The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat

"The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat" is the fourth episode of the eleventh season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode was written and directed by Darin Morgan.

The episode focuses on the Mandela Effect and is a self-parody of the show and recurring events.

Plot

After turning down Scully for dinner, Mulder receives a signal to meet someone. In the parking lot, he meets a man named Reggie who claims to know him. The man claims that someone is trying to erase him from society and to prove his point refers to Mulder's childhood memory of watching The Twilight Zone episode "The Lost Martian" (which in reality is non-existent), to Mulder's surprise. Scully later matches his disbelief when Reggie (now going by the last name "Something") gives her a container of a cherry-flavored Jell-O rip off brand called Goop-O A-B-C, which she remembers from her childhood. Mulder and Scully, and eventually Reggie, argue over whether these events are an example of the Mandela Effect or as Reggie refers to it, the Mengele Effect. Mulder and Scully are shocked to remember that Reggie Something was formerly a member of the X-Files team, and in fact started working on them alongside Mulder and was there on the day in 1993 when Dr. Dana Scully arrived in the basement office. After going over their past cases (with Reggie now part of many iconic past moments from the series), they learn that the "they" Reggie keeps screaming about as the orchestrator is a memory-manipulating scientist named Dr. They. He not only meets with Mulder but does so in an obvious public place, explaining somewhat cheerfully that the age of people covering up their sins is over and Mulder should just "believe what you want to believe–that's what everybody does now anyway". Dr. They also appears to threaten Mulder when he says "you're dead" but then grins and says that he means Mulder's purpose via the X-Files and chasing down conspiracies is dead.

Reggie is revealed to be a longtime government employee turned mental-ward patient named Reggie Murgatroid, whose past besides the X-Files included being a lethal drone pilot, waterboarding terrorists, working IRS forms longhand, and sleeping through a stint as a fraud detection officer. Finally, the three of them come to their last X-Files case together: an encounter with a Trump-like alien who brings the remnants of the Voyager spacecraft and says that humanity is horrible and the rest of the universe has banded together to build a wall in outer space that will prevent mankind from ever getting near them. The alien says that despite some good people, human beings are unique in the singular negative sense that they constantly lie. He gives Mulder a book with "all the answers" and wishes them a less-than-fond goodbye and good riddance. Mulder is apparently distraught with the idea of there being no more answers to seek and breaks down into a childish tantrum as Reggie and Scully embrace. In the present, Reggie is taken back to the mental institution; as Skinner witnesses this, he apparently recognizes Reggie and asks why he's being taken away, much to Mulder and Scully's surprise.

Back at Mulder's house, they watch "The Lost Martian" after Mulder figures out it was a real episode from a cheap sci-fi knockoff show, and just as Scully begins to eat some Goop-O, she stops and she says "I want to remember how it all was".

Production

The episode guest stars Brian Huskey as Reggie, whose casting was revealed in September 2017 via Gillian Anderson's Twitter account.^[1] The episode features a montage of clips from past episodes, which insert Reggie into them; episodes featured included "The Pilot", "Tooms", "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose", "Teso Dos Bichos", "Home", "Small Potatoes", and "Unusual Suspects". The character of Reggie was previously briefly introduced in the second episode of the season, "This", when he appears in the digitized X-Files database.^[2] Regarding what clips to use, writer and director Darin Morgan commented:

The episode features several other Easter eggs and references, including references to the TV shows The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, and the movie Kazaam, which is a popular example of the Mandela effect. The name of the mental institution, Spotnitz Sanitarium, is a reference to former X-Files writer Frank Spotnitz.^[2]

The scene featuring Mulder and Dr. They was filmed at the A-maze-ing Laughter art installation park in Vancouver.^[2][4]

Reception

"The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat" received very positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 100% with an average rating of 9.34 out of 10 based on 10 reviews.^[5]

In its initial broadcast in the United States on January 24, 2018, it received 3.87 million viewers, which was slightly down from the previous week, which had 3.95 million viewers.^[6] When taking into account the Live +7 ratings for the week of January 22-28, it received 5.62 million viewers.^[7]

References

External links

• "The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat" on IMDb