"The X Files" Dreamland (1998)

User Rating:

8.8/10   

Director:

Kim Manners

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
Vince Gilligan (written by) ...

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

29 November 1998 (Season 6, Episode 4)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

An anonymous tip finally brings Mulder and Scully to the mecca of all UFO lore, Area 51. But when the agents witness the flight of a mysterious craft, their lives are profoundly and perhaps irrevocably altered.

Plot Keywords:

Swapped Identity | Body Swap | Body Switching | Sex With Coworker | FBI

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tyler Binkley	...	Terry Fletcher
Fuad C'Amanero	...	FBI Agent
Scott Allan Campbell	...	Jeff Smoodge
Nora Dunn	...	JoAnne Fletcher
Dara Hollingsworth	...	Christine Fletcher
Laura Leigh Hughes	...	Kersh's Assistant
Eddie Jackson	...	Co-pilot
John Mahon	...	General Wegman
Michael McKean	...	Morris Fletcher
Freeman Michaels	...	Guard
James Pickens Jr.	...	FBI Assistant Director Alvin Kersh
Michael B. Silver	...	Howard Grodin (as Michael Buchman Silver)
Greg Smith	...	Soldier
Christopher Stapleton	...	Pilot / Capt. Robert McDonough
Julia Vera	...	Mrs. Lana Chee
Ted White	...	Attendant
James Yaker	...	Cashier

Runtime:

Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Certification:

Argentina:13

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Quotes:

Mulder: It's all our questions. The proof that we've suspected. The proof that we've never been able to hold in our hands. That proof is here.
Scully: Mulder, it's the dim hope of finding that proof that's kept us in this car or one very muh like it for more nights than I care to remember. Driving hundreds, if not thousands of miles, through neighborhoods and cities and towns, where people are raising families and buying homes and playing with their kids and dogs and in short, living their lives. While we... we just keep driving.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Duck Soup (1933)

One of the better episodes.

X-Files is not known for its humor. But this episode is an exception. The switching of personalities is hilarious, especially since the two characters involved in the switch are utterly different in temperament and don't even like each other. Michael McKean is wonderful in this episode. His performance as Morris Fletcher is one of the better TV comic performances. And although Fletcher has his personality quirks he is still likable. This episode proves that a TV drama can delve into comedy without losing its identity or sacrificing dramatic impact. For despite the farcical nature of the story, the underlying premise, that an extraterrestrial entity is somehow involved, remains intact, consistent with the series' theme.