Evil doppelgangers, hangman, and Mulder and Scully spend some personal time together. YES.

Say what you will about Chris Carter, but he is awesome in how he handles Mulder and Scully’s romance. Subtle and sweet, and giving us just enough info to draw our own conclusions. It’s kind of old fashioned, and I love it.

I would also like to give a shout out to Karin Konoval, who played the hangman-playing twins, Judith and Chucky. She was amazing, and creepy in a totally different way than when she was in the creepiest of all TXF creepies, “Home”. She was Mrs. Peacock! (Thanks IMDB – I have only seen Home once, and that’s the way it’s gonna stay, but I knew I knew her from somewhere.)

So, this is one of those episodes where the monster of the week is so weird, and the whole of it doesn’t necessarily make any sense (they have powers that choose their victims through a psychic game of hangman, to see their murdering doppelgangers, causing them to be killed in what looks like suicides). But it is fun and creepy nonetheless.

I am pausing here to mention what seemed to be a Supernatural shout-out in the middle of the episode. When the first kid we see dies at the hand of his doppelganger, the article in the paper, quoting the kid’s lawyer is shown on screen. The headline mentions the kid’s death as “Supernatural”, and the lawyers name is Dean. A stretch? Naw. People have gotten excited over Easter eggs much smaller and more obtuse than this one!

But the real treat of the episode is the gift given to those of us who ship Mulder and Scully. An intimate conversation about their lives and careers, while Mulder holds an uncertain Scully in his arms. It is really sweet, and when Scully rolls over and gives Mulder a wicked grin, we know it. is. on.

Or is it? We never see them so much as kiss. But when we come back to them, Scully is sleeping next to Mulder, and I will freely admit that I was waiting for her to pull that sheet down and reveal if she was still wearing her pajamas. (She wasn’t!!). And then! Mulder gets up and gives himself one super happy grin in the bathroom mirror, which is completely adorable. Until his doppelganger steps out of the shadows, of course.

Our favorite FBI agents run off to save the day, fighting and taking bread pills, (Just in case! It never hurts to be prepared), until the dueling twins, fighting over who should be next, M- UL-der, or Sc-UL-ly, finally kill each other, leaving behind twisted corpses.

Has Scully finally given in to the siren Mulder call? They have been in and out of so much over the years, is this when they decide to walk into the sunset together, vowing to be there to push each other’s wheelchairs til the very end? I’d like to think it is.

We already have chosen them, it’s their turn to choose each other.

Next! A Darin Morgan episode, which looks to be very Darin Morgan-y! Which is AWESOME.