Theatre of the Mind ~ Born Again
Don't know what happened here earlier, but I think I'm glad I missed it. If anyone's interested, here's today's CTP TOTM.
1. Oh. My. Gawd. It's Janice from Friends! This must be the famous lost X-Files/Friends crossover episode - X-Friends!
2. That would mean that the guy playing the Italian detective Barbala must be Joey! Yep, he's hittin' on Janice. How YOU doin'?
3. Janice finds a little girl with long blond hair in the alley - this must be Phoebe, or her twin sister Usula! I think she's writing another verse of Smelly Cat.
4. Gosh, Joey's not having much luck with the character he portrays. First, Dr. Drake Ramoray of Days of Our Lives takes a fall down an elevator shaft, and now Detective Barbala takes a header out the window.
5. As Chandler would say: Could this GET any more absurd?
Time for the X-Friends theme music (go on, sing it out loud!):
Well, no one told you that your job would be this way (clap, clap, clap, clap, clap)
You joined the FBI, thought things would be okay.
They stuck you with a guy you should deceive,
But then he got under your skin and now you want, you want to believe . . . that
He'll be there for you . . . when the mutants come to call . . .
He'll be there for you . . . when the aliens start to fall . . .
He'll be there for you . . . and you'll be there for him too.6. Oh. My. Gawd. Continuity! Janice heard about them from the Tooms case!
7. Mulder points out that Joey should have opened the window before jumping. Could that BE any more obvious?
8. Phoebe . . . er Michelle comes up with a computer image of the guy she saw using her own hardware.
9. Michelle's Mom says her daughter is disturbed, that Michelle has no friends and hardly ever smiles. Scully believes this is perfectly normal.
10. Could Michelle BE any better at origami?
11. Mulder visits Michelle's shrink and takes time out to look at the new XF Krycek action figure.
12. Mulder asks the shrink if she's seen any evidence of inordinate physical strength, psychic ability, or telekinesis in Michelle's case. Doc sets up appointment schedule for Mulder, two times a week.
13. It's Ugly Naked Guy getting an autopsy!
14. TWC1: Could Mulder BE any better looking in the squad room?
15. Scully points out that Michelle didn't see ghosts but just a plaque with photo of dead policeman (and names of XF staffers).
16. Mulder shows Scully the Krycek action figure but she is not impressed.
17. Mulder & Scully go to visit Tony and Anita (Ross and Rachel). They feel a little like it's folie a deux.
18. Observant Scully finally sees something Mulder didn't. Could she BE any more excited?
19. OT: Had to LOL when Tony's pal told him he was acting like a little bug. Dial and smile, Gary.
20. Springtime in Buffalo can be a little nippy. Best to have a nice looooong scarff to keep out the chill.
21, Or not.
22. Phoebe is writing another song: Smelly bus, smelly bus, it's not your fault.
23. Oh. My. Gawd. Janice has found a connection to the two dead guys (and she doesn't mean Phoebe).
24. TWC2: Chalkboard!Mulder and Glasses!Scully. Could these two BE any more attractive?
25. Mulder & Scully go back to Ross & Rachel's house where Mulder suffers from aquarium envy.
26. Mulder has a paper-folding epiphany when he finds out Charlie's hobby was origami.
27. M&S remember that they had an earlier episode this season about telekinesis so now decide that this whole caper is about reincarnation. They're "one short step away from proving the pre-existence of the human soul."
28. Is it just a coincidence that Michelle was conceived and Charlie was killed at roughly the same time? We'd better figure out when Baby Mulder was conceived but quick!
29. Phoebe/Michelle is regressed but her mom wants it stopped. TWC3: Could Mulder GET any cuter with his hands on his hips in the doctor's office and in the hallway outside?
30. Gosh, Scully can barely get her jacket buttoned. What's the problem?
31. Mulder wants to try hypnotizing Phoebe/Michelle again but Scully says her mom won't go for it, "not in this lifetime, anyway." Scully is one laugh-riot!
32. Phoebe is Michelle is Charlie. Could Scully BE any more convinced if Michelle grew a moustache? (That was a real question.)
33. Scully says even if Mulder's correct, no one will listen. Mulder can't stand to admit that Scully is right again!
34. Another XF first: Mulder's voiceover narrates the story and writes the report.
35. TWC4: Could Mulder BE any more brilliant (and more fetching) when he catches the blip on the videotape?
36. Rachel/Anita finds a giraffe on her doorstep. Rachel has got to do something about her hair!
37. Mulder gets ahead of himself and tells the plot of Unruhe.
38. Oh. My. Gawd. Janice returns and she is looking at Mulder like she's seen him naked. Oh. My. Gawd. She HAS seen him naked! (XF trivia: as actress Maggie Wheeler and DD worked together in the film New Year's Day in which he appeared nude AND they were also boyfriend and girlfriend for a few years. Oh. My. Gawd.)
39. Charlie could have been drowned in a toilet? Ouch, that is one MAJOR swirlie!
40. But Charlie was killed in sea water. Scully can see that Intuitive!Mulder has almost got this one solved.
41. Tell the truth: didn't you get a chill when you saw the little diver guy on the screen?
42. Phoebe starts to destroy Ross & Rachel's house. Maybe all their stuff is from Pottery Barn.
43. Ross/Tony admits his guilt and Phoebe/Michelle completes her rampage with one final act and a song: Smelly Fish, Oh Smelly Fish, you're dead on the floor; smelly fish, oh smelly fish, now you know the score . . .
44. I think Mulder stole the little diver guy for his own fishtank. What do you think?
45. Mulder writes the final report on Case File X-40271, the pool is uncovered, Charlie can rest in peace. Scully is nowhere to be found.
46. TWC5: Could Mulder BE any more handsome than when he's standing by the pool?
47. But Agents of Record Fox Mulder and Dana Scully didn't solve the real X-File in this very special crossover episode. Where was Monica? "Status: Unexplained."
In all seriousness, I doubt that Born Again is on anyone's top five list of XF favorites, but I've always liked this episode very much. I really liked the story, and thought it was always so creepy that the last image that Charlie saw (the little diver guy) was the image that Michelle kept projecting as a clue.
Oh. My. Gawd. Our CTPs for Season 1 are almost through! Can November BE very far behind? (LOL) Bring it on!
Hope you can forgive my little X-Friends foray! But feel free to flame away. You only have to put up with two more TOTMs for Season 1 from me. If the CTP continues, I think someone else should tackle Season 2: Paula, come out, come out, wherever you are, and reclaim your creation!
Polly