"Dreamland"

“Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Johnny Cash.”
Originally Aired 11/29/98

For as long as I have been a fan of The X-Files I have been very skeptical of the Sixth Season. This was the first year the series was filmed in sunny California, after the previous seasons were located in lush Vancouver. The change in location seemed to usher in a lighter tone for the series, with more of a focus on comedic episodes. On the heels of an intense Fifth Season and the feature film, this seemed like a bad move that could’ve cut short the mainstream success of the series. Last week’s “Triangle” was a fantasy episode taking inspiration from The Wizard of Oz, while “Dreamland” borrowed from Freaky Friday, and even earlier was the Speed-like episode titled “Drive.” All of these are not your typical hour of The X-Files.

Though “Dreamland” was amusing, as the episode moved along, I wondered why Mulder would so easily accept that he’s suddenly body-jumped into a Man in Black from Area 51. He doesn’t put up a fight or even call Scully until well after he’s inside of the Area 51 compound. I suppose this is no different than many conspiracy thrillers, which were much more enjoyable once you stop thinking and enjoy the ride. The point of this episode smacked me across the face when I remembered Scully’s conversation with Mulder from the beginning of the episode: “Don’t you ever just want to stop? Get out of the damn car? Settle down and live something approaching a normal life?” This is Mulder in that normal, suburban life, yet hilarity ensues when it clashes with his typical bachelor life of crashing on the sofa in front of adult movies. It’s like “Small Potatoes” turned up to 11, which coincidentally this episode co-stars Michael McKean of Spinal Tap fame. That’s actually a brilliant move on the part of the writers, which sees Vince Gilligan return to that concept from his earlier episode, and now includes the assistance of Frank Spotnitz and John Shiban. “Small Potatoes” featured David Duchovny portraying someone else in the guise of Fox Mulder, and this episode expands upon that concept with Michael McKean and Duchovny playing each other’s character.

The body swapping isn’t just limited to an FBI Agent and a Man in Black, but there’s also a man morphed with the floor of a gas station and a pilot who’s swapped with an elderly Native American woman. The best morphing is his co-pilot, who has become one with a large boulder. Despite all of these odd morphings, what I found funnier was that Morris Fletcher’s fellow Area 51 co-worker looked like a doppleganger of Agent Spender, who seemed to have an ulterior motive (guess I’ll find out for sure in Part 2.)

Hey! That's Mulder's reflection in the mirror, not Morris!

I can admit when I’m wrong about tv shows and movies, and boy, I was wrong about Season Six. This lighter turn for The X-Files is more than just about comedic episodes, it’s possibly the ballsiest move that I’ve witnessed from any television series! If Season Five was supposed to be the writers stretching the show’s format, they were still playing within the confines of the “case each week” mold. However Season Six has completely thrown that format out the window! Though “Drive” had Mulder discover the “X-File” via channel-surfing, these last two episodes haven’t had a case at all, or at the very least the thinnest hint of an investigation. An anonymous informant within Area 51 is just a MacGuffin in order for the body-swapping hijinx to begin; after that it’s purely a showcase for the comedic talents of David Duchovny and Michael McKean. I bet they didn’t even include anything in the script for the scene where McKean is playing Mulder’s reflection in the mirror, they just let those two actors loose to improvise their own routine. While “Dreamland” may not have made me laugh as much as previous episodes, this was certainly David Duchovny’s funniest performance and “Annoyed Scully” is always welcome.