“Arcadia” is the famous episode in which Mulder and Scully play. I will admit, shipper though I am not, those elements of the episode were quite humorous. But “Arcadia” is unfairly ignored for the other aspects of the episode, including a highly effective mix of tension and humor, to create a spooky atmosphere. I am a sucker for terror in the middle of peaceful suburbia stories.
The agents go undercover in a San Diego gated community called Arcadia. Three families have disappeared without a trace there in the last seven years. Local police have given up and handed the matter over to the FBI. The neighbors are ultra-friendly, though incredibly nervous and paranoid over Arcadia’s incredibly strict rules being enforced. Mulder tests the waters several times by messing with his mailbox, putting up a basketball hoop, and finally digging a reflecting pool. The neighbors scurry about cleaning up all traces of his alterations. In the meantime, one of their neighbors is attacked by a monster for allowing a light in his front yard to blow out.
What is going on here is that the president of the homeowner’s association, a man who travels extensively in the Far east on business, created a Tulpa, which is a creature that serves a similar purpose as a golem, to prtect the neighborhood. Unfortunately, he cannot control the tulpa as it enforces the community’s rules with extreme prejudice. He gets his in the end when Mulder handcuffs him to a mailbox in order to see if scully is okay. The tulpa kills him for presumably damaging the mailbox by being cuffed to it. No one in Arcadia admits to any knowledge of missing or dead former residents. It is still a top notch place to live--as long as you follow the rules.
I will grant you, on the surface, it is a dumb concept a creature on the loose attacks residents for violations of community guidelines. But the idea fits in so well with the absurd tone of the episode, I can overlook it. Arcadia is this wonderful gated community where rich people compare their belongings, yet they are prisoners there--literally trapped by their own need to conform. Watching them scurry about making certain everything is exactly the way it is supposed to be is more humorous than watching mulder make scully uncomfortable by forcing her to play the little woman for the neighbors. I am confident the latter is what most fans care about in the episode, but I think they are shortchanging “Arcadia” if that is true.
There is a big, logical flaw in the episode. Mulder and scully are posing as prospective homebuyers. This is presumably a way of cutting them some slack in breaking the community rules for the sake of humorously entertaining the audience. The actual homeowners in Arcadia are dealt with swiftly for violations. But how could prospective homebuyers have a mailbox with their name on it or dig up the front yard for a reflecting poll? There is no gated community who would allow non-homeowners to make extensive changes, much less a community in which the rules are enforced by a Tulpa.
It is not a big deal, however. “Arcadia” is fun viewing. It is much like a classic episode of the series in which a very normal setting has something very horrific dwelling within it. But ‘Arcadia” could not have fit in with early episodes because of the husband and wife motif the agents are using as their cover. Now is about the time it would only be funny, as we are in the midst of the do they/do they not have a thing for each other. You know, shippers, “Arcadia” shows most prominently they do not. Mulder continually teases Scully, in public and not, about being a couple. It is clear she cannot stand it. This is the way I prefer them to be--two people with a friendly working relationship in which one can poke fun at the other good naturedly. Elements of potential romance ruins that.
“Arcadia” is fun and moody. I would not call it a classic, but it is an above average episode well worth watching. It came at the right time. It is a throwback to older style episodes, yet really could not have had the undercover married couple aspect back then. The friendly tension between the agents while pretending to be married is a welcome change from the march towards couple-dom the sixth season has been engaged in. thus far.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
“Arcadia” is the famous episode in which Mulder and Scully play. I will admit, shipper though I am not, those elements of the episode were quite humorous. But “Arcadia” is unfairly ignored for the other aspects of the episode, including a highly effective mix of tension and humor, to create a spooky atmosphere. I am a sucker for terror in the middle of peaceful suburbia stories.
