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The Nitpickers's Guide for Xphilescovers the first four seasons of The X-Filesand contains sixteen side bars including Whose Truth Is Out There and You Might Be An X-phile. It will be released in December, 1997.
Comments
I think this guide holds the record for the fastest sale to Dell! Kathleen Jayes and I were discussing future guides in 1996 and--given the popularity of the show--I mentioned the possibility of an "X-phile Guide." She immediately responded with something like, "We'll do that book!" And, that was that!
I realize that the subject matter of this Guide is a bit of a departure for the Nitpicker's Guide since all the previous incarnations have dealt with Trek. However, this Guide does illustrate my point that nitpicking should be a celebration of being human. As humans, what we do on any kind of grand scale will always have mistakes in it. We might as well 'fess up to it and have a little fun! Since humans work on The X-Files just like they work on Trek, there's probably going to be some mistakes in that series as well! And . . . SURPRISE . . . there is!
Kathleen Jayes served as editor on this volume as she did for The Nitpicker's Guide for Deep Space Nine Trekkers. As usual, Steve Ettlinger not only served as agent but also as book producer.
I did have some much appreciate help on this Guide (aside from all the nits sent in by Proud Members of the Ntipickers Guild, including Bob Potter of Sandy Bay, Tasmania--that's in Australia). Kymberlee Ricke had been collecting nits on The X-Files for several years before I decided to do this guide. (You can find her list at The Netpicker's Guide to The X-Files.) Knowing that The X-Files was a brand new field of nitpicking for me, I thought it would be good to have some extra input. Kymberlee was very kind to agree to serve as Research Consultant for this installment of the Nitpicker's Guide series and give me access to her work.
It was tough trying to figure out which review to list for this shameless plug but I finally just grabbed one of my favorite episodes. Hope you enjoy it!
Selected Passage
Date: September 16 - 21, 1995
Investigating a serial killer who preys on professional prognosticators, Mulder and Scully travel to the Twin Cities. They soon learn The Stupendous Yappi--a "renowned" psychic--is working on the case as well. Even Mulder is unimpressed as Yappi gyrates.
That night, however, an old insurance salesman finds a body in his dumpster and Mulder quickly concludes that Clyde Bruckman is the real thing. Strangely enough, Bruckman's psychic gift--a gift he would love to "give" back--is almost entirely limited to the foreknowledge of how a person will die. He also can sense a vague impression or two about the killer but little else. Even stranger, the killer knows Bruckman is receiving these impressions. After Bruckman receives a death threat from the killer, Mulder and Scully hide him at the very hotel where the killer works as a bellhop. Rushing out to the latest crime scene, Mulder and Scully even bump into him as he delivers a meal to Bruckman's room! Enthralled to meet Bruckman, the killer finally learns the reason he has committed the brutal crimes. As if it's obvious, Bruckman tell the bellhop that he kills people because he's a homicidal maniac.
Thankfully, Mulder and Scully return in time to end the killer's rampage but Bruckman has had enough. Returning home, he commits suicide.
Onscreen Locations
o St. Paul
o North Minneapolis
o Le Damfino Hotel
Ruminations
This is a fabulous episode! The first of my three favorite episodes of the third season of The X-Files (which I personally think is the best season thus far despite it's lurchings into gore). Kudos to the creators for this one. Very well done!
Others have noted the multiplicity of inside jokes in this episode. I'll only call your attention to the few additional ones that a slightly compulsive nitpicker would notice. The first occurs as Bruckman listens to the winning numbers in the Lotto drawing. Putting them in numerical order, the winning numbers are: 8, 12, 38, 40 and 44. From Bruckman's ticket we see he picked the numbers: 9, 13, 37, 39, 41, 45! In other words, he's off by one on every number!
There's also a wonderful homage to "Beyond the Sea" in this episode as Mulder tests Bruckman's psychic ability. You may recall that near the beginning of "Beyond the Sea" Mulder tests Luther Lee Boggs's psychic ability by handing him a piece of blue cloth--purportedly from a crime victim. Boggs makes a grand show of producing "clues" to solve the case only to have Mulder retort that he tore the cloth from his New York Knicks tee shirt that morning and it has nothing to do with the crime. Now come with me to this episode as Mulder tests Bruckman. After a time Scully arrives and calls Mulder into the hall. Bruckman is in the background with a waded up piece of blue cloth pressed against his forehead doing his impression of the Amazing Karnak when suddenly Bruckman yells that the cloth came from Mulder's New York Knicks tee shirt. Mulder hesitates but then replies, "Miss." (To indicate that Bruckman was wrong.)
Great Lines
"Mr. Bruckman, there are hits and there are misses and then there are misses"--Scully to Bruckman after he tells her that they will end up in bed together for his death. I love the look on Scully's face as she gently attempts to tell him that there's no chance that that is going to happen. (Even though it does at the end of the episode!)
Great Moments
I hesitate to mention it but I go into stitches every time Bruckman mumbles his observation that there worse ways to go but he can't think of one more undignified than autoerotic asphyxiation--hinting that this is how Mulder will die. (And what does this tell us about our dear Fox Mulder's social life?)
Trivia Questions
1. How old is Claude Dukenfield?
2. What is the Stupendous Yappi's phone number?
Plot Oversights
o After the opening credits, local police discuss the case at the most recent crime scene. They begin to speak of the "help" that the lead investigator has recruited for the case. We find out later that they are talking about the Stupendous Yappi but the dialogue is very cleverly written to make it sound like they are discussing Mulder. At one point, however, a detective comments that he heard the "help" is a bit unorthodox. While this description fits Mulder, it strains when applied to Yappi. After all, when was the last time you heard of an "orthodox psychic?" (No readings on Saturday maybe?)
o After police find a body floating in Glenview Lake--just as Bruckman predicted--Scully is still unimpressed. She muses that perhaps Bruckman is just lucky. In another city, this statement might have merit but this is the Twin Cities area. There's a reason Minnesota is known as the land of 10,000 lakes. On my handy-dandy Rand McNally Road Atlas, I count over 130 named lakes in the St. Paul-Minneapolis area alone.
o A few minor items. When Mulder comes to the hotel room when Bruckman is held for safekeeping, we see that Scully hasn't latched the door. Why not? Isn't Bruckman's life in danger? Also when Bruckman tells Mulder of his reoccurring dream, he says that he's laying naked in a field and moments later mentions bugs attacking him. But in the footage shown of this event? Not naked. No bugs. (My gratitude to the creators for the former.)
o Bruckman meets the killer when the killer brings a meal to Bruckman's room as part of his employment as a bellhop. Scully realizes this a short time later and rushes back to the hotel in broad daylight. In addition, Mulder confronts the bellhop in the hotel's deserted kitchen. Let's put this together. It's during the day. There is room service and no one's in the kitchen with Mulder. Hmmm.
Changed Premises
o Upon entering a crime scene, Mulder is told by a detective that they suspect the work of Satanists because the eyes and entrails of the victim have been left behind. Mulder retorts that Satanists usually take the eyes and leave the body. Then he adds, "and not in anything but modern myths." Obviously Mulder has forgotten about the events of "Die Hand Die Verletzt." In that episode, a practitioner of the black arts named Mrs. Paddock visited Milford Haven, NH. In her first act, she killed a young man and extracted his heart and eyes. (I personally don't have any problem identifying her as a Satanist.)
Equipment Oddities
o The lotto ticket that Bruckman purchases contains a few oddities. First, it's labelled "LOTTO 5." This would indicate that players pick five numbers in this particular gambling incarnation. Why then does Bruckman have six numbers on his ticket? Also, the ticket carries a date of October 9, 1995. But screen text clearly identifies this episode as transpiring from September 16-21. Now perhaps, Bruckman could purchase a lotto ticket several weeks in advance but how can he listen to the winning numbers for that ticket on the radio in the middle of September?!
o I'd like to know where Scully got her cordless phone. Seeing an advertisement for the Stupendous Yappi as the episode concludes, Scully becomes enraged and throws her handset at the television. At the exact moment of impact, the television shuts off. Since the telephone strikes the center of the screen, it's unlikely that it hit a button on the set itself. And it doesn't seem reasonable that Scully would have enough time grab the remote as the handset hurled across the room to hit the power during the great collision. The only reasonable explanation is the phone has a built-in remote control. When it hit the set, the power button just happened to depress thereby turning off the television. A phone with a remote. I kind of like that idea.
Trivia Answers
1. Forty-three.
2. 1-900-555-YAPP.
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Links of Interest
Bantaam Doubleday Dell (BDD) Home Page
BDD's Spectra Science Fiction Forum (http://www.bdd.com/spectra)
BDD's Star Wars Forum (http://www.bdd.com/starwars)