Review of The Amazing Maleeni by Sue Brody

While the episode hardly captivated me (now you see it, now you don't),
there were some noteable lines, along w/ some nifty special effects,
especially the head rolling off in the teaser...

Favorite line: 
Scully to Mulder: Why are you talking like Tony Randall? LOL!!!

I was glad that Mulder got the "murder" wrong (initially) and that Scully
picked up on LaBonge as the heckler and thus the suspect. Naturally, Mulder
soon realized it wasn't murder, but it took him more than three minutes
this week.

Second favorite line: Scully calling Mulder a skeptic re: LaBonge's cup.
Gotta love it!!! :) I don't mind when they occasionally have fun at one
another's expense.

Third favorite lines:
Scully: He's dead under extremely suspicious circumstances.
LaBonge: He still sucks.

Very cool tricks w/ the hand turning around and w/ the hand on fire. 

Fourth favorite line:  
Pinchback: I was in a bad car accident in Mexico.
Mulder: Oh, Bad Mexican Car Accident.  In Mexico.

Note: Weren't you hoping for some continuity w/ this gem from Mulder and
Scully about David Copperfield ("Should we arrest this man?" "Yes we
should. But not for this.")?  I know *I* was.

Fifth favorite line (just as M&S enter Pinchbeck's office): 
Maleeni:Good morning, Mr. and Mrs...?
Mulder: AGENTS Mulder and Scully. (Mulder sounded a bit too assertive
there. He should have paused for a second. <g>)

Anyone completely sick of that gun that said "Bang"? Anyone never want to
see another card trick in his or her life? ::raising hand::

Fifth favorite lines: 
LaBonge: I'd say the twin brother did it but I don't think he's any better
a magician than Maleeni was.
Mulder: There's that. And he's got no legs.
LaBonge: Yeah. Whatever. (Sure. Fine. Whatever, LaBonge.)

What to say about this ep? Well...I didn't know Maleeni/Pinchbeck and
LaBonge were working together, so this week I got to wait until the end of
the ep to find out what all the misdirections were about. I figured
Pinchbeck wasn't the twin brother, but I didn't understand right away *why*
Pinchbeck was doing the impersonation. I like the idea that the two of them
were working together, b/c I really did miss that. Misdirection. <G>

I am not into magic, so a lot of this ep left me somewhat cold. I don't
know if we were supposed to believe Maleeni, but I didn't. I liked the use
of denouement, however. How many network shows use a word like denouement?
I felt as if I were watching The Learning Channel. <g> We also got a brief
classical musical lesson w/ Mozart and Salieri. You learn something every
week on The X-Files. The plot was somewhat intricate, I guess, but I just
wanted that interested.

Sixth favorite lines:
Scully: And you posed as an amputee to allay suspicion that you weren't
your brother.
Maleeni: That and I rather enjoyed the sympathy, esp. from the women in our
office.
(Mulder then chuckles and Scully looks bemused.)

Seventh favorite lines:
Insurance employee: My God. We gave you handicapped parking. We built you a
ramp.

(Not that I am making light of that, but in light of the fact that there
was the chance of a great deal of money being stolen, and the fact that the
company just found out it had been swindled, it just came across as a bit
of a non-sequitor.)

Do Mulder and Scully just look like they are having too much fun this year?
I guess they like magic a lot more than I do.  I like that they are
comfortable together, God knows, but they look like they are about to crack
up half the time (for example, when they are talking about how long The
Great Maleeni had been dead. Scully even looked amused when they were
questioning Alvarez about the $20,000). I mean, someone *did* die, and
there is the matter of gambling debts, but our intrepid agents are having
too much fun w/ card tricks and slight of hand to be too worried. Maybe
they just know that they are going to crack the mystery, so they aren't too
worried anymore.

I did like the ending, however...how *did* Scully turn her hand around? God
knows, Mulder wanted to know...

I liked Humbug better. Quirkier and yet there was more substance
(discussions about being different and also loneliness). What about here???

I want Scully to grow her hair out. Mulder's is starting to grow out a bit,
however. Mulder still looks fine in that blue dress shirt.

The Great Ones Always Know When to Leave the Stage. I think that pretty
much summarizes my feelings about a season eight...

As for this episode? For me, it's just vaporized into thin air...and it
reminds me a lot of this season. Less taste, less filling than previous
seasons...

Sue (file under X)