Ego-Dystonic Musings

I basically have two modes: in my head or out of my mind.

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As the New Year begins, a terrifying evil is stirring from across the centuries of Earth’s history. As the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz return home, will they be able to overcome the threat to planet Earth?

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At his late Uncle Vladimir's estate, Bender is run over by a vicious Werecar, inheriting the curse. The only way to stop Bender's fatal transformations is to seek out and destroy the original Werecar - the deadly Project Satan.

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You don’t return people’s smiles—it’s perfectly clear to you that people can smile and smile and still be villains.

–Helen Oyeyemi, Boy, Snow, Bird

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George Sr. suggests a last-ditch effort to save the family by holding a fund raiser to raise money to pay their legal expenses. Michael suggests to Lindsay that she take over the house work, and he sends George-Michael to an expensive boarding school. Meanwhile, Maeby has trouble with a snowboarding film and Tobias tries to be a "discipline daddy".

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I'm watching The Wire 4x01 "Boys of Summer"

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Well, this will be the final entry of my marathon. We've had plenty of laughs so now it's time to end with...more laughs. So happy to finishing with a MOTW—as with many, these were always my faves. And this one just happens to be my fave amongst the faves. Mulder drives a stake through the heart of a vampire...who turns out to have fake fangs. Facing serious ramifications, he and Scully each recount their version of events that led up to the pseudo-slaying. This one gives us a guest turn from Luke Wilson as Sheriff Hartwell—alternately a heartthrob and a yokel, depending on the recount. As I said, Vince Gilligan and Cliff Bole have returned for pen-helm duties on this entry. Gilligan's inspiration came from an ep of THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, "The Night the Roof Fell In", in which the main characters tell different versions of a fight they have had (which of course is the RASHOMON trope). He kept the plot simple, an easy-to-follow vampire story, to allow time for the conflicting narratives. Simple the story may be but the ep itself is brilliant, innovative, hilarious, and immensely enjoyable. Like the other parodic eps, this one tweaks (amplifying Mulder's fanaticism and Scully's incredulity) but still loves. Particularly, we get to see how our heroes see each other, while also seeing how they want the other to see them. This episode is the truth.

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"I was born a loser, but you're one by choice." Getting in a couple more on this, the actual anniversary date. And these are fun ones. Oh so fun. First up, a tale of...tails. A rash of babies being born with tails bring Scully and Mulder to a small town where they encounter one Eddie Van Blundht (the 'h' is silent). The role of Eddie VB is played by Darin Morgan, who penned four eps for seasons 2 & 3 (two of which I watched yesterday)—I did say I'd be seeing him in one as well! The character was specifically written with him in mind. Also guesting in this one is Christine Cavanaugh—you may not recognize her face but you sure as hell should know her voice: Gosalyn, Chuckie Finster, Dexter, and Babe! Vince Gilligan penned this one (he's shown up twice in my marathon and he's not done yet!). He wanted to do a more lighthearted entry as he worried he'd get a reputation for only "dark" episodes (ironically, his first ep for the series was "Soft Light") and because he felt this fourth season had been too dark (what with the incest, cancer, and child murderers). It was directed by Cliff Bole—his first of 4...and I'll be seeing his work again too. He succeeded: a delicious romp of an ep, with some sharp and downright sad insights into Mulder's character. David Duchovny clearly has a blast playing an imposter version of his character.

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And one more for the night, a Mytharc. At the end of "Leonard Betts", the titular (I've used the word a lot during this marathon) tumor-eating MOTW said to Scully that she had "something he needs"—a bombshell that revealed that she had cancer. This ep follows up that storyline as Scully deals with her condition while Mulder seeks to learn how Scully's abduction played a role in her diagnosis. This ep was a joint writing collaboration between Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz. The decision to give Scully was Carter's, feeling it would give the series a new platform to explore faith, science, health care, and a certain element of the paranormal. Spotnitz agreed, also feeling that it was an "obligatory" move as previous alien abductees had suffered the same fate. One of the more poignant Mytharcs stories, this ep earned Gillian Anderson an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama.

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This one. This one...def lives up to the "monster" in MOTW. On to season 4 and the second ep is one of the series most memorable for its shock content and initial response. So graphic and disturbing was this one (for the time), Fox had to slap a graphic content warning and a TV-MA. For a 8 ET/7 CT viewing, that was serious. And in an unprecedented move, Fox never re-ran this one. Ever. Investigating the death of a baby with severe birth defects, Scully and Mulder travel the titular town in PA and meet a family by the name of Peacock, who are some...odd birds... This ep marks the return of the writing duo of Glen Morgan and James Wong who had left the series after season 2 to work on their own creation, SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND. After that series' cancellation, they wanted their X-FILES return to be "swift and shocking". And this is what followed. This is director Kim Manners' 10th entry of 51—the only of his I'll be getting to unfortunately, as he has several I'd enjoy revisiting. Don't remember the last time I watched this in its entirety so I'm in for a treat. Glad it's night now that I'm getting to it.

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"Truth is as subjective as reality." If "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" was dark fun, this one is meta fun. I don't think "meta" quite does this one justice. Author Jose Chung writes a book, a "non-fiction science fiction" about Scully and Mulder's investigation into the alien abduction of two teens...which may or may not have involved actual aliens. A bold riff of an ep that manages to tweak the series without undermining it. In other words, it floats the idea that most of this alien stuff is bullshit while maintaining that everything that happens in THE X-FILES is for real. It comes from the same mind that gave us "CBFR", so natch. Charles Nelson Reilly plays the titular author. And in accordance with the meta tone, we get Jesse Ventura and Alex Trebek as a pair of Men in Black...which absolutely makes sense in universe. A Darin Morgan/Rob Bowman pen-helm joint.

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"Cerulean blue is like a gentle breeze." This MOTW has a way with words. Mulder and Scully help investigate a serial killer who can apparently talk his victims into killing themselves. And he's looking for a true challenge. Robert Wisden plays the titular "monster", one of the series best—a guy whose big power only reveals how small he is. He's one of only three MOTW to return for a second ep: the other two being Eugene Tooms (from my earlier watch, "Squeeze") and Donnie Pfaster. A terrific climax to this one—for both its dramatic tension and the way the bond between Scully and Mulder figures into its resolution. This ep is the second entry of the series for one Vince Gilligan, writer (future creator of a series about meth cooking and morality). He'll go on to pen another 29 eps—again, I'll be visiting more of his work.

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Back to MOTW. The past few eps have been on the somber side—most Mytharcs are, what with the "our entire existence is a lie" thing. So now...a tale about a guy cursed with the ability to see how people are gonna die? Yet this IS a fun one thanks to a fantastically winning guest turn from Peter Boyle and an equally winning script by Darin Morgan. No surprise this one is frequently cited as not only one of the best of the entire series but one of the finest eps of TV ever. Those two folk I mentioned above also won Emmys for their work. This was only Morgan's second entry as a writer, having previously penned season 2's "Humbug". He'll go on to pen 4 more entries—2 in the initial run, 2 in the revival. I'll be getting to one of those later. Too many goodies in this one to list. Here's two: Buckman's delicious "autoerotic asphyxiation" prediction for Mulder's death—Morgan threw that one in due to previous series mentions about Mulder's predilection towards porn...and because he thought it'd be funny. Buckman's telling Scully "You don't" in response to how she dies: subsequent events— namely season 6's "Tithonus"—have helped the resulting "Scully is immortal" theory firmly take root in the fandom.

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Conclusion to "Anasazi" and "The Blessing Way". Some stuff I forgot to mention last ep: it was my first ep this marathon with both Cigarette Smoking Man and Alex Krycek and season 3 changed the theme song slightly (the piano melody). We start this one with a standoff and by the end we'll learn more about human/alien hybrids, the Mulder family's involvement, and where Skinner's loyalties lie. And another member of a main character's family will be dead. This storyline lays some major groundwork for things to come and this ep in particular remains amongst the best of the Mytharc. Another Rob Bowman-helmed entry—more of his to come!

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More MythArc. Really, I should be including the previous season's finale, "Anasazi", as this is really a three-parter (as indicated by the "2" next to the ep title). But hell there's many an ep I dig (most of 'em MOTW, to be honest) that I won't be getting to in this mini-marathon so I can let one or two story-completers slide. Anyway, the previous season ended with Mulder's father murdered, the Cigarette Smoking Man on the hunt, and a burning boxcar full of bizarre bodies...with Mulder possibly still inside. So yeah, Mulder has survived but just barely. Scully's under suspension. The Syndicate's not happy. And spirit visions. Season 3 is generally regarded as the series' best. Hard to argue, particularly as it will contain the bulk of my viewing—though my fave faves do come in seasons 4 & 5... This ep introduces John Neville as the Well-Manicured Man—who will go on to serve as a more genteel antagonist, as well as a source of dissent and ambivalence amongst the Syndicate. It also introduces Lenno Britos as Luis Cardinal, an assassin who will deal some heavy blows this season. And we learn about the implant in Scully's neck, which will of course have some major implications.

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Next up, the conclusion to "Colony". The Alien Bounty Hunter has Scully, Milder learns the truth about Samantha, and a pursuit takes us to the Arctic. Fun fact: Chris Carter had wanted to set my earlier watch, "Ice", in the Arctic but hadn't been able to at the time; this ep gave him that opportunity. We get a guest turn from Steven Williams as the inscrutable X. So dug Williams' work in this series. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be seeing him again in this re-watch. This one was the writing debut of Frank Spotnitz—for this series and for TV as a whole. He'll go on to pen over 40 more entries as he serves on the series till its (first) conclusion; I'll be seeing his work again. It was directed by Rob Bowman—his fifth of 34 entries.

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Of course, I can't just watch MOTW eps. Mulder and Scully investigate a string of homicides and learn that the victims were clones. It gets weirder from there. A seminal Mytharc entry, this one introduced the Alien Bounty Hunter, the ice pick weapon, and the adult Samantha Mulder (speaking of clones...) Series creator Chris Carter penned this one himself—he and David Duchovny conceived the story.