"How The Ghosts Stole Christmas" Review
Sue Brody


I hated this episode. This ranks right up there with "Emily"/"All Souls"
and "Post-Modern Prometheus" (not to mention "El Mundo Gira", "Teliko", and
"Teso Dos Bichos") as eps I will *never*, ever watch again. It was insipid.
The very premise, of searching a "haunted house" on Christmas Eve
(something Scully would *never* do, particularly as there was no X-File
involved), was insipid. What else didn't work? Well, what did?

Scully fainting? (Isn't she a *medical* doctor? Doesn't she perform
autopsies all the time?) The corny, over-the-top music (and I usually love
Mark Snow's scores)? Mulder continually reminding us that this wasn't
*really* happening?  Mulder and Scully shooting one another (or shooting
themselves, or being shot at by the ghosts)? Didn't believe it (though I
*did* in "Demons," for example, where Mulder almost shoots Scully because
of the influence of the drugs, or in Pusher, because of Robert Modell, or
in...I think it was Anasazi, where Scully actually *does* shoot Mulder to
save him from killing Krycek and from being prosecuted for murder). The
excessive fake blood?  Sure. Fine. Whatever. Wasn't convinced for a second,
not by any of it. The highly derogatory representation of Mulder by
Maurice? Was that *necessary*? And the hole in Lily Tomlin and in Ed Asner
seemed very...well, derivative (like in that movie w/ Meryl Streep and
Goldie Hawn, for example). I guess I'm saying that, unlike in an ep like
"Bad Blood," this one just seemed...been there, done that. AGAIN. And how
about the ending, whereby M&S walk out without a scratch and spend
Christmas Eve together? It was yet another episode, like the Dreamlands,
that *didn't* happen, and I am getting sick to death of these eps. They do
or they don't happen, kids, come on. And the wall: Was that supposed to
represent the stalled M&S relationship? Sorry, it was just a brick wall,
and it was a way for the ghosts (who didn't really exist) to keep Mulder
and Scully in the house (though they were presumably never there). If M&S
are really going to advance the relationship, they are going to have to do
it through a more realistic (in The X-Files universe) way, as has happened
in eps such as "Memento Mori" or "Redux II."

Personally, while pleased as punch that CC is finally dealing with M&S's
relationship in a meaningful way, I cannot forgive this "did it or didn't it
happen" fact. Now I certainly agree that a lot of shows air holiday
shows that are different, as a Philes have noted, and I wouldn't fault 1013 *at
all* for doing that IF the last three eps (even "Triangle," the one I *did*
love) had been more reality-based, more traditionally X-Filean. As a matter
of fact, Millenium did it during Christmas week, although they used a far
more serious, and easily integrated, theme:  One that dealt w/ Frank Black
and Jordan (his daughter)'s loss of Catherine and the events that have reshaped their
world, centering it around angels, traditionally a big Millenium theme. But
The X-Files is just different this year, and the old fashioned eps went away
after "Drive."

Because I am a Shipper, I *do* love M&S interaction, and sometimes
it's okay if a File is weak (re: "Detour"), if the interaction is great. BUT
if the File doesn't exist, or is poorly executed (I am referring to the
Dreamlands), or EVERY EP SEEMS TO BE FANTASY/DREAM/UNREAL...then,
and only then, am I not okay with it. Example: "Chinga." I loved the M&S
scenes, short as they were, but "Chinga" was a pretty awful ep, despite (or
because of) Stephen King's intervention, and it's because the story didn't
work. So even though the last scene in the office, with Mulder's pencil
antics and Scully and Mulder pretending they hadn't needed each other over
the weekend, was one of the best ever, the ep was a failure for me because
the premise (bad dollies!) and its execution were abysmal.

Now, there was a bit of similarity to "Folie a Deux" in which there is "a
madness shared by two." HOWEVER, in the original FAD, there *was* a case.
It made sense. A telemarketer thought he saw people turning into zombies,
then Mulder thought he saw people turning into zombies, and then Scully saw one
at the end as well, and shot at the bug that was about to "zombify" Mulder.
Did the bug look silly? Sure, but the ep was a great commentary on how
people are made to feel as if they have the life drained out of them in
corporate America, *plus* we got Mulder's line that Scully was his
"one...in five billion," plus we got her admittance that the two of them
were partnered (though I have to say she didn't look nearly as happy about
it as she did in HTGSC).

In this ep, however, I kept saying (as I've been doing throughout the
season), Is this really happening? IS THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENING, BECAUSE IT
DOESN'T SEEM TO BE HAPPENING. It just seemed so unbelievable.  Not that there
weren't a few cute moments (I liked the reference to paramasturbation), but
the ep as a whole (no pun intended!) didn't hold together for me. And this
is what I've been saying ad nauseum this season.