The X-Files: Je Souhaite Rewatch
August 5, 2020 7:36 PM - Season 7, Episode 21 - Subscribe
When a man whose mouth has disappeared from his face comes to Mulder and Scully looking for justice, they investigate and find that his case involves a disaffected and sardonic genie who grants too-literal wishes.
I never knew that about the casting. This episode was nice; if Janeane Garofolo had starred maybe it could have been really impressive.
posted by Monochrome at 11:33 PM on August 6, 2020
posted by Monochrome at 11:33 PM on August 6, 2020
I admit to getting a kick out of Scully being so amused when she was brushing that powder on the invisible corpse to make it appear.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:48 AM on August 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:48 AM on August 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
Janeane Garofalo
I guess the X Files casting department can't win them all.
The brothers are annoyingly dense, they reminded me of my college friends' skid friends who thought they're clever. Drugs were involved, though. But I liked Will Sasso's performance here as an innocent (who attempts guile).
Leslie did suggest money/ money-machine, but Anson shoots that down in lieu of invisibility. He was clever enough to add the "at will" clause (but that's to turn invisible, would he have been able to turn visible again?).
I don't blame Jenn for being a bitch, having had to deal with, well, people in her capacity. Now, if Anson had wished for Leslie to "be able to walk again" - would she have messed up the wish? Or is the wish granting power intrinsically perverted (she seemed to know exactly how wishing for peace on Earth would pan out)?
The whole thing reminds me of D&D games where the DM has fun willfully misinterpreting the player's wishes.
Scully feels different this episode, more cutesy manic and less reserved/ put-together all episode - not just with her new toy. But I'm not surprised that she knows good furniture when she sees it.
posted by porpoise at 5:21 PM on August 7, 2020
I guess the X Files casting department can't win them all.
The brothers are annoyingly dense, they reminded me of my college friends' skid friends who thought they're clever. Drugs were involved, though. But I liked Will Sasso's performance here as an innocent (who attempts guile).
Leslie did suggest money/ money-machine, but Anson shoots that down in lieu of invisibility. He was clever enough to add the "at will" clause (but that's to turn invisible, would he have been able to turn visible again?).
I don't blame Jenn for being a bitch, having had to deal with, well, people in her capacity. Now, if Anson had wished for Leslie to "be able to walk again" - would she have messed up the wish? Or is the wish granting power intrinsically perverted (she seemed to know exactly how wishing for peace on Earth would pan out)?
The whole thing reminds me of D&D games where the DM has fun willfully misinterpreting the player's wishes.
Scully feels different this episode, more cutesy manic and less reserved/ put-together all episode - not just with her new toy. But I'm not surprised that she knows good furniture when she sees it.
posted by porpoise at 5:21 PM on August 7, 2020
Loved this episode, and while I also love Janeane Garofalo, I’m glad it wasn’t her in the role. Because then I would have just been thinking, “Hey, that’s Janeane Garofalo” the whole time. Paula Sorge was excellent as Jenn.
This episode was Vince Gilligan’s directorial debut! I can definitely see the seeds of Badger and Skinny Pete in Anson and Leslie.
posted by ejs at 11:10 PM on August 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
This episode was Vince Gilligan’s directorial debut! I can definitely see the seeds of Badger and Skinny Pete in Anson and Leslie.
posted by ejs at 11:10 PM on August 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
The whole thing reminds me of D&D games where the DM has fun willfully misinterpreting the player's wishes.
That's the whole fun of the episode! What fun would it be to watch people who basically won the lottery and never made any bad decisions? I also like that Jenn's original wishes included a stout-hearted mule and a never-empty sack of turnips.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:40 PM on August 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
That's the whole fun of the episode! What fun would it be to watch people who basically won the lottery and never made any bad decisions? I also like that Jenn's original wishes included a stout-hearted mule and a never-empty sack of turnips.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:40 PM on August 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
Also, Jenn's "It's like giving a chimpanzee a revolver" is very similar to Chuck McGill's description of his brother Jimmy getting a law license as like giving a chimp a machine gun in Better Call Saul.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:42 PM on August 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:42 PM on August 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
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Ansel and Leslie were really too stupid though. There's no way they wouldn't have thought to ask for Leslie to be able to walk again, or for a pile of money.
This genie role was written for Janeane Garofalo, but she was unavailable for some reason. I so wish she'd been in this episode, but then they cast an actress who was very much the same type, and who did a good job.
Jenn really is, as Mulder says, a bitch. She has such contempt for the people she serves, and blames them for not knowing what they want or choosing the wrong things, when she's deliberately thwarting what they want. The only wish she grants properly is the one that benefits her.
Poor Scully, getting embarrassed like that. She did have pictures so it wasn't like she was left without any proof.
Chronic morbid tumescence would be quite the way to go.
Mulder gets Scully to watch Caddyshack with him. It's not really such a mystery that the man is single.
posted by orange swan at 4:35 PM on August 6, 2020 [2 favorites]