Je Souhaite
While investigating how a man's mouth came to close over, Mulder and Scully discover a genie.
It's a shame that "souhaite" is pronounce "sweat," it kind of makes the title lose some of its romantic mystery. That aside, this episode was very enjoyable, with lots of amusing or sweet moments and a great character in the shape of the genie with attitude.
The old saying "Be careful what you wish for" was obviously the theme of Je Souhaite. Apparently, if people are given the easy option of simply asking for what they want, they're not specific enough and just end up with a "white elephant" which causes more trouble than it's worth. What people want is never as easy to achieve as they think it will be, because what they want is not what they think they want and so many things have to change to produce their Utopia. Depressing really. What wasn't clear was whether the genie was being pedantic because she had to grant them exactly what they wished for or if she was doing it simply to teach them a lesson about stupidity and longing. That isn't a complaint, I think it's nice to have a bit of ambiguity.
Gilmore's closed over mouth was horrible, but I thought Scully's reaction to his stitches was unprofessional and totally out of character - until I wondered if maybe he reminded her of the faceless aliens from Patient X etc. I only say that because he reminded me of those aliens, but I think it's more likely that the writers just thought they'd give Scully an extreme reaction for the sake of amusement. But you never know.
When I was little, I always used to think that people would me much more attractive without their noses. What can I say, I was a weird kid. So it tickled me to find out that there is actually a medical disorder in which sufferers have no nose. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ridiculing the condition, it's just weird that something I thought when I was small could actually happen J. But to quote Queenie in Blackadder II, "Imagine the mess when she had a cold! Yuck!"
I loved the stupidity of Anson and Leslie, it was really funny, especially when they completely failed to take the genie's hints about wishing for Leslie to be able to walk. Having said that though, it was refreshing to see a disabled character whose disability wasn't directly related to the plot, and who didn't seem to view his disability as a great disadvantage. Leslie pondering the idea of a solid gold wheelchair amused me. In fact, all the wishes that went wrong amused me - the boat in the trailer park, the wonderfully disgusting resurrected Anson, Mulder's smile when he thought he'd got peace on earth and the way his face fell when he realised the catch - but the best one was the one about invisibility. The effect as Anson disappeared was good and I loved the splashes in the puddles as he ran through them unseen. But I think my favourite part of Anson's little invisible escapade was the way the flies swarmed around his body before the cyclist crashed into it. No, scratch that, my favourite part was Scully's examination of the body. It was great to see the orderlies, who quite obviously thought someone had to be mad, wheeling in the apparently empty gurney, but what I liked best was the way Scully touched the body and then began brushing it with powder. The way it covered the body was a great effect and I loved Scully's face as she began to enjoy herself!
I didn't like Mulder's comment that "I don't think it has anything to do with science." Everything has to do with science. Science is constantly developing and expanding. Just because something can't be explained today doesn't mean it never will be. Until recently, science couldn't account for many illnesses and disorders which we now understand fully and which would then have been considered to have nothing to do with science. There is a big difference between unexplained and unexplainable. OK, rant over. But speaking of science, I didn't like the way Scully's scientific interest in the invisible corpse was made to look ridiculous, even if I did laugh when she said goodbye to the body. Scientific interest can rarely be a bad thing, and any scientific explanations of the X Files would be welcomed by the bosses at the FBI. Scully appeared to have accepted the idea that there are some things which happen but which are currently unexplained by science, had identified one such matter and was investigating it scientifically. So why should that be ridiculed? Sorry, I think my scientific mind and my affection for Scully are combining to make me take this too seriously. But I felt really sorry for her when she had to face the humiliation of finding the body gone. Those other scientists must have thought she was a crank, inviting them to see an invisible man and then producing an empty drawer in the morgue. Poor Scully. And she seems to need scientific, physical evidence of the cases they investigate, she doesn't trust human judgement, not even her own, as shown by her refusal to believe in invisibility after the body had gone.
Should we be worried about the fact that Mulder knows what weed smells like? I wouldn't be surprised if recognising the scents of various illegal substances was a skill you pick up if you work in law enforcement, but should I be reading anything else into this? J
I loved the genie's explanation of how she came to be a genie, especially the bit about the never-ending sack of turnips (there's a Blackadder reference there but I can't quite find it - how many times can I mention Blackadder in this review?). Scully's disbelieving face was great too, that coupled with the explanation made me laugh. I liked seeing Mulder carefully constructing his final wish to ensure it couldn't be misinterpreted, and although the scene with he and Scully watching the video was sweet, it was the final scene with the mark-of-the-genie-less ex-genie who Mulder had freed, that put a big smile on my face.
Best Lines
Scully: There's always nasal aplasia, the complete absence of a nose.
Mulder: That's a nose, Scully, we're talking mouth here.
Scully: Yeah, but what we're talking, Mulder, is medical, physiological, not criminal as far as I can see.
Scully: According to Gilmore, he was standing right where I am when it happened.
Mulder: I don't smell any weird chemical smells. You still have both your lips.
Scully: Underneath all this dust, this furniture is really wonderful.
Mulder: You wanna hit some yard sales while we're out here?
Anson: I gotta specify that you put a boat in frickin' water?
Anson: Don't you think maybe we should think of something that would generate money rather than the actual money itself?
Genie: Brains? Talent? Hard work?
Mulder: I think you missed a spot here. I can see straight through to his ass.
Leslie: He's all weird and messed up.
Genie: He's been hit by a truck. What did you expect?
Scully: I should just shoot myself. I was so happy, I was so excited, and what was I thinking? An invisible man?
Mulder: You saw it. It was real.
Scully: I don't know what I saw, Mulder.
Anson: What did you do to me?
Leslie: You're back from the dead, man, what kind of gratitude is that?
Genie: In 500 years, people have not changed a bit.
Scully: 500 years?
Genie: Granted they smell better now, generally speaking, but human greed still reigns.
Genie: He offered me three wishes. For the first I asked for a stout-hearted mule, for the second, a magic sack that was always full of turnips - did I mention this was 15th Century France?
Mulder: I'm not going to let you interpret it as an edict to bring back the Third Reich or to make everyone's eyes grow on stalks.
Genie: Oh jeez, and I was so looking forward to that.
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