 |
| THE X-FILES |
| HOW
THE GHOST STOLE CHRISTMAS |
7 |
T’was the
night before Christmas…
It’s a credit to How the Ghosts Stole
Christmas that, while watching it, I could have sworn that the smell of
mince pies wafted through the air. I think the people in the flat below may
just have been cooking something fruity, but, nevertheless, there is something
successfully Christmassy about this episode, which is odd in that there’s
not a tree or a Santa in sight. Perhaps it’s got a lot to do with the
ghost story Mulder tells in the pre-credits. Certainly, the half-scary
half-jokey mood is established very strongly early on through Chris
Carter’s careful writing and directing.
The story is reassuringly simple, concerning a pair of ghosts (guest stars Ed
Asner and Lily Tomlin) who trick couples passing through their house into
suicide pacts echoing the one in which they took their own lives, one Christmas
eve long ago. Despite being confused by the fact that Mulder and Scully
aren’t actually a couple, the ghosts see in them a pair of lonely and
confused individuals ripe for the killing. They also deliver lots of home
truths to the FBI agents en route, though even Mulder raises an eyebrow when
one of them accuses him of ‘para-masturbatory’ behaviour.
The story loses some of its effectiveness in the last 10 minutes, which rather
spoils things, but the final scene – Mulder’s lonely Christmas,
redeemed by Scully’s popping round to give him a
| Episode F6 |
| First Aired:
13 December 1998 |
| Reviewed by
Gareth Wigmore |
|
present – is surprisingly touching. Enjoyable
enough in its own right, How the Ghosts... is a good deal better than many
series’ Christmas offerings. |
|
| STAR
TREK |
Quark sells his story
 |
I’m always a little wary when actors write
novels around their characters. Granted, actors often have a remarkably good
grasp of their own characters; however, they also tend to play up those
characters at the expense of everyone else around. (For example, take a look at
any of William Shatner’s seemingly 20-volume set of Kirk-centered books.)
Armin Shimerman’s The 34th Rule, fortunately, contains the best of
both worlds. Yes, Quark is a central figure, and by extension, Ferengi culture
is at the heart of the book. Shimerman’s understanding, however, seems to
go beyond his own character to encompass basically everyone in
DSN’s main cast (with the exception of Jake, who comes off as
somewhat more sophisticated than one would expect), and he also knows how to
present Ferengi as interesting without descending into the grotesque excesses
so common in Ferengi-centered episodes of the show.
Set late in DSN’s fourth season, The 34th Rule traces the path of a
diplomatic rift between Ferenginar and Bajor, centering around Grand Nagus
Zek’s refusal to sell Bajor one of the lost Orbs of the Prophets. As
Bajoran spiritual and secular leaders get ever more stubborn in their demands
and their retaliatory actions, Quark finds himself trapped on decidedly hostile
ground, eventually seeing some of Bajor’s worst history from the
Occupation re-enacted with himself as unwilling participant.
If the book has a fault, it’s that the events here take so much time and
are so momentous that readers might have difficulty reconciling the book with
what they’ve seen on screen. As problems, go, however, that’s pretty
minor; Shimerman (along with co-author David R George III) manages to keep the
reader interested in the
| Written by Armin Shimmerman and David George
|
| Reviewed by Tim Lynch |
| Simon and SchusterBooks • Price:
£5.99 |
| Out:
Now |
| ISBN
0-671-00793-9 |
|
characters while weaving a tale of plans within
plans within schemes. In addition, those
who are familiar with Shimerman’s non-Quark characters inside Trek
should keep an eye out for a few surprise guests. The 34th Rule is one
of the richer DSN books to come along in a while; it’s definitely
worth a look.
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