"The Amazing Maleeni"

"Young man, shall I come heckle you on your job? Make sure you count out the requisite number of McNuggets?"
Originally Aired 1/16/00

At the beginning of this episode, a character was asked if he was "ready to rumble?" It reminded me of a recent email I received through my account at my place of employment- a radio station, which is that we're not allowed to use that catch phrase without consent from Michael Buffer. Maybe FOX allowed The X-Files to use it since it's a varation on the phrase and didn't include the beginning portion, which actually is more of a command- "let's get ready to rumble", than it is a question.

Nonetheless, this episode actually turned out to be a fine, little mystery involving magic, without any elements of the paranormal to be found. I expected it to be funny and at least mildly entertaining since it comes from the trio of writers, John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz, and Vince Gilligan, who are credited with "Leonard Betts" and "Dreamland". I feel like magic and magicians is a hard concept and this is probably the best they could do, even with Vince Gilligan attached. Honestly though, it's not the script that is lacking this time, it's the casting choices. While they went with real magicians (Ricky Jay as Maleeni and Johnathan Levit as Billy LaBonge) and it does add a sense of realism to "The Amazing Maleeni", the comedic tone doesn't seem to hit the mark that it should. It's not just the magicians, even this week's supporting cast seems flat. Despite that, David Duchovny seems like he's having fun even though he's again taking a backseat to this week's guest cast. There really hasn't been much meat for David and Gillian this season outside the "Sixth Extinction" pair of episodes, though this is likely the most fun they've had in an episode all year.

Despite Ricky Jay's acting talents, I found the character of "The Amazing Maleeni", or rather Herman Pinchbeck, to be another in a long line of relatable X-Files guest characters. His speech to Mulder and Scully reminded me so much of Vince Gilligan's previous creation, Eddie Van Blundht. I read that Frank Spotnitz had championed the idea of a "magic" episode for the series for several years, but much of the humor seems to be from the mind of Vince. I wonder if that left John Shiban's contribution to be the twist-filled bank robbery plot? He did pen one of my favorites, "The Pine Bluff Variant", which had an equal amount of turns in it's 45 minute run time.

Several episodes in the early years of The X-Files felt like they borrowed from episodes of The Outer Limits and Kolchak The Night Stalker, but this week's episode feels too much like that recent movie Now You See Me. That was my least favorite of 2013, and among the worst that I've paid money for a ticket to see. Actually, I think it is nearly beat for beat, the same story as it revolves around stolen cash and a revenge plot. The FBI even allows the criminals to "get away" with their tricks and misdeeds. In Now You See Me everything was spelled out and removed all mystery, and it even happens here when Mulder finally reveals all of their tricks and slight of hand, but at least he's ahead of the game and wasn't the one that needed everything explained. Well, he did say he's The Great Muldini, which could've worked as a possible episode title, too.

I felt this would be a strong contender for "best of the season" if it weren't for the one liners falling flat. Next week is one I've watched years ago, but I'm looking forward to what February has to offer, since all four are "brand new" episodes- "Sein Und Zeit", "Closure", "X-Cops", and "First Person Shooter."