X-Files Review – “Jump The Shark”

The review contains spoilers this week. There’s
no way the discussion won’t. If you haven’t
heard spoilers for this episode yet and you
haven’t seen it, the bottom line is 37 out of 42.
Now, go find someone who can loan you a copy
before you read about it on Slashdot.

Cast

Tom
Braidwood
as Melvyn Frohike
Dean
Haglund
as Ringo Langley
Bruce
Harwood
as John Fitzgerald Byers
Stephen
Snedden
as Jimmy Bond
Zuleikha
Robinson
as Yves Adele Harlowe / Lois Runtz
Mike
McKean
as Morris Fletcher
Jim
Fyfe
as Kimmy the Hacker
Robert
Patrick

as John Doggett
Annabeth
Gish
as
Agent Reyes
Gillian
Anderson
as Dana Scully
Mitch
Pileggi
as Walter Skinner

Crew

Written by Vince
Gilligan
, John
Shiban
, and Frank
Spotnitz

Directed by Cliff
Bole

Original Airdate


Jump The Shark
originally aired on
Sunday,
April 21,
2002.

Synopsis

Morris Fletcher faked a personal attack so that
he could contact
Doggett and Reyes. He told them that Yves Adele
Harlowe was a
supersoldier, which made them get the Long Gunmen
involved, who went
ballistic at the sight of Fletcher.

It seems that, in the time between their series
finale and this
episode, they realized that the last time they
met Fletcher he’d
suckered them into finding Yves for him. He
captured her, and
presumably let the three Gunmen go. The Gunmen
subsequently went
broke trying to find her. They had to sell their
hardware just to pay
the bills, and were left with a single,
sub-standard computer. Jimmy
was hitchhiking around the world trying to track
down Yves. He
discovered that her real name was Lois Runtz.
(Morris told them that,
too, but they didn’t believe him until Jimmy told
them.)

Armed with Yves’ real name, and the skill of
their friend Kimmy (whom
I called Kenny in the Lone Gunmen reviews) they
tracked her down.
She’d already killed one professor, and she was
about to kill another
man in a hotel when they interrupted. Her target
escaped, but they
managed to hang on to her.

This is when they learned that she was not a
super-soldier. Instead,
she was trying to fight against her father,
Morris Fletcher’s current
employer, an international arms dealer. The two
men she was after
carried a deadly virus, which would escape into
the open at 8pm,
killing everyone within a sizeable radius.

The Gunmen helped the FBI track and capture her
second target, but
they soon realized that he was a decoy. The real
target was a man
named John Gilnitz, and he was at a Bioethics
conference. They got
there with only five minutes to stop the bomb
from going off, but were
forced to split up tracking the man down.

Byers, Langley, and Frohike caught up with
Gilnitz, but it was too
late to do any surgery. Instead, they pulled a
fire alarm, trapping
Gilnitz in an air-tight cage. They were trapped
too. Jimmy and Yves
showed up after they’d been exposed.

In the final scene of the episode, Doggett,
Reyes, Skinner, Scully,
Kimmy, Jimmy, Yves, and Morris all attended the
funeral at Arlington
Cemetery.

High Point

The death of the Gunmen.

Low Point

The death of the Gunmen.

The Review

The originality of this episode is new
for the X-Files.
There have been a lot of deaths on the show, but
none that were
self-sacrifice. Even the hunt before that event
felt more like the
Lone Gunmen spin-off than an X-File. I give it 5
out of 6.

The effects this week were minimal, and
fairly limited to the
bioluminescent substance that carried the toxin,
and the exploding
speedboat. However, both were well done. I give
them 5 out of 6.

The story was nicely assembled. Yves’
personal history came
pretty quickly, but only because the spinoff was
canceled. (Her past
was originally meant to be revealed over the
complete second season.)
Morris was up to his old tricks and in fine form,
the Gunmen were
starting to feel the weight of saving a world
that didn’t believe a
word they wrote, Jimmy was showing his true
loyalty and compassion,
and Yves really became an integral part of the
group. If anything,
this episode made it clear that the Gunmen are
heroes. They fought
the good fight without giving up, and they gave
their lives to save
others. They’ve even got sidekicks named Jimmy
and Lois. The story
had me hooked before the ending. The title, a
phrase known online as
a “point of no return” for TV shows, was
perfectly suited. I give it
5 out of 6.

The acting this week was pretty good.
Even Zuleikha Robinson
seemed comfortable in the role laid out for her,
and never once grated
as she so often did on the spinoff. The Gunmen,
the guest stars, and
the funeral attendees were all believable. I
give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response this week was
pretty damn high. I
laughed for the first 55 minutes, and then I
almost cried. I really
liked these characters. This had to be one of
the most powerful
moments I’ve ever seen on TV. I give it 6 out of
6.

The production was excellent. Cliff
Bole can direct comedy
very well. Mark Snow was able to bring in the
musical themes from the
spinoff into this episode. The pacing was quick,
the editing was well
done. In short, this was a well assembled
episode. I give it 5 out
of 6.

Overall, this was an excellent episode,
and a definite
landmark as the end of the series approaches. 6
out of 6.

In total, Jump The Shark received 37 out
of 42.

The Coming Weeks

On April 28, we get the David Duchovny directed
William,
which deals with an interesting possibility about
the whereabouts of
Agent Mulder. On May 5, we get Release,
which looks to bring
up some old demons regarding John Doggett’s son.
On May 12, we get
Sunshine Days, about a guy who is
obsessed with The Brady
Bunch
. On May 19, the broadcast starts an
hour earlier than
normal for the two hour series finale, The
Truth
.

8 replies on “X-Files Review – “Jump The Shark””

  1. It’s too bad…
    ….Carter didn’t (couldn’t?) retire the whole X-Files series with as much simple dignity as he did the Lone Gunmen.

    i may have to find a copy of that to watch; i quit watching regularly a while ago.

    • Re: It’s too bad…

      ….Carter didn’t (couldn’t?) retire the whole X-Files series with as much simple dignity as he did the Lone Gunmen.

      The series isn’t over yet. :)

      • Re: It’s too bad…

        The series isn’t over yet. :)

        you ever hear the phrase “like beating a dead horse”? :P

    • Re: It’s too bad…

      ….Carter didn’t (couldn’t?) retire the whole X-Files series with as much simple dignity as he did the Lone Gunmen.

      i may have to find a copy of that to watch; i quit watching regularly a while ago.

      I’ve always said that the show should have ended with Scully/Mulder’s kiss at the end of last season. It wrapped up very nicely IMHO, and was simply dragged around this season. This episode was definitely an exception though… very well done. I didn’t expect the ending at all. I agree with the review… I can’t recall a single self-sacrificing death in the history of the show, at least not from truly “good” guys.

      • Re: It’s too bad…

        I’ve always said that the show should have ended with Scully/Mulder’s kiss at the end of last season. It wrapped up very nicely IMHO, and was simply dragged around this season. This episode was definitely an exception though… very well done. I didn’t expect the ending at all. I agree with the review… I can’t recall a single self-sacrificing death in the history of the show, at least not from truly “good” guys.

        i harassed my die-hard x-phile friend at first because she quit watching after the kiss ep. then after a few weeks i started to understand why she quit :/

        i highly doubt i will be inclined to watch the series finale, i will probably just dig up a spoilerific review and see what happened.

  2. Did we watch the same episode???
    Okay so for one…the Gunmen series was never very good. Mainly because instead of letting the Gunmen stand on their own (which given good scripts they could have) they had to add Yves (who was just a big rip off of Jessica Alba) and Jimmy (who is eerily Brendon Fraiser’s twin). For the entire run of the show these two made me want to bitch slap them both and hunt down whoever thought they were neccesary and cause them pain. I wanted to watch the Gunmen do their thing, not watch Jimmy be a doofus and Yves say time and again how the Gunmen “mucked it up” this week.

    But that show came and went because no one else wanted to watch either. I do have to say the more I think about it the scarier it is that the first episode was exactly what happened on Sept 11. That is freaky.

    But on to the travisty that happened on Sunday.

    From the beginning this show was weak. Patrick and Gish might as well not have even shown up for work. McKeaon was decent. The plot made no sense and apparently someone needs to be fired in the continuity department since for some reason I was actually paying attention and it was said that “The hosts of the virus are actually immune to it”. Why then was the guy flopping on the floor and seemingly dying from it as it oozed out of him in day glow pink goo form??

    I was also sickened by the way they ripped off (but hey, lots of people have done it) Star Trek 2’s death of Spock. I was honest to God expecting Langley to say “Live Long and Prosper.”

    Oooh they got buried in Arlington. Yeah that was sweet. Where the hell was Mr. Mulder on the run? These guys had been tight with him how long? Byers dad didn’t show up? Nor the blonde? At least make it believeable. Scully’s lame “I never knew how much they meant to me.” While she counts the minutes she has left to go on this show that should have been cancelled two years ago. That was pretty lame for some of the best characters this show has ever had on it. They deserved better even for this.

    It all felt forced. I should have felt something but the only thing I feel is cheated. I just didn’t care. I loved the Gunmen, they were awesome. I was sad to see how they made them into a modern day 3 stooges on their series (that I actually stopped watching for that fact and because it became more of the Yves and Jimmy show.) And now I’m just plain angry at this “honorable” death. All the foreshadowing on this episode I felt like I was on the Titanic…”Guys like that live forever” “If they say that about us, it’s all worth it.”

    It was just plain unmoving crap. I didn’t care. I had read the rumor this was going to happen (like I’m sure most of you had) and I thought…well I’ll watch it and see. I might as well not bothered. I thought I’d cry but instead I’m just ticked off. And the thing is they aren’t dead. They are being held off on Genesis waiting to be reawakened for something else, probubly the next movie. It had that feel of “we’ll just make it seem like they croaked” all over it. Nah, I’m not in denial, I just know lame TV Deaths.

    Hey maybe Scully will wake up in her bedroom and open the shower door and find them all in there and it will all be a dream. There’s a picture to leave you with.

    • Re: Did we watch the same episode???
      Hi, Jess. Thanks for reminding me to put the “intelligent linebreaks” code back in… :-)

      Anyway.


      I was also sickened by the way they ripped off (but hey, lots of people have done it) Star Trek 2’s death of Spock. I was honest to God expecting Langley to say “Live Long and Prosper.”

      If you’ve gotta steal, might as well steal from the best. :-)


      Oooh they got buried in Arlington. Yeah that was sweet. Where the hell was Mr. Mulder on the run? These guys had been tight with him how long?

      I believe they helped set up part of Mulder’s escape plans, including the one-shot cell phones. If they did their job right, nobody would’ve been able to reach Mulder. (Yeah, there is that whole “Scully’s email” from a few episodes back, but that was riddled with so many flaws… if it worked like it did on the show, the Bad Guys (TM) got Mulder a couple months ago.) I so very much wanted to spam the writers with truly-anonymous email, as opposed to a Hotmail account (which, despite what some may believe, is about as anonymous as a Times Square billboard).


      It was just plain unmoving crap.

      Please, tell us how you really feel…


      Hey maybe Scully will wake up in her bedroom and open the shower door and find them all in there and it will all be a dream. There’s a picture to leave you with.

      I don’t think even Chris Carter at this point would pull a “Dallas.” Not even he has sunk to those depths.

      • Re: Did we watch the same episode???


        Hi, Jess. Thanks for reminding me to put the “intelligent linebreaks” code back in… :-)

        Not a problem Mi Amigo…wondered where all my spacing went :)

        Anyway.

        I was also sickened by the way they ripped off (but hey, lots of people have done it) Star Trek 2’s death of Spock. I was honest to God expecting Langley to say “Live Long and Prosper.”

        If you’ve gotta steal, might as well steal from the best. :-)

        Let us not forget (especially in these sad circumstances) “if you need to spew, spew in this..

        Oooh they got buried in Arlington. Yeah that was sweet. Where the hell was Mr. Mulder on the run? These guys had been tight with him how long?

        I believe they helped set up part of Mulder’s escape plans, including the one-shot cell phones. If they did their job right, nobody would’ve been able to reach Mulder. (Yeah, there is that whole “Scully’s email” from a few episodes back, but that was riddled with so many flaws… if it worked like it did on the show, the Bad Guys (TM) got Mulder a couple months ago.) I so very much wanted to spam the writers with truly-anonymous email, as opposed to a Hotmail account (which, despite what some may believe, is about as anonymous as a Times Square billboard).

        Yes, well I havn’t been keeping up too much after watching that first episode that starred sans breastplate (and sans everything else) Lucy Lawless. So I wouldn’t know just how deep their involvement with Mulder’s disappearence went, but I stand by the comment.

        It was just plain unmoving crap.

        Please, tell us how you really feel…

        Don’t I always? :)

        Hey maybe Scully will wake up in her bedroom and open the shower door and find them all in there and it will all be a dream. There’s a picture to leave you with.

        I don’t think even Chris Carter at this point would pull a “Dallas.” Not even he has sunk to those depths.

        Never say never Dave. I have yet to be surprised by the depths of desperation a man with only one surviving franchise will sink.

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