"Monday, Monday, can't trust that day"...especially when it turns into a never ending loop of space and time, continuing forever and ever, controlled only by the destiny of one person. As if Monday mornings weren't bad enough! Oh, Monday, Monday, won't go away. Monday, Monday, it's here to stay.

"You ever have one of those days, Scully?"
"Since I've been working here? Yeah."

You've heard the expressions - "Never leave ‘til to-morrow that which you can do to-day," "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow," or the adage from "Shadows," "One to-day is worth two to-morrows." In just another manic Monday, the meanings of these maxims become obviously clear to both the characters and audience alike - tomorrow is a very precious commodity. We are introduced to "Monday" with a most troublesome opening - Mulder lies prostrate on the ground, blood oozing all over the floor and a distraught Scully, while an armed robber towers over him, ready to blow them all up at a moment's notice. Not my idea of a good day. (Most days that start off with a bang aren't, though. :P) As the episode begins, a collective sigh of relief is felt as it becomes apparent Mulder and Scully didn't die in the explosion. This relief is short-lived, however, as a new terror reveals itself - we are all doomed to relive this day over and over again. Hell is not dying in an explosion at the hands of a crazed psycho, it is dying over and over again in the same explosion until at last, fate likes it what it sees. I bet Mulder wished it were a Sunday...

"It doesn't have to end like this."
"Yes it does."

What a day! What a day! What a day! I liked "Monday," I really did, but talk about repetitive! Yikes. With such a plot, however, I suppose this was unavoidable. The same events were doomed to happen over and over again, with the audience always knowing exactly what's about to occur. This could make the show boring at times, predictable, and monotonous. Nevertheless, "Monday" was a very intelligent script, and managed to overcome this pitfall. I liked the way the episode took on qualities of slow motion as it neared the end, with the characters doing nothing more than running through the motions and waiting for the inevitable. I liked Mulder's rhythmic chanting of "He's got a bomb, he's got a bomb, he's got a bomb" in an attempt to remember the events of that day before the bank exploded. I guess tying a string around his finger wouldn't work. ;) I also liked the fact that the day *wasn't* exactly the same each time. At every repetition, we got a new point of view, a slight change, or a revelation in the plot. And as a bonus, the discussion between Mulder and Scully regarding destiny and fate, my favourite part of the show, was repeated multiple times. So if you didn't get it the first time, destiny gave you a second chance.

"I just had the weirdest sensation of deja-vu."

There are only so many paranormal phenomena out there, and as it ages, The X-Files has been forced to recycle certain themes. Not surprisingly, it has featured shows such as "Monday" before, most notably, "The Field Where I Died." By comparison, the repeated futures the characters lived through in "Monday" were treated in a more comprehensible manner than the past-life regressions of the former episode, and thus made the episode more plausible. In the course of this ongoing discussion of destiny and fate, some interesting points were raised. How important is fate in our lives? Is the fact that Mulder and Scully still work together simply a chance occurrence or a carefully planned out matter? Does fate even exist, or are we all governed by free will? (Considering the series of events that led up to Mulder's acquisition of a waterbed which in turn triggered the events of this episode, I'd have to lean towards the idea of fate. ;) How do we know that we haven't lived the same day twice? Thrice? That dreams aren't reality? As Mulder and Scully know well, the truth is as subjective as lies. I guess the only thing we can say for sure is "I think, therefore I am." The rest is moot. But it still makes for an interesting storyline, eh? ;)

"I might just as easily not have a waterbed, then I'd be on time for this meeting. You might just as easily have stayed in medicine and not gone into the FBI, and then we would never have met. Blah, blah, blah..."

If any comfort or sense of normality could be taken from this harrowing day, it would have to be found in the characters. The characters always remained true - good, bad or indifferent - even when fate toyed with their lives. Skinner was still Skinner, coming to rescue Mulder and Scully as he always does. Mulder mourned the loss of his cell phone, his fifth appendage, every time it plummeted to its watery grave, and played the part of hero every time he entered that bank just as any good FBI agent would. The only thing that surprised me about Mulder was his lack of four-letter words. I guess the odd twelve-letter word he threw in made up for that three-fold ("Zipadeedooda.") Mr. DOJ and 1% crime rate certainly didn't change. At every repetition, he remained as boring and colorless as anyone could possibly be. Too bad his numbers couldn't stand up in the real world - the fact that the crime rate is dropping in one of his pie charts isn't much consolation to Mulder and Scully when faced with a homicidal maniac. Scully's continual surprise about Mulder's water bed also fit well in her character ("When did you get a water bed Mulder?"). Her anguish over the impending loss of her partner, and then of her own life, expressed in lines like, "I just want everyone to live," and "I have to get my partner out of here," never wavered. But golly, it must stink to get "killed" for the third time in as many months. Luckily only one of those death attempts actually left a scar. While episodes such as "Monday" give the actors fruitful drama to sink their teeth into - death threats, hostage situation, bombs, psychos - when you overuse such a plot device, it can get a tad old...just like this episode. Mulder and Scully are obviously not going to die, so let's find something new to do, ‘kay?

"Cover for me, will you?"
"When do I not?"

"Monday" was a tragedy. Like every tragedy, it afforded only one outcome - the death of its tragic figure. Pam, desperately trying to change the fates of those around her, failed to realize that she was the key, and the choices she made the only way she could change this hellish series of events. Only when she was true to her character could this day be set right, allowing time to move forward again. Unfortunately, this called for the greatest of sacrifices. The fates had deemed that for others to live, she must die. Like the writers of a television show, fate scripts the events of our lives. As an audience, we can choose to follow the plot, or change the channel. In this case, at least, I'm glad I followed along. ‘Cause sometimes "Monday" just turns out that way.

"This never happened before."

A little song excerpt for your reading pleasure...

Monday, Monday
By: The Mamas and the Papas (Phillips)

Monday, Monday, so good to me
Monday mornin', it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday mornin', Monday mornin' couldn't guarantee
That Monday evenin' you would still be here with me

Monday, Monday, can't trust that day
Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way
Oh Monday mornin' you gave me no warnin' of what was to be
Oh Monday, Monday, how could you leave and not take me

Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
A-you can find me cryin' all of the time

Monday, Monday, so good to me
Monday mornin', it was all I hoped it would be
But Monday mornin', Monday mornin' couldn't guarantee
That Monday evenin' you would still be here with me

Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
A-you can find me cryin' all of the time

Monday, Monday, can't trust that day
Monday, Monday, it just turns out that way
Oh Monday, Monday, won't go away
Monday, Monday, it's here to stay
Oh Monday, Monday
Oh Monday, Monday