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PLOT:Mulder and Scully investigate two women who somehow cause violent reactions whenever they are in the same vicinity.
It just had to happen. With the excellence of "Hollywood A.D." last week, there had to be a lull in the episode following it. Without even mentioning previous season's episodes, "First Person Shooter" followed the excellent "X-Cops"; "Hungry" followed the excellent "Amor Fati"; "Brand X" followed the exceptional "all things"; and the mediocre fluff of "Amazing Maleeni" followed the controversially excellent "Orison." Is this a trend? For this season, it disturbingly seems so. As this week's episode, "Fight Club," was mediocre and barely watchable. Those are the nicest things I can think of to describe it.
I have not fully understood why Chris Carter would try to write comedy as effectively as Darin Morgan or Vince Gilligan. Morgan and Gilligan appear to possess an uncanny ability to peer within the human condition and make a commentary in a highly satirical yet humorous way without ruining the integrity of either the two main characters or the plot itself. Morgan's "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" and Gilligan's "Bad Blood" are excellent examples. Small wonder that those two episodes are also considered instant classics.
The biggest weakness of "Fight Club" is that Carter is not 100% committed to making it a serious view or a totally satirical view. And what exactly is that view? I have (painfully) watched this episode twice and have not fully understood it myself. Scully's little explanatory speech at the end sums it up as close as possible. Repulsion or attraction of polar opposites can make for rather violent behavior in people and bars? Your guess is as good as mine.
As usual, the only redeeming quality about this episode was the
nice interplay between Mulder and Scully. At first, it seemed as though David and Gillian looked absolutely bored. Then, Scully started
to do her imitation of Mulder's paranormal explanations. Even Mulder was impressed. Unfortunately, it was one of the very rare
bright spots in the entire episode.
Though I must admit that the twin theme was somewhat clever to a point. Carter starts off in the teaser with two identically dressed missionaries riding identical bicycles and having the same attitudes until they run into Lulu and Betty. I also must admit that I grinned at the bit with David's and Gillian's stand-ins playing federal agents who happened to be partners for seven years and not romantically involved. I fully understand how other people can mistake them for their famous counterparts. Even the texture and color of their hair perfectly matched David's and Gillian's.
The rest of the episode was highly convoluted with too many coincidences and stretches of convenience. Why even bother going to Kansas City to look for Betty and Lulu when Scully can find all their info on the internet? How can something as private and personal as being a sperm donor be so conveniently accessible on the internet? How can Betty and Lulu not be the slightest bit curious why the other looks so much like themselves and somehow still run into them all over the country? Wouldn't Scully be the least bit curious as to what happened to Mulder after he was sucked up into the sewer?
I can go on about other things that proved rather irritating, but what's the point? I absolutely love Chris Carter, because he is the brains behind the series. He is an overall excellent writer who can make the show go into wonderful directions, but please don't do comedy. I'll forgive him for "Syzygy," because it is actually one of my personal favorites in regards to the evolution of the Mulder and Scully relationship. Seeing either one of them jealous is usually an ongoing theme within my own fanfic stories. Yet, Carter tries too hard to be slapstick funny when his skills tend towards drama and intrigue. I'll stop here, because I honestly don't have much else to say about this one.
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