"The Amazing Maleeni" is the eighth episode of the
seventh season of the
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...
''. It premiered on the
Fox network
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
in the United States on January 16, 2000. It was written by
Vince Gilligan
George Vincent Gilligan Jr. (born February 10, 1967) is an American writer, producer, and director. He is known for his television work, specifically as creator, head writer, executive producer, and director of AMC's ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2 ...
,
John Shiban
John Shiban is an American television writer and producer. He worked in both capacities on ''The X-Files'' and its spin-off ''The Lone Gunmen'', ''Star Trek: Enterprise'', ''Smallville'', ''Supernatural'', ''Legend of the Seeker'', ''Breaking Bad' ...
, and
Frank Spotnitz
Frank Charles Spotnitz is an American television screenwriter and executive producer, best known for his work on ''The X-Files'' and ''The Man in the High Castle''. Spotnitz is also the chief executive officer and founder of Big Light Production ...
and directed by
Thomas J. Wright
Thomas J. Wright is an American television director, film director, artist, and set designer. Wright has directed episodes of ''Smallville'', ''One Tree Hill'', ''Firefly'', and many other programs. He also worked extensively on Chris Carter's ' ...
. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider
mythology
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
. "The Amazing Maleeni" earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.4, being watched by 16.18 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed reviews.
The show centers on
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
special agents
Fox Mulder
Fox William Mulder () is a fictional FBI Special Agent and one of the two protagonists of the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers dismiss his many theories on extraterrest ...
(
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for portraying FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002, 2016-2018) and as write ...
) and
Dana Scully
Dana Katherine Scully, MD, is a fictional character and one of the two Protagonist, protagonists in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science-fiction, supernatural fiction, supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by Gillian Anders ...
(
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series ''The X-Files'', ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film ''The House of Mirth'' ...
) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called
X-File
In the fictional universe of the television series ''The X-Files'', an "X-File" is a case that has been deemed unsolvable or given minimal-priority status by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; these files are transferred to the X-Files unit. The ...
s. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, The Amazing Maleeni, a small-time magician, performs an amazing feat to impress a heckler—he turns his head 360 degrees. So when he is later found without a head at all, Mulder and Scully arrive on the case and discover an angry ex-con, an unimpressed rival, and Maleeni’s twin brother. All seem to have something to do with a plan to rob a major bank.
Although written by Gilligan, Shiban, and Spotnitz, the story for "The Amazing Maleeni" was conceived largely by executive producer
Frank Spotnitz
Frank Charles Spotnitz is an American television screenwriter and executive producer, best known for his work on ''The X-Files'' and ''The Man in the High Castle''. Spotnitz is also the chief executive officer and founder of Big Light Production ...
, who had wanted to do an episode dealing with "magic and illusion" since the show's
second season. Real-life magician
Ricky Jay
Richard Jay Potash (June 26, 1946 – November 24, 2018) was an American stage magician, actor and writer. In a profile for ''The New Yorker'', Mark Singer called Jay "perhaps the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive". In addition to sleight ...
, who also was Spotnitz's favorite, was brought in to play the part of the titular Maleeni.
Plot
At the
Santa Monica Pier
The Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, United States. It contains a small amusement park, concession stands, and areas for views and fishing.
Attractions Pacific Park
Th ...
, a magician, The Amazing Maleeni, twists his head completely around at a carnival, while Billy LaBonge, another magician, heckles Maleeni during the event. As he's leaving, his severed head falls completely off. Billy LaBonge is later questioned by
Fox Mulder
Fox William Mulder () is a fictional FBI Special Agent and one of the two protagonists of the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers dismiss his many theories on extraterrest ...
(
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for portraying FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002, 2016-2018) and as write ...
) and
Dana Scully
Dana Katherine Scully, MD, is a fictional character and one of the two Protagonist, protagonists in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science-fiction, supernatural fiction, supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by Gillian Anders ...
(
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series ''The X-Files'', ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film ''The House of Mirth'' ...
); he tells the agents that he thought Maleeni was a ripoff. During the autopsy, Scully finds that, although Maleeni's head was cleanly cut off, he died of a heart attack. She also finds that he was dead for at least a month and refrigerated, even though the carnival manager spoke to him mere moments leading up to his head falling off.
Meanwhile, LaBonge finds a man named Cissy Alvarez, to whom Maleeni owed money. LaBonge admits that he caused Maleeni's head to fall off, and says that he will give Alvarez the money he is owed if he helps him with his magic. Mulder and Scully learn that Maleeni has an identical twin brother, Albert Pinchbeck. Albert is even wearing a neckbrace, which he says he got in a car accident in Mexico. Mulder tells him he thinks he did the magic act, but the man shows that he has no legs, which he also lost in Mexico in the car accident. Back at work, Alvarez threatens Pinchbeck that he will kill him if he does not get his money. LaBonge then frames Alvarez for a robbery by attacking a security truck disguised as Alvarez. Mulder soon finds out that Pinchbeck is the real Maleeni and that he faked having no legs. After confronting Pinchbeck, he admits that he faked his own death in order to get out of Alvarez's debt. Pinchbeck admits that he found his brother dead of a heart attack at home and used his body as a double. Pinchbeck is promptly arrested, as is LaBonge, who brings a gun to a bar, in an attempt to purposely get arrested. In addition, Alvarez is arrested because of the attempted robbery LaBonge did earlier.
The vault at Pinchbeck's work is emptied and the money is found above Alvarez' bar. Later Mulder and Scully confront LaBonge and Maleeni as they are released on bail, where Mulder explains that he figured out their plan - LaBonge and Pinchbeck were not, in fact, enemies, and that they had been working together to put Alvarez in prison for making LaBonge's life miserable in prison 8 years prior, and that, as masters of sleight of hand and escape tricks, the two of them easily escaped, performed the robbery, and returned to their cells before being noticed.
After the two magicians make their exit, confident in the lack of evidence against them, Mulder reveals to Scully the true trick being performed—that everything involving Alvarez was purely misdirection. Earlier, when checking whether Pinchbeck had stolen funds from the bank, the manager had told Mulder they would need his badge number and thumb print to gain access to the
Electronic Fund Transfer
Electronic funds transfer (EFT) is the electronic transfer of money from one bank account to another, either within a single financial institution or across multiple institutions, via computer-based systems, without the direct intervention of ...
(EFT) system. Mulder shows Scully Maleeni's wallet, which he had collected from evidence before confronting him and LaBonge. When the agents first met LaBonge, he had surreptitiously pickpocketed their badges as an example of his skill with sleight of hand, which gave him Mulder's badge number. Upon their first meeting with Pinchbeck impersonating his brother, Pinchbeck did a card trick with Mulder, leaving Mulder's prints on the card, which as Mulder displays, is securely in Maleeni's wallet. Mulder explains that the pair purposely acted in a high-profile manner to draw the attention of the FBI, and that if they had collected the badge number and thumbprint, they would have been able to perform EFTs. As Mulder and Scully leave the jail, Scully shows that she, too, has learned a trick, and turns her hand around 360 degrees in a similar fashion to what LaBonge did with his hand. Mulder asks Scully to explain how, and she brushes him off, saying simply "magic".
Production
Writing
"The Amazing Maleeni" was inspired by executive producer
Frank Spotnitz
Frank Charles Spotnitz is an American television screenwriter and executive producer, best known for his work on ''The X-Files'' and ''The Man in the High Castle''. Spotnitz is also the chief executive officer and founder of Big Light Production ...
's long-standing desire for an episode to deal solely with "magic and illusion"; Spotnitz had been championing this idea since he first joined the series' writing staff during
season two Season 2 may refer to:
* ''Season 2'' (Infinite album)
* ''2econd Season
''2econd Season'' is the second and most recent album by Atlanta-based rapper Unk.
Release
It was released on November 4, 2008.
Guest Performers
The album features gu ...
. Eventually, during the seventh season,
Vince Gilligan
George Vincent Gilligan Jr. (born February 10, 1967) is an American writer, producer, and director. He is known for his television work, specifically as creator, head writer, executive producer, and director of AMC's ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2 ...
was assigned to write the episode, something he described as "agony".
Gilligan explained, "The episode started with Frank, because he—for several years—had wanted to write an episode about magicians. Frank was a fan of the TV show ''
The Magician'' with
Bill Bixby so I believe that was part of it, but Frank was interested in the idea of magic and the idea of fooling people who wished to be fooled."
[Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 177.]
Spotnitz's favorite magician,
Ricky Jay
Richard Jay Potash (June 26, 1946 – November 24, 2018) was an American stage magician, actor and writer. In a profile for ''The New Yorker'', Mark Singer called Jay "perhaps the most gifted sleight of hand artist alive". In addition to sleight ...
, was sought for the part of The Amazing Maleeni. Unfortunately, the crew discovered that neither Jay nor the show's back-up magician,
David Blaine
David Blaine (born April 4, 1973) is an American illusionist, endurance artist, and extreme performer. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance and has set and broken several world records.
Early life
Blaine was born and ra ...
were available for shooting. Series creator
Chris Carter, however, later stated that the show would not take no for an answer: "We got on the phone with him. He agreed to come to our offices to talk about the script and ended up doing some card tricks for us that reduced Frank and I to being six-year-olds again."
After discussion, Jay agreed to guest star in the episode with the stipulation that he only be asked to do the tricks he was accustomed to doing.
Gilligan, in retrospect, later noted, "There was no choice other than Ricky Jay as far as we were concerned. He was not looking forward to the idea of playing a magician because I think he felt that magicians were never portrayed very realistically in movies or television shows."
The cast and crew of the episode enjoyed the "amusement park" feel of the story.
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series ''The X-Files'', ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film ''The House of Mirth'' ...
later noted, "Because of all the magic, I was constantly being entertained. The difficulty with something like this is you have tendency to forget that people are still having bad things happen to them."
Anderson later stated that she and Duchovny "had to keep reminding
hem
A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...
elves that
hey
Hey or Hey! may refer to:
Music
* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
* ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
were dealing with a murder", even though many of their lines were supposed to be flippantly delivered.
Special effects
The episode used several special effects, although in order to ensure that the episode felt "camera-real", many of the more intense effects were performed through conventional rather than digital means. For instance, the scene wherein Bill LaBonge's hand erupted into flames was created with the help of a stunt man, rather than through expensive and, ultimately, "less convincing" CGI effects. The scene featuring The Amazing Maleeni turning his head 360 degrees was created using a prosthetic head, courtesy of John Vulich's Optic Nerve Studios.
[Shapiro, p. 105.]
Broadcast and reception
"The Amazing Maleeni" first aired in the United States on January 16, 2000.
This episode earned a
Nielsen rating
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
of 9.4, with a 14 share, meaning that roughly 9.4 percent of all television-equipped households, and 14 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.
It was viewed by 16.18 million viewers.
[Shapiro, p. 281.] The episode aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on
Sky1
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
on May 7, 2000 and received 0.79 million viewers, making it the fourth most watched episode that week.
The episode received mixed reviews from critics. Kenneth Silber from
Space.com
Space.com is an online publication focused on space exploration, astronomy, skywatching and entertainment, with editorial teams based in the United States and United Kingdom. The website offers live coverage of space missions, astronomical discov ...
was critical of the episode's intricacy, writing, "'The Amazing Maleeni' is a convoluted episode that ultimately lacks verve and excitement. Even if one can figure out what is going on, there remains the question of how much, or even whether, to care."
Robert Shearman
Robert Charles Shearman, sometimes credited as Rob Shearman, is an English television, radio, stage play and short story writer. He is known for his World Fantasy Award-winning short stories, as well as his work for ''Doctor Who'', and his asso ...
and
Lars Pearson
Lars Pearson (born 1973, in Iowa) is an American writer, high school teacher, editor, and journalist. He is the owner/publisher of Mad Norwegian Press, a publishing company specializing in reference guides to television shows including ''Buffy th ...
, in their book ''Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen'', rated it two stars out of five. The two noted that, had the episode used real magic tricks instead of "resort
ngto
CGI, the episode would have been much more than a simple "cheat".
Furthermore, Shearman and Pearson criticized the fact that the explanation behind Maleeni turning his head around 360 degrees was never satisfactorily explained.
[Shearman and Pearson, p. 213.] Paula Vitaris from ''
Cinefantastique
''Cinefantastique'' is an American horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine.
History
The magazine originally started as a mimeographed fanzine in 1967, then relaunched as a glossy, offset printed quarterly in 1970 by publisher/editor ...
'' gave the episode a mixed review and awarded it two stars out of four.
Vitaris compared the episode's plot to the 1999 movie ''
Arlington Road
''Arlington Road'' is a 1999 drama film directed by Mark Pellington and starring Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, and Hope Davis. The film tells the story of a widowed George Washington University professor who suspects his new neighbors ar ...
'', noting that while "the scheme is fun to watch while it unfolds,
€¦in the end, it's not credible; too much is left open to chance for it really to happen."
[
Not all reviews were so critical. Rich Rosell from Digitally Obsessed awarded the episode 4 out of 5 stars. Although he noted that the episode was "not Gilligan's best work" and that the writing was "a little spotty", he said "the vibe f 'The Amazing Maleeni'is very well done."] Tom Kessenich, in his book ''Examinations'', gave the episode a moderately positive review, writing "My heart wasn't racing and I wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat as Mulder and Scully unmasked our two magicians €¦But it was fun to put the clues together to see what it all added up to."[Kessenich, p. 107.] Zack Handlen of ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' awarded the episode a "B+" and wrote that he "love it".[ He praised the episode's "good-naturedness", which he felt was due to Mulder and Scully's interaction.][ Handlen also enjoyed the writing, noting that the "script also does a good job at doling out its secrets in a way that never makes either the magicians or our heroes come off as idiots".] Paul Spragg of ''Xposé'' wrote positively of the episode, describing it as a "rather fun tale".
Footnotes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amazing Maleeni, The
2000 American television episodes
Television episodes set in California
Television episodes written by Vince Gilligan
Television episodes about magic
The X-Files (season 7) episodes