X-Cops

It's so quick you could almost miss it. This is the moment Mulder first notices the camera and ... he's just fine with it. One of the many brilliant details in this brilliant episode.

This episode is full of tiny details, I can't even list them all! It's incredible how the whole crew has managed to prepare and film the scenes, making us believe it's a (almost)-live show. There are the mics that you see here and there, all the quick glances to the camera, the tiny details in the decors, etc...

I choose here to focus on the crack house intrusion scene. What's catch me everytime I watch it is the presence of the little baby. It lasts only a few seconds, but I'm moved everytime. It seems so realistic and so sad thinking of this baby in this crack house.

Mulder has figured out that the monster they're chasing seems to spread from person to person and feeds on fear, so he wants to protect Steve and Edy. It turns out Steve and Edy have witnessed some scary things and they have fears, but they're willing to face them and not be controlled by them.

I like very much the teaser, starting in a slow pace, taking time to give us a first insight of Deputy Wetzel's character, to let us sink into this full moon atmosphere, and finishing abruptly with this powerful scene.

I find it very well filmed. We don't know what is happening, we are completely with the TV crew (their eyes, their ears), and it's very stressful. It's one of the rare scenes where we truly live a monster attack in the series. Of course, we are seeing quite nothing!

Moreover, it focuses on Wetzel's fear, character and behavior, which are the core of the story.

Mulder is utterly delighted when Scully tries to justify his theory so he won't look foolish in front of the camera. She had already told him she's worried about herself, not about him, but she can't help but be protective of Mulder. He really doesn't care how he looks, but Scully does, and it tickles him.

This episode is great in term of Mulder and Scully interactions. As they are filmed, they are controlling what they say, what they do, how they interact. And they both react in a different way.

I choose this moment where Mulder speaks to the viewers while walking beside Scully. I adore Scully's reaction and line: "I'm sorry. Are you talking to me?" It makes me laugh everytime I watch it!

I don't know exactly how to interpret it: has she forgotten the camera? Is she teasing Mulder? No matter what, I have the impression to watch an old married couple! I then imagine aged Mulder and Scully in their unremarkable house, Mulder mumbling for the nth time some gibberish about werewolfs/sasquatchs and Scully not listening him. Oh, that has already happened? (see my link to another episode)

Mulder very easily falls into the role of reality TV star, but Scully will have none of it. She's accepted that the camera is allowed to observe, but she refuses to acknowledge that they're part of the show. This moment when Mulder is narrating their actions for the camera and Scully turns to him and says, "I'm sorry, are you talking to me?" perfectly captures this difference and is absolutely hilarious.

There's a lot of fun moments, but this is really the first one. It makes me laugh every time I watch it.

I've never seen a so brilliant idea to introduce our lead characters in an episode and relate them to a case. It's completely appropriate for a cross-over between Cops and X Files.

I adore the idea that Mulder and Scully are caught wandering by foot in the neighborhood, wearing their dark casual clothes for a discreet investigation by night, and are considered as suspects.

Moreover, it's in this scene that we discover the name of the writer of the episode, the 'genialissime' Vince Gilligan. Chapeau bas, Monsieur Gilligan!

Their flirting is off the charts at this point. They are SO CLOSE to moving their relationship to another level, and the anticipation is killing all of us. Still, it's very surprising that Mulder would make such a personal, flirtatious comment to Scully in front of the camera. He's so in love he's not thinking straight.

The second live attack perpetrated by the "invisible fear monster" is really surprising. In only a few seconds the coroner's assistant falls dead. Wow, impressive.

Of course, the most surprised here is Scully who didn't have a hunch that the event could happen (would Mulder have intuited it?), and who isn't able to reanimate the woman.

Now, imagine that such a monster exists... It's very frightening!

"Steve and Eydie" are an American vocal duo, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, popular in the 50s, and 60s. They made a lot of variety show appearances in the 70s (that's how I know who they are). So when Mulder says "the Steve and Edy?" that's who he's referring to.

Am I watching an X Files episode? What is this silly american reality show with cops and bad boys?

These are the questions coming in my head whenever I begin to watch this episode. It's SOOOO american to me: the rap song, the lyrics, the american urban atmosphere, the cops cars, etc...

I've learned that Cops is a real TV reality show, but I've never watched it nor similar shows. I don't think that a french one has ever existed.

"I don't think it's live television Scully, she just said f#*k."

This is my favorite line of the entire series. Seriously. It just makes me laugh so hard every time. I also love that it shows so perfectly how unconcerned Mulder is with appearances.

Well, not a surprising quote for me.

"Because the FBI has nothing to hide.", by Special Agent Dana Scully. But, recall: it's in fact A.D. Skinner's line!

Gillian Anderson is amazing when delivering the line!

Another hilarious moment.

I love the connection Mulder makes with Deputy Wetzel. He listens to Wetzel's fears, not just about the Wasp Man but about being effective and being taken seriously in his job. These are fears Mulder can relate to. In the end, when Wetzel needs encouragement, Mulder speaks to him in his language, telling him to "cowboy up." I've mentioned before that Mulder's empathy is his best characteristic, and I think it's on display here.

I like the scene where Mulder succeeds to make Deputy Wetzel talk about the creature he has seen (the wasp man), for two reasons.

First, because Mulder understands then the nature of the monster. And he's right (well... it seems...).

Second, because of how he cares about the Deputy. I like their interactions, surely he finds some connections with him. Later, in the morgue scene it's him that worries about Wetzel, and he's right.

Scully is not okay with these cameras. Not just because she doesn't want to appear foolish, although that's part of it. Her real concern is the cameras will interfere with the investigation, and she's there to do a job. She's a professional. She'll go along with it, on Skinner's orders, but she's not going to like it.

Scully is very powerless about the case (except with the pink nail). She tries to support Mulder's theories, to investigate as she usually does, but it's quite hard and not very effective. And when a monster attack is happening just close to her, she's completely lost and inefficient.

Her reaction just after is priceless. She tries to give a scientific explanation but she can't, and admit that (as always) she didn't see anything. Moreover she can feel guilt, because of her figure of speech about the hantavirus.

I adore her last lines: "The hell I wasn't afraid, Mulder. I don't know what's going on here." And, once again, I laugh.

When Mulder tells Scully to fill the tank up with gas, it seems so out of character. He's showing off for the camera and it comes across more bossy than usual. It makes me think of the time in Dreamland when Morris Fletcher-as-Mulder does the same thing, and he was literally out of character there.

I want to link my unnoticed MSR moment with season 11 episode The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat.

I can imagine aged Mulder telling once again his tale of Mogoagogo river besides Scully on the couch, who then answers to him "I'm sorry. Are you talking to me?", in the same tone as in X-Cops.

I. LOVE. THIS. EPISODE. It's absolutely brilliant. Crossovers can be tricky because characters from two different universes have to meet in a way that makes sense. But because Cops is a "reality" show without regular characters, Mulder and Scully can easily fit in without wasting time on back story. The direction by Michael Watkins perfectly recreates the feel of a Cops episode within the X-Files format, and Vince Gilligan's script makes the show feel unscripted. Brilliant!

I also love the fact that Mulder has to confront his greatest fear--not getting the proof he's looking for--while acknowledging that the truth is a matter of who's telling the story.

What can I say in one word? BRILLIANT!

This episode is surely in my top list (list that I've never made...).

I like the violent urban atmosphere (quite rare in the series), I like the amazing idea of making a cross-over with a cop reality show, that fits perfectly in the X Files universe. I find very clever the choice of the MOTW, once again it fits perfectly with the atmosphere. It's one of the creepier MOTW they have in the whole series, totally invisible, and whose MO is based on the fear of people... Genius!

I like the characterization of Mulder and Scully, and their behavior in front of cameras. Mulder is completely at ease and seizes the occasion to explain his job, to show how he's investigating. He really hopes to get a proof of the paranormal in front of an audience (international!). On the contrary, Scully is upset by the cameras, and it's very funny to see how she reacts all along, playing with the TV crew. But both of them are caring about how the other could appear on TV, it's cute. The actors are amazing, of course.

I like also very much Deputy Wetzel, how he's portrayed, it seems very realistic to me. We empathize very much with him. The actor, Judson Mills, is also wonderful.

The X-Files doesn't have a good track record of including LGBTQ characters. And Vince Gilligan is overly fond of prison rape jokes (Unusual Suspects, Bad Blood). So it's not very surprising that Steve and Edy come across as rather cliche. There's nothing malicious or ill-intentioned in the portrayal. As Sgt. Duthie says, they're "good folks." They're comfortable with who and where they are, in a way that protects them from the monster. But I think the reliance on stereotype is somewhat problematic.

I adore the episode, but there's a thing that I don't like too much. It's all the "Steve and Edy" moments and characters.

I admit that it's very funny and that I laugh when I watch these scenes, but this is so caricatural and full of cliché! Maybe it's referring to something I don't know, maybe it's a kind of cross-over with a sitcom or with another reality show...

BTW it makes me think of a famous french movie and play, titled La Cage aux Folles (there exists an american remake The Birdcage), with two great actors, Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault. It's a famous french reference, and the characters are a gay couple played in a burlesque manner, just as Steve and Edy.

In the pics I have selected, you can see a few Mulder's reactions in the presence of Steve and Edy. I wonder what part of David Duchovny (instead of Mulder) we can see there.