"Monday" Review By Rebecca Bateman rebeccaxf@bigfoot.com http://come.to/the.x-files Seems "It's All Been Done" is the theme for this week, eh? ;b Mulder and Scully and intellectual conversation.... just one of the many reasons I loved this episode. Ok, where do I start? Strong, believable supporting characters. Great drama and dialogue. Humor used in the right amounts. And even the recycled plot premise was done well. ST:TNG's "Cause and Effect" has always been one of my most favoritist TNG eps of all time. When I heard that XF was doing a similar story line, I actually got excited. XF has proven it can take a previously used idea and twist it to its own evil ends. We got a mixture of both Mulder and Scully's ideas on deja vu in this episode. Mulder claimed there are too many variable possibilities in each day to say the outcome is fated. Scully espoused the opposite view, and we ended up somewhere in the middle- each day played itself out repeatedly as Scully had said, yet each new repeat (is that an oxymoron?) was created by tiny variables in the events that eventually changed the outcome. And how about those office conversations, huh? That HAD to have been Vince's contribution. You *know* Mulder and Scully love debating with one another. You *know* I love watching it. ;) Anyone else catch the little wistful gleam in Mulder's eye as he said "Then we never would have met."? And the way they were able to read each other was brilliant. Scully asking about the bank, and Mulder picking up that something was wrong. The little touch of his hand on her shoulder convincing her to trust him, that he'd just be gone a second. They way they looked out for each other at that meeting (which, BTW, had to be the most *boring* in FBI history. Mulder and Scully not only had to relive the robbery, but those poor agents had to discuss the annual fiscal policies of their department over and over and over....) Then, of course, Mulder's words and the look in his eyes when he was spouting a crazy theory in the bank about a time loop and Scully trusted it, trust him, not matter how insane it sounded. Speaking of the bank scenes... broke my heart the way Scully's hands shook helplessly above a bleeding, dying Mulder. Her pleading expression said it all. She's in love with him, guys. No doubt about it. I just adored the drama in "Monday" as well. Kept me on the edge of my seat, trying to second guess the characters, trying to predict the outcome. It made me think. I know I spent a good thirty minutes just discussing possible paths for the story to take and why it was that only that woman could know each day was being repeated, and how wonderfully ironic it was that for the cycle to end, the only one with knowledge of its existence would have to die. End her life, and end it all. But I'm still pondering why Mulder and Scully were the key to this thing. Why them? Why would their presence make such a difference? And was it both of them? Notice that nothing bad happened until they both entered the building. Of course, bring one, and the other will follow. Gotta mention a few more things, though: Yay! Skinner's back again! Weren't those building explosions wonderful? Loved the slow-motion smoke and exploding windows. So, did Mulder like get rid of the waterbed in the end? I mean, he was sleeping on the couch, and the thing did have a leak. BTW, I don't know about you guys, but for me, Mulder sleeping in a bed just isn't Mulder. My only qualm with the episode: Mulder and Scully are back on the X-Files and back in the office. Hmmm. Care to discuss this guys? It's kind of a big deal, ya know. Maybe they will talk about it in "Arcadia", but still... Speaking of "Arcadia", I'm trying desperately to reserve judgement on this episode. Mulder and Scully as a married couple has the makings of a true XF-Lite eppie. However, I'm giving this benefit of the doubt right now. We'll just have to wait and see. But, right now, I'm happy with "Monday". Very happy as a matter of fact. I'm really starting to have a great deal of respect for John Shiban. And Vince is, well, simply superb. "Cover for me, will ya?" "When do I not?"