by Adam Silva

Bring on the second season! I gotta know what happens! Could anyone believe the cliffhangar ending?! (I mean, they don't even know if they're coming back...) Oh god that was good. I don't know where to start. Excellent plot, great lines, funny scenes and in-jokes, better music this time around, Kimmy, Michael McKean as Morris Fletcher, and Mulder! This is everything the show should be! Ok, maybe I should stop using the exclamation points now. Anyway, it was awesome. The best episode of the season. And I can't wait for the next one. There better be another season, because we need the second part! Although I could see it being wrapped up in next year's season of "The X-Files" (if there is one) if need be, but I would think the producers must be optimistic to leave us hanging like that. Unless they go the way of "Alf," but anyway...

This episode certainly had the best and most intense plot, since the pilot. I couldn't believe how much they fit into 45 minutes (if it didn't run longer. I was watching the clock in the last few minutes! No wonder they cut the title sequence short again...). I'm really glad they are back to the conspiracy stories and action-Gunmen that we were used to from "The X-Files". I felt they got away from that too much this season. And unlike the title suggest, this episode was not all about Yves. We didn't really learn too much about her, but they got to save more for next year (oh, and go Jimmy with that kiss he got from her!) and the next part. But I totally believed in Romeo 61 (although I guess I should have known better with such a nonsensical name) just to been thrown off track in the end. Great X-Files-worthy plot twists! I liked the continuity about the Octium IV chip, the water-powered car, and "The Lone Gunman" magazine's name referring to hunting and fishing. This show has quite a bit of continuity like that between episodes, which I appreciate. Also, I was glad to see some nice tie-ins with "The X-Files" and continuity from Morris Flethcer's previous appearances too. Speaking of...

Michael McKean was hilarious! I really hope we get to see more of him. He really did floor me sometimes. In fact, all the jokes were funny this time, as were the scenes (Fletcher's abduction was pretty funny. Mulder must have told the Gunmen quite a bit of detail about his abduction...), unlike in past episodes. Kimmy indeed shows himself as a good recurring character again too (his Jessice Alba comment was pretty astute. Why else do people watch "Dark Angel"?). The John Gillnitz in-jokes were pretty cute also. I'll give props to the writers for that (if it's possible to give them anymore than I have already!).

Mark Snow's score was better this time too. I liked "The X-Files" theme remix music when you-know-who showed up. "Weapon of Choice" was indeed a great choice for the show. The video for that song is my favorite right now, so it was delighted to hear the song in this episode.

The Mulder parts were great, as expected. I think it is great that David Duchovny did a cameo for them. He was actually much more integral to the plot as I thought he would be, not that it was too much... I do wish he had gotten to work with Zuleikha and Kimmy (not to mention the Gunmen themselves), since this could be only time he gets too. But his part with Jimmy was really cool. They had good chemistry!

Finally, this episode totally rocked! Ok, ok, I'll calm down. But this really was a good episode, and I reiterate my hope that the show returns for a second season. After this, they truly deserve it.

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by Adam Silva

Now I can't get that tango piece out of my head! Anyway, this was a pretty good episode I must say. The tango bits entertaining, the jokes funny, the plot tight, and who could forget El Lobo? The teaser was very well done, my favorite to date (but what was with the shortened title sequence? I've really begun to like that version now...). The direction was actually quite nice overall, and I would say this is Bryan Spicer's best work to date.

Thomas Schnauz's script was a good outing as well, better than with "Madam I'm Adam". Zuleikha Robinson also did her best performance so far, and I'm glad we're seeing more developement of Yves. There's some emotion in her after all. Perhaps this is setting up for the finale... Additionally, Kimmy the Geek is a good character for the show, and I hope to see more of him. I always thought we should see more of the geek-world given that this show is about the Lone Gunmen, but besides Kimmy in this episode, the pilot was the only offering out that, with its virtual firing range. I'd really like to see Langly play some more D&D sometime soon... Also, given the end, I'd say they're really playing up a possible Jimmy-Yves relationship, and I must say that I like it. Those two have a nice chemistry together and it makes for interesting character developement.

The only parts I didn't like in this episode were how the Gunmen, again, looked like bumbling idiots in the way they messed up Yves' operation. How did these guys survive all these years doing this stuff? Why haven't they been put in jail for a lot longer than a day or two? It makes for funny moments sometimes, but mostly it is just annoying to see these guys like that after such wonderful work on "The X-Files." I also didn't like the bloated feet and hands too much. They looked a little goody, and what did Yves had that would do that? Finally, after this season is over, the producers can look over it and find their mistakes. I think writing all these episodes without any feedback may have affected the show a little, but these things can be fixed for next year, if there is one. And with episodes like this one, I definitely want another.

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by Adam Silva

Boy was this all over the place. This episode was like many different episodes all at once. First, we have an episode with Skinner. Then, we have one involving Byers' college roommate and uses that to give us a morality play about lies, half-truths, and how people need their privacy. Finally, we have the episode where Jimmy finally becomes an accepted member of the Lone Gunmen and showcases their friendships. I just wish I didn't have to see those all in 45 minutes. It was uneven, and I never got a feel for what I was watching. Because this was like three episodes rolled into one, none of those aformentioned episodes deliver. For a Skinner-episode, it didn't have enough Skinner and didn't showcase Skinner's relationship to the Gunmen well (the Gunmen would have found it harder to believe that Skinner was a murderer than they did). Though it was nice to see Skinner involved in a case that wasn't a X-File for once (assistant directors are in charge on more than one section you know). Also, Mitch Pileggi did get to step out of his usual serious-acting from "The X-Files" to do a dead-on impression of Jimmy, which was hilarious (as was his comment relating the Gunmen to the Three Stooges). The Byers'-college-roommate thing just came off as a big coincidence (which this show has too much of anyway. Isn't it funny that Jimmy has met Mr. Memory before?). Isn't it strange how all these people Byers knows get involves with this kind of stuff? The sex-change stuff came off as pointless as well (and that actress definitely did not look like someone who was once a man). And finally, while the scenes of Jimmy talking to the audience were neat, there needed to be more for it to come off as the great moment it should have been when the Gunmen finally accept him. Although I do like how they've addressed the money issue again. Since "Bond, Jimmy Bond" and "Eine Kleine Frohike," I've been wondering how Jimmy's life savings could possibly last that long. I'm glad they got back to that. However, a few questions still remain. How are the Gunmen contacting Yves? How are the Gunmen making these disguises which are technological impossible? Oh well...

Despite its failings, this episode did have some nice scenes. Most I already mentioned, but the scene where Frohike goes to ask why Byers was acting the way he was proved to be the best scene of the episode. Those guys have wonderful chemistry together, and they should really play with that more. They should also learn that the dramatic parts like that work too! We don't need all this "comedy." A lot of their jokes just fall flat. And what's with the potty humor? (literally, in this episode...) Why was that dog there? To give us a "funny" scene where it humps Langly's leg? It didn't make me laugh. Instead, it just left me asking this one question: Why? Finally, at least next week they'll get back to those conspiracies they used to investigate in the season finale. Too bad it looks like it'll be the series finale as well.

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by Adam Silva

Eh, more of the same. While I liked the fact the Gunmen busted a grizzly bear poacher a lot, the plot with Jimmy thinking his doctor was a killer was a little hard to believe. These guys get into all sorts of trouble, even when its unrelated to the story they are trying to get. Worse yet, they just had to find a way to get Yves involved in that story, even when it was completely unnecessary to the episode's story. Her part foreshadowing a possible Yves-Jimmy relationship was good enough. What was the purpose of her being the third skier? What did it add to the story? And what was with Mark Snow's music? Oh well, at least they didn't get put in jail again this time...

All and all though, this episode wasn't that bad. Writer John Shiban didn't do as good a job with this episode as with "Eine Kleine Frohike," but this wasn't as lackluster as "Bond, Jimmy Bond" or "Three Men and a Smoking Diaper". As long as the show stays at this level, it'll be fine. What really makes this episode is Stephen Snedden. He has such charisma, and plays Jimmy wonderfully. I was slightly annoyed with him in "Bond, Jimmy Bond," but the episodes that followed showed me that he was just poorly introduced. Bond is a wonderful new character for the show (as is Yves) and brings a wonderful new color to the Gunmen team. I hope to see more Jimmy and more of this actor outside of "The Lone Gunmen."

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