466e9ad3   
   From: seanc130@hotmail.com   
      
   "Hunter"  wrote   
      
   > Good job with the merging of the two but still sadly a gimmick show.   
      
   Definitely a gimmick, but IMO it came out very well, much better than most   
   TV gimmick shows. I'm not even a fan of COPS -- I've only been known to   
   watch it maybe once or twice in a year, and then only when I'm really   
   stoned -- but I always loved this episode. It did a great job of mixing up   
   the usual XF formula in order to give us a little different perspective on   
   Mulder and Scully -- kind of an outsider's perspective -- and I love the way   
   it's almost a cinema verité type thing, with highly naturalistic,   
   documentary-style realism as opposed to the well-produced artistic camera   
   work and efficient, functionalist writing that usually characterises XF.   
   (Not that I don't love the usual style, but it's cool to try something   
   different for one episode.)   
      
   And it's not JUST a gimmick show -- there's actually a story with meat and   
   substance behind it. If it didn't have a decent plot to back up the   
   stylistic experimentation, it would have fallen flat -- it would have turned   
   out like most gimmicky TV shows. But it did. I was interested in what was   
   actually happening the whole time, wrapped up in the mystery, just like in   
   any other episode.   
      
   The idea of a malevolent force that manifests itself in completely different   
   ways -- from 'Wasp Man' to the hantavirus -- depending on the situation is   
   fantastic. Obviously it's been done before in other shows (such as Star   
   Trek, as you mentioned), but within the context of XF it was very different   
   and original. It worked very well as a way to keep what was going on as   
   mysterious as possible for as long as possible, since everyone's stories   
   seemed to conflict with each other and nothing made much sense until Mulder   
   started to figure it out.   
      
   > Aw, CameraShy!Scully made an appearance.  I think the cameras threw   
   > off her skills since she couldn't tell if the druggie had been dead a   
   > couple of days or a week. I would think that kind of thing would be   
   > obvious.   
      
   Well, okay, hot shot. If it's so obvious, let's see *you* figure it out!   
   *tosses a dead body over*   
      
   --   
   --Sean   
   http://spclsd223.livejournal.com   
      
   House: If you're broke, I could lend you a tiny bit of the money I owe you.   
      
   Wilson: No, no. I wouldn't put you in that position!   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)