"The Goldberg Variation"

"He said it's 'cause eveything happens for a reason. Only just sometimes it's hard for us to see."
Originally Aired 12/12/99

 
As Scully witnessed plagues caused by an unearthed alien spaceship and later discovered it's link to the Anasazi at the start of this season, she should be a believer by now; or at the very least be on the verge of believing. So it made sense that she was actually the one to theorize the cause of this week's episode, that Henry Weems (played by Willie Garson) is extremely lucky. And to continue with the Mulder-Scully romance that's blossoming, she playfully asks if they can leave "into the sunset" after coming to that conclusion. Despite the continuity, I felt this episode was far-fetched and maybe too whimsical. Had I written this review on Friday when I was basing it off my first impression, I'd have bashed it. Especially a scene where Mulder falls through the floor and into an apartment below.

After watching it again several times this weekend, my reaction is more much positive towards "The Goldberg Variation." The whimsical story about cause and effect, chain reactions of events, is actually the reason why I like it. It's actually nice to get an episode with a satisfying conclusion that ends on an uplifting note, because it is a change of pace from the typical down-trodden endings where Mulder winds up empty-handed. The scene that tipped the scales in favor of this episode was when Scully shared a moment with a young boy named Richie (played by Shia LaBeouf.) He's likely half the age of Gillian Anderson when they filmed this in 1999 but he holds his own, unlike your typical child actor. David Duchovny even looked like he had fun making this episode during a scene where he mocks kicking down a door as he's explaining another "chain of events" to Scully. Later he points to a number at random in the phone book, yet turns up an Islamic day care, "let's call that a dry run."

The chain of events, which initially made this episode of The X-Files feel more like I was watching Looney Tunes, played out just like that of a Rube Goldberg machine. They even have several within the episode. I was reminded of a board game that I played a few times as a kid called "Mouse Trap" and also a sequence in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure where he has his breakfast made for him. During this episode, one such "chain of events" occured when a mobster tried to kill Weems, yet accidentally shot a lamp when he's distracted by Mulder using the door buzzer, Weems topples over the couch in fear, which caused the mobster to somehow become hung by a ceiling fan. It's far-fetched, that's for sure. Henry Weems is certainly lucky but it leads to bad luck for people around him, much like that mobster, and now everyone in this episode is trapped within one giant Rube Goldberg.

The X-Files appears to be a long way off from the down-ward spiral that I've been bracing myself for since before this season began. I'm glad it actually wasn't "The Goldberg Variation" that's begun the slide. This episode proved there's still life in the series, more comedy to be mined, and more of these "cute" moments between Mulder and Scully. I can't believe I just typed that either, since I recall just a few years ago I was wanting only monsters. Now it's the monsters that seem by the numbers and these genuine David and Gillian scenes that leave me wanting more.

"Rush"

"You must've been a betty back in the day."
Originally Aired 12/5/99

I've realized that rarely do these current episodes follow the template of the early seasons in which Mulder discovered his cases by reading articles in the newspaper or watching a video tape. Instead, they're already on the case immediately following the opening credits, which is anywhere from a few hours to the next day following a murder or some supernatural occurrence. I'll just make believe that over the years Mulder's reputation as "Spooky Mulder" has grown so much that he's actually called upon to investigate cases, much like when Shaineh Berkowitz called him in "Post-Modern Prometheus." In "Rush", possibly the less time spent getting Mulder and Scully on the case allows for more time for teenage melodrama. At least "Rush" revisits an old X-Files staple with the local law enforcement officer who doesn't appreciate Mulder being on the case.

A trio of teens are involved in a murder investigation and it reminds me a lot of this recent movie Chronicle, where four super-powered teens end up battling each other and their own angst. I even liked the reference to the song title, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", when Mulder quips, "You think? Smells like murder to me."

The highlights of this episode come from the production crew. The sequence which shows Tony discovering the ability to vibrate and move at a high speed reminds me a lot of the special effects sequence in that first Saw movie where the character of Amanda is thrashing around in that trap on her head. There's another excellent sequence where the character of Tony follows Chastity through the woods and he discovers a cave. The music is unlike Mark Snow's usual score, in fact it's very dream-like and atmospheric, while the lighting and setting of the scene is more theatrical than the rest of the episode. Perhaps that was intentional on the part of Snow and the episode's director, Robert Liebermann, because the discovery of the cave was like a teenage rite of passage.

I can't say I really enjoyed the plot of the episode but I understand it's purpose, that the ability to move fast and the need to keep getting a "fix" is just like abusing a drug, hence the title being "Rush." The gruesome deaths of the deputy and the teacher also match the tone of this season so far, in which we've seen a much more violent X-Files than the previous season. Scully battled biblical plagues, the Cigarette Smoking Man watched the world burn, a shark-toothed monster devoured brain matter, and the dead rose from their graves. What's next for Season 7?