There is a world out there, a world of dreams, in which everything is perfect. Government conspiracies exist only in the fictional cosmos of "The X-Files" (which in this world is of course the longest running and most popular television show), world peace is a reality, and political assassinations are found only in parables. Alas, this is not the world in which we live. Here, shadow government poobahs cook people's brains in their skulls, and incurable idealists see their dreams crushed. Yet here there is passion, and when placed in the hands of three of a kind, a conviction of beliefs arises so strong that hope momentarily resurfaces like a mirage upon a barren Nevada desert. For one brief moment, the world of dreams is no longer so far away, sparkling as brightly as the lights of Las Vegas...only to disappear once more, lost in this eternal game dealt by fate.
"I have everything a person could want: home and family...and love. Everything that counts for anything in life...I have it. But the dream ends the same way every time. I lose it all."
One of only a few sequels ever attempted on this series, "Three of a Kind" picked up where "Unusual Suspects" left off two years ago. Well, I guess technically it was ten years ago. Which makes the decade old "previously on ‘The X-Files'" even more amusing. With characters as interesting as Byers, Langly, and Frohike, I'm glad these two hours were allotted for them to expose the quirky souls they hide within. In "Three of a Kind," they could momentarily shed their paranoid demeanor to reveal Byers as a hopeless utopian, Frohike as the gallant knight, and Langly, the devoted friend. Like a melodramatic soap opera superimposed on a setting of government conspiracies, patsies, and paranoid computer geeks, one man soon emerged as the tragic figure in this story of lost love. Byers, ordinarily a quiet, cowardly lion, was revealed to be an idealist born in an imperfect world, searching in vain for a love taken from him ten years prior...only to find his beloved already engaged to another man. Signy Coleman (Susanne Modeski) must have felt right at home - she currently stars on "Guiding Light" and is a former cast member of "The Young and the Restless," where she played a character named, ironically enough, Hope. Like any good melodrama, "Three of a Kind" followed a parabolic pattern of emotions - unavailing hope ("You're still looking for her, aren't you?"), denial ("Clearly he brainwashed her."), shattered dreams ("It happened. But things got better."), and at last, hope restored ("Someday."). The simple exchange of the ring at the end served as a perfect book end to the opening dream sequence, an appropriately harlequin ending for this tragic romance.
"You know, Byers, growing old with us ain't so bad."
"Oh, shut up, Langly. You really want him to kill himself?"
Though clearly centered around Byers, "Three of a Kind" was a story of three, not one, and did not neglect his two comrades Langly and Frohike. While Byers was embroiled in the affairs of his personal life, "Michael Bolton" and "Hickey" ended up executing most of the investigative work, unraveling the complicated mystery surrounding them. Serving as Scully's autopsy aid, Langly showed us just what a strong stomach he has...unfortunately, these sounds of regurgitation were almost worse than the dead body lying on the table. However, from this exercise, a vital clue was revealed - the fatal puncture wound with which no cadaver is complete, and an indication that a conspiracy is afoot. Like "Unusual Suspects," this conspiracy was of the most diabolical nature, the administration of a drug that overrides higher brain functions, making a paranoid guy kill himself, Scully a giddy drunk, and a lone gunman...well, a lone gunman. It's a good thing Byers, Langly, and Frohike were there to avert this heinous plot! Sneaking into hotel rooms, faking deaths, altering death records - put simply, they rock! They certainly make a great team...though they couldn't have done it without all of Frohike's little tools. I could really use one of those handy door openers for my next hotel stay... (You know, in case those nasty government spooks are spying in me in an adjacent room. ;)
"Hello, Mulder? Can you hear me? I'm at the hotel. Where are you? What do you mean, ‘what hotel'? I'm in Las Vegas, aren't you? You called me. What do you mean you didn't call me? Oh man, I am gonna kick their asses."
Like the kids' puzzles in your Sunday newspaper, "Three of a Kind" asked, "Can you find the difference between these two pictures?" If you looked hard enough, glancing quickly back and forth between one episode and the next, a variation soon became obvious - no Mulder! Busy preparing for his chef d'oeuvre, "The Unnatural," David Duchovny had no time for this episode, lending only his voice as a cameo. The loss of one of its leads due to promotional tours, film productions, or even childbirth seems to be an interminable problem on "The X-Files." As such, it has an age-old answer - the show's minor characters. If David or Gillian has a scheduling conflict, then they bring in The Lone Gunmen, Skinner, or Cancerman, a side show to distract the audience's attention from the main attraction until they're ready to go on again. Essentially "ordered" scripts, episodes such as these can sometimes lead to haphazard storylines and disjointed plots. However, backed by the power of its predecessor and a man known as Vince, "Three of a Kind" was able to avoid this malady. It may have lacked some of the natural paranoid suspense of "Unusual Suspects," and been short one of the two main characters, but like the original, the absence of Mulder (or in that case, Scully) didn't bother me. If you have an interesting, captivating script, deficiencies such as this can be overlooked.
"Yeah, I trust you, Mulder, it's the Three Stooges I'm not so sure about."
You've got to hand it to Byers. Only he could trick the naturally skeptical Scully into jet-setting across the country at the drop of a hat. Catching her off guard by phoning her in the wee hours of the morning, and then pretending to be the only person she would fly to Las Vegas for was pure genius. I love how they faked Mulder's voice - he sounded just like that computer automated voice you get when you phone information to get the time. (At the tone, the time will be...2:34 am) Though I did detect some hostility when Frohike and Langly found out she was coming ("What do you need Scully for, anyway?"). Perhaps they were still harboring some sort of resentment about that "Three Stooges" remark... ;) Any grudge was soon forgotten, however, and it was Frohike who came to Scully's rescue when in her drunken stupor. Though I found his remark that "...if you so much as touch her, you may be committing a federal offense" slightly ironic on a show that has pretty much deemed having a life against the law, his actions were justified. Scully does not make a good druggie...but she does make things amusing! Who could not laugh at her drugged escapades, from her "medical opinion" of Jimmy's death ("BEEEEEEEP!" [smack!]) to her piercing laugh and puppy dog pouty face, like that of a child whose mother would not give her a nonfat tofutti rice dreamsicle. It's nice to see Scully have some fun for once, even exacting revenge on Morris Fletcher, her old nemesis from "Dreamland." What he was there for, other than to let Scully get back at him for an event she doesn't even remember, I don't know. Nevertheless, it was still funny. :)
"Good work, party girl."
When the Lone Gunmen first appeared on "E.B.E." few could have guessed they were destined for stardom. Any other actors might have simply taken the stock characters they were presented with and portrayed them as two-dimensional computer geeks. But these three didn't. Instead, they gave Byers, Langly, and Frohike personalities, and in the five years since, transformed the members of this paranoid trio into round, human characters, the characters we saw so beautifully portrayed in "Three of a Kind." Sure, I like having Mulder and Scully around, but sometimes that's impossible. And if I had to bet on anybody else, I'd put my money on these three.
"I like Hickey!"