“Three of a Kind” is a direct sequel to the fifth season’s “The Unusual Suspects.” both episodes center on the Lone Gunmen and were also filmed for much the same reason. The former focused on the Lone Gunmen because David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson were still filming X-Files: Fight the Future in Los Angeles. Duchovny only took a brief turn as Mulder in the episode. It is Gillian Anderson’s turn with the Lone Gunmen in “Three of a Kind” to allow Duchovny time to complete work on his writing and directorial debut with “The Unnatural”. Scully makes a brief an appearance as Mulder in “The Unusual Suspects,” but it is far more memorable.
I have mixed emotions about the Lone Gunmen. At best, hey are often featured as convenient plot devices to guide Mulder and Scully in the right direction with information that is implausible for them to have versus what the agents could get through the resources of the FBI. At worst, they show up with convenient information at a time when the episode writer is at a loss as to how to get from point A to point B. However, in rare times, they are out in the field. They make for good, entertaining characters, even if it is difficult to take them seriously. I think that was a large part of why their series bombed. True, The X-Files franchise had peaked in popularity by then, but the slapstick pratfalls of The Lone Gunmen did not help matters.
Byers is still lovesick for Suzanne Modeski, the woman he met back in ’The Unusual Suspects.” She was kidnapped by black ops government agents in the final scene, but Byers has been dragging his cohorts to these defense contractor conventions hoping to run into her again. He hit’s the jackpot in 1999 when he spots her with a men in black operative while investigating new assassination technology.
Byers tricks Scully into coming out to the convention by simulating a phone call from Mulder with his laptop--it is the only trace of Mulder in the episode--because he believes she has been brainwashed. She was, after all, warning them about government mind control a decade prior. There is a CIA mind control project going on which involves injecting a drug into people’s necks. A CIA operative does this to a Lone Gunmen associate and orders him to commit suicide. Scully is also injected to cover up her autopsy findings.
Her drugging leads to the only significant part Scully plays in the episode--a flirtatious bimbo. It is funny to see her drunk and cut loose. She is also rather…seductive with the act. A nifty aspect is that when she asks for a light of her cigarette while surrounded by defense officials and intelligence operatives, it is Morris Fletcher’s she chooses. Neither of them remembers the other, but it was a neat homage to earlier in the season for him to return. It will not be for the last time. Scully’s role in the ensuing caper is quite limited beyond the comic relief.
Suzanne reveals to Byers that she has been working to curtail the mind control drug that their friend and Scully were given. Conveniently, she has an antidote which also comes in handy when Langly is also given the drug with orders to kill her. The Lone Gunmen fake her death and have the drugged CIA operatives behind the whole plot confess to the murder of their friend. Suzanne, now officially dead, professes love for byers and asks him to come escape with her. He refuses, saying she will be safer without him. *sniff*
‘Three of a Kind” is frivolous filler. It is odd to have two episodes in a row featuring brand new or supporting characters, too. But frivolous does not mean worthless. It is a fun little caper with a surprisingly good supporting cast which includes the smarmy Charles rocket and John Billingsley as well as Michael McKean reprising his role as Fletcher. Most fans remember only vamp Scully. I cannot blame them for that. It is worth watching just for the antics of the “scrumptious” Agent Scully.
Rating; *** (out of 5)
“Three of a Kind” is a direct sequel to the fifth season’s “The Unusual Suspects.” both episodes center on the Lone Gunmen and were also filmed for much the same reason. The former focused on the Lone Gunmen because David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson were still filming X-Files: Fight the Future in Los Angeles. Duchovny only took a brief turn as Mulder in the episode. It is Gillian Anderson’s turn with the Lone Gunmen in “Three of a Kind” to allow Duchovny time to complete work on his writing and directorial debut with “The Unnatural”. Scully makes a brief an appearance as Mulder in “The Unusual Suspects,” but it is far more memorable.
