AIR DATE:  February 28, 1999
Written by Vince Gilligan and John Shiban
Directed by Kim Manners

	"Monday" was a fairly decent episode even if it invoked the movie
"Groundhog Day" and the Star Trek episode "Cause and Effect".  It probably
would have been a better episode if it had been Scully or Mulder realizing
they were reliving the same day over and over, but I realize that would
have been a tougher episode for writers Vince Gilligan and John Shiban to
write.  Which one would realize it first, what situation would they keep
repeating and trying to fix to get out of the time loop and would the
other partner believe them when they told them they were repeating the
same day over and over.  So instead of it being Scully or Mulder we get a
third person who is repeating the day over and over as she describes it as
their own private hell though unlike "Groundhog Day" we never find out the
reason why she was repeating the day other than to get Scully or Mulder to
not enter the bank thus preventing her boyfriend from blowing up the bank. 
Which I guess is a good enough reason to keep repeating the day, but it
would have been nice if it was something beyond that.  In the end the only
variable missing was she was supposed to go into the bank with Bernard and
by not going in to try to stop him from killing everyone she was fated to
repeat the day over and over again until she got it right, though I find
it hard to believe she didn't try it earlier, but one could see how she
would be afraid to go into the bank knowing what was going to happen.

	The one thing that stopped this episode from being an outstanding
episode instead of a decent episode was the lame attempts at comedy. Can't
we have just one episode where we can go at least 15 minutes without some
lame joke usually at Mulder's expense.  By the time we had to see Mulder
go through his leaking waterbed routine for a third time I was rolling my
eyes, and none of it was helped by Mark Snow's music which was being used
as a replacement for a laugh track to make sure we knew this was supposed
to be funny.  The best part of the episode was when Mulder and Scully were
discussing deja vu, fate, free will and repeating things until things are
put right. Basically, the drama parts were the best part of the episode
from the discussions to the bank scenes even if Bernard was too
one-dimensional for us to understand why he would feel the need to blow up
the bank.  There was an outstanding episode wanting to come out in 
"Monday", but it was dragged down by trying to be funny. 

	Now some miscellaneous comments on "Monday":

- How many times is Mulder going to be shot on the X-Files?  Let's see he
was shot in the leg in "Beyond the Sea", Scully shot him in the shoulder
in "Anasazi", and in the movie he gets a flesh wound on his head.  He's
like Mannix who always got shot in the arm, but always survived.  I think
it would have been a nice touch if after one of the times he woke up in
his waterbed he touched his chest as if looking for a bullet hole. 

- It is doubtful the police would go into the bank without first trying to
contact Bernard or even finding out more of what was going on inside. 
Bernard was right, they usually do call first.  Maybe there have been
budget cuts with the D.C. police department and they got rid of their top
negotiator. 

- It is funny how they can remember they gave Mulder a waterbed in
"Dreamland II", but can't remember how long Scully was missing. 

- Maybe now Mulder will get Direct Deposit so he doesn't have to go the
bank to cash his check and I wouldn't be surprised to learn from someone
on the list that the government requires employees do Direct Deposit and
no longer issues checks. 

- Sure didn't take long for the landlord to figure out how much Mulder
owes him considering the landlord and the tenant most likely would have
some kind of insurance and would have to wait until the contractors came
and checked it out.  Also, will this be the final straw for the landlord
to finally kick Mulder out of his apartment.  Considering all the stuff
that has happened in that apartment it is surprising he hasn't been
evicted sooner after someone was drugging the apartment water supply and
Mr. X shot outside his apartment.

- Also, I don't think Mulder had to rush off and cash his check because
the landlord might not cash it right away and if he does I think it takes
a few days for it to clear unless computers do it faster.  Of course, they
had to give a reason why Mulder was going to the bank, he simply couldn't
be just going to the bank.  Instead Gilligan and Shiban make it seem as if
there is a big rush.  Now if they wanted to make it funny they should
steal that bit from "Everybody Loves Raymond" when Raymond is trying to
deposit money into the ATM before his wife withdraws money from the bank
and she finds out there isn't enough money in the account.  I could see it
now, we'd see Mulder trying to deposit the money and pushing old ladies
out of the way as we see Mulder's landlord waiting in line inside the
bank.  Now that's comedy. 

- The bureau must still be punishing Mulder, Scully and Skinner by making
them listen to Agent Arnold drone on about DOJ crime statistics.  If one
listened closely it was obvious they had what Arnold said to having some
meaning to what was going on with Scully and Mulder.  Especially at the
end of the meeting when he says they can't predict the future of crime
because there are too many variables involved to make a prediction.

- Mulder must not give his paperboy good tips since every time he relived
the day the paperboy threw it harder against his door.  Let's not even get
into the fact he was delivering the morning paper at 7:15a.m.. 

- I did like how no matter how many times Mulder repeated the day he was
still fated to trip in his apartment just as he and Scully were fated to
be in that bank at the same time Bernard robbed it.  As I stated earlier
Pam was the variable missing from the bank heist except she didn't realize
until the end that she was supposed to go in to try to stop Bernard

- I couldn't quite tell, but it appears only Mulder's name appears on the
basement office door.

- Do they sell watches that only give the day of the week and not the
date?  Who would buy a watch like that?  Well, we know they wouldn't dare
try to date stamp this episode, would they?

- So when did Pam get away from Bernard to tour the F.B.I. building and
when did she tell Bernard that she wanted to tour the F.B.I. building
before he robs a bank. 

- I'm glad Mulder remembered in this episode that he got his degree in
Psychology when he explained to Scully what some Freudians believe about
deju vu. 

- I will admit I did find it funny when Mulder tells Scully to cover for
him as he goes off to the bank and Scully says she always does. 

- The other funny line was when Bernard told Pam she is always in a mood
and I wish she had said back to him, "Maybe its because I've relived this
day over 50 times." 

- Somehow I don't think Mulder putting his gun down on Bernard's note was
the smartest thing Mulder has ever done.  There wasn't really a reason why
Mulder had to do that to get Bernard's attention.  He could have easily
approached him and told him he kn ows what he has planned since it made
him vulnerable to exactly what happened in the bank. 

- Why is Dr. Scully walking away from an injured Pam as she is calling for
the ambulance when she should have stayed with her.  If she did that then
we wouldn't have the end scene of Mulder going to her to see her die as
she realizes she is free from the repeating day.

- Anyone notice the byline to the left of Pam's picture in the newspaper
of "Police Officer Named Hero".  Obviously a reference to Mulder for his
police work at the bank. 

- I couldn't help thinking of Data typing in the number 3 in "Cause and
Effect" as a way to remind him of what went wrong and the solution they
should use to get out of the time loop as Mulder kept repeating to himself
that Bernard has a bomb right before Bernard blows up the bank.  Though
the bank blowing up at the end of each scene didn't have the same effect
as when we saw the Enterprise blowing up at the end of each scene. 

- Just once I wish one character would have mentioned the movie "Groundhog
Day" since the movie has become a reference point in today's culture for
this type of thing happening to people.  It reminded me of the MST3K
episode "Prince of Space" where the superhero disguised himself as a
shoeshine boy and there wasn't one Underdog joke throughout the whole
movie. 

	In "Monday" we have Scully and Mulder reliving their deaths over
and over until the cycle could be broken by Pam going into the bank.  Was
there a message in all this, maybe a little about fate and free will. 
Bernard and others kept saying he was in control when in reality he wasn't
so one's perspective of how much control we have over our lives and the
choices we make are fleeting.  An overall decent episode even if we have
seen it all before in other movies and TV shows. 


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

3/2/99

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