| "Dreamland" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The X-Files episode | |||
Fox Mulder sees his reflection in the mirror after switching bodies with a member of the Men in Black named Morris Fletcher |
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| Episode no. |
Season 6 |
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| Directed by |
Kim Manners (Part 1) Michael Watkins (Part 2) |
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| Written by | Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, & Frank Spotnitz | ||
| Production code |
6ABX04 (Part 1) 6ABX05 (Part 2) |
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| Original air date |
November 29, 1998 (Fox) (Part 1) December 6, 1998 (Fox) (Part 2) |
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| Guest stars | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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"Dreamland" is the collective name for the fourth and fifth episodes of the the sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. Part 1 first aired on November 29, and Part 2 aired on December 6, 1998 on Fox in the United States and Canada. The story was written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Kim Manners (Part 1) and Michael Watkins (Part 2). Although dealing with a member of the Men in Black, the episode is largely unconnected to the mythology of The X-Files, and is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story. "Dreamland" became the first non-mythology episode to receive two parts. Part 1 of "Dreamland" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.1, being watched by 17.5 million people in its initial broadcast, Part 2 received a rating of 10.0 and was watched by 17.0 million people. The episode received mostly mixed reviews from critics, with many reviews critical of added humor.
In Part 1, an anonymous tip finally brings FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) to the mecca of all UFO lore—Area 51. But when the agents witness the flight of a mysterious craft, Mulder and a member of the Men in Black switch bodies, unbeknownst the others. In Part 2, Scully begins to suspect that her partner’s strange behavior is more than it appears to be, while Mulder fights to return his life to normal before it’s too late.
Contents |
Mulder and Scully visit the infamous Area 51 after receiving a tip from an inside source concerning alien aircraft. As they drive on the highway, they are surrounded by jeeps loaded with soldiers and a man in a black suit named Morris Fletcher. They show the man their IDs, but to no avail. Unfortunately for both Fletcher and Mulder, there is a rumbling noise as a mysterious aircraft flies overhead. The bright light from the object passes over them as it flies past. Mulder suddenly finds his mind in Fletcher’s body and Fletcher in Mulder's. No one, besides the two men, is aware that they have switched bodies as Fletcher and Scully depart under the gaze of the soldiers.
Mulder calls after the departing Scully and Fletcher and the soldiers ask if they should open fire. Mulder stops them and orders them to return to base. He enters the jeep and meets two other “Men in Black,” Howard Grodin and Jeff Smoodge. After an angry phone call from Joanne Fletcher, Mulder is returns to his “home.” Instead of sleeping in the bedroom, he decides to sleep downstairs in an easy chair and watch porn. Mulder is awakened by his “wife” Joanne as he mumbles the name Scully. While changing his clothes, Mulder receives a phone call from Smoodge. He explains that earlier that night, the military surveyed the wreckage of the craft that had made the brilliant flash in the sky and found one of the pilots phased into a rock but still alive. Another, Captain Robert McDonough, evident from his aberrant behavior, switched bodies a 75 year old Hopi woman named Lana Chee.
Mulder calls Scully and tries to explain that he's the real Mulder. She clearly doesn’t believe the man calling is Mulder and has Fletcher pick up and listen in on the conversation. Fletcher decides they should immediately report this incident, further confusing Scully. She later goes to Mulder’s apartment and tells Fletcher that they traced the phone call to a pay phone near Area 51 and she suspects it is Mulder’s source. Fletcher is indifferent to this news and Scully yells at him, sensing that his behavior is far too strange and his lack of concern for the X-Files is completely out of character. Scully decides to investigate, and drives through the desert towards Area 51. She stops at the burned out gas station, finding a penny and a dime merged together. Later, after Scully shows up at the Fletcher's house, Mulder tries desperately to convince Scully that he is the real Mulder. She remains her usual skeptical self, believing any information he describes could be obtained other ways. Mulder tells her that he will bring proof of the defect of the UFO and the resultant problems tonight, but at the appointed hour, military police arrive, and he is dragged away, kicking and screaming, desperately trying to convince Scully.
As Fletcher’s body with Mulder’s mind is dragged away by the soldiers, Scully begins to question if it isn’t Mulder in Fletcher’s body somehow. Fletcher in Mulder’s body steps up to Scully and apologizes for telling Kersh but she feigns acceptance of it. After being reprimanded, Fletcher sets up a dinner date with her at Mulder’s apartment.
Meanwhile, Mulder is confinded in a cell next to the mind-switched Lana Chee. Military police show up and take Mulder to a meeting with General Wegman and the two Men in Black, Grodin and Smoodge. They believe that Mulder-as-Fletcher was trying to scam the FBI, not aid them. Mulder bluffs his way through the meeting, claiming that the real proof is safe and that he didn’t let them in on the scheme because he didn’t know if he could trust them. Mulder returns “home” and tells Joanne Fletcher that he is Agent Fox Mulder but she figures it must be a mid-life crisis of some sort, despite him pointing out the car spying on the house.
At Mulder's apartment, Fletcher brings Scully some champagne and two glasses and begins to heavily flirt with her. Scully asks him if he knows what would be really fun while holding out handcuffs. Fletcher buys her act and handcuffs himself to a chest of drawers. Turning he finds himself face to face with Scully’s sidearm. She announces that she believes he is the real Morris Fletcher and demands to know how to restore Mulder to his body. Mulder’s source calls again and she forces Fletcher to take the call and set up a meeting.
Mulder and his "wife" as well as Fletcher and Scully turn up at a bar in Rachel, Nevada where Mulder's source is revealed: General Wegman. Wegman admits to sabotaging the UFO, but maintains that he tried to merely disable the stealth module so that Mulder could see it. He gives Fletcher, thinking him to be the real Mulder, the real proof of the encounter, a flight data recorder, in a paper bag. Mulder, meanwhile, slips out and talks with Scully in the car. Later, Mulder and Fletcher meet in the bar's bathroom and argue there about the flight data recorder. As the two argue, General Wegman enters the bathroom and discovers the two. Later, Mulder meets with General Wegman about the craft. Wegman believes that now that Fletcher knows who he is, when they restore things Fletcher will turn him in. He explains that he hoped that Mulder could explain to him if aliens actually exist; apparently the military is just given the crafts, they have no idea where they are from or how they work.
After the fiasco at the bar, Mulder and Scully meet. She sadly tells Mulder that she doesn't think the event can be undone. The warp caused by the alien craft is snapping back and repairing the natural order of the universe, and Grodin, realizing that everything will be fixed naturally, gathers up Lana Chee and the pilot. Scully and Fletcher show up at Fletcher’s home, seeing Mulder standing by the moving truck. The shrill Joanne Fletcher berates Mulder about Scully but he insists that Fletcher, points to his body, is her husband. Fletcher goes to help her move a chair and confesses that Mulder is telling the truth. He tells her enough of their past to convince her he is Morris Fletcher.
Jeff Smoodge and a group of troops appear at the Fletcher home and detain Mulder, Fletcher, and Scully with the black box in their car. Grodin explains that he is restoring everything and that he got the pilot and the old Hopi woman to switch back. The warp passes over them and the past few days are rewritten. Mulder and Fletcher are restored and brought back to the moment when Fletcher’s troops pulled them over on the highway. This time no ship passes overhead and Mulder and Scully leave uneventfully.
"Dreamland" Part 1 first aired in the United States on November 29, and Part 2 aired on December 6, 1998.[1] The first part of the episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.1, with a 15 share, meaning that roughly 10.8 percent of all television-equipped households, and 16 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[2] It was viewed by 17.50 million people.[2] The second part received a 10.1 rating, with a 15 share. It was subsequently viewed by 17.00 million people.[2] Part 1 aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky1 on March 28, 1999[3] and Part 2 aired on April 4.[4] Part 1 received 0.73 million viewers and was the fourth most watched episode that week.[5] Part 2 received 0.88 million viewers and was the second most watched episode that week, after an episode of Friends.[6]
The episode received mostly mixed reviews from critics, with many commenting on the episode's reliance on humor. John Keegan from Critical Myth gave both parts of the episode 6/10 and criticized the change in direction.[7] He argued that the added humor was geared toward the show's newer audience and wrote, "Overall, this episode seems to be designed for the newer members of the audience, since it focuses on the less serious aspects of the series at the expense of the overall mythology. In many respects, this begins a trend of lightening up the series to the point of losing sight of its distinctive darkness."[8] In a review of Part 1, a review from the Knight Ridder wrote, "As disorienting as this body transfer had to be for Mulder, the experience provided amusing television. And that seems to be a problem for some X-Files fans. Knowing that the human population's survival is imperiled by the colonization plans of a fierce extraterrestrial race, a large number of X-Philes want the show to focus on our heroes' efforts to come to the rescue."[9] The newspaper's review of Part 2 was much more negative, with the articles saying, "By the end of the latest X-Files episode, we were wishing we could push a reset button on Dreamland II, just to forget some of the silly stuff that transpired in this show."[10]
Den of Geek writer Juliette Harrisson, however, saw the episode in a more positive light and said, "Season six included some more excellent episodes only peripherally related to the main story arc, [such as] Dreamland parts one and two."[11]