AIR DATE:  March 7, 1999
Written by Daniel Arkin
Directed by Michael Watkins

	X-Files should make a vow to never do another show that has cats
in it, water creatures or any type of mud creature.  Why am I having
flashbacks to that wonderful episode from last season where the earth was
sucking in people or was it the trees, I can't remember.  Not only was the
monster of the week lame once again (I do truly miss the MOTW who was a
formitable foe to Scully and Mulder instead of another mindless version),
but the whole concept of the episode reeks of a bunch of writers sitting
around a table trying to come up with ideas and someone thought it would
be a funny idea if they had Scully and Mulder pretend they were a couple
in a perfect community. Then it was decided to give it to the new guy
Daniel Arkin.  This idea worked a lot better on the tv show "7 Days" when
Olga and Frank had to go undercover as a couple to stop a house from
blowing up and I never thought there would be a day when I thought an
episode of "7 Days" was better than an X-Files episode.  At least on "7
Days"  Olga and Frank acted believable as a couple, not this version
Scully and Mulder were trying to pull off with Mulder wearing the preppy
shirts and the sweater tied around his neck and having them call each
other by a nickname.  Just another X-Files lite episode where 15 minutes
after you watch it you forget what the episode was about.

	I was going to write that at least Scully and Mulder were working
together on this episode, but as I thought about it they weren't really
together too much.  Mostly it was Mulder against the establishment and
what a rebel rouser he can be, along with a few scenes of Scully and
Mulder working together as a couple.  This episode wasn't helped by having
Scully do a two minute speech on why they were there in the first place
because it was so obvious the only reason why she was giving the speech
was for the tv audience.  Since they ended the show with an old fashioned
Scully voice over they should have started the episode with them in
Mulder's office with Mulder going over the case via a slide show and then
spring it on Scully they have to go undercover as a couple.  Boy, I would
like to have seen her face when Mulder suggested that to her.  I'm a
little tired of Mulder having an attitude about cases he feels are a waste
of his precious time.  There was a real mystery here of three couples
disappearing without a trace and the Mulder of old would have gone into
this case with more enthusiasm.  He should know Skinner wouldn't waste his
time by sending him on a fool's errand.

	A few comments on "Arcadia":

- I gather Kersh is totally out of the picture if it was Skinner who sent
them on this case.  Too bad because it would have been fun to see Kersh
and Skinner fight over who was the true supervisor of Scully and Mulder. 

- For a second there I thought Shroeder was painting Kline's mailbox shut
since we see him painting around the inside of it. 

- Doesn't Kline know you are not supposed to open any package that you
were not expecting or that doesn't have a return address on it.  The
ornament would have driven me nuts if it was banging outside my window as
it was at the Klines. 

- I hear my husband being killed down on the first floor so instead of
calling 911 I think I'll just sit in my bed and scream.

- The X-Files writers and everyone else on the show must not read the
newspapers or else they would know the Welcome Wagon no longer goes to
your home.  Of course, this community is so weird they most likely aren't
aware of the outside world since no one in the community appears to work.
Everyone always seems to be there at all hours and I doubt very much this
community is near the city so they would have to commute to work.

- Children must not be aesthetically pleasing since there didn't appear to
be one kid in the community though it is doubtful any young couple would
move into a community like this if they weren't planning on having kids.
Oh what am I thinking, children will weight more than 16 pounds which
would go against the C&CR.  You would think Scully and Mulder would have
commented on the lack of children in the community.  Maybe trash creature
killed the children because they were too noisy. 

- Also, it is hard to believe the people who ran the community (i.e. Mr. 
Gogolak) would not have screened people better before letting them move
into the community or at least do a background check on them if they have
no control on who can buy a house in the community which I find hard to
believe since they would only want people who go along with their ideal
community.  I did find it funny when the Welcome Wagon lady commented that
Scully must have money if Mulder says he is going to work at home.  Now
that is good old fashioned town gossip. 

- So what is the date in this episode?  Scully says it is Feb. 24, but
Mulder's watch says it is the 7th.  I guess Mulder hasn't figured out how
to use his new watch since the one he had last week's episode only had the
day of the week on it.  Does this reek of sloppiness on the director's
part that he couldn't even make sure the shot of someone's watch actually
had the correct date on it.  Hmm, why do I think the 7th is around the
time they shot this episode. 

- Did they have to be so cute and have Scully and Mulder's undercover name
be Rob and Laura Petrie?  I'm surprised Mulder didn't say they worked for
Alan Brady.  I think this episode proves Scully and Mulder can never work
undercover since they allow Mulder to pick a name that screams to everyone
they are not who they appear to be and they had a difficult time
remembering their names.  Nothing more dangerous when you go undercover
than to break out of character. 

- I'm surprised the blood was still wet in the Kline's house considering
they were killed 7 months earlier so it should have been dried blood, and
I'm also surprise Big Mike didn't know where the bathroom was in Gogolak's
house since I doubt this is the first time he has been in the house. 

- Did we really need to see Big Mike watching a tv show about a tribe that
makes its citizens conform right before Trash creature tries to kill him? 
Let's not ram it down our throats that if one doesn't conform then you can
be ostrasized.

- I'm still glad to see Scully is always prepared and takes out a
flashlight to see inside the sewer hole when the dog went into it.  Was no
one else not surprised when the manhole lifted up as Scully and Mrs. 
Shroeder walked away?  Ooo, that was so scary and suspenseful. 

- Oh, what a surprise it was that at the exact moment Mulder decides to go
to the bathroom someone in the community decides to fix the mailbox he
trashed.  Also, if you are investigating a community for possible wrong
doing I don't think it is too smart to crush the note that was left in
your mailbox telling you either be like everybody else by nightfall or
else face the consequences.  It's called evidence, Mulder, you should hold
on to it to get fingerprints and stuff. 

- Big Mike was right when he told them they had to tell the Petrie's about
why they should be following the rules because by not doing so they were
opening them up to be killed.  How can no one in the community not think
by not telling them they wouldn't break a few rules without knowing it. 
This gets back to screening who can move into their community.  I just
can't believe they would let anyone move in.  Just look at how white that
community was. 

- Who wasn't surprised when Scully was walking down the stairs with a
fireplace poker that she would almost end up hitting Mulder.  One of the
oldest tricks in the book. 

- Once again we get the Mulder who arrests someone with little or no
evidence when he goes off and arrests Gogolak because he found an
outlandish ornament with Gogolak's company name on it dug up from Kline's
front yard.  This proves to Mulder that the Klines brought a tacky
ornamentt from Gogolak's company.  You still haven't found any bodies yet
and there is no guarantee you will find any in the yard.  It is lucky for
Mulder that Gogolak did get killed because he would have been signing his
checks over to him.  This was the one good part in the episode when they
had Gogolak tell Mulder he had no reason to arrest him.  I would like to
hear Mulder's explanation on why he handcuffed Gogolak to his mailbox. 
Also, Mulder should know better than to handcuff a suspect to something
since they always seem to die.

- Hey, Big Mike, why didn't you take Scully out of the room the same way
you came in since Trash creature was taking its time getting to the room
instead of spending the time explaining to us why the monster was
attacking and why the monster attacked the Shroeder's house.  I'm not even
going to get into pushed aside Scully in this scene or how much this scene
annoyed me.

	Someday we will get another meat and potatoes episode on the
X-Files, but until then I'm going to have to lower my expectations even
more than I have in the past and just accept there will no longer be any
more dark and moody X-Files episodes.  I think the writers have been
spending too much time in the California sun if these are the type of
episodes we are going to be stuck with.  They are only doing 20 episodes
this year and we are two thirds of the way through and we have yet to see
an X-Files that wasn't lite and that didn't deal with the messy mythology
plotline (if you want to claim there is a plot to them). 


Claudia
E-Mail:  Claudia.Cauchon@unh.edu

3/8/99

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