#the x files 6x20

[fine-nephrit]

🥏 TXF Fic Rec #19: "The Caller You Are Trying To Reach" by Cecily Sass

My favorite missing scene/post-ep of episode 6x20, “Three of a Kind,” this fic is so fun, hot, and hysterical!

What if drugged Scully talked to Mulder on the phone in the Las Vegas casino?

The dialogue is consistently stupendous. M&S are so in character that I can’t get enough. I love, love this story. All around brilliant.

---

🥏 on AO3

author: @cecilysass length: short, 3,000+ words season: season 6, 6x20 Three of a Kind pairing(s): M/S UST tags: episode-related, humor, talk!fic rating: mature/R

[mvalana]

The X-Files 6x20 Three of a Kind

[moiraiinesedai]

THE X-FILES | Three of a Kind (6x20)

“She’s gonna kick our ass.”

[just-a-donut-who-reads]

for the love of god-

[enigmaticxbee]

✖️✖️✖️✖️ 6x20 Three of a Kind

The one where... where the Lone Gunmen trick Scully into going to Las Vegas with them and a mind control injection turns her into Loopy!Scully.

Best: I adore Loopy!Scully. The giggling and tickle fingers and the faces she makes in the hotel scene while Suzanne is examining her are... so cute 😂 GA has such phenomenal range to be able to play highly intelligent characters and also complete airheads. And her physical comedy! She should do more comedy, she’s hilarious.

Worst: It’s sincerely a tragedy that Mulder does not get to interact with Loopy!Scully. Although there’s no way that scenario wouldn’t have blown the lid off of the whole ‘platonic partners’ situation so I can see why the show didn’t go there (thank you for your service fanfic!)

❌ Flashlights

❌ Woods/Desert

❌ Slideshow

✔️ Autopsy

❌ Evidence Disappears

❌ Scully Misses It

❌ Mulder Ditch

❌ Sunflower Seeds

✔️ Voiceover: Byers intro

❌ Catch Phrase

❌ Scully is a Medical Doctor

❌ Mulder is Spooky

❌ Scuuullllaaaaayy! Muullllderrrr!

❌ Fox/Dana

❌ Inappropriate Touching (that I am here for)

❌ Casual Scully

❌ Casual Mulder

❌ Trench Coats

❌ Bad Tie Watch

❌ Glasses Watch

50 States: Nevada x4 (39/50)

Investigate: Apart

Solve Rate: 60%

✔️ Bechdel Test: Barely - it’s a stretch to call it a conversation but Suzanne Modeski and Loopy!Scully do interact.

MSR: 🐝

Goriness: 👽👽

Creepiness: 👽👽

Humor: 👽👽👽👽

Rewatch Thoughts:

It was all a dream: Byers’ dream really seems even more impossible in 2021 doesn’t it.

The Gunmen exploit the fact that Scully will drop everything and jump on a plane based on a 2am call from Mulder and think nothing of it.

Scully: My medical opinion? BEEEEEEEEEP (CLAP) I remember when we first watched this episode my sister and I thought this was HILARIOUS and kept reenacting it (we might still do this on occasion).

Frohike recognizes Scully’s laugh from across the casino. And I don’t blame him because Scully’s laugh: 😍

Scully: I just can’t decide who lights my fire...

I do appreciate that Scully got Morris back for those ass slaps. Although Morris obviously enjoyed his a lot more.

Mulder’s not the only one going around tasting blood at crime scenes! Weirdos.

Scully better kick their asses. Not that it’s their fault per say that she was drugged, but they definitely brought her out there on false pretenses. I mostly just enjoy this episode for a fun, silly Scully time but if you think about it from Scully’s perspective as someone who has been traumatized and violated too many times to count at and understandably likes to be in control of herself this could be very triggering.

Was Suzanne’s fate ever addressed in the Lone Gunmen spin-off? I kind of feel like Byers should have gone with her 🙈 Although maybe it was enough for him to know she was free and safe - he couldn’t abandon his buddies, his true soulmates.

Episode-Related Fanfic Recs:

82: Three of a Kind by @contrivedcoincidences6 - Under the influence Scully leaves Mulder a very explicit message, NSFW.

Illicit Desires by @gaycrouton - What if Mulder came along to Las Vegas? NSFW (consent issues are handled pretty well but your mileage may vary)

Cold Coffee and Cologne Coats by @catarinquar - Scully’s having a bad weekend but finds Mulder waiting at the airport for her 🥰

[i-want-chips]

[scullydubois]

thoughts on Three of a Kind (6x20)

Written by Vince Gilligan and John Shiban  Directed by Bryan Spicer

Okay, the original Suzanne Modeski episode kinda bopped...I’m not mad about this

John Fitzgerald Beyers...that’s his name

He’s married to Suzanne in his dream...good for him

Oh no….he loses it all

Def-Con ‘99, woohoo

Are Mulder and Scully gonna be in this

They doing some joint spying 

And some cheating at poker

And some getting caught 

And some losing money

Jimmy and Timmy are here

Not that these guys aren’t great fun, but one of my basic requirements is seeing Mulder and Scully every episode….show me!!

Byers is a man in love, don’t blame him

Hi Madame 

OMG, that’s so funny, they’re generating Mulder’s voice

She listened…

It’s herrrrrrr

Oh yikes

Poor Byers

“Stop trying to kill yourself Byers, it’s not deep enough”

Byers NEEDS to get into the conference, and he needs to get in NOW

Ahh, the art of vent traveling

Plot twist: Timmy is in there

Scully is vastly too chill about all this

RIP Jimmy

Frohike’s in Suzanne’s room

Oof-caught on tape

They meet again

Remember when Suzanne accused Mulder of kidnapping her fake daughter

Dana Scully? Smartest woman in the world

Eww...I feel you Langley

Kinda wish he threw up on the body

I swear to fucking god!!!!!!

I was having a good fun time until Scully got fucking attacked!

Is she gonna try to kill herself

Gillian Anderson has talent

I feel some fear regarding Miss Scully

Explain, Suzanne, explain

What the fuck, the drowning metaphor is so moving 

Where’s Scully!! I demand to know!

That’s her laugh, I’d know it anywhere

Icon, iconic

It’s that dude...Morris Fletcher!

I’m literally in love with her

They made her forget her autopsy findings...snakes

Langley looking sharp

Langley fucking murdering Suzanne in plain sight

She did not deserve that! Shit!

Fake?

Y’all really had me fooled for a hot second 

Whew, I just had deja vu for whatever reason 

The actress that plays Suzanne is really talented

He’s turning on them

Suzanne Modeski is dead, but she’s actually not

Scully is gonna kick their asses

Aww, Suzanne...good for Beyers...kinda

Consensus: A pretty fun episode that kept me on my toes.

4.5 out of 5 stars

[alwaysbeyondhope]

watching 6x20 Three of a Kind. I wasn’t sure how this episode was gonna go but hot damn Scully

[gillovny1013]

LANGLY:  Uhhhm, Scully? What killed him?

SCULLY:  My medical opinion? BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

The X-Files / / 6x20 Three Of A Kind  

X

[bullockmyqueen]

[dreamingofscully]

6x20. “Three of a Kind” - X-Files Rewatch

“My country is hopeful and innocent; young again. Young in spirit. My fellow citizens trust their elect officials, never once having been betrayed by them. My government is truly ‘of the people, by the people, for the people.’” - Byers, describing his dream

I do love me some Lone Gunmen. But this episode is all about the many wondrous facial expressions that drugged!Scully makes.

Frohike’s name tag says Fillipé. He’s also definitely the wisest of the bunch (“She’s gonna kick our ass.” - referring to their trick on Scully.)

I bet Scully was disappointed when she got to Las Vegas and it wasn’t Mulder being romantic. 😟 I bet he WOULD ask her out there, go see some Elvis impersonators, go on some rides, and camp their hotel room for the majority of the time.

Scully in the autopsy bay is adorable. Trying to move the autopsy table that doesn’t move. Her description of cause of death. Calling Langy “cutie”. Is this confirmation that Scully is a giggly drunk then? I love how clueless Langly is - he has no idea that there’s anything wrong. 😆

OF COURSE Frohike recognizes her laugh. How much time have M&S spent over there? How many times has he caught Mulder and Scully in a moment where Mulder makes her laugh like that? Even before they get involved. 🤧

Calling Frohike “‘Hickey”. Her high-pitched voice. Surrounded by men, flirting shamelessly. Scully’s blouse is unbuttoned wayyyy farther than usual. Giggly AND horny drunk, gotcha. Mulder, you are one lucky, lucky man. 

Smacking Fletcher’s ass as revenge. Even though she doesn’t remember...

Frohike’s “Why would the government want to turn Scully into a bimbo?”. I should probably be offended but I just CRACK UP when he says this.

In the hotel room, pinching Frohike’s ass. When Suzanne is examining her she says “hi” and its SO CUTE. Her facial expressions this scene are fucking priceless. So here they are:

Scully’s expression when Frohike calls her “party girl”. She’s so smol. ❤️

And then… Scully’s “Aw man, I am gonna kick their asses.”

Where are Mulder and Scully at this point in their relationship?

It is early in their relationship so they are still navigating their time together. Scully needs time alone occasionally, not because she's unsure, but because she's so used to being independent. Otherwise they are spending pretty much all their time together fucking like bunnies.

[theskepticalredhead]

I feel you Dana-

Me-I can destroy the world

Also Me- 💉😵

So,basically I had a blood test this morning and that’s exactly how it went

someone hugging me? ‘Cause i really need it rn

X Files 6x20

[dimples-of-discontent]

“We’re not who we are”: 13x17 and X-Files (spec)

TRUST NO ONE – Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) continue to collect the pieces necessary to open a rift to the other world in order to save their family. Their latest quest leads them to a Men of Letters bunker from the 1920s and a hungry God from another dimension. Meanwhile, Ketch (guest star David Hayden-Jones) makes a shocking decision about Gabriel (guest star Richard Speight Jr.) after an unruly encounter with Asmodeus (guest star Jeffrey Vincent Parise). John Showalter directed the episode written by Davy Perez (#1316). Original airdate 4/5/2018.

Supernatural Spoilers: “The Thing” Description (via justanotheridijiton)

Now is not the time for me to begin speculating like mad <waves at tomorrow’s writing deadline...then slinks away> but I’m SO HERE FOR the X-Files references that have happened so far with 13x17. Most obvious is the “Trust No One” in the official description. Yes, it’s applicable to the direction that this season is taking but it’s no accident that it was a classic TXF catchphrase that was once used as the tagline in place of the usual “The Truth is Out There.”

The episode where the tagline appeared is 01x23 “The Erlenmeyer Flask”; the season 1 finale in which (spoilers? idk not really since the mythology is pretty known at this point) Mulder and Scully break into a government lab with the help of Mulder’s inside informant, Deep Throat, and steal a substance called “Purity Control” that contains hard evidence of extraterrestrial bacteria that the government was experimenting with and using to make alien-human hybrids. Unfortunately, Mulder gets himself kidnapped (goshdangit Mulder!) and Scully has to trade the evidence for his life. Meantime ally Deep Throat is shot to death for double crossing the shadowy government conspiracy.

How is this remotely related? Well, for one thing we’re already deep into crosses and double crosses so the assassination of an unlikely ally (Ketch? It’s got to be Ketch) is more than possible. I’d put more money on that, although they are looking for an ingredient so there’s that. But...also...the title.

So, bear with me, I take it to refer to John Carpenter’s “The Thing,” a FUCKING FANTASTIC 1982 horror movie that you should all go watch even though it has famously bad special effects. Go ahead. I’ll just wait here then...

Right, so, just in case you didn’t do that here’s the plot recap from Wikipedia:

It tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous "Thing", a parasitic extraterrestrial life form that assimilates other organisms and in turn imitates them. The group is quickly overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any one of them can be the Thing. 

The end of the film is especially bleak, as the two living characters watch together as the camp burns and share a bottle of scotch while fully aware that either of them might actually be The Thing. (We don’t find out if either is.) 

Given this season’s focus on things that look like other things it seems pretty likely that some shapeshifting will be going on and, as before, that it will probably be expositional and, given the foreshadowing we’ve had of the split between the brothers, it’s most likely going to reveal their mistrust. I mean, heck, hunkering down in a bunker with scotch watching the world burn while quietly knowing that you don’t fully trust the other guy you’re with is...so much of the show. (I don’t exactly love TFW conflict but it seems inevitable right now.)

The X-Files connection, though, has to do with a very early episode, 1x08 “Ice”, which basically just follows the plot of “The Thing” except that it’s not a shapeshifter but a parasitic worm (gross) that attaches to your brainstem and mind controls you into being incredibly violent. Mulder and Scully get trapped up there with a group of strangers and, in paranoia about The Thing, they all start turning on each other. This is the episode that begins with a radio transmission from the arctic ice station that is a man repeating “We’re not who we are” - creepy AF and very appropriate to this season of SPN.

What’s that you say? SPN already did that exact thing complete with worm, isolation, and paranoia in 6x16 “...And Then There Were None”? The last episode starring Mitch Pileggi, aka Skinner from TXF? And an episode that highlighted how little the boys trusted one another at that point? You’re right!! It did! But when an idea is worth doing once it’s worth doing twice and we’ve already had so much S6 in S13 that it makes total sense. It’s interesting that it’s followed by 6x17 “My Heart Will Go On” and 6x18 “Frontierland”, episodes that deal respectively with alternate dimensions/realities and time travel since those aspects are also going to be in 13x16 and 13x17. I feel like we’re moving methodically through S6 in the writers’ room and that makes me nervous because we all remember 6x19 and 6x20... <cries>

Anyway, “Ice” is also the TXF episode that first introduced the idea of an alien life form being trapped in permafrost that was just now unfreezing...itself the basis for most of the mytharc including the Purity Control that Deep Throat dies for. It’s here that I see the connection to “Trust No One” in the description. PR is not showrunning but PR wants to remind everyone of SPN’s ties to TXF. And I assume so does Davy Perez, who I adore and who only just finished working on a short called “Abduction” about...aliens. Bet he did himself a rewatch.

I freaking love X-Files and will be so happy if they decide to use it as a parallel/subtextual reference in 13x17. I mean, they are VERY OBVIOUSLY going to retread the plot of “The Thing” and it’s thematically perfect for this moment in the narrative. I just hope TXF figures too since it already has such deep connections to SPN. 

Heck, I can’t remember which followers like X-Files stuff so I’m not sure who to tag. @sactownbrowns3 @fuckedupasusual @tinkdw @elizabethrobertajones @thedogsled maybe it’s you? Sorry for my awful memory! If you’re someone who wants a tag on future TXF stuff reblog or comment to let me know!

p.s. Here’s the intro to “Ice”...tell me that’s not AMAZING and creepy as hell!

[imasquint]

the x-files rewatch. 6x20 and 6x21

https://stin.to/bv1j5 ---- chat link Tonight starting @ 8PM EST we will be viewing  Things you should know before you join the chat: It is open to anyone who loves The X-FilesIt is NOT open for discourse, so be kind to each otherThe chat room is web-based so there’s no need to download anything It will prompt you for your name before it allows you to enter; please use yourname_yourtumblrname (i.e. gillian_gillianaofficial) so everyone knows what to call you and how to follow you if they so chooseThat countdown to begin each episode will be in the form of 3…..2…..1…..[insert episode related quip in all caps here]When you see the quip, PRESS PLAYSometimes the chat moves really fast so your request for a time stamp, question and/or comment can be overlookedIt doesn’t mean you’re being ignored, just try again :)COME HAVE FUN WITH US!

[enigmaticxbee]

S6 Rewatch - Investigation

Autopsies: Scully once again only does autopsies in 5 episodes this season (compared to 11 in season 2). Only one in the first half of the season, which makes sense as they’re off the X-Files and on manure and background check duty. Memorable autopsy moments include the cute spontaneous human combustion flirting in 6x17 Trevor and Scully’s BEEEEEEEEEP (CLAP) medical doctor opinion in 6x20 Three of a Kind.

Rule-Breaking: Lots of good rule-breaking from Scully this season while they’re off the X-Files: she investigates an X-File and contaminates a crime scene and steals evidence in 6x01 The Beginning; investigates an X-File off book again in 6x02 Drive; berates, cajoles, threatens and sexually assaults colleagues and superiors in her search for information on Mulder’s whereabouts in 6x03 Triangle; meets with an Area 51 informant in 6x04 Dreamland; returns to Nevada against orders (and gets fired for it!) in 6x05 Dreamland II; covers for Mulder and joins him on an off the books X-File investigation in 6x07 Terms of Endearment; lets Mulder help out on her legit X-File investigation in 6x10 Tithonus; trespasses in the X-Files office (and immediately gets caught and suspended) in 6x11 Two Fathers; and calls her boss a liar in 6x22 Biogenesis.

Scully’s in Danger: She is haunted by ghosts and shot by a ghost posing as her partner; is actually shot in the gut by a fellow agent; is almost run over by a train; is forced to deliver a baby at gunpoint; is caught in a time loop, held hostage in a bank, and exploded innumerable times; is attacked by a garbage monster (or tulpa as Mulder would call it); has her heart almost torn out by an imaginary suspect; is injected with a mind control gas that impedes higher brain function and is knocked out by the antidote; is attacked by suspects in 2 episodes; and is almost eaten by a hallucination-causing giant fungal organism. Since several of these incidents/injuries (ghost shooting; time loop bank explosions; heart ripped out) are forgotten or revealed to be all in their head... I guess not too bad a season for Scully?

Mulder’s in Danger: He is hijacked and forced to drive cross country (with no pee breaks 🥺); is shipwrecked and attacked by Nazis; is body swapped without consent; is captured by Area 51 security; is haunted by ghosts and shot by a ghost posing as his partner; narrowly misses being squashed by a flying cow; is sexually assaulted (surprise kiss!); is shot at by a suspect; is almost run over by a train; is attacked by a sea monster; is caught in a time loop, held hostage in a bank, and shot and exploded innumerable times; is attacked by a garbage monster (or tulpa as Mulder would call it); is attacked by a suspect; is almost eaten by a hallucination-causing giant fungal organism; and a rubbing of an alien artifact makes him start hearing voices in his headed, landing him in a padded cell (and is maybe sexually assaulted by his former partner/ex-girlfriend while incapacitated). Since several of these incidents/injuries (ghost shooting; time loop bank shooting and explosions) are forgotten or revealed to be all in their head... I guess just an average year in the life of one Fox Mulder?

Hospitals: Not a lot of hospital time this season, but there were a couple of memorable scenes. Namely Mulder waking up at the end of 6x03 Triangle and telling Scully she saved the world and he loves her. Also Mulder menacing the agent who shot Scully outside her hospital room in 6x10 Tithonus and then their very sweet hand holding. Thankfully for Mulder and Scully’s sake those are their only hospital visits all season.

Driving: A little more car time this season. Mulder is the driver with Scully as passenger in 10 episodes and Scully is the driver with Mulder as passenger in just 3. We get a little insight into their road trip habits in 6x04 Dreamland when Scully and Morris Fletcher-as-Mulder stop for gas and Scully is nonplussed that he makes her pump the gas (I mean, in my experience it’s usually the driver that gets the gas and Mulder’s the driver 90% of the time so it makes sense). Memorable car scenes include the get out of the damn car convo in Dreamland and Mulder’s ghost story at the beginning of 6x06 How the Ghosts Stole Christmas.

Line of Duty?: Wow, no deaths by Mulder and Scully’s hands this season. I mean, if Mulder hadn’t been right about that final hallucination in 6x21 Field Trip then RIP Skinner, but luckily he only imagined shooting yellow goo Skinner!

Investigation: They spend only 3 episodes investigating primarily together this season, 14 investigating both together and separately, and 5 primarily apart. The ones where they’re apart are really well done this season because they still feel like they’re working together towards a common goal - like 6x02 Drive - or Scully’s trying to save Mulder - like 6x03 Triangle - rather than like they’re just artificially separated like in some of the mid season or revival mytharc episodes.

Solve Rate: 60% overall solve rate at the end of the season. 68% solve rate for this season. Although if you look at the second half of the season when they get the X-Files back they’re at 80%, doing great. While they were off the X-Files in the first half they were at 58% but there are a lot of weird non-cases (and should I really be counting the Dreamlands when the whole thing was reversed and they barely remember there was a case and obviously they wouldn’t file a report so what solve rate anyway! 🤷🏻‍♀️)

[scholarsarena]

Now watching: The X-Files 6x20 "Three of a Kind"