Like last week, The Rain King at first depicts ideas that are strange and extraordinary (the apparent ability to control weather), before exposing it all as something far more mundane and ordinary. At this episode's heart is unrequited love, and the element of the story I was most impressed by were the guest stars, all of whom noticed the chemistry between Mulder and Scully. There's Holman insisting that he's seen how Mulder 'gazes' at Scully, Mulder's insistence that that isn't the case, and later Sheila confronting Scully over her jealousy of her 'connection' to Mulder. It's really sweet and goofy, and ridiculously entertaining.
Kroner, Kansas is another reliably kooky X-Files town. The guest characters are all a little nutty, and I adored the brief gags involving the competition winners Mulder and Scully are presumed to be, and earlier that great moment with the baton twirler. All the casting is fun, too. Victoria Jackson is a disgusting sack of shit-for-brains in reality, but she's admittedly amusing here as the goofy Sheila.
It's interesting that so many episodes this year have been pretty lightweight, though. Was it a result of the move to LA? Or did Chris Carter want to tone down the arcs to attract newbies who just saw the movie over the summer? I like this standalone-driven season so far, but I'd welcome a vintage-style horror episode again. More Tooms, and less Bad Blood. Regardless, this is fun. But, then again, any episode with a flying cow is automatically pretty awesome. B-
Credits
Guest stars Victoria Jackson (Sheila Fontaine); Clayton Rohner (Daryl Mootz); David Manis (Holman Hardt); Dirk Blocker (Mayor Gilmore); Francesca Ingrassia (Cindy Culpepper)
Writer Jeffrey Bell Director Kim Manners
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