The X-Files Season 6, Episodes 4/5: Dreamland

What the fuck did I just watch?

OK, now they're just teasing us with the Mulder/Scully stuff. Seriously, the two of them just need to kiss already and have it be the actual Mulder and the actual Scully, no shapeshifters, no body swaps, no 1930s flashback extravaganza. Mulder/Scully needs to happen now.

While I appreciated a lot of the other aspects of this episode, there were some major false notes that really dragged it down for me. Yes, I liked the reference to Area 51, though apparently this episode does not tie in to the series mythology, which means Area 51 is not meant to be a part of that at all.

I did like some of the episode. In fact, I did find certain aspects very amusing. For example, the scene in which Morris as Mulder met the Lone Gunmen was hilarious, and a little disturbing in hindsight given what's happened to Saddam HusseinJohn Gillnitz since 1998. Makes you wonder what else they're not telling us, right? (Actually, given that this show ended in 2002, I wonder how or if they'll deal with the 9/11 attacks, since they definitely changed the way the FBI, CIA, and NSA do their business - my guess is not at all since most of season 9 would have already been in production by the time that much had changed.)

And the plot itself, or at least the idea behind it, wasn't completely horrible. It kind of reminded me of the beginning of the Fringe episode, 'Jacksonville' in places, only it wasn't a parallel universe, it was the same universe bending in on itself. Still not out of the realm of possibility for the Fringe universe.

[NOTE: For the purposes of this review, 'Mulder' will refer to the man we see on the screen as Mulder, who is mostly interacting with Morris Fletcher's family and coworkers, and 'Morris' or 'Fletcher' will refer to the man played by Michael McKean and masquerading as Mulder.]

All that aside, the rest just didn't work, and there were two particular things that completely changed my opinion of these episodes.

Obviously there's a parallel to 'Small Potatoes', which is an episode I did enjoy, only here it happens in reverse, because Mulder actually inhabited the body of the person who was impersonating him. OK, so that certainly had potential. But then it kind of went off the rails. A lot.

First was the absurdly uncomfortable comedy when Mulder first went home to Morris's family. Initially it was played as a silly misunderstanding, but then they just had to give the kids androgynous names for added embarrassment, and use the usual trope of asking a vague question about information Mulder couldn't possibly have had so he gives a horrifically wrong answer. Just, no. This was not funny, it was awful. I felt horrible for Mulder and for Morris and for his wife and for his kids in this.

And of course it only got worse from there. While it's true that Morris's marriage was on the rocks, the instant misunderstanding when Mulder whispered Scully's name in his sleep (!) was a complete cliché. In fact, all of the other family members were clichés. Joanne was so over the top jump-to-conclusionsy it was painful. I mean, geez, give the guy a break! Most people can't control who or what they dream about.

The one positive outcome of all of that is that Mulder realised (again) how much he truly needs Scully and needs his work at the FBI, even if it's currently crap work. It comes back to their non-coincidental conversation from the beginning. Mulder sees what he does as a normal life. He doesn't need to change.

Morris, on the other hand, is glad to have a second chance as someone else. Granted, his behaviour is bizarre at best and terrifying at worst, but there are certainly positive aspects to his character that shouldn't be overlooked. Apparently he can cook, and is more organised than Mulder is, even going so far as to completely clean up his apartment and get a real bed.

He's escaped his dissolving marriage and his boring job - granted, he doesn't really know yet that the job Mulder is stuck in right now at the FBI isn't exactly exciting, either - and can try again, and he certainly doesn't waste any time. Thankfully, Scully catches on to his outrageous behaviour in time to do something about it.

Except she doesn't do anything about it other than get them both to the right place at the right time. And this leads me to the other truly awful thing about this episode that I find even more unforgivable than the uncomfortable humour from earlier. The damned reset button.

Here's an episode in which characters learn a LOT about themselves and each other, possibly making positive steps forward in their lives - including Scully, who has witnessed something completely out of the ordinary and has had to accept that it's real and possible - and NOPE. Everyone just forgets as if it never happened. But somehow Scully still has a fused pair of coins and Mulder's apartment is still clean, and neither of them has any idea why.

Mulder and Scully grew closer to each other over the course of this episode, only to have it all taken away at the end.

Plus, there's the minor inconsistency of the reset apparently only affecting people who were near the location of the incident at first, which doesn't make any sense at all since it effectively reversed time. Or undid time. So when did Mulder's apartment get organised? Or why does Assistant Director Kersh, who was nowhere near Nevada, not remember his crusade against Scully and her suspension?

I think it's one of those things we aren't supposed to think that hard about. Unfortunately, not thinking about it kind of breaks this pair of episodes entirely.