The Lone Gunmen's Lone Season

 I've been watching the X-Files from start to finish, I had watched a handful of episodes on the BBC and Sky One back in the day, so a mix of its earliest episodes and bits of season 09, and I stayed up watching the first film on a school night. So, I've been enjoying going through it in order, discovering parts of the show for the first time and revisiting old memories. I'm pleased I did not imagine the episode with Brady Bunch obsessed psychic. I have completed season 09 and am up to the second film I Want to Believe, which has a reputation so poor that I decided to put it on hold and watch the spin off The Lone Gunmen.

The Lone Gunmen was a one season 13 episode spin off starring The Lone Gunmen, the trio of paranoid anti-government conspiracy theorists and investigative newsletter journalists. Technically I'm watching the show out of order since I had already watched season 09's Jumped the Shark which was the finale to The Lone Gunmen story line. 

Disney now owns the X-Files franchise and that includes The Lone Gunmen, though curiously the show is absent on its streaming service despite everything else X-Files related being on there. I have an idea as to why that is, but I'll get to that later. Currently, no streaming service is running the show and I don't think it's re-run on television much. It's considered something of a blip, it didn't make much impact in the UK, though I do remember seeing adverts for it, I believe the Sci-Fi channel carried it over here, which would explain its lack of footprint here despite the X-Files fandom being a big hit over here. Sometimes, I think I'm the only one who watched that channel.

 Anyway, the only ways to watch it are to buy the DVD, or find it online, the whole series has been uploaded multiple times to many video hosting sites including YouTube. And with no attempt to hide what it is. That's usually a clear-cut sign that the owners of the property have zero interest in further commercial activity with it. And is often a damning comment on the properties quality. Though there are exceptions, and The Lone Gunmen is an exception.

It's not a classic killed in the cradle, there are problems with individual episodes and throughout the show, but there are some high points and parts that work well. The X-Files is a Sci-Fi drama that revolved around mysteries but would occasionally stretch to comedy, romance and open horror. The Lone Gunmen (TLG) commits fully to comedy with occasional action, dramatic tensions and very brief romance. Humour is subjective, we all find different things funny, I did not find TLG particularly funny, most jokes didn't land for me, and a few have aged poorly, the blind American Football team, the farce about a birthmark on an old ladies buttocks and the Matrix martial arts fight parody stick out.

However, despite this I found myself watching the show in two days and found a lot to like in its plot and character moments, and a few of the smaller jokes had me raising the corners of my mouth. In comparison to the X-Files, which often had some absurd leaps into magical nonsense to justify its plots, TLG stuck a lot closer to the ground. The bad guys here are arms dealers, poachers of endangered animals, corrupt businessmen, there are two episodes that deviate a bit from the formula, one involving a virtual reality behavioural reprogramming technology and the other a secret government program to create super smart Chimpanzees. The focus on more mundane conspiracies and bad guys was surprising to me, since in the show the three Gunmen Byers, Langley and Frohike often believed in things that even the X-Files world treated as nonsense. 

The Gunmen reprise their roles from the X-Files with two additions, Jimmy played by Stephen Snedden is their intern and source of finances. Jimmy is introduced as a passionate moron who fails at even simple tasks like cleaning keyboards or shredding paper, frustrating the three seasoned hackers. Which runs thin pretty quick, fortunately they give the character a sort of intuitive intelligence, so he contributes more than just another body and receiver of exposition for the audience. The other addition is Yves Adele Harlow, played by Zuleikha Robinson. Yves is initially a rival but soon comes over to assist, though is still standoffish and her relations with the Gunmen remain fraught. TLG was released in 2001, so it isn't surprising how Yves is treated by the show. Zuleika Robinson is an attractive woman, and they remind you of that every second she's on-screen. Her hair and make up are always immaculate, the camera focuses on her figure, she speaks in a fake British accent that drips with cool aloofness, and she poses most of the time she isn't moving. Yves is an attempt at having an `empowered` woman via shortcutting. She's shown being cool and action orientated, and is smarter than the Gunmen. The problem is how this is done. When Yves is an ally to the Gunmen, she gives the key piece of the puzzle by conveniently knowing the information they want when she turns up. I'm not exaggerating, several episodes have the Gunmen mulling over a case and repeatedly hitting brick walls, only for Yves to walk in and know all about whatever it is they're dealing with. Though again, as the season progressed they seemed to get more of a handle on what they wanted from the character and were going in a new direction with her. I think both characters would've improved a lot in a second season, unfortunately that never happened.

I found myself liking most of the episode plots, and the core three Gunmen got some interesting character development. Likewise, I like what they did with Langley the most, apart from a long-running gag about his long blond hair getting him confused for a girl. Some of the jokes landed better than most for me, and it made sense that authoritarian jerks and establishment stooges would go for a cheap shot, it's just the constant returning to that well that diminished those returns.  I'm not a big fan of the Gunmen on the X-Files, I enjoyed most of their appearances on the show, I just didn't place those episodes in my favourites list. I guess I prefer their depictions on TLG, on X-Files they seemed like kneejerk the government is behind everything for ridiculous reasons conspiracy theorists. On TLG they're motivated by civil liberties issues, wanting to save lives and even environmental concerns, with reasons for why they hold those commitments. So if you were a big Gunmen fan and this show passed you by, you'll probably find a lot to enjoy here. 

Overall, like most new TV shows, the start was a bit rough with room for improvement and some signs that steps were already being taken to get there. But alas we didn't get a chance to see the improvements, 13 episodes are all we got. So, speaking of those 13 here are some notes I had about several that I found very interesting. I'm going to spoil many of these, FYI.

• The pilot. If this show has had any memorable moments, it is the plot of the pilot. It starts with Byers believing his father who worked for the government was murdered. And while investigating it, the Gunmen uncover a plot by a rogue faction of the US government to kick off a new climate of fear to replace the Cold War and its lucrative military budgets by crashing a commercial airliner into the World Trade Centre and have anti-American terrorists and dictators take the blame. And yes, we do get shots of the plane getting closer and closer to the twin towers before they save the day. When this episode went to credits, I paused it and immediately looked up when it had aired. I knew the show aired in 2001, but I wanted to know when in 2001. And, it released on the 4th of March. I quickly scrolled through the release dates for the rest of the show, and the last episode aired on the 1st of June, pretty close to 9/11.

 

• Bond, Jimmy Bond. This episode introduces Jimmy, It's pretty forgettable apart from that. The reason I mention it is because of a sequence that demonstrates how TV shows were starting to mature in the 2000s. Jimmy is coaching a team of blind American football players, they use technology including footballs that emit sounds. The sequence is just a series of painful jokes about how daft and funny such a thing would be, blind people trying to play football. At the end of the sequence, Jimmy makes a passionate speech about how this isn't funny at all, and blind people deserve the opportunity to play sports if they wish and people who scoff at them aren't very nice. This attitude of having and eating cake was common for TV writing back then. The show's creative teams were aware that cheap digs about appearances and physical differences were nasty and harmful, but they were still expected, so shows would try and bridge the gap by having some jokes and then having a bit that says `actually, these people aren't freaks but people and should be respected` moments. I also bring it up because there's a later episode which I could've sworn they would do something like this, but did not.
• Like Water for Octane. This episode is a race to find a car that runs on water before a corrupt oil company can get their hands on it. It's a bread crumb trail mystery, the physical comedy was tighter for me in this one, but the standout for me was the conclusion of the episode. The Gunmen foil the oil tycoon and secure the car, but decide not to release it to the public. The reason for this is because they are worried that the potential a car that runs on water would lead to an even more expansive productivity boom which would deplete the world's resources much faster and would not in fact lead to an end to oil dependency because oil is a key component in the manufacturing of roads, and plastic components. The evil oil tycoon did not want to destroy the car as was assumed, instead his plan was to capture the car and hold on to it until he could figure out how to control the release of it and profit heavily from it. He wants to pivot to water cars because oil is getting scarcer. 
• Three Men and a Smoking Diaper. This episode involves the Gunmen trying to expose a Senator for murder of a campaign worker before he's re-elected. This one ends with the discovery there was no murder, but the Senator's womanising did cause real harm and provoke the car crash. So, once he's confronted with the truth of the damage his behaviour has done he makes a public confession and acknowledges the son born from the affair. The episode ends implying he'll win re-election and the whole group cheer. This episode didn't leave me much to chew on until the final scene, I think the revelation was interesting and it shows that actions can have tragic consequences even without intentional malice. But the ending made me pause for a few moments. If Byers, Langley and Frohike were real people and not characters I doubt they would be enthusiastic that he got in he's not a friend or person they admired. But its a TV show and the politician did the right thing in the end and in America the system isn't perfect but it works gosh darn it!
• The Lying Game. Yes, that's right, TLG a show that came out in 2001 had an episode that prominently featured a trans person. I was surprised it happened and how they handled it. Carol, a woman whom Byers knew in College asks the group to help investigate her brothers murder. As the episode plays out its revealed that the brother is alive, and isn't on very good terms with his sister. The reason for that becomes clear once he outs her to the Gunmen as Trans. Byers, who is the most ethical of the three and has refered to Carol by her name and used female pronouns apart from one slip up while arguing with her brother, something he immediately regrets eventually explodes at the brother who had outed he previously for his shitty behaviour and declares that everyone deserves privacy. The rest of the Gunmen come around and at the end of the episode Jimmy and Yves declare they don't have a problem with Carol being Trans. I was quite surprised at the episode, compared to the present it isn't perfect, they don't say Trans or transition they say used to be a man, but the intent is clear. I think the episode would stand favourably if it were released today.

 

• The Cap'n Toby Show. The last episode to be released even though it was supposed to air before the episode All About Yves which ends on a to be continued. Scheduling meddling aside this episode is about a Chinese spy ring operating within children's TV show. The epsiode features some misdirection, when the spy ring is discovered the TV shows main presenter and host Cap'n Toby is fingered as a fall guy and his guilt is widely beleived by the public because his wife is Chinese. In addition to proving the real spy was a CIA turncoat the show explicitly condemns racist profile and jumping to conclusion because of ethnic and national identity. 

And now that that is finished I'll wrap up with some thoughts that verge on speculation. The reason given for the shows early cancellation was low ratings, and compared to the X-Files there's a noticeable gap, and there was a drop from the pilot to the final episode. However the ratings didn't trend down constantly, some picked up and on a special feature about the show recorded in 2005 to tie in with the X-Files DVD releases the ratings were on par with early X-Files. This is 2000s Fox, so it is entirely possible they greenlit the production on TLG expecting a X-Files at its peak audience and then immediately canned it once it was clear it wouldn't reach those heights. 

And I'm sure once 9/11 happened even the slimmest possibility of a revival was done. Having a pilot that tied very closely to the attack and effectively preempted several conspiracy theories about it couldn't have gone over well. Although I did find a 2002 TV Guide article marvelling at how little controversy this caused in the aftermath. 

Shockingly, this horrifying bit of foreshadowing was never widely reported until Thursday, when industry newsletter The Myers Report broke the story. How is it that virtually no one remembered this post 9/11? "I know! That's what I've been wondering," marvels Frank Spotnitz, who along with Vince Gilligan and John Shiban wrote the episode. "I thought, 'Nobody noticed!' I guess so few people saw the show. But it's strange too because that was the pilot and the ratings were actually quite good for [that episode], and yet, we didn't hear anything."

 The Sept. 11 Parallel "Nobody Noticed"

But it goes beyond that, the show itself has an atmosphere of distrusting authority, including governent and the military, many episodes involve the Gunmen casually cracking Department of Defence software to look for evidence of crimes and shady projects. The cliff hanger episode All About Yves involves the discovery of another secret government faction that is responsible for multiple acts of terrorism including the Kennedy assassination and the Lockerbie bombing. The Gunmen talk a lot about patriotism and the dream of America, but their sole reason for existing is because the entire system that is supposed to protect and nurture that dream has become corrupt and violent. Even Cap'n Toby a silly episode about how executives who don't get the shows they control and ruin them through chasing trends denounces profiling and assuming someone is a threat becuase they share a nation or ethnicity with bad actors. The post 9/11 years were extremely ugly and not kind to criticism or people who were Middle Eastern or Muslim or beleived to be so.

I cannot imagine a show like TLG would have been recieved positively in 2002. I suppose the proverbial smoking gun would be if I could find a definitive date of cancellation being made before or after 9/11. I couldn't find that, though I did find in the DVD special some of the creators of TLG saying that when they wanted to bring back the Gunmen on the X-Files to atleast tie up some plot threads and give the characters a conclusion they faced resistance from higher up. I can't imagine what the issue would be, they had appeared multiple times on the show so there wasn't a rights issue. Well, regardless, aside from a comic book and a cameo in the finale of X-Files season 09 and something in the later season's which I have not seen that was it for the Lone Gunmen.