"Whose to say that if you did rewind it and start over again 
that it wouldn't end up exactly the same way."

"Monday" was a great episode the first time. It was a big ball 
of angst at the start. Both the teaser and act one featured 
Mulder dying and Scully struggling with emotion and control. 
It doesn't get much better than that. Too bad it all happened 
in the first fifteen minutes. I enjoyed the episode, but when 
forced to watch the same series of events over and over I 
kept thinking that if writers Gilligan and Shiban were to 
rewind, keep the concept, and start over again we might see 
a different, perhaps better episode.

The key to this type of concept episode is not only to make the 
sequence of repeated event compelling, but to make each run 
through different enough to hold the audience's attention rather 
than boring them. For the most part "Monday" succeeded. Instead
of the season theme of resetting at the end of the episode we 
reset repeatedly during the episode. (At this rate I wonder if, 
at the end of the season, we are going to find out that *nothing* 
really happened.) While Director Manners and Duchovny tried to 
break up the waterbed fun with different camera angles and antics 
it still began to drag. The office conversations between Mulder 
and Scully, while true to character, were not particularly 
enlightening. As so much time was spent on these events, greater 
or more interesting variation would have helped.

I think that either a different series of repeated events (a 
more interesting puzzle to solve) or a different character 
focus might have elevated this episode further. Unfortunately, 
the character we are asked to identify with, no matter how much 
she cried, was basically unsympathetic. Carrie Hamilton does 
her best in what is a rather unflattering role. We just don't 
know enough about her or Bernard (except he appears to be a guy 
that likes to breath really hard and has job troubles) to invest 
in them. The angst factor could  have been spiked by someone we 
know repeating the day. Scully would think she was going mad, 
Skinner would have grown even more clenched, heck, we even have 
more invested in Kersh's secretary.

You can't say our leads were not working this episode. Duchovny 
was doing his best to try to make our visits to the bedroom 
amusing, and captured the feel of an annoying day perfectly. I 
especially liked the moment when he realized he'd endorsed his 
check stub. Anderson did what she does so amazingly well in 
those scenes where Scully cradles a dying Mulder - never actually 
breaking, but warring with tears just wanting "everybody to live".

All in all it was a solid offering giving us a peek at Mulder and 
Scully in both mundane and extraordinary situations. I only wish 
they could have gotten more mileage out of it.

Random Musings
--------------
-Two words Mulder: Direct Deposit.

-Speaking of, it looks like a big Mulder myth has been shattered. 
Here we always thought he must have lots of money from his 
background, clothes, and personal travel habits, but apparently 
he's worried about bouncing checks.

-How typical to see now that they have the office back they still 
have one desk with a nameplate for Mulder and only his name on the 
door again. I guess Scully's area is still "back there". I suppose 
this is Chris Carter's version of continuity. Chris, on behalf of 
all the Scullyists in the world, I'd like to say: Ppppfffffffttttttt. 
Actually, I'd like to say something else, but that will do for now.

-Of all the various ways Mulder has lost cell phones over the years, 
this was definitely the most pathetic.

-I have to admit I found the banner hanging in the bank amusing 
"Banking with Peace of Mind" when, with the number of times the 
thing blew up, they should have changed it to "Piece of Mind".

-The office, which is apparently now clean of Spudner blood, 
was like a Bizzaro!Office version of what we had before. The 
same but different. Those same wood drawers turned on their 
sides, but no "I Want to Believe" poster. Familiar knickknacks, 
but combination lock file cabinets. And what is with all the 
plaques and trophies? At least those chattering teeth gave 
Scully something to play with and they got rid of the plant.

-Person I felt most sorry for this episode: Scully. If this 
really happened over 50 times she had to sit through that staff
meeting from hell over and over and over. At least Agent Crime 
Projection's little poster changed from time to time, bar chart, 
line chart, etc. Still, is there no PowerPoint in the FBI?

-I'm usually not one to condone violence, but I wanted to shoot 
that screaming bank woman. I'm amazed given Bernard's state of 
mind that she did not end up the one shot every time.

-Pop Quiz: Time is of the essence. You've got a wounded suspect 
about to blow everyone to kingdom come. Do you mumble repeatedly 
to yourself about a bomb or simply shoot the guy again to prevent 
him from tripping it?

-For an episode that took place in a repeated fixed time there 
were some discrepancies. We see that it is 9:55 AM in the car, 
but minutes later in the bank the clock reads 11:50.

-Steve? You have to wonder if there's some story behind that 
one for Scully to have such an apparent fondness for the name.

-Well, we got to spend a lot of time in Mulder's apartment this 
time round. I'm looking forward to Scully's apartment finally 
making its way down from Canada as well. One thing I did find 
interesting was the fact he has three TV's: a big number in the 
bedroom, that kitchen one we saw last week, and another in his 
living room. Man must love his television. Does he have one in 
the bathroom as well? It also appears he has taken to that bed. 
Too bad it sprung a leak. Maybe that's where his darts got to...

-Looks like Mulder's apartment is back where it belongs after 
that unfortunate movie Arlington incident. We can only hope 
that if we ever get to see Scully's digs again her fridge is 
back in the kitchen.

-The most amusing thing about the repeated Mulder/Scully office 
scene was no matter what Mulder told her or what banter 
conversation they had, the thing that Scully really fixated 
on was Mulder's waterbed. Perhaps her amusement with it in 
"Dreamland 2" was not all an act.

-Alternative reality episode *I* want to see: The one where, as 
Mulder suggests, Scully might have stayed in medicine and they 
don't meet. It would be interesting to see what their worlds 
would be like in an "It's a Wonderful Life" sort of way. Well, 
at the rate we're going through these "homage" episodes that 
one can't be far off.

-Frank's Fashion Spot: What an odd costuming choice for Scully 
this episode. Usually about the only time we can count on seeing 
her in a skirt is office days. However, on this meeting Monday 
morning she chooses a too short sheer blouse and camisole 
combination with her pants suit. At one point her camisole is 
hanging out below the shirt and when she takes the phone in 
Skinner's office it does not even cover her stomach.

-Well, ties may pose a minor problem, but is seems Scully certainly 
knows how to rip a man's shirt off quickly. Too bad we never get to 
see that in pleasant circumstances.

-I guess all that doctoring last week just plain tuckered Scully 
out. Here shemakes a weak attempt at taking Pam's pulse (for what 
purpose? We know she'salive she's breathing so damn hard) and then 
wanders off to make a phone call.I guess all that direct pressure 
to the wound stuff is just for Mulder. Either that or we needed 
her out of the picture so we could have the dramatic Mulder/Pam 
bonding before death scene...

-Frank's Fashion Spot #2: Mulder, stick with the plaid pjs. 
Trust me.

Autumn
"Did you do a lot of drinking in college?"