AIR DATE:  January 10, 1999
Written by Jeffrey Bell
Directed by Kim Manners

	I keep asking myself why did I like "Rain King" so much and then I
realize it had something to do with the fact we were seeing something we
haven't seen in a long time: Scully and Mulder working together as a team. 
Sure the love story between Holman Hardt and Sheila Fontaine was corny and
predictable and sometimes the jokes about everyone seeing Scully and
Mulder as being more than partners seemed a bit forced at times though not
as annoyingly as how past episodes have dealt with the subject, but it was
just great to see Scully and Mulder working together.  We had the
disbelieving Scully who can't believe Mulder dragged her out to Kansas
because the Mayor thinks someone is able to control the weather and is
using this ablity to rip people off, and we have a smart witty Mulder who
was throwing out those one liners just at the right time.  It didn't hurt
that Scully didn't act like a complete jerk towards Mulder as they have
had her in the past. Instead she went along with Mulder and helped
investigate the case though usually it was to gather evidence against this
weather controlling theory of Mulder's.  Just when it was needed to have
Scully believe in Mulder's theory they had her go along with Mulder's
theory when she went into the Woman's bathroom to talk to Sheila Fontaine
about Holman Hardt's love towards her and the weather pattern in Kroner
for the last 30 years.  Now here is a Scully we haven't seen in a long
time who doesn't believe in the case, but doesn't blow Mulder off just for
the sake of conflict.  I'm just glad new writer Jeffrey Bell remembered
who Scully and Mulder were. 

	The one theme going on throughout "Rain King" was unseen love
between two people.  Sheila Fontaine didn't see the love Holman Hardt had
for her because she was too busy falling in love with the wrong man which
I think was more for the man's looks than for the man himself.  And
throughout the episode various town people kept thinking Mulder and Scully
were an item because of the way they kept acting towards each other.  The
whole point of the episode was for us to have another comedic go at Scully
and Mulder relationship in how others look at them and how they look
towards each other.  Surprising it works even though this being the
X-Files I doubt anymore will be made of it, but it was still fun to watch. 
Are we supposed to read more into Scully's little speech to Sheila about
how two people can be friends for a long time then suddenly realize there
is more to their relationship that has to be taken to the next level? No,
though if this had been a typical tv show that wanted to bring sex into
the show, such as Homicide has done this year, then we would have seen at
the end of the episode Scully and Mulder hugging and kissing at the High
School reunion since everyone else was.  It was fun watching Scully and
Mulder being perceived as lovers from the Mayor thinking Scully was
Mulder's misses to the motel owner calling him Scully's boyfriend.  The
best part of the "Rain King" was the comedy didn't dominate the whole
episode as has been the problem with past episodes.

	Now a few more comments on "Rain King":

- I liked how they cleverly covered up when this episode took place
because other than knowing what time of year it took place we have no idea
in what year it takes place (showing the Kansas license plate which
conveniently didn't have a year on it) because one would almost think they
were back working on the X-Files, and who knows they might have been if
this episode was shown when it was originally supposed to have been.  I
try to know as little as possible what is supposed to happen in upcoming
episodes (which has become harder on this mailing list) so maybe in next
week's episode they get the X-Files back. 

- The heart shaped hail was a bit much at the beginning of the episode
making me doubt this episode would be any good. 

- How far out in the middle of nowhere is Kroner, Kansas that Scully and
Mulder had to take a small airplane that landed on a dirt field, but yet
they were able to rent a very nice car.  Let's not even get into why there
would be a car rental agency in the first place in Kroner if it is such a
poor town that half its downtown is boarded up because businesses have
gone bankrupt. 

- Mulder being vague about why he dragged Scully out into the middle of
Kansas, now there's a shocker.  This was pure Mulder of old as if he is
afraid Scully wouldn't come out if he told her the full story, and we have
a Scully who would still go out with him. Though I would have liked to
know what they talked about during their flight out there.  The weather? 

- I don't know why, but it seemed weird that no one died in the "Rain
King"  except a poor cow who went for a little trip.  Hmm, maybe Holman
watched "Twister" too often.  I have to admit that was damn funny when the
cow went through Mulder's motel room roof.  Of course, we see in this same
scene that while Scully is trying to get some sleep at 3 in the morning
Mulder is awake eating sunflower seeds and reading more on the case.  Now
here is a Mulder we haven't seen in a while.  A Mulder enthused about a
case.  Wow, almost the Mulder of old who would go all the way to prove
that something strange is happening. 

- Another bit I liked was when Sheila was explaining why she thought she
was the cause of all the weird weather occurrences and we see the events
taking place from the high school prom where the school was destroyed to
her first wedding where it snowed six inches in July.

- I know Holman can affect the weather, but how was he able to get it to
rain rose petals for an hour in honor of his mother's death.  I guess
there is another X-File in that one too. 

- Boy, it didn't take long for people to start suing Daryl over his
inability to produce rain anymore.  It seemed like it was only a few hours
between the time the rain stopped and we heard about the lawsuits. How
long was Daryl out there under the tent since it was almost a day between
the time we saw him start the rain to when it stopped?

- The other bit that worked was the phone conversion between Scully and
Mulder when he informs her that he is going to give Holman dating tips. 
Unlike the badly executed joke in "Dreamland II" where Morris Fletcher
finds Mulder's porn magazine stash and comments that Mulder is a man who
hasn't been laid in 10 years.  In "Rain King" it was defty handled with
Scully's stony silence after Mulder tells her what he is going to do and
Scully after hanging up saying to herself, "The blind leading the blind". 
The "Rain King" also harks back to "Small Potatoes" in how people
perceived Mulder that they think because he is a good looking man that he
is good at getting women.  Holman believes Mulder should be able to give
him tips especially since it appears Mulder and Scully have eyes for each
other and Sheila sees Mulder as the good looking man who would finally
treat her right.  Oh yeah, I thought it was quite funny how Sheila kept
yelling at Daryl not to hit Mulder's face when he took a swing at him. 

- Did anyone notice how they had Scully and Mulder swinging back and forth
to the music during the first dance scene?

- Also, I think after Sheila expresses surprise when Scully told her that
Mulder and her hadn't kissed yet that Scully should have gone on to
explain about the bee and the international conspiracy.  Nah, there is no
way anyone would believe that one.  I want to add that I found it
believable that Scully wouldn't believe anyone would have the ability to
control the weather because even I find it hard to believe anyone could do
it no matter what other things I have seen.

- I hate when these type of thoughts come into my mind, but I couldn't
help thinking how much it cost for them to use Judy Garland's version of
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow". 

- Here's another X-File for Scully and Mulder to investigate.  An X-Files
episode that ends with the guest characters ending up happy and not in
jail or dead.

	"Rain King" showed that the X-Files people still have the touch to
make us laugh, but not at the expense of Scully and Mulder.  Sure the
story was predictable and corny with Holman holding an unsaid love for
Sheila who keeps falling for the wrong men until she sees it is Holman she
is meant for, and let's not forget having her doing the old falling for a
character (Mulder) from the show bit.  One thing I really liked about the
episode was Holman wasn't a mischievous character who used the weather for
his own gains instead he was a man who tried to hold back his emotions for
fear of what they could do and was genuinely concerned that no one gets
hurt because of his powers.  Of course, it was his holding back his
emotions towards Sheila that was causing all the problems and it took an
outside view (Mulder) to get him to finally see it.  The biggest plus for
the episode was Scully and Mulder working together for the first time in
so long I can't even remember the last time they worked together as a
team. Now if they would only continue this trend.  All in all, an
excellent episode.

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

1/11/99

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