in quieter moments like the teaser. The rest of the time the overblown emotions and silly prancy walk were too much for me to handle. However Clayton Rohner as Daryl Mootz was by far the most annoying. The problem with these characters, and for that matter almost everyone in the town, was that they were displayed as caricatures not characters. In order for the romantic comedy aspects of this piece to work we had to connect with them on some level, and audiences connect with real people not stereotypes.

Timing is everything in directing.

When so many performances are off I have to blame the director. It's as if Director Manners could not decide if he were directing a camp farce or a romantic comedy or merely X-Files light. The biggest failing of this episode is that it just didn't hold together consistently. It was at turns clever and irritating with revealing and well acted scenes like the women's room conversation interspersed with the over the top camp of that caught kissing moment. It was the uneven quality of the episode that kept it from being a more enjoyable outing.

From a special effects perspective things were also uneven. While the night rain worked fine, the downpour at the farm looked exactly like what it was. Some big truck dumping a ton of water on Duchovny and Anderson's heads on a bright, sunny day. I loved the heart shaped bouncing hail in the teaser - the way pieces popped up and twirled into frame. However, could the flying "cow" have been any worse? How did they do that one? Tie a string to a plastic figure and yank up? Looked that way.

So, what we have here is an episode with potential plagued by timing. Clever qualities in the script like the juxtaposition of the most pathetic in matters of love couple trying to play matchmaker while they remain blind to what everyone else sees as obvious unfortunately shares time with a pathetic one legged drunken rain dance. Not a bad X-Files, just a curious one that had potential. And one we did not need to see at this time.

Random Musings

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-Date stamp is difficult because it is vague. Takes place sometime in the six monthish time frame after Valentine's Day thus placing it in the fall.

-As most of you know, the X-Files really is a show about Scully's hair. So for me, the scariest moment in the episode was when Mulder and Scully got out of the car at the first farm and all of a sudden Scully had some sort of poofy hair helmet on. Thankfully it calmed down soon after that, but I had no problem with her getting drenched in that scene and having to start from scratch.

-I loved, loved, loved Mark Snow's scored for this episode. That thunderous bass beat and piano accompaniment was a great moody addition.

-What an exciting news station, what with amazing stories like two giant pandas in love and "watch the weather and win" you can bet I'd be riveted to KPJK.

-Speaking of the news, I did find it a little odd in the teaser that Holman was talking about *rain* in Kansas in mid-February. Seems to me that's the time of year for other forms of precipitation.

-Small character insight that we all guessed anyway: Scully is officially confirmed as at least part Irish.

-I can't for the life of me see what any woman would want in Daryl. "And you wonder why your ass is so big". Ugh. What a charmer. Pickings must be mighty slim in Kroner. Though I suppose he could be considered a step up from "blizzard boy" at the local DQ for Cindy. Though not by much.

-Frank's Fashion Spot: Seems Scully is quite fond of that long jacket as it's been popping up a lot this season. And, in a continuing theme, looks like she has a nice matching black bra to go with those new fetching black silk jammies. No wonder she was having a hard time sleeping. And one more thing. Who wears a Christmas bow on their head?

-In the plus column, any episode in which Scully spends that much time licking her lips just can't be all that bad.

-The use of music in this episode was quite inspired. I laughed out loud at "Rainy Days and Mondays".

-Some things never change. They may have moved from Vancouver to Los Angeles, but we'll still have misplaced mountains. Who said Kansas was flat?

-Some things never change #2: Mulder certainly does make himself at home in Scully's room, scattering his stuff about and lounging about on her bed. If she'd ordered a pizza I'm convinced it would have been long gone too.

-During that long take before they enter Rain King Enterprises for the first time Mulder and Scully saunter by Vince's cafe.

-The banner at the reunion reads "Go Kangaroos!" Now there's an exciting mascot.

-Now we know the ultimate gift of love: "I brought you a leg."

Autumn
"The blind leading the blind."

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