"We haven't forgotten the meaning of Christmas."

In the end neither has writer/director Chris Carter. Despite 
the fact that Mulder and Scully are tricked into thinking 
they've been "shot" by the other and crawl about leaving long 
bloody slimy trails to the strains of 'Have yourself a merry 
little Christmas", this was a lot more merry than we usually 
get when it comes to X-Files and Christmas. For me, this was 
just the right blend of creepyness, humor, and chemistry all 
wrapped up with a bright shiny bow. It's a gift I'll be 
enjoying for a long time to come.

I've been waiting quite a while for a good haunted house story 
on the X-Files and it seems I've been waiting forever for an 
episode with a lot of actual interaction between the dynamic 
duo. Here I got both. Plus bonus points in that we actually 
got to see them scared. The whole back and forth between the 
two of them about being afraid complete with Mulder lighting 
up his face with a flashlight to spook Scully and her 
oh-so-Scully admission of "alright I'm afraid, but it's an 
irrational fear" after a particularly long (even by her 
standards) rational explanation was a hoot.

In the end, the ghosts did not succeed in their holiday quest 
because taking a personality trait that does have a kernel of 
truth to it and stretching it as they do in their analysis of 
"narcissistic" with "paramasturbatory illusions" Mulder and 
"co-dependent" and "repressed" Scully does not paint the whole 
picture of these complex people. Scully is right when she says 
"you don't know me" to these accusations. While I'm sure 
Mulder and Scully have their moments of loneliness they are 
not alone. Their giddy gift exchange was just the right coda 
to underscore this. 

There's been a lot of debate about using "famous" actors on 
the X-Files and my take has always been if the actors are 
good it will not matter. This episode is a prime example of 
that. Lily Tomlin and Ed Asner were absolutely delightful 
in their roles of the malevolent prankster ghosts. I never 
found their presence distracting and think that the casting 
was perfection in this case. Tomlin especially was a joy to 
watch in her scenes with Anderson and Duchovny as she taunted 
our heroes with lines like "I don't show my hole to just 
anyone".

The highlight of the episode for me was seeing a freaking 
Scully so frightened (or as she puts it "a little on edge") 
she can't even draw her gun as she repeatedly barks out that 
she's armed. When it finally does appear the gun wavers so 
badly it is unlikely she could hit any target. I also loved 
the look of utter shock that crossed Scully's face when she 
thinks Mulder has actually shot her. Duchovny had some nice 
moments as well with his dramatic retelling of the tale in 
the car and the occasional giddiness Mulder got at witnessing 
ghostly things. 

The behind the scenes folks have to be singled out for this 
one. Kudos to production designer Corey Kaplan and his crew 
for building that grand and gorgeous spooky library set that 
just perfected the mood of this episode. In an episode where 
the music was purposely noticeable the  harpsichordish strains 
a la many a creepy old movie were the perfect backdrop courtesy 
of Mark Snow.

Christmas and ghost stories are a long and grand tradition. 
I've sat through way too many bad remakes of Scrooge on the 
"very special Christmas episode" of countless television 
shows. I'm glad that the X-Files took a different approach, 
giving the audience a present that was both familiar and new 
complete with a happy ending. When it comes to the X-Files I 
guess I am a push over for the happy ending. Or maybe I'm 
just glad to see a holiday season pass without Scully having 
to have someone die in her family. Whatever. I'm happy. Merry 
Christmas.

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

-Well at least the date stamp on this one was easy.

-I loved Scully muttering to herself about not giving in and 
New Year's resolutions.

-Worst Mulderism since "Detour": "No actually that was a left 
cheek sneak." There's no forgetting that Chris Carter can be 
painfully juvenile at times. I really wonder if he thinks that 
is funny or clever.

-Frank's Fashion Spot: How funny was this exchange "Mulder, 
she's wearing my outfit." "How embarrassing." Speaking of 
that outfit, it did remind me a bit of the movie suit that 
got left in the Antarctic minus the bee magnet collar. So I 
liked it.   

-I for one really liked the fact that we never got to see 
what Mulder and Scully got each other for Christmas. Though 
I must admit the shape of his gift to Scully did make me a 
little nervous for her...

-I'm trying to figure out if there was some sort of inside 
joke I'm missing with the name of director "J. Cameron" 
adorning the grandfather clock.

-Another fine example of bad liar Scully as she explains 
she has to wrap presents despite the fact her backseat is 
stacked with already wrapped gifts.

-How funny that Scully has seen enough horror movies to know 
that pulling up the floorboards is NOT a good idea and Mulder 
throws rationalism back at her.

Autumn
"If I heard 'Silent Night' one more time I was gonna start 
taking hostages."