"Three Of A Kind" Review
Rebecca Bateman
rebeccaxf@bigfoot.com
http://come.to/the.x-files


"Three of a Kind"........ still pondering this outing. I think I liked it,
though I wasn't terribly impressed. "Unusual Suspects" it was not. It
lacked US's wittiness and clever humor, and it too often depended on the
success of that episode for its survival. Let's rehash all the popular
jokes and get people to say "Oh, yeah. I remember how funny that was!"
instead of coming up with new stuff, huh guys?

Standing on its own merits, though, I feel that TOAK had a strong plot. 
There've been too many clunkers in that area this season for me not to 
acknowledge that. The whole conspiracy/espionage/intrigue angle was 
exciting. And, as before, I thought Coleman brought a wonderful chemistry 
to the screen. I was extremely sympathetic to her plight, and I could easily 
believe her attraction to her fiancé and her disappointment when she 
discovered his deception and her own doom. Yet, despite the strength of 
the story itself, some of the on-screen action felt rather shallow. They 
could have really taken this episode to a whole new level had they made 
Byers less of a tragic hero. I was very touched that he feels so strongly 
for this woman, but it was unnecessary to beat it to death. I think they 
lost many an opportunity for classic Lone Gunmen moments by focusing too 
heavily on the whole relationship angst angle. I realize that this is 
Vince, but it's also Byers, Frohike, and Langly.

Yet, let it not be said I didn't appreciate what we did get. I loved the
poker scene, thought the shooting scene was niftily done (is that a word?),
and found TLG's friends to be just too funny. I never would have believed
that there could be someone in this world more deliciously nerdier than
them. :b I LOL'ed at the Michael Bolton joke, too. I never noticed the
resemblance before. And ya gotta love any reference to that whole Kung-Fu
thing. Still one of my all-time favorite X-Files moments. <g> Dun-DUN! Lastly, 
I think I'm going to have that image of Langly with his hair braided
permanently emblazoned on my mind. Like the flowing mane so much better.

Something that really bothered me tonight: Was it just me, or was Scully 
just a meaningless afterthought in TOAK? They couldn't get Mulder in the 
story (where *was* DD, anyway?) so they throw in a dash of Scully for good 
measure. After all, can't have The X-Files without at least one of them, 
right? Sheesh. I would have been perfectly happy just watching TLG do 
their thang. I mean, if you're going to bring in Scully or Mulder, it's 
gotta be both and in a meaningful way, otherwise, I just feel the 
absence of the other partner.

Speaking of Scully, her dopeyness honestly didn't bother me too much. I LOL'ed at
her "beep" joke and her collapse on the autopsy room floor. Surprisingly,
her little party in the casino wasn't all that terrible, either. I think
it's because I was expecting it and wasn't shocked into to horror like I was
with DL or Rain King. Even the return of Morris The Pig Fletcher didn't
make me cringe the way I thought it might when I saw Michael McKean's name
in the opening credits. I thought her little love pat was more clever than
lame. Is there something wrong with me? <g> I actually giggled at a few of
her antics that we could have easily done without.

So, to sum up, I think I liked it, but the jury's still out. It was nowhere
near the caliber of Vince's other scripts, but I can live with it. The
characters were just too darn good to make this a throwaway.

Finally, "Field Trip" looks awesome. TLG two weeks in a row, a nice dose of
Skinner, happy, excited Mulder, and creepy aliens. Is it next Sunday yet?


P.S. anyone else get a really nifty FX commercial during one of the breaks? :)