The X-files: Plus One - Back and Better than Ever!
- Jan 18, 2018
- 5 min read
Ok guys, breathe, just breathe, I'm going to try and--ok, nope, can't do it. Aaaahhhhhhh! I cannot stop grinning after that absolutely fantastic episode that was The X-files third episode of season 11, titled, "Plus One". It was just. That. Good.
Let me calm down here a minute and say if you've stopped tuning in to the new season of The X-files after that admittedly strange and depressing premiere, well, jump back in fellow philes, because episode two and beyond is getting back into the heart and soul of what was classic X-files. And trust me, if you've been a long time fan desperately shipping Mulder and Scully for 25 ACTUAL REAL LIFE YEARS, Plus One is the episode for you. In every way.
But let us start with a list. Being totally and completely HappyFrazzled from last night's episode, this list is going to be named simply....
Plus One: The Greatness
Are you ready for it? Ok, let's dig in!
Plus One: The Greatness
-David Duchovny's own song, "Unsaid Undone", is featured a la punk version in the beginning. Right before we are introduced to the MOTW: Evil Doppelgangers. And this time they do more than just cause everyone around them to start beating on each other. Like, you will die once you see yourself, so stay off that highway and and hide anything that might be seen as a potential weapon. This includes belts, sheets, swords, you know, the usual.
-Hangman is scary. Like deadly scary. Especially if you have a short name. Also, it makes great conversation wallpaper.
-Mulder and Scully have a real case and they are really investigating it this time! Whoohoo! Snap on the latex, we've got some investigating to do! (Also, let's ignore the fact that last week they were not allowed into their office and there were mad Russians running around trying to kill them. But hey, everything's cool now, okay? Mulder's even had time to throw some new pencils into The Poster, so it's all good.)
-The humor is classic Mulder and Scully banter, with added bonus of freaked out hospital workers that take those magic bread pills in case they have magic powers because they don't have magic powers, but WE TAKE THEM in case they have magic powers. Also, they're not going in that room. They know better. Good luck with that, Scully. Here, have some magic bread pills.
-Crazy EvilJudy (the absolutely wonderful Karin Konoval who deserves all the awards for this episode) gets under Scully's skin, telling her that she doesn't get what Mulder would ever see in her, seeing as how she's getting old and barren. Not cool, Judy. Not cool! But Mulder's thoughts couldn't be farther from such hurtful words. He assures his partner that she's definitely still "got some boot in your scoot'. This makes Scully laugh and she boots him out of their connecting rooms.
-Mulder keeps scaring Scully by silently waking her up by just standing there staring at her while she sleeps. Because this is something Mulder does and Scully is totally cool with it. They're not sharing a bed, and he's on the couch, but man that bed does look comfortable. Too bad though, we've got two more dead people.
-Once the new murders are looked into--yep, they're dead and it looks like murder by hanging and sword decapitation--Fanfic comes alive right before our eyes with the arrival of the hallowed OneBed scenario. If you're an X-phile, you know the OB fic intimately. It is the fantasy we all yearned for and never received. UNTIL NOW. Guys, you heard right. They went there. OneBed is now canon, and even more shocking? Chris Carter himself wrote it! *looks around suspiciously because there has to be a catch right? In the land of X-files, there is ALWAYS a catch!*
-There is no catch.
-With another hallowed line straight out of our dreams we never thought we'd actually hear Gillian Anderson utter through Scully's lips, we get this: Scully wakes up, can't sleep, gets scared, and with the blessed light of a thousand fanfic writers shining down on her, wakes Mulder up and simply asks, "Will you hold me?"
And that is that. It's not weird. It's not awkward. It's super sweet. And even sweeter? Mulder, though he might be half asleep still and more than a little surprised, simply answers, "Yeah, I can do that."
-This time it's just Mulder and Scully having a real, honest, totally comfortable with each other conversation about where life has brought them now, where it might be headed, and the fact that no matter what they will always be there for each other. This is a promise made from both sides. He'll always be there to spout crazy theories, she'll always be there to prove him wrong, they will push each other's wheelchairs into the sunset when it all comes down to it.
-But wait? What if they don't have jobs? Possibly soon-ish? What then? Scully turns from her snuggly spooning with Mulder to look at him. They stare at each other a long moment and then she says she's sure they'll think of something...*look*...*smile*...Curse you camera for moving away to reveal EvilDopplegangerScully standing in the corner! Get out of her! Shoo!
-Cue Sweet Sweet Sacred X-files Theme Whistle. *I'm dying*
-(open on an unknown amount of time later) Mulder is lying in the bed next to Scully. He is now on the other side of the bed from where he was spooning her the last we saw...he is staring at the ceiling. She is asleep. Mulder gets up to get a drink from the bathroom facet. He looks up into the mirror and smiles--oh does he smile--until--Curses! There's EvilDoppleGangerMulder lurking in the shower to break the mood.
-Mulder rushes back into the bed(couch?)room and immediately begins panic stripping. Scully! Hey, Scully! "Put a damper on that afterglow", we gotta go! A sleepy Scully mumbles to her partner that he should come back to bed. (What?! Did that just happen? Yes, yes it did. Also, Scully is not wearing anything under that sheet.) What's going on, Mulder? He just saw his twin! They're after him! Oh, yeah, no worries, Scully saw her twin too.
Sorry Scully, Mulder is determined that you will not both hang, so get up and get dressed because you need to get down to that hospital to stop one of two telepathically hangmanning murdering twins from killing you now that ATTHSonthejob just became canon!
-Scully eventually makes it to the hospital, where Judy is playing telepathic hangman with her twin brother Chucky (who Mulder is currently trying to stop from killing him in the man's hoarder house). A bookcase is toppled, the twins are dead.
-Case closed, Mulder heads back to the hotel to find Scully packing up the evidence in her room-now-with-a-bed. He tells her he's thinking they can maybe get in a few hours before checkout. Scully gives him a look, and he clarifies that he meant just for sleeping. Oh. Ok. Good. He tells her if she needs anything, he'll be next door, so just call. She doesn't imagine that she'll need anything, but good to know. Mulder heads into his room and shuts the door.
-Scully stares at the door a minute and, "then again, it's not outside the realm of extreme possibilities..." She goes to open the door and, well, look at that. Mulder is waiting with a knowing look. He knows. And she knows he knows. Cue Sweet Sweet Sacred X-files Theme Whistle for the SECOND TIME IN THE SAME EPISODE. And *cut to black* *insert sword unsheathing SFX here*.
And now we cut to Gillian Anderson for the final word:
BEST. EPISODE. EVER.
So much love for you guys right now. All of you. Let us take this day and enjoy it for all the blessed MSRness that it is! And see you next week for what looks to be a hilarious thrill ride down memory lane. (Literally. Did you see that Small Potatoes clip in the promo? :O)
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