Case 11, File 03: Plus One

AKA: The Shining Twins WISH They Were This Creepy

Creepy Psychic Twins is a horror staple at this point, to the point where the occasionally feel like a cliche (it's also the basis for a pair of my D&D characters, just in case you were wondering what an absolute dork I am). But at the same time, it's a cliche for a reason, it's a good solid premise for a horror story, and it's one that The X-Files tapped into before (wayyyyyyyyy back in Season 1's Eve). But, aside from the endless supply of Revenge From Beyond the Grave episodes, The X-Files doesn't generally like to repeat itself. If it was going to repeat that premise, it would have to go outside the box.

Our plot opens with some random punk named Arkie at a concert, when he sees a doppelganger of himself in the crowd. He decides that means he's had enough (sensible) and drives home, but his doppelganger shows up in the passenger's seat and wrestles the car off the road. He lives through it though and it turns out a bunch of people in this town have seen a doppelganger right before committing suicide, so Mulder and Scully head out to town to check it out.

There they find that Arkie has some issues with drugs and alcohol, but the physical evidence does seem to back up that he was fighting for control of the truck. They visit the hospital to talk to the doctors about the dead people's encounters with their doppelgangers, but immediately get sidetracked when Mulder sees a patient (Judy) who is sitting alone in her room playing Hangman, apparently with herself, although she claims to be playing with her brother Chucky. Oh and her parents committed suicide by hanging too.

So Mulder and Scully check into a hotel, and are forced to share a suite, with Mulder sleeping on the couch. Back in jail Arkie is getting moved to a new facility, his doppelganger. His lawyer is pretty unconvinced that it was actually a suicide and our heroes agree. They also spot a weirdo at the prison. So Mulder goes to talk to Chucky while Scully goes and talks to Judy. Unfortunately Judy this time has apparently been taken over by her evil side (this never really gets elaborated on) and mostly communicates via obtuse monologues and hucking pudding at Scully.

Wonder what the script said about this show. "Generic Punk Concert?"

Mulder doesn't get much farther with Chucky, who is weird and standoffish and crushing on Scully (he's the weirdo they saw in the prison, okay?), but he's also got a bunch of hangmen around, including one with the name Arkie on it. Also Arkie's lawyer starts seeing his own doppelganger around and is freaking out about it. Mulder and Scully try to reassure him, and he decides to go home and dump all of his (extremely powerful) weaponry out on the lawn. Not sure why he has all that, but it doesn't matter, because his doppelganger shows up and chops his head off with one of his swords. Yeah he's got swords, just roll with it.

So Mulder and Scully, with nothing left to do, head back to their hotel and, like people are wont to do at hotels, they have a discussion about aging, mortality and the importance of their relation and then they bang. Good for them honestly. But no sooner are they in afterglow than Mulder starts seeing his doppelganger. And then Scully starts seeing hers too. Turns out Chucky and Judy are arguing over which one of them they want to kill with their hangman game. Cause Judy is crushing on Mulder and Chucky is crushing on Scully.

So they go and confront both of them, but Mulder gets attacked by his doppelganger while Scully...talks hers down? With rationality? It's actually a pretty rad scene, but it's hard to describe. But Chucky and Judy basically get so angry and spiteful at each other that they write down each other's names on the hangmen and instantly die. Whoops. And with the plot over, Mulder and Scully decide to celebrate by fucking some more. God bless them.

Honestly, I think I actually really dug this episode. I dunno if that's a defensible position, but I think it's the one I took, and I'm as surprised as you are. There's a lot of stuff that's weird or janky or probably should detract from it, but I guess all the weird stuff, the slightly awkward elements and the deeply strange tone add up a whole that is more than the sum of its parts, which is frankly all you can ask.

I'm just very amused by the lady walking her dog and seeing her neighbor just dump a bunch of guns into his driveway. 

If there's one single element that makes the episode land better than it might be otherwise, it's the acting in the lead role. It's not quite on the level of say a Brad Dourif, but the actress who plays Chucky and Judy (who also played Mrs. Peacock wayyyyy back in Home) is having oodles of fun and she manages to be a weird mix of genuinely threatening and kind of pathetic for both twins, in slightly different ways. Chucky in particular is a lot of fun, bouncing off Mulder with big weirdo energy. I can easily buy them being nasty and spiteful enough to kill each other, or their parents, in a fit of anger, and that's mostly down to the acting.

The other major selling point is gonna just be the really excellent back and forth between Mulder and Scully. It's a good episode for banter, just in general, but it also goes a little deeper than that. Yes, as a hardcore Mulder and Scully shipper, I am definitely on board for them getting back together, but it also feels earned. Okay, that's not fair, it's been 11 seasons and by the point this episode came out, just shy of 25 years, anything they do with Mulder and Scully will feel earned. But more than that, the dialogue between them makes sense; This is, for better or worse, the most important relationship in both of their lives, and I find it easy to grok why they might be worried about losing it.

The actual mechanics and mystery of the episode are a little weaker, but it feels less like it's underwritten and more like it's just kind of unknowable. Okay, the mystery is a little underwritten, we basically know everything that's going on from the midpoint on, but the rest of it is fine. We never really get much of an explanation for how it works, what their backstory is, and frankly big chunks of it (like the kind of weird element where both twins have two personalities, or a weird two scene bit about Judy giving out bread pills to people she likes to protect them) never really get anything beyond a passing reference. 

But, and this is where I feel like my take goes from warm to hot, I actually kind of dig that aspect, at least in this episode. The closest we get is some talk about how the two alternate personalities are just raw evil and if that's the case, I don't need a deep explanation. Them just killing people cause they're awful and want to is as good an explanation as any, and at that point giving explanations for how they got this power will just detract from that.

"Wait, my doppelganger stalking me? Did another season of Hannibal get greenlit?"

Psychic twins are a pretty well trodden ground though, and so giving a unique spin on it is a tough but worthwhile endeavor. And honestly? This episode does a pretty decent job. Most psychic twins tend to focus on the creepiness of small children (basically they're just doing a riff on "Come play with us Danny") and so making them adults and giving them weird additional powers that don't make any sense is actually pretty fun. It's a unique spin on the premise.

I kind of worry that my standards have fallen at this point, but honestly, I think it's more that I've gotten kind of soft towards episodes that make me feel nicely towards the characters. I've been reviewing this series for nearly 7 years, and as I wander towards the finale, the real ending, if an episode can make me feel warm and nostalgic towards our two leads, I am much more likely to be kind towards it. So maybe that's what makes me like this episode. But on the other hand, it's my blog, you can't actually stop me.

Case Notes:

• The scene where the Punk's doppelganger wrestles him for control of the truck is pretty effective, even if the punk looks like Theon Greyjoy.
• I will always love Mulder parceling out information for Scully. Yes it's just a way of getting exposition across but dammit it's always fun.
• Mulder takes a long damn time to reach that there have been like 15 deaths.
• I like Mulder believing the kid based on the skid marks on the road, and on the kid being too stupid to make it up.
• I think that the hangman drawings are a decently creepy visual, frankly.
• The cop just letting Arkie into the cell to get killed means that some of the cops better be in on this or his actions make no sense.
• You'd think Scully would be a little more open to sharing a bed, didn't she and Mulder sleep in the same bed for like, a decade?
• Mulder decides to hover over Scully's bed like a weirdo to wake her up. Amazing.
• I like the lawyer being actually intensely angry that Arkie got killed.
• Scully's meeting with Judy is generic "Meeting with the psycho" stuff, but the detail of her hucking pudding at Scully lends an entertaining rhythm to the scene.
• Not sure where we're going for with both twins expressing an interest in Mulder and Scully but whatever.
• Scully, you don't need to worry about your age, you are still incredibly stunning, also call me.
• I actually completely dig the scene with Mulder and Scully at the hotel, it's got a warm familiar energy I like for them.
• The twins playing psychic hangman is good shit, very creepy.
• The doppelganger concept is fun but they don't do a whole lot during the stalking, they mostly just stand there.
• Getting a lot of good Mulder-Scully banter in this episode.
• The lawyer dumping all his stuff out onto the driveway is pretty funny, but why does he have so many guns? And swords?
• I know Scully is being miss rational this episode, but a dude chopping his own head off is a lot Scully.
• Scully asking Mulder to hold her is The X-Files giving us what it knows we want.
• It took till the last ad break but they finally did some solid horror shots with the doppelgangers. Mulders appearing in the bathtub in particular is very good.
• It's kinda ambiguous whether Scully can talk her doppleganger down because she's rational or because of the pill, and I like it
• The button scene with Mulder and Scully getting back together more or less permanently is a very nice, cute ending to the episode.
• As always, these reviews are supported by my Patreon. Check it out so I can stop forcing my doppelganger to work so I can afford rent.

Audio Observation:

The song played in the opening is called Unsaid Undone by a musician named...David Duchovny? Has anyone heard of this guy?