If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be? An FBI agent? Perhaps an air force pilot? How about a seventy-five year old Hopi woman? Maybe Eleanor Roosevelt? Heck, you could even be an Area 51 official! You can be anyone you want...unfortunately, anyone who wants can also be you. And in a world where body switching is a reality, where time and space are jumbled up beyond recognition, there's no way of knowing if you'll ever be yourself again.

"I'm not the same man you married."

In many ways, Dreamland was a twisted show. It was a twist on old ideas, and a parody of the classic mythology arc that has occurred on The X-Files since the "Duane Barry" trilogy. The X- Files has always excelled at making fun of themselves, and "Dreamland" fit the pattern well. It was weirder, funnier, and more character-oriented than most mythologies, poking fun at both Mulder and Scully, and managing to take a hokey subject and make it interesting. There aren't so many paranormal subjects out there to make episodes out of, and "Dreamland" managed to work even though it had an obvious similarity to "Small Potatoes." In both episodes, Mulder's body was inhabited by a different person. After that, though, the two episodes deviate. In "Dreamland," Mulder got a taste of what living in someone else's body is like, and unlike "Small Potatoes," we got to see Mulder as he was, not as Scully and the rest of the world saw him. This cinematic choice lessened "Dreamland"'s weird factor, but it also took away a bit of the humour in seeing "Mulder" doing strange stuff ("You're a damn good-looking man." :). And whereas Scully was almost completely ignorant of Mulder's transformation in the latter episode, she seemed to clue in on the metamorphosis by the end of "Dreamland." I mean really, who, other than Mulder, would wear such a hideous red tie? ;)

"Mulder, it's the dim hope of finding that proof that's kept us in this car, or one very much like it, for more nights than I care to remember. Driving hundreds, if not thousands of miles, through neighborhoods, and cities, and towns where people are raising families and buying homes and playing with their kids and their dogs...in short, living their lives, while we-we-we just keep driving."

I've been waiting for this scene for a very long time. :) As always, the little bits of Mulder and Scully interaction in "Dreamland" brought the episode to life, but the first scene in the car proved to be an especially bright spot. For a while now, it's been obvious that Mulder and Scully's interests have been diverging. Even after six or seven years of looking, Mulder still seems content to "just keep driving" in his rented Taurus searching for the unattainable, unprovable truth. Scullys' priorities, on the other hand, have become increasingly domestic. This scene illustrated the gap between them better than any other. It was Scully's plea to Mulder to stop the car, and by that act, stop his crazy search and settle down (with her perhaps...?). Of course, she knew he could never do that. Both of them have too much invested in this quest, and besides, in their world, "this is a normal life."

"Outpost 153. Two miles to go."
"I'm allllll a-tingle."

One thing X-Filean comedies have always managed to do well is clarify the characters of Mulder and Scully. They give us another look at the characters we love, and point out their many idiosyncrasies. In "Dreamland," Mulder's character was revealed through Morris's discrepancies, and Scully's through Mulder's descriptions. By this, I discovered the main difference in Mulder and Scully's characters - their ability to believe. I've never known how very skeptical Scully is until now. Well, sure, she's always dubious when it comes to Mulder's wild theories, but any scientist would do the same. It's the fact that she didn't even believe the facts when they were so blatantly presented before her that struck me as unrealistic. She's even seen something like this before! She nearly *kissed* something like this before! Hello! In "Kitsunegari," Mulder believed it was her behind Linda Bowman's exterior when she told him what his mother's name was. In "Dreamland", she didn't even believe him when he could recite, verbatim, what's been in her lunch bag lately (bee pollen? Okay...). Not only that, wouldn't you think she'd get a tad suspicious when Mulder starts smoking (Morley's, no less), listens to rock music, calls her Dana, apologizes to Kersh, offers to reveal his sources and go by the book (!?!), flirts with the enemy, and completely disregards the X- Files, his life work, the reason they've been driving in that car for all those nights? No wonder she blew up at him in his apartment! But the fact remains that Scully isn't that stupid. In any other episode, she would have clued in on the change earlier. But this was a two-parter, and in two- parters, everything has to be spread out.

"That is so Scully. That is so you."

If I've ever entertained the notion of switching bodies with someone for a day, I don't anymore. Seeing Mulder fumbling around in another man's body, living with a nagging wife and children he doesn't even know made me realize how horrible that would be. Poor Mulder. :( In Morris' body he got a taste of the family life Scully spoke of earlier in the car, and I would venture to guess that after an experience like that, he'd be less inclined than ever to get a house and settle down. I guess Scully will have to get used to that car seat for a little while longer. But despite the horror of living in someone else's body, despite the uncertainty of whether or not he'll ever be himself again, Mulder must have had *some* fun in his new found situation. After all, he got to live out his dream role in Dreamland, as an Area 51 official. He had access to every secret regarding the existence of extraterrestrials and the government's role in the conspiracy to bury the truth, not to mention a big mirror in his room to gyrate in front of. David Duchovny and Micheal McKean must have had a lot of fun with that scene. That enjoyment conveyed well across the screen, and made what could have been a silly, unsynchronous scene entertaining. The faces he made, especially at the notion of sleeping with a stranger, were cute as well. And of course, no episode would be complete without another reference to Mulder's love of porn. Although, it does make you wonder what he's dreaming about when he starts moaning Scully in his sleep... ;)

"Does Scully sound like a woman's name to you?"

If one good thing came out of The X-Files move to Los Angeles, it would have to be this episode. There simply aren't any deserts in Vancouver, and the only way they could have ever hoped to do an Area 51 episode there would have been to paint another rock quarry a la "Anasazi." In Los Angeles, the X-Files crew got the best of both worlds - the desert imagery in "Dreamland" was beautifully eerie, and they rarely showed the sun (thank heavens). I liked the idea of an plot centered around the inner workings of Area 51, for it is truly the Mecca for any UFO enthusiast, a category which Mulder undeniably fits into. However, I would have liked it more if they would have gone into more detail on the science behind the lizard in the rock and Mulder's body swapping experiences. That aspect of the show tended to be shoved aside and rushed through so we could get back to more scenes of Mulder dancing in his underpants. Not that I mind that too much - character interaction and development are my favourite part of the show - but there are so few X-Files dealing with physics, a subject which I love, that I would have liked it if they could have spent more time with it. Instead, it got relegated to a few vague mumbles about a rip in the space-time continuum. Sure. Fine. Whatever.

"There's no such thing as flying saucers."

Dreamland's plot may have been thin, but I still find myself with a multitude of questions regarding this two-parter. How does Morris fit into this whole body-swapping conspiracy? Why is he purposely leaking his own name to the bad boys at Area 51? And how in the world is Mulder ever going to get his body back? I guess I'll just have to wait for Dreamland II. In the meantime, it sure was fun to see how Mulder and Scully reacted to living in their dream lands. Unfortunately for them, the lives they wished for didn't seem to live up to their exulted expectations. And as unhappy with it as she was, I'm sure Scully would give anything to get back to her "normal life" once again.

"My work here is done."