The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat
I don't know how many of you are X-Files fans. I was, for a while, back in the 90s, and I kind of lost interest towards the end there as it became all story arc and no monster-of-the-week. But I was kind of pleased to see that Fox produced an 11th season this year, set in the present day, and I watched it. One episode really stands out to me, called The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat.
(Mild spoilers below)
It was written and directed by Darin Morgan, who was a long-time showrunner for the early seasons, but only wrote a few episodes, all of which are on the "zany" side of things (e.g. he developed the "Lone Gunmen" characters). This one definitely fits that mold. The premise is that They have developed a memory erasing technology, and They are working very hard to make sure that nobody finds out about it.
The whole 11th season is a not-even-slightly veiled critique of Trumpian America. You see turmoil within the FBI as it's attacked by the White House, you see Russian interference in the government, you see fake news. That last one is what this episode is about, and it really makes you think.
The "They" in the earlier paragraph turns out to be a person, Dr. Eugene They. The scene where Mulder confronts him is to my mind the best scene the X-Files has done. Like most of the series it's filmed in Vancouver, but for once it's in an unmistakable Vancouver location: the scuplture park with Yue Minjun's brilliant "Laughter" sculpture series. That in itself is just a kind of fun wink at the 4th wall, but the conversation says so much about where we are right now.
Mulder: "You're a difficult man to find."
They: "No, I'm not, agent Mulder. I'm in the phone book, but nobody knows how to use that anymore"
That scene, and a slightly later one where Mulder is mocked by two younger FBI agents, really hit home for me. In some ways, the days of the Big Conspiracy are over. After Wikileaks, there's no longer a question of hiding big secrets. Governments will simply put the big secrets out there, and nobody will believe them, or even be able to sort through all the simultaneous spin and lies being put out there.
Anyhoo, just wanted to recommend the latest season, and in particular this episode (#4).
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