Considering it still doesn't exactly justify being spread over two episodes, I actually enjoyed Dreamland II a lot more than its predecessor. While it still remains a little flat and spends far too long coasting ahead of its underwhelming conclusion, I enjoyed the general theme that ran through the hour, of Mulder somewhat having wasted his life. Here's a man who had it all at one point, yet became so consumed with alien conspiracies and hunting for the truth that it eclipsed what could have been a successful career and personal life.Morris Fletcher instead arrives and takes charge of his existence, having fun being Mulder instead of just passively moving through life. He even makes a pass at Scully, something Mulder has never done. If anything, Fletcher's interaction with Scully creates some of the hour's finest moments, and there's a general air of cuteness about their hanging out on Mulder's bed, capped by Scully manipulating Fletcher into a pair of handcuffs and confronting him over the body swap.
I know Dreamland gets a lot of praise, but I didn't love the thing. There are obviously some great 'moments' through both hours that are worthy of attention (in particular the flashback opener to this episode and the mirror dance sequence last week), but as a two-hour story, it doesn't have a whole lot of drive or meaning. Eh. Great acting work, but it didn't work for me. C+
Credits
Guest stars Michael McKean (Morris Fletcher); John Mahon (General Wegman); Michael Buchman Silver (Howard Grodin); Scott Allan Campbell (Jeff Smoodge); Julia Vera (Lana Chee); Andrew Sikking (Soldier); Chris Ufland (Sam); Tom Braidwood (Melvin Frohike); Dean Haglund (Ringo Langley); Bruce Harwood (John Fitzgerald Byers); Nora Dunn (JoAnne Fletcher)
Writers Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz Director Michael Watkins
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