X-Files Episode Guide: Folie A Deux

Written by Vince Gilligan

Directed by Kim Manners

For the next few years, Vince Gilligan will be responsible for writing the penultimate episode of the season, giving us a taste of some of the more daring twists of imagination.  While many of the episodes he has written play as straight comedy, this one plays as one of the more intriguing ones, particularly considering that the people filming the episode would consider it one of the biggest headaches of the year.

The idea of seeing a man masquerading as a giant bug that can "hide in the light" sounded like a good one in  principle, but ultimately turned out to be a disaster on the part of the prop department. Even though Gilligan was known for writing some magnificent comic episode, this was supposed to play as a thriller, and every time you saw the bug costume it was impossible to take it seriously. So the producers, in their wisdom, chose to keep the monster off-screen most of the time, and to only see it in flashes and quick shots.

Strangely enough, this works in the episode's favor. Folie A Deux is primarily an episode about perception, one that could almost be viewed as the world of 'X-Files in microcosm. Gary Lambert, a telemarketer who somehow seems able to see giant insect and zombies everywhere, could be perceived as Mulder, a man shouting  out at the world about the monsters that loom everywhere. And the rest of the world is Scully, quietly wishing that he wouldn't should so long, that he'd just go about his business.  Gilligan also does a neat twist on this by having Mulder so pissed at the amount of nonsense that goes o, that he doesn't want to take the case on in the first place. And even when he finds himself taken hostage by this 'maniac', he still finds himself playing the role of the skeptic. Until of course, he has a gun to his head, and finds that he can see the monster that is the evil boss.

Even if it wasn't Gilligan's intention in the first place, this is still a humorous episode at times. Seeing poor Gary under such stress as Pincus appears before him, and begins "zombifying" his colleagues is a very stressful way to handle things. (It would've been nice if the episode explained what caused this mental breakdown, but there is something amusing about the stress of selling vinyl might be enough to screw anyone over). He seems actually even more amusing the more manic he gets, but he also becomes more sympathetic when Mulder tries to deal with him, and then the mania that he seems to suffer is passed on to him, when he is killed by the SWAT team.

Mulder's level of paranoia is actually a little more amusing than usual (though considering how often he's right, its a little surprising that Scully and Skinner aren't willing to give him more rope), and even though we know he happens to be right, Duchovny does a marvelous job of seeming like a man who's been infected with the same mania that bothered Lambert. But what really makes this episode special is the way it is finally made to be about the relationship between Mulder and Scully. The scene where Mulder, albeit strapped to  a hospital bed, tells Scully that she's his "one in five billion" may have played to the shipper's fantasies, but ultimately it's far more heartfelt than  a simple declaration of love. Despite their clashes throughout Season 5, it is telling that Mulder knows that Scully is the only one in the world who will even consider believing him. The moment where she sees the zombie nurse seems to be  a revelatory moment in a year that has been short of them. She may not be willing to cross all the way over to the side of believing, but now she seems willing to admit that there is something out there. Of course, she isn't ready to tell Mulder that yet, but the scene in the elevator near the end is remarkable in its way. That's what their relationship is now, and probably will be--- a folie a deux. That's more fitting than any love story could ever be.

So even though Folie A Deux isn't near being a perfect episode, it does several things very well. It challenges the viewers perception of what our heroes can be. It provides several of the funniest moments of the season. It gives some of the scariest moments too, and gives what is probably the series best perception of what the zombie will look like. (Note writers of 'The Walking Dead': this is a far more entertaining version of an undead monster). And it gets Mulder and Scully beyond the rift that has seemed to be building through much of the year. All in all, not bad for an episode that the producers thought would be such of a headache to get done- even if the ending is a bit of a retread

My score: 4 stars.