“Monday" is the famous alleged homage to Groundhog Day. I say alleged because writers Vince Gilligan and John Shiban have said inspiration was due more to The Twilight Zone episode “Shadow Play.” If I may muddy the waters, I get a bigger Run Lola Run vibe, probably because of Carrie Hamilton’s bad dye job and the presence of a bomb. Yes, I know many include Stargate Sg-1‘s “Window of Opportunity.” I ignore those people.
While there are minor variations each go around, the basic premise is that Mulder’s waterbed springs a leak. The water damages his alarm clock, so he oversleeps. Oversleeping makes him late for a meeting, but he has no choice but to cash his paycheck at the bank across the street. Everyday, he interrupts a desperate man named Bernard’s attempt to rob the bank despite efforts to intervene by his girlfriend, Pam. (Played by Carrie Hamilton, daughter of Carol Burnett.) Scully always winds up in the bank, too. The day ends with Bernard blowing up the bank with a strip of dynamite strapped around his waist, killing everyone.
There are variations: Sometimes Mulder needs to cash the check to pay his rent. Others because his downstairs neighbor is angry at water damage from his leaking bed. Sometimes Mulder is shot by Bernard. Sometimes scully is in the bank already. Other times she interrupts the robbery in progress. Pam is the key to most variations. She tries various means to keep Bernard from carrying out his plan, or she makes contact with Mulder, Scully, or Skinner, but the result is always the same.
Pam assumes Mulder is the key. There is no overt explanation for this, but given that he has the most acute sense of déjà vu during however many cycles of the day Pam suffers through, that must the clue she hangs her theory on. He is the only one willing to listen during most cycles, but he always enters the bank regardless to end the day with the bomb going off. That is until Pam enters the bank, too. At one point, she jumps in front of Mulder as Bernard is about to shoot him. She takes the fatal bullet, remarking that had not happened in any variation before. Her death breaks the cycle.
An interesting point of note is a discussion Mulder and Scully have in the second cycle of the episode. Mulder’s growing sense of déjà vu prompts a discussion between the two on free will versus fate. Mulder thinks déjà vu is repressed memories of things we have done before that bubble up while we are in the exact same situation, but making a new decision to affect a better outcome. Scully disagrees. She believes in fate. One is free to be whatever kind of person one wants to be, but there is an inevitable outcome.
They are having the age old free will v. fate debate. Although there are no theological aspects mentioned, Scully’s argument tacitly acknowledges the problem that free will cannot exist for a human created by an omniscient God who knows all the days of his life long before his existence. If God knows you future already, there is no way to change it. I have had this debate many times with Christians as to whether those are choices you still freely make or if it is just the illusion of free will because you do not know the outcome even though god does and always did. I have no interest in getting into it here. Suffice to say, I accept the latter argument, and am a TULIP Calvinist because of it. Ironic that Scully, a Catholic, argues the Calvinist theological point considering the animosity between Catholics and Calvinists which still lingers today.
Whether Mulder or Scully were ultimately correct is debatable. You could side with Mulder and say Pam was repeating the day until she made the right she of getting herself killed. You could side with Scully and say Pam was destined to die, and there was no way to avoid her death until she gave into her fate. Alas, the resolution does not fit into the theological debate in any appreciable manner, so all we can say David Duchovny is the star of the show, so Mulder is right. If anyone wants to argue the case for scully’s Calvinist theory is presented as the stronger, feel free.
What makes “Monday’ is the performance of Hamilton. We have not been given any indication of how many times she has been dragged through “Monday,’ but it is easy to tell it has been enough times to devastate her. She has an exhausted, heavy bags under her eyes look which is pulled off by--bravely, for certain--Hamilton wearing little make up. She deteriorates even further during the handful of cycles we get to watch, physically and mentally. When she is killed in the end, she almost posses a quiet glee when she realizes her death never happened before, so maybe it is over now. Her performance is haunting. Very powerful. Also sadly poignant considering Hamilton died in 2002 of brain and lung cancer at the young age of 38.
There are nitpicks about the episode which could be mentioned. Most notably that a waterbed would not spring a spraying leak that could drown an alarm clock. A waterbed leak would seep instead. The problem means the entire catalyst for Mulder being late to set events in motion could not happen. But “Monday” is such an engaging episode, I have to let it slide. I credit Hamilton’s performance for most of my enjoyment, but “Monday” is a highly emotional, thought provoking episode in general. The definite highlight of the all too often absurdly humorous sixth season.
Rating: **** (out of 5)
“Monday" is the famous alleged homage to Groundhog Day. I say alleged because writers Vince Gilligan and John Shiban have said inspiration was due more to The Twilight Zone episode “Shadow Play.” If I may muddy the waters, I get a bigger Run Lola Run vibe, probably because of Carrie Hamilton’s bad dye job and the presence of a bomb. Yes, I know many include Stargate Sg-1‘s “Window of Opportunity.” I ignore those people.
