PLOT: A lonely man with telekinetic powers can control his surroundings and conjure up
the Brady Bunch.
Yeah, I admit it. I was a "Brady Bunch" fan when I was a kid. I remember the episode where
Bobby's voice changes; Jan needed glasses; Greg became Johnny Bravo; Marcia got hit in the nose
by a football pass; Bobby claiming he saw a UFO (when it was really Greg playing a trick on him);
and Cindy talking with a lisp. Sadly, it was a childhood favorite along with "Gilligan's Island,"
"Gomer Pyle," and "I Dream of Jeannie." Shows like that don't exist anymore. After 9/11, those
shows are much more cherished now as when I first saw them as a kid. It takes us back to a time
when the only thing we worried about was missing our favorite show. As the X-Files ends its
nine-year run, it is a much more sophisticated kind of "Brady Bunch." Obviously, we don't have
to worry about seeing Mulder become Johnny Bravo or Scully talking with a lisp, but we still
care about the characters and sometimes wish that we were them.
"Sunshine Days" touches a bit on that theme as the main character, Anthony, has the power to actually "live"
in that fantasy world of "Brady Bunch" beyond anything we could even imagine. Yet, it also has
a double meaning as writer/director Vince Gilligan is commenting on fandom in general. As we all know,
many people literally live out their fantasies from favorite television shows or movies. One of the most
well-known of those fantasies are the huge fans of Star Trek. There was one documentary movie released
in 1997 called "Trekkies" that basically showcased many of the "normal, everyday" people who have literally
changed their lives due to the original series and its many incarnations and movies. One dentist
designed his whole practice and his staff's uniforms on the series; another woman made herself a Starfleet
Commander and goes to work with a Next Generation uniform that includes a tricorder; a teenage kid goes to
many Trek conventions dressed up in a custom-made Next Generation uniform with the objective of trading
or buying as much Trek paraphernalia as possible. Then, there are those enthusiastic fans that endure
long make-up and prosthetic processes to show up as aliens at conventions - Klingon being the main favorite.
Yet, for all that, they still don't actually "live" in the universe they all seem to know and love unlike Anthony,
who does.
Gilligan also is showing the loneliness we all feel when trying to escape into a fictionally happy world that
doesn't seem to have any problems. The movie, "Pleasantville", is very similar in that regard where
a character (played by future Spider-Man himself, Tobey Maguire) has a dysfunctional family and tries
to escape his problems by watching the "Leave It to Beaver"-type show called "Pleasantville." He
gets his wish to live in that environment and realizes that life is not in black and white but many
shades of color that reflect life's complex nature.
In that regard, Anthony also does not see his life as being very important so he exists in the one
place where he found many happy times as a child, "The Brady Bunch." He even named himself after the
"Cousin Oliver" character in the Brady Bunch who was the odd boy out, which is exactly how he feels himself to
be in the wider scope of things. Yet this existence is very dangerous to people that may find him oddly
curious enough to invade his house and find out for themselves if the Brady's actually live there. For
some odd reason, it's part of Anthony's powers that even he can't control. All he does is hide further
from the rest of the world in his Brady fantasy.
There were definitely many amusing elements in the episode. It was nice to see David Faustino from "Married with Children"
make an appearance on the show. Considering that his character was always the butt of jokes only continues that trend in this
episode. His utter belief that the Brady Bunch existed helped move the story along. Yet, the most amusing scene I think was
the look that Doggett gave Monica after she whole-heartedly admitted to being a big Brady Bunch fan was absolutely priceless.
We get a sense that as quirky as Monica can be, she still has so many other facets that we have yet to see as does Doggett.
What makes "Sunshine Days" one of the most intriguing episodes of the series is that this man, who was literally a
paranormal child prodigy (kinda like Gibson Praise), is allowed to be paranormal in front of Scully, Doggett,
Reyes and Skinner. As the picture above shows, Skinner is actually EXPERIENCING a paranormal event! Considering
that the series has existed for 9 years in shadows and coverups, it is almost a revelation to finally see the faces
of our intrepid heroes beaming with huge smiles at witnessing a paranormal event that cannot be debunked by traditional
means. In fact, none of them really seem to care to disprove it. There seems to be one big sigh of relief for Scully in
particular. In the past few years, she has slowly evolved from a rigid skeptic to an open-minded scientist mainly
because of her own experiences as well as the influence of her partner, Mulder. Now, she can whole-heartedly dive off
the wild side and not feel foolish, because she has Oliver to disprove her many critics' snickers. And Skinner has to
feel like he has just been handed a huge probe to stick up Kersh's posterior.
I do find it amusing that even this late in the
season, particularly right before the swan song of the series, that Gilligan would pack so many emotions to the characters
in one episode. We see Doggett and Reyes finally admitting to their strong feelings for each other. Monica has been showing
that all season, but Doggett was not willing to lower his shields. After the events of "Release", he definitely is open to a
possible romantic relationship with Reyes. As for Skinner, we see finally be enthusiastic about believing in the paranormal. He
was definitely a believer after seeing Mulder abducted, yet his levitating trick ensured his faith in the X-Files existence. We see
Scully almost happy and definitely relieved that all her hard work with Mulder in the past 9 years was all for naught. And we see Doggett
finally accepting in a way that the paranormal can exist in a world that he strictly drew the line between good and evil. It
was rather refreshing in that regard, but also rather sad considering that we won't get to see the characters explore all those
emotions in future episodes.
For an episode that many initial spoilers had indicated to be rather quirky, there was surprisingly more
emotional depth than expected for an episode dealing with a defunct 70s show. As exhilirating as it was to see the main characters
astonished and delighted that the paranormal is more than a pipe dream, it was just as sad to see that Anthony's powers were slowly
killing him. They had to give up on yet another tangible piece of proof to validate the X-Files' existence. Yet, it also served to
show that the relationships forged from the journey of the last 9 years has helped shape what the characters are today. Though Doggett
and Reyes still have much to forge themselves, the growth of Skinner and, in particular, Scully, has resulted in two very different
people from the series' beginnings. It's also a journey that has come to an end, but only until the next movie comes out.
Only one more to go...
Please use the "Back" button on your browser.
HTML Page Design & Copyright © XFManic, 2002
