Sunshine Days: Off the Top of My Head (SPOILERS)
(May 12, 2002)

Caution: spoiler for next week's ep (based on the trailer) is in
the "Etc." section.

SUNSHINE DAYS (9ABX18):

In a nutshell:  I can NOT believe that Vince actually somehow
pulled off a "Brady Bunch" ep (assuming you can suspend your
disbelief about the premise).  This ep was nowhere near as good
as Je Souhaite, but then what could be?


What I liked:
-  Another fine directing job from Vince.  Both he and DD seem
to have a good grip on how to add little touches that really
make the ep.
-  And so, from the "it's the little things that count" file:
-  I liked Reyes' reference to Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote. :)
-  Doggett:  "I think I'm finally getting the hang of this job."
:)
-  Scully: "... a well-nourished Caucasian male... "  hee hee!
-  Loved Scully's autopsy scene head microphone.  She's really
getting into the 21st century!
-  Ooooh -- a Mulder mention!  More than one!
-  Doggett on the ceiling.  OK, I liked that.  I admit it.


What I didn't like:
-  I liked the idea that Scully wanted vindication for the
X-Files, but why was this one case so important?  Geez, she
could have investigated William's ability to move his mobile and
that would have done the trick.  (Besides, didn't she learn her
lesson from Gibson about treating people like lab rats?)
-  Similarly, I'm glad that Doggett noticed that it's not a long
walk for Oliver to go off the deep end.  Scully was just acting
too giddy about the whole thing.
-  And that, in a nutshell, is what really bothered me about
this whole ep.  Scully (yes, other characters, too, but based on
her experience I expect more from Scully) was just too quick to
want to turn Oliver/Anthony into some kind of science fair,
get-me-a-Nobel-prize freak.  What happened to her conscience? 
How could she so quickly convince herself, and in turn those
around her, that they "owed it to humanity" to figure out what
made the guy tick?  And don't tell me it was OK because
Oliver/Anthony agreed to be studied.  I think it was pretty
clear that the man was at least somewhat mentally/emotionally
disturbed.
-  Skinner's mid-air somersault was cute, but really, why in
world did they bring Oliver/Ahony to FBI headquarters?  How do
they know he wasn't evil?  At the very least they knew that he
was capable of killing people, regardless of whether he means to
do it.
-  Yes, I know it was a lite ep and I shouldn't take everything
so seriously.  But even in lite eps, the characters' actions
should make sense (e.g., Bad Blood) or if a character *does* do
something out of character, there should be a good reason for it
(e.g., Syzygy).
-  Of course, there was no mention of William.  In an ep that
involved the importance of having a family.  What a shock.  (I'm
still betting that we won't hear a word about William next
week.)


What's got me puzzled:
-  Did I imagine/mis-hear this?  In the teaser Blake (the first
dead guy) called the other guy Danny, but we hear later that his
name is Michael?
-  Why were Doggett and Reyes investigating this case, and how
did they get there so fast?  The "murder" happened at 11:52 p.m.
California time, which was 2:52 a.m. DC time, then add the time
it took for someone to decide that the X-Files agents needed to
be called in, plus flight time from DC to California, plus time
to drive to Van Nuys...
-  And then Scully did something similar, getting to California
by the morning after the second death.
-  Why did Doggett and Reyes let Michael/Danny/Bud Bundy go in
when the questioned Oliver?  Surely that isn't standard law
enforcement procedure.
-  Could Doggett go in the man's garbage without a warrant or
permission?
-  Why did Scully have to do the autopsy?  There aren't forensic
pathologists in Los Angeles?  (And they got the body to DC
mighty fast, BTW.)  But I'm glad the FBI saved its money and did
NOT have Scully fly out to CA.  (Ooops, she went out later. 
Never mind that last comment...)  Of course, she doesn't have a
child at home anymore, so... :-P
-  How did Scully make the connection between Anthony Fogelman
and Oliver Martin, considering that he changed his name?  I
think I missed something there.
-  What's with Doggett's theory about Oliver/Anthony loving this
doctor?  He hadn't seen him in 30 years.  Sure, we saw a hint of
that back in the house, when the doctor said stuff about "it
would be so important to me" and Oliver did what the doctor
wanted, but if Oliver were so keen on having the doctor as a
father figure, why hadn't he tried to contact him sometime
during the past 30 years?  And what about when the putty knife
sliced into the phone?  That wasn't exactly indicative of Oliver
having happy thoughts about the doctor.


Etc.:
-  That Blake guy needed to get a life if he was so hell-bent on
checking out the Brady House.  Where someone actually lived. 
(Umm, I had to add that last bit to differentiate him from me
and my enthusiasm for TXF. *g*  In any case, I like to think
that I wouldn't just walk into someone's house if the door were
unlocked, no matter how keen I was on the background of the
house.)
-  Was anyone else amused when Oliver turned the house into an
outdoor vista?  'Cause you just knew that the actors were oohing
and ahhing at a green screen.  *g*  (And did anyone else think
that Scully was going to reach out and touch the camera?)
-  It was a sweet "happy ending" sort of ending, but does anyone
think that any kind of a relationship between the doctor and his
pseudo-son, whom he hasn't seen for 30 years after spending 6
months with him, is going to work out well?  It just seemed
bizarre.
-  Yes, I know that the aftermath wasn't the point of the ep. 
It was still unrealistic and Pollyanna-ish.  (Maybe that doesn't
sit well with me because I want certain other characters on this
show to have happy endings, dammit! *g*)
-  I'm not quite sure what to say about the end of the ep.  I
take things very literally (like you hadn't already figured that
out about me *g*); what was the "message" of that last scene
with Doggett, Reyes, and Scully outside of Oliver/Anthony's
hospital room?  Scully seemed happy to have found "proof" of
something non-paranormal in the past nine years (love? 
happiness? fulfillment?), but what has she got to show for the
proof she found?  She gave her son away (and don't get me
started on *that* again) and Mulder is AWOL.  Doggett and Reyes
seem to have each other, but I've never seen the chemistry there
so that didn't do anything for me.  And Reyes thinks that
Doggett is finally getting the hang of this job?  What exactly
did that mean?  Or was the overall message there not for the
characters but for us, the loyal fans?  ::shrug::  Like I said,
I'm literal.  I need to have these nuances explained to me. 
I'll be very interested to see what everyone else has to say
about this ep, especially that last scene.
-  Yet if you don't dig too deep and just enjoy this ep on its
surface, it works very well.  Sweet without making me roll my
eyes at the cliches.  As I said at the start, it wasn't as
brilliant as Je Souhaite, but I'm glad that this ep didn't turn
out to be the train wreck that I feared it would be.
-  Happy Mother's Day, Scully.
-  Next week's ep:  Mulder!  Scully!  Mulder and Scully
together!  Yeeha!!!  (What, there's anything more to say about
it than that?)


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