"I don't know if you noticed, but I never made the world a 
happier place."
"Well, I'm fairly happy. That's something."

Thank God for Vince Gilligan. I enjoyed "Je' Souhaite" so much 
I didn't even really care that it was the third "light" X-Files 
episode in a row. Not that "Fight Club" succeeded in being 
remotely funny. Gilligan proves once again that he has a gift 
for finding the right mix of oddball supporting characters and 
the intrinsic humor in Mulder and Scully. He just knows how to 
make watching the X-Files fun. "Je' Souhaite" was a case of 
everything on the X-Files going right. Something that hasn't 
happened in a while now. Everything from writing to directing 
to editing to special effects to makeup to casting to acting 
to costuming to props was done well and with care. I wish all 
of season seven had been this good.

I've always enjoyed Gilligan's writing enough to forgive him a 
few predictable moments. I mean we all knew that the genie would 
be drinking coffee at some point after she mentioned it, didn't 
we? With a few exceptions he's consistently put an interesting 
and fresh spin on the X-Files during his solo efforts. He has a 
way of making even the absurd seem realistic. I love the image 
of a yellow beat-up Anson screaming at his brother who is eating 
off-brand corn flakes out of a Tupperware container. There's 
always a scary amount of truth in it all. He has such a flair 
for the ironic, be it Leslie finally making the right wish just 
before he blows up or Mulder having his sincere wish for world 
peace turned into something "grotesquely egotistical." I'm 
delighted that Gilligan seems to have taken to directing as 
well, adding little touches like the "ow" as the smoking rug 
falls from the sky or the invisible imprint of a body with flies 
buzzing around as the icing on the cake. As long as people in 
the world are cursed with stupidity I suspect Vince Gilligan 
will be telling us delightful stories about them.

What would Scully be like if she had just a little too much 
caffeine in her? Well, Gillian Anderson came close to showing 
us this episode with the lighthearted manner in which she 
played Scully, almost bouncing into the office at the start 
of the episode wanting to know what was going on. It's either 
too much caffeine or Scully's getting laid. You make the choice. 
Anderson made the most out of the invisible man bit as well. I 
loved watching the look on her face turn around from irritated 
as the orderlies wheel in the gurney to shock as she makes her 
discovery to silly elation as she becomes a medical Picasso. It 
was just so fun to see the skeptical Scully, with the prospect 
of actual proof of something paranormal, turn positively giddy 
to the point she even whispers "bye" to the corpse she is 
guarding. How amusing to have it all backfire on her in the 
end so instead of getting her name in a prestigious medical 
journal she embarrasses herself in front of the folks from 
Harvard with "oh, uh, he's a ... he's invisible... after all." 
Duchovny was equally delightful be it singing the theme from 
"I Dream of Jeannie" to find something Leslie could relate to 
or trying valiantly to do the right thing with his wishes even 
if it means typing in "whereas" 20 times on a statement. 
However, the thing that cracked me up the most was his reaction 
to Scully reverting to her old ways about the invisible man. I 
think he should howl in pain that way every time she does that. 
She certainly got the point. All in all Anderson and Duchovny 
seemed to be having a great time in this episode and took us 
along for the ride. One gets the impression that they like 
Gilligan's scripts as much as the fans do.

It's been rare since the move to Los Angeles that I've been 
universally impressed with the guest actors in an episode. I'm 
glad to say this is one of those times. Paula Sorge was perfect 
as the cynical genie who just longed for a good cup of coffee, 
but spends her time amusing herself by punishing greedy idiots 
who aren't specific enough. Kevin Weisman as Anson was at his 
best while doing his invisible man strip tease and screaming 
the scream of the dead. However, it was Will Sasso as the 
Lynyrd Skynyrd loving Leslie Stokes that stole this show. His 
blustering good natured dimwit routine as he zipped around in 
that chair with the flag or babbles about boats and taxes and 
chemicals was a riot.

I have to give a big nod to the effects folks all around for 
this one. The no mouth makeup was spectacular and the "they 
had to make me a whole new mouth" makeup was so gruesome one 
can't blame Scully for being so shocked initially. Great job 
with the yellow floating face as Scully discovers the invisible 
man. Fabulous explosion, and usually I'm not one who gets 
excited by things blowing up. The digital enhancement of 
the Nixon thing was perfect. Heck, I even loved the puddle 
splashes. Just a superior effort on all fronts making a really 
classy looking episode. 

Before I go I'd like to thank Vince Gilligan for the ending of 
this episode. Like Anderson and Duchovny he chooses a path not 
often taken in the seven years of this show and gives us Mulder 
and Scully happily appreciating each other in the end. Mulder 
didn't need to use his wish on anything selfish. He's already 
got everything he needs: popcorn, Shiner Bock, a guy movie and 
the girl. Yup, I'm all right too.

Random Musings
-----------------------

-I thought the yacht sight gag was perfect. Anson who goofs off 
at work reading "Big Boats" magazine now has a huge tax burden 
vessel towering over his trailer and beat up station wagon. 

-I have to admit, after listening to that boss scream "Anson" 
over and over and over in just the short teaser I too wanted 
him to shut the hell up.

-Just how long was that storage locker unscathed for? I have 
a hard time believing that someone paid in advance for 22 years 
before turning deadbeat. Did the owner just decide that 20 years 
of unpaid bills was enough and he was finally going to put his 
foot down and get stern after sending "final warning" letters 
for the past five years?

-Scully has to work on her recovery technique. I know she was 
trying to be polite and friendly after gasping in the poor man's 
face, but she really didn't pull it off after a rough start.

-The amazing plastic surgeon of the X-Files division has pulled 
off another miracle. I remember the days when he only had to 
repair cat scratches. Now, in addition to removing all those 
nasty bullet scars off of our heroes, their faces are scar free 
and good as new after last week's debacle.

-If the whole no mouth thing happened a month ago, it must mean 
that Anson waited that long to use his third wish. I have a hard 
time believing that he'd be that patient.

-Long live the Scully Rational Explanation! She was in rare 
medical form this week trying to justify what had happened to 
poor Mr. Gilmore with things like small mouth condition or 
Nasal Aplasia. I liked the way Gillian and David played this 
scene as if Mulder and Scully were enjoying their usual game.

-I wonder if they just got that same barreling truck from "all 
things" to run the light in this one and smack naked inviso-letch.

-Frank's Fashion Spot: My, my didn't Scully look good this 
episode. She only had to wear the season 7 white blouse once, 
and during that time it was wiped off the face of the planet 
for an hour. Sadly, it came back when she did. However, that 
aside, it was a great fashion week for Scully. Her green sweater 
was yummy, and the white jersey top at the end looked great for 
a casual evening. Oh, and, I liked her hair too.

-Fun with props: Where in the world did they get that buxom 
torso remote control? I especially liked the way you had to 
move the top up in order to reach the, er, buttons.

-Actually the whole set dressing in the trailer was really spot 
on right down to the tacky curtains and the Budweiser mirror.

-Who says you don't learn anything from television. This week 
on the X-Files we learned the fancy shmancy got-it-past-the-censors 
way to say "death by a huge hard on": "extreme priapic condition" 
or "chronic morbid tumescence."

-Hey, who wouldn't want a magic sack that was always full of 
turnips and a stout hearted mule? Fine wishes, both of 'em.

-Our Little Sailor:" where the hell did she go?" You know, I 
started this part in my reviews way back in the dark ages when 
people were known to comment that Scully never swears. It was 
to prove a little point. I'm just thankful I don't have to 
note every time Mulder let's out an expletive or I'd be doing 
this all day. Though I do have to say that out of all the 
writers Vince sure does like making them swear the most.

-Nice touch: the subtle noises from the street dropping out 
completely when Mulder's peace on Earth wish comes true.

-Kudos to the set dressers for even having Mulder run by 
"The Alexandria Hotel" as he runs down the street. Someone 
was really paying attention this time out. Well, except when 
they forgot to put the nameplate back up on Mulder's office 
door.

-Mulder better go back to practicing his hoops. While Scully 
scores with her bottle cap in the end  Mulder misses causing 
her to laugh into her beer.

Autumn
"I should just shoot myself. I was so happy. I was so excited. 
What was I thinking? An invisible man?"