The X-Files - S6:E20 "Three of a Kind"

[ S6:E19 "The Unnatural" <<< Season 6 >>> S6:E21 "Field Trip" ]

Following in the footsteps of last season's Unusual Suspects, Three of a Kind is another episode featuring The Lone Gunmen front and center. Although not a period episode this time around, it does construct a similar atmosphere, involving another technical convention - Def-Con '99 in Las Vegas - in which the three stooges go undercover in an attempt to learn political trade secrets involving a new stealth assassination technology. Unfortunately, though, instead of treading new ground - I would have liked, for example, to maybe learn a little bit more about what makes Frohike or Langly tick - the story (again written by Vince Gilligan, but this time along with John Shiban - the same combo responsible for this season's Monday) is centered around Byers and the flame he is still holding for Susanne Modeski. As such, although a continuation of the previous story, it feels like a bit of a rehash, and narrows rather than expands The Lone Gunmen's narrative universe (they couldn't have come up with a different, unrelated story to tell about these characters?). Aside from a clever trick involving voice emulation on the telephone, Mulder is all but absent from the episode, and Scully spends most of her scenes (in merely a supporting role) acting drunk (for better or worse). The writers then take full advantage of an admittedly golden opportunity to give Morris Fletcher (the guy from Dreamland) a brief cameo. It's fun if you like fun, but I think it's all a little too goofy. It's not a bad episode, but overall, I can't say that I found it as captivating as Unusual Suspects was.

Memorable quotes:

Frohike: What do you need Scully for, anyway?
Byers: We're up against agents of the government. We need our own government agent.
Langly: And that would be Mulder. Why do you want just Scully?
Frohike (laughing in the background): She's gonna kick our ass.
Byers: Mulder's too high-profile. He's virtually a household name to the black ops who kidnapped Susanne in Baltimore.

Timmy: Every good plan needs a patsy.

Scully: Who's "they"?
Langly: You know, them.