I have to admit to a certain degree of excitement for this one. I loved "The Unnatural," written and directed by David last season. In fact, I had the wonderful opportunity to create a tribute to "The Unnatural" for the Celebration of The X-Files.
I, also, was a Larry Sanders fan and I watched "The Naked Truth," even when it was on ABC! (Yes, I am a fan of Garry Shandling and Tea Leoni.) The prospect of these two comedic talents playing Mulder and Scully is very tantalizing, indeed!
I try to avoid spoilers, as a rule. But, for some dang reason, it's incredibly hard to do with David's episodes. It must be the plethora of media coverage. ;-) I have read a few spoilers, as few as possible. What I've read sounds really good! Come on April 30th!
May 5, 2000
I have now had the opportunity to watch "Hollywood A.D." twice. I have to admit the first time through I missed so much:
-Scully running in the background as Mulder and Garry Shandling had the "dress left conversation" (and was that David's dog, Blue, that walked past Téa Leoni?)
-The very brief conversation in the car between Mulder and Federman about whether Scully was more than a partner. Mulder promptly told him to, "Shut up!"
-I completely missed Chris Carter in the teaser! I did catch Minnie Driver and David Alan Grier, though.
I must have been very focused!After seeing it once, I had mixed feelings. I liked it, but found it quite bizarre. It left me with a good feeling, always a plus on a Sunday night before facing a classroom of teenagers the next morning! I felt liked I missed something, however. The second viewing convinced me I had missed more than a few lines or visuals cleverly hidden within scenes. I'd missed the subtext, the wonderful layers contained in this episode.
This was not just the story of Mulder and Scully on a case, getting suspended, then heading to California to watch them film a horrible movie about them. It was the story of a criminally brilliant man (Hoffman) taking advantage of a pious but gullible cardinal. It was the story of Scully's continuing struggle with her faith and her science. It was the story of Mulder's single-mindedness and perfectionism: even while watching a movie at home he still thinks about the case and he can't stand that Hollywood has it all wrong. It's, also, a story of the X-Files' writers continuing struggle to define Mulder and Scully's relationship.
Let's take the latter, first. David Duchovny stated last summer he was bored with all the discussion about the relationship.However, recent events (i.e. the "Millennium" kiss, perhaps) have forced a refocus on this issue and it seems the writers just aren't sure how far or in what direction to take it. In "Hollywood A.D.," David teases both the writers and viewers as he plays with the relationship a bit:
-Mulder and Scully in his apartment watching the Ed Wood film
This is actually a fairly intimate conversation, I think. Mulder's sharing something deeply personal with Scully. Then, they have a discussion of faith that is, also, very personal to them both.The scene ends as they decide to take a personal trip together to California to see the movie being made about them. Isn't this the first vacation they've taken together?!
-"Sister Spooky"
Mulder now has a new nickname for Scully
-The bubble bath scene
Scully calls Mulder from a bubble bath? And, of course, they lie about what they're really doing; can't possibly let the other know they're naked. But, Skinner joins the crew and fully admits to Mulder that he's in a bubble bath. I'm still considering this, but... could it be Skinner is being completely honest with them but they aren't being honest with each other?
-Mulder's angry departure from the theater after the coffin love scene in the movie
Okay, was he upset that they'd gotten the kiss scene completely wrong: it's supposed to be in a hospital waiting room on New Year's Eve...? Or, was he upset because it was a little too close for comfort? Or, was it Scully's profession of love for A.D./A.P. Skinner?
-The graveyard set scene
Mulder and Scully are completely relaxed in this scene. In fact, we're treated once again to an actual Scully laugh! They head off hand-in-hand to paint the town red with the FBI's credit card. Awwwww!Now, on to Mulder's single-mindedness and perfectionism. Mulder is unable to give up a case, even when he's suspended. He continues thinking about it, even while watching a favorite old movie. He's been mulling over the cardinal and Hoffman's relationship, trying to put it onto a historical context. Scully found it sad that he's seen this movie 42 times. When she says this, it seemed like this was first time that Mulder's considered it. At the end, Mulder was quite upset that people would only remember the Hollywood caricatures of the cardinal, Mulder, and Scully. Also, the true story of these two imperfect but "beautiful" people, Cardinal O'Fallon and Hoffman, would be forever lost to the Hollywood version of the Lazarus bowl story. He wants the truth to be known by all.
Scully had some major hallucinations in this one, didn't she? Either she took LSD at some point and is having flashbacks or there's something to this Lazarus Bowl they found in the crypt. She first saw the dead body on which she was performing an autopsy standing and had a conversation with him. I'm not sure why the "hallucination" stopped when she cut her finger with the scalpel and began bleeding. Did it draw her attention away and that ended it? Also, she had a vision of Hoffman hanging on the cross at Christ's Church, like Jesus. These both test Scully's faith in Christ, God, and her science. She did take a brief trip into the paranormal when she told Mulder the story of the nun, "Sister Spooky," who brought various objects to class claiming they were actually objects connected to Jesus, e.g. a piece of wood with a nail in it was part of the cross on which Christ hung. Mulder obviously loved that story and Scully enjoyed telling it. And it is plausible: I had some "weird nuns" during my 12 years in Catholic schools. One claimed that she had seen the founding pastor, who'd been dead 3 years, walking through the church one morning before Mass. Spooky!
This leads into the story of Hoffman blackmailing the cardinal. Hoffman decides to wreak a little havoc on the good cardinal, whom he'd hated since college days. He concocts a scheme to forge a gospel of Mary Magdalene, considered by most theologians to be made-up, fake. Cardinal O'Fallon recognizes that this gospel, despite theologians assertions of its invalid nature, would divide the church. He chooses to pay Hoffman and bury it in the church crpyt. But, Hoffman "sees the light" and had a change of heart. He bombs the crypt to destroy the heretical gospel. He now believes he's Jesus. But, as time passes, O'Fallon continues to fear that Hoffman may come out with the fake gospel. He kills Hoffman and then kills himself, thinking this would save the Church from becoming divided over it. O'Fallon was a cardinal, but cardinals and priests are men: they have flaws as all men do. His flaw was lack of faith in Jesus (fearing that the gospel could be true) and in his fellow Catholics (fearing they'd believe the heretical text). And Hoffman... well, Hoffman was just insane. As my Daddy says, "He's a few shingles short of a full roof."
We were probably expecting something along similar lines as "The Unnatural." That could be why this episode threw most of us. But, David showed us with this episode that he has a broad range of writing skills. Yes, there was a plethora of inside jokes: cell phones, running in high heels, flashlights, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, Minnie Driver and David Alan Grier from "Return to Me," not to mention David's friend, Garry Shandling, and his wife, Téa Leoni, playing Mulder and Scully in the movie. But, the story, once you get past those in-jokes, is quite a compelling one:
-what is real and what is fake?
-why do we believe what we believe?
-how much does the media (news, TV, radio, film, newspaper) color what we believe?
and, the quintessential question of The X-Files---
-what is faith?I did like this epsiode. It was bizarre and quirky, but, hey, some of my favorite X-Files episodes have been that way. David knows how to stretch the characters. He always has given Scully some really good scenes, and we get to see her laugh and have some fun. We get to see Mulder deal with people telling untruths, his chief pet peeve. And we get to see Skinner "go Hollywood" a bit.
Ramblings:
>>Mulder seemed more uncomfortable tha Scully watching the coffin scene in the movie. Scully seemed to be in shockor disbelief, but Mulder definitely was uncomfortable.
>>Mulder and Scully talking on the graveyard set was perfect! So relaxed... so personal... Haven't we been waiting for some personal dialogue for awhile? Well, we got two healthy doses of it in this one! And, they walked out holding hands... awww! (The shipper in me screamed "ALRIGHT!")
>>I was disturbed by the paintings in Hoffman's apartment and by Scully's vision of Hoffman hanging on the crucifix. My Catholic upbringing really was screaming against that. But, I realized it was just part of the storytelling. This story is NOT real.
>>Are all screenwriters as much of a pain as Wayne Federman? Geez! That man was really annoying!
>> I do wish we'd gotten more explanations, particularly about the Lazarus Bowl and Scully's visions. Neither was ever explained, and Chuck's findings on the former were really interesting.
>>I think David must hate call-waiting as much as I do! That beep came in at the most annoying times...
>>Re:the trailer for the next 3 shows: I was happy to see the Gunmen are coming back. But, I was disturbed by the line, "...will change The X-Files forever." That better not be what I've been fearing most: another season of The X-Files without David Duchovny. In my opinion, Mulder AND Scully are integral to the telling of The X-Files story. It cannot be told without Mulder. And David Duchovny is the only actor who can play Mulder (after 7 years, that should be a given). I wish Fox would just make a decision to either, a) let the TV show end after 7 seasons (and let it be a satisfying end that provides some closure) and go on to the next film OR b) work with David Duchovny to have an 8th season, with fewer episodes. I will not watch The X-Files without David Duchovny as Mulder. It wouldn't be right. I'll dismount my soapbox now... Oh yeah, one more thing: If there's an 8th season with David, let him write and direct more. I simply love his episodes!
Extra credit resources:
Hollywood A.D. photo gallery 1
Hollywood A.D. photo gallery 2
The Catholic Encyclopedia: Lazarus
The Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Mary Magdalene
Hollywood A.D. research from the X-Files Official site
c 2000 Spookyteacher's Classroom X
