AIR DATE:  December 13, 1998
Written by Chris Carter
Directed by Chris Carter


	"How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" is an episode that I'm still
trying to figure out just how I feel about it.  On one hand it was a
chance for Scully and Mulder to get some pop psychology about why they are
leading the lives they are in a somewhat amusing fashion and on the other
hand we get another one of those episodes where major things happen to
Scully and Mulder and at the end of the episode they are fine, but at
least with this episode Scully and Mulder can do what they do best and
that is deny to each other that it ever happened.  A fairly entertaining
episode though not a great episode it was a lot better than the
"Dreamland" twosome we had to watch these past two weeks.  The episode was
more in "F. Emasculata" mode which was another good episode with a good
conversation between them over the phone and "How the Ghosts Stole
Christmas" had Scully and Mulder thinking about why the heck they were
running around in a haunted house on Christmas Eve instead of being with
their families and friends. 

	Did this episode show us how much they have become dependent on
each other for support and comfort?  If one looked at how much they have
gone through with each other it isn't surprising that they can only relate
with each other more than with others.  How does one explain to a friend
how one has been infected with an alien virus and whose sister was killed
in your place or that one's father was part of a grand government
conspiracy who allowed his own daughter to be kidnapped.  So is it really
surprising after doing some last minute Christmas shopping that Scully
wouldn't think it would be a bad idea to meet up with Mulder for some
ghost hunting.  It was either that or spend some time with the family and
maybe after last year's Christmas Scully isn't too anxious to be spending
another Christmas with them.  I did like Lily Tomlin's character take on
why Scully would come out to meet Mulder in the middle of nowhere on
Christmas Eve only because she likes to prove him wrong which would
explain why she went out to Area 51.  Of course, it is more than that
because of everything they have been through in the past, but it has to
always be one of her underlying reasons considering how many times Mulder
is right on the show.  Mulder's reasons for being out there are a lot
deeper than Ed Asner's Maurice character's quick analysis of him, but
Mulder did get someone to finally ask him if he was doing it more for the
exposure than for the truth. 

	Also, one couldn't help thinking that this episode came into being
just so we could have Scully and Mulder shoot each other which proved in
this episode that they could never do it to each other except by Scully in
"Anasazi".  Oh well, at least the ghosts realized they could never get
them to go crazy enough to shoot each other so they had to try and trick
them since the trust is too strong between them.  I couldn't help thinking
that Ed Asner and Lily Tomlin were kind of wasted in this episode because
they weren't given much to do.  Well, Asner had less to do than Tomlin,
but Tomlin has a way of making even the small roles come alive and she
gave her character a more mischievious feel to it than Asner did his. 

	Now some miscellaneous comments on "How the Ghosts Stole
Christmas": 

- I don't always find out who writes an episode ahead of time so I didn't
know Chris Carter wrote this one when I started watching the episode. That
was until Mulder started telling the ghost story to Scully in his car then
I knew even before I saw the credits this was a Chris Carter script
because only he would make a character tell a story like that.  Carter
needs to cut down on the prose. 

- This is how I imagine Scully getting dressed in the morning:  white
blouse - check, dark dress suit - check, high heels - check, does Scully
feel it is a pants or skirt day - pants since Mulder wants to check out a
haunted house, gun - check, flashlight in pocket - check.

- The one thing I didn't like about this episode was having Scully faint
after seeing the bullet holes in Maurice and Lily's (I think that was
Tomlin's character name) bodies. I mean she has seen worse things than
that.  I could understand her being nervous in the house because who
doesn't get nervous when one enters into an old darkened house that is
supposed to be haunted.  Actually I loved that they were both afraid in
the house because it showed real emotion on their part especially when
Mulder hid behind the staircase as Scully went to check out a room.  He
might be looking for ghosts, but even he could get scared by them, and the
same with Scully who claims she doesn't believe in ghost and can't handle
it when she does meet up with some so maybe that is why she fainted
instead it being of a plot device so Maurice and Lily could have their
little chat about how they don't have the touch anymore to make couples
kill each other as they used to. 

- It is sad that Mulder did take Scully's keys so she would follow him up
to the house.  I'm fairly sure it was Mulder who took them because he
never denied that it to Maurice and it could be something he would do. Who
would want to go into a haunted house by themselves? 

- Scully and Mulder aren't shy about pointing their guns around when they
get nervous even when they suspect they are pointing at ghosts. 

- Maurice and Lily really are losing their touch because I don't think
they showed Scully and Mulder how lonely they truly are on Christmas which
is most likely why they failed to get Scully and Mulder to kill each
other.  Scully and Mulder might not have great lives, but they don't feel
it is a waste. 

- Why would Mulder be so freaked out by seeing Lily's stomach hole?  If
anything he should be fascinated by it. 

- I did like how Scully's flashlight was reflecting against the camera
lense in the scene where Mulder comes in shooting at her. 

- We knew it couldn't have been Mulder shooting Scully because even he
isn't that bad a shot.  I have to admit I did like the gleeful look Scully
had when she shot Mulder and the shocked look on his face when she did.

- What does it say about Mulder when we see he is still wearing his jacket
watching tv in his apartment after his ordeal at the haunted house. 
Mulder shouldn't be surprised to see Scully is not with her family since
it was after midnight and if she was planning on going to Midnight Mass
she missed it with her family.  I would like to hear her explaining that
to her family.  "You see, Mom, Mulder wanted to check out the haunted
house and we met up with these ghosts who made us think we shot each
other.  Ahh, no what really happened was I got stuck in traffic.  Yeah,
that's it." 

- Hey, they should have let us see what they got each other for Christmas. 

- Scully and Mulder working together watch:  I almost thought that they
would be in the whole episode together checking out the haunted house, but
after the 2nd commercial break they once again were split for most of the
episode.  It wasn't too annoying in this episode though I'm still waiting
for my episode where they work together throughout the episode.

	The funny thing about "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" is I didn't
find it all that funny.  As I wrote earlier the episode was entertaining
just not in a hilarious vein.  Okay, Lily Tomlin's character calling
Mulder a Masher was funny.  Otherwise just another light hearted episode. 
I just hope they start doing more drama episodes.  These type of episodes
are fine when they are spread out not when they are done 4 in a row.  In
"How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" we get a little bit into Scully and
Mulder's psyche and that they will be spending more holidays together
instead of being with their families.  What does this episode say about
Mulder's relationship with his mother?  Did he even consider going up and
seeing her during the holidays?  Now that might have made an interesting
X-Files Christmas or Hanukkah (since that hasn't been determined) at the
Mulder's.


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

12/13/98