REVIEWED BY: Jennifer J. Chen ON: March 21, 1999
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: November 29, 1998
I also loved Joanne Fletcher. She was great—shrewish but funny enough to like, but not likable Although, I did want to slap Kersh's secretary. Her stilted, "Agent Scully" was just so triumphant. Hmm, there's some envy going on there. Just imagining Mulder’s physical self kissing her and more, even if it's Fletcher as Mulder, makes me want to scream. I can’t imagine how Scully must have felt. Thank goodness things were reversed, or else from there on after Kersh’s secretary would have thought that she As for Mulder’s attempt to convince Scully that it is really him inside Fletcher’s body, it was pretty weak. People also go on and on about how Mulder mumbles her name after falling asleep to porn videos. It’s not like he was still asleep when he mumbled it—Joanne had just woken him up and she was shadowed, of course he would first think of Scully. She’s the only person who would logically be with him, since he doesn’t hang out with anyone else. No doubt he had been worried about her before he went to sleep, and when he woke up she would have been the first thing on his mind—he probably thought it was all a dream. I’m a Shipper, but I can accept little things that is natural in the course of any close relationship, like that and how he knows what Scully has for lunch, and not think that it is all evidence that they are in love. They definitely are in love, make no mistake, but some things can safely be taken at face value and it won’t destroy the delicate fabric of Shipper belief.
At first, I was disappointed with Scully for not realizing sooner that Fletcher wasn’t Mulder. I mean, how can they be kindred spirits if she doesn’t know Mulder? Are we so dictated by physical appearance? Well, the answer is yes. If I were her, no matter how much evidence he could present that it was really him, I’d still have doubts. I mean, we associate familiarity with someone by the physical—there’s no getting around it. As in, we associate how people are with their physical appearance. If Scully saw Mulder across a room, she’d know it was him. I could feel Mulder’s pain when he thought that Scully had betrayed him. From his perspective, he was probably hurt by Scully’s inability to see the truth—how could she not know? Oh, so much angst for two people!
Please feel free to
I absolutely loved this episode. Okay, so it had a few problems, but on the whole it was a pure delight to watch. From the beginning we hear Scully talking wistfully of other people leading their "normal" lives and asking Mulder if he ever wished he could have a normal life. He responds, "This is a normal life." I think I really realized here how much Mulder depends on Scully. Scully needs Mulder too, but it’s pretty noticeable that there aren’t the kind of Scully-studs that there are Mulder-babes. She’s never gotten into a serious relationship or had a serious relationship from the past crop up to be presented as a possible ongoing relationship like Mulder with Fowley or Phoebe Green (an ex like Jack Willis, but Scully and Willis just acted like nothing more than co-workers for the few scenes they have together, unlike Green, who was trying to seduce Mulder at every turn, and they danced and kissed) and he even really had a thing with Kristen Kilar. 
Anyway, I think that this is because Scully is more desirous of a "normal" life (and hence, a "normal" relationship with a man) than Mulder, and if they ever did introduce someone who she could remotely be happy with (no psychopaths) as a couple, Scully would be susceptible. She loves Mulder, but in a lot of ways she is very insecure about him (no small part due to Mulder himself) and if she can be reasonably happy with someone else, I believe that Scully would be willing to try to make it work, instead of waiting for Mulder forever. Not very shippy of me, I know, but realistically, I am also aware that Scully has indicated on more than one occasion her desire for a "normal" life. Whether or not she would actually like it once she has it is another question. I think that she would ultimately miss Mulder and realize that she couldn't be happy with anyone else, but she has to realize it from experience. Now, if no prospects present themselves, then Scully is more than happy to be with Mulder. I think the writers all realize this, they know their characters, and that’s partly why we don’t see any real threatening Scully-studs. It’s also partly chauvinism too. With that long beginning, let me finally get to my point. I believe that if Mulder didn't have Scully, he’d lose the main focus of his life—the X-Files would not hold the same interest because the most important thing in his life is gone. We have seen his character development--what motivates him is not so much his sister any longer, but Scully. If Scully were to leave him, he would lose everything. However, I don't think Scully would realize what she was losing until it was too late. We have seen her unhappiness in Never Again, and though she is more invested in their work since then, her desire for a "normal" life colors what she feels for Mulder.
Mulder’s face when he first sees Scully with Morris Fletcher as Mulder is priceless. Great faces, DD! Seeing Scully go off with someone else, another partner must have been an unpleasant sight, if not simply gut-wrenching. What is never explained very well is why Morris Fletcher is not as shocked as Mulder. He doesn't even bat an eye. The first time I saw this episode, I thought that perhaps a warp had occurred where Fletcher had been Scully’s partner from the beginning, that all of their lives were different. I was quickly disabused of that notion, but Fletcher calmly accepting the situation then making the best of it was just too unreal. No matter how much I hated my life, if something like that happened to me, I'd still be freaked out. I'd at least say, "Hey, wait a second..." or something.
How much did I love that mirror dance? I've seen some other reviews that try and bring "meaning" to it, like that Mulder is trying to test out the limitations of his new physical body, etc. but damn, just take it for what it is—a hilarious scene where Mulder gets to freely be his dorky self. It’s not even done perfectly—Fletcher takes an extra step, but it was still hilarious. Joanne could barely keep a straight face herself.
enough (to Mulder) to be a Mulder-babe. The best was when she insinuated that Mulder—or rather, Fletcher, had intimacy problems. Also, the way she wakes him up by shoving down the EZ chair footstand is great. Mulder's attempt at being a good father is endearing and funny--he tries the best he can, but it's obvious that these kids aren't exactly the greatest kids in the world, and that Mulder's not ready to be a father just yet.
and Mulder had had a "thing," because she didn’t know that Mulder was really Fletcher. Actually, we probably do know how Scully must have felt, because even though she tried to mask her anger (and hurt) it finally lashes out in what I think must be one of Gillian Anderson’s best line deliveries—"Am I out of my mind? Mulder, you are out of your mind!" She probably wanted to claw his eyes out for his afternoon quickie with Kersh's secretary. When Scully goes on to talk about the X-Files and who she thinks is Mulder responds, "As I understand it, we're off the X-Files," it is as if she has been slapped in the face. By dismissing his "life's work" like that, it is as if Mulder has negated her as well, and her place in his life. After all they've shared together, all directly or indirectly related to the X-Files, it is not surprising that Scully storms off.
I mean, okay, I was enchanted by the yogurt thing (though, anyone who spends as much time as they do togethershould know what they each have for lunch, since they probably eat together every single day), but how about some obvious stuff here? Like, "I went to the arctic to save you and used a vaccine against alien/human hybrids to save you and get you out of a capsule where you coughed up some green goop." Or how about, "Remember when I dragged you to find 'Big Blue' with me and Queequeg got eaten?" The point is, after all they've done together over the course of six years, all Mulder can come up with in a time when he needs to convince Scully that it’s really him is her full name, the fact that her brother hates him, and what she has for lunch? Please!
Anyway, the point is, I can’t blame her for her doubt. She did go back to Nevada, though—Fletcher as Mulder had gotten her to the point where she needed to believe that Mulder was really telling the truth, bizarre and incredible as it sounded. The alternative—that Mulder really had no interest in the X-Files or her, was not to be borne. At the end of the episode, we see Scully's dawning realization of the truth...Mulder screaming, "He's not me, Scully! He's not me!" made my heart twist.
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1999 by Jennifer J. Chen