"Monday"

"Scully, did you ever have one of those days you wish you could just rewind and start all over again from the beginning?"
"Yes. Frequently."
Originally Aired 2/28/99

There is a reason singers choose to write songs about disliking Mondays, from the Mamas and the Papas to The Bangles, with songs such as "Manic Monday", "Monday Monday", "I Don't Like Mondays", and "Rainy Days and Mondays." Other bands, such as Stone Temple Pilots, have sang about other days of the week, but nothing rings true quite like being down on the first day of the "work" week. Mulder is just like us, as this episode shows he has bad days too, with mundane problems like potentially bouncing a check and oversleeping when the alarm doesn't go off. Except Mulder's "Mundane Monday" turns out to be a fatal one, in what is one of the better teasers in the series. In fact, Season Six has had a wave of exceptionally entertaining and thrilling teasers, from a chest-bursting alien in "The Beginning", Michael McKean's guest narration in "Dreamland II", to Skinner's throbbing, veiny face in "S.R. 819." As "Monday" begins, Skinner arrives on the scene of a bank robbery and is informed that shots have been fired, which cuts to inside the bank revealing that Mulder is the victim of a fatal gunshot wound. That's not all, as the robber is also armed with explosives that he detonates before the opening credits roll. Intense!!

However, the next time we see Mulder he has woken up to find his water bed sprung a leak and has caused him to oversleep when the alarm clock shorted out. I love the reference to the pair of "Dreamland" episodes from earlier this season, which is when Mulder "acquired" his waterbed. David Duchovny plays it straight, as he sighs off the annoyance, which I'd prefer than if he'd played it over the top and comical. It's actually the same way he acted in "Dreamland" to his newfound situation of being a "dad" when in the body of Morris Fletcher. But I'm getting ahead of myself, as this is about "Monday" and I already gushed over "Dreamland"earlier in this review and earlier still when I reviewed those two episodes.

This is The X-Files' take on Groundhog Day as well as an episode of the classic Twilight Zone series called "Shadow Play", in which a man is fated to relive the day of his execution on a seemingly endless loop. This episode runs through several "Mondays" in the cycle, which could become repetitive, yet The X-Files staff keeps it fresh. Many instances Mulder makes it to the bank, only to become the victim of a gunshot; another time Scully takes his check stub to the bank for him. What I found humorous is how Mulder is depositing his paycheck on a Monday as I don't know of any job that passes out payroll checks on the first day of the week. This even dates the episode as being clearly before the advent of online banking and direct deposit. I'm not knocking this episode for being "dated", since not only does The X-Files rarely have an episode that feels dated, but it also doesn't affect the story in any way.

Another way the writers kept "Monday" feeling fresh, and also gave it the typical X-Files spin, is through Mulder and Scully's conversation about "fate" vs "free will." I believe in a similar stance, that things aren't "meant to happen", it's just random events that occur. It's kind of like those storybooks for kids, where if you wanted to choose between option A or option B, you turned to either page 45 or 67 according to your choice. I used to believe that the course of events were preordained, though I'd rather believe in free will. As for the episode, "Monday" is a blast (pun not intended), as I loved the slight wink to earlier in the season, as well as the performances by Anderson and Duchovny, and also the fact that the writers are continuing to play with the format of the show despite Mulder and Scully being back to solving X-Files cases again. I'm loving Season Six because of the willingness to take risks.