After a third couple mysteriously disappear from a seemingly perfect neighbourhood, Mulder and Scully go undercover as husband and wife to find out what's going on.
There were such serious production problems on this episode (and it does use a lot of exterior footage) that it got bumped back from its position before Agua Mala. The agents' first case back on the X-Files is an unusual one (naturally), with a large black swamp-like creature killing off residents of the most perfect neighbourhood in history if they don't keep everything clean, tidy and well-ordered. This beast is later revealed to be a tulpa, but we don't get a lot of explanation as to what one is.
Several things are excellent about this episode; the location shooting is gorgeous, and a welcome contrast to the usual X-Files darkness, and the dialogue between Rob and Julie Petrie ("like the dish") aka Mulder and Scully has never been more enjoyable. Mulder's cry for Scully to get back to the kitchen and make him some sandwiches, alongside certain things the two never knew about each other (Scully's face-pack is a shock) make for great fun, and the agents have never been more playful. The crazy thing is, as the residents say, they do make a cute couple!
What lets the story down is the lack of explanation for events (we assume Big Mike is dead, but there's no proof), the rather lazy conclusion, and the fairly average story that doesn't throw in any real shocks, surprises or twists. If it wasn't for some of the funniest dialogue the show's ever had, I would only give this an average mark. But it deserved one more star.
****
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