Monday

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PLOT: A bank robbery is foiled by Mulder, but he and Scully find themselves reliving the incident over and over and over and...

Time is a luxury that we can't waste. For the majority of all living things, it goes in a linear path and is something that can easily be lost but never gained. Yet, there are those rare cases where time can seem to stand still. Remember those summers by the lake? Every day looked liked the previous one, and time never seemed to move. The only event that you witnessed that indicated time did go by was the setting of the sun and the appearance of the moon. Poetic, isn't it?

So what if we find ourselves in the predicament that Mulder finds himself in "Monday?" How would we even know that we just relived that moment over and over. Is that a possible explanation of deja vu? Who really knows? Yet, Mulder does somehow figure out that he has been living the same ridiculous day over and over. And each time, he notices little things that does not seem right but does not understand how he knows that. Neither do we. Yet, Mulder has a perception of his environment unlike any before him. He notices the most subtle things. That's why he is such an excellent investigator. Nothing really slips by him. But on this particular Monday, Mulder finds himself in a situation that no matter what he does, it always ends up in people dying, including himself. How can he possibly avert disaster the next time?

The teaser was the most compelling one ever shown for this series. How could it not be? We see cops everywhere and Skinner trying to find out what's going on with an apparent bank holdup. Inside that very bank, we see Scully trying desperately to keep her cool as her partner lays in her lap obviously bleeding from a gunshot wound. The quiet strength that Scully is so famous for is in full display here and the next thing, BOOM! If that kind of opening doesn't get fans wanting to stick around through the commercials instead of a bathroom or snack break, I don't know what will. But that brief scene only showed a small glimpse of what the rest of the episode will bring. And it certainly doesn't disappoint.

There was a Star Trek:The Next Generation episode, "Cause and Effect," that also dealt with what is known in the sci-fi vernacular as a "time loop." This is where time apparently has been caught in a loop of itself and events within that time are re-lived over and over unless some event is played out that was not enacted in the other timelines and will basically "snap" the loop back to its normal linear self. A rather loose translation, but that is what Mulder and Scully are experiencing in "Monday." For those non-Star Trek fans, the Bill Murray movie, "Groundhog Day" is a good comparison as well though not in the sci-fi sense. Just like these other scenarios, Mulder and Scully are trapped in this time loop because one action has not been done to change the overall outcome. That is the key to ensuring this personal hell is not relived. But trying to figure that out when in most cases, noone will remember what happened is going to be the big problem to overcome.

However, one thing that allows them to have a chance is that Mulder is very much into "alternative thinking" and slowly realizes that there definitely is something strange happening. He notices little subtle things that everyone else would normally just shake their head over as some kind of weird deja-vu and nothing more. But Mulder just won't let it rest and ends up noticing events that seem all too familiar. This is where you have to wonder if fate serves a big hand in all this since in one of the scenarios, Scully takes his check to the bank but he still goes anyway. He not only feels that something is wrong, he verifies it with seeing Pam practically begging him to prevent the unfolding events that he has no control of the outcome. But in the end, he does.

One thing that really impressed me with this episode is that it could have easily been cliched with each recurring scenario. But the actors made the slightest changes and the director giving different points-of-view to make it as compelling as any myth-arc episode. I liked the fact that no matter what scenario was being played out, Mulder and Scully did not alter their actions or their thought patterns in any abrupt ways. They were as consistent as a metronome and the concern for each other's welfare was very noticeable in each scene. And as Mulder slowly realized with each experience that the day was much worse than what he had already experienced earlier that day, he decides that he will test fate and free will in a very deadly theory that actually does change the outcome.

John Shiban and Vince Gilligan make a very promising writing team as they made this episode become more than just a filler episode. The acting from Darren Burrows (Bernard) and particularly, Carrie Hamilton (Pam) made the whole situation become even more dire than what was actually shown. This was a very good episode that gives the term "repeat viewing" a whole new meaning.

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