The Lone Gunmen - Eine Kleine Frohike

Frohike is called to go undercover to uncover a poisoner tied to a Nazi war criminal, posing as her long lost son, but the woman he encounters—and over two days becomes quite fond of—just doesn’t seem to be such a serial killer. It seems a woman poisoned pastries eaten by members of the French Resistance during WWII, and the son of a famous war hero calls on Frohike to help him identify her. Frohike looks a great deal like the Nazi for whom the poisoner, Anna Haag, was sexually/emotionally involved, so this is why Michael Wilhelm (Alan Dale). Ruth Manning is got “sweetheart granny” down pat which makes her supposedly being Haag quite suspect, obviously how the episode intends to play it. Is it all an act? Sheila Paterson is “batty” (Langly’s words) neighbor. Manning’s maid dies by poisoning and Langly eats the wrong muffin, him also needing his stomach pumped (!). Frohike is tasked with identifying a mark on Haag's butt (!), and, sure enough, the real Haag drops skirt for who she felt was her boy! And not to be left out, Jimmy is bored, doing a Tom Cruise / Risky Business dance reenactment, when Yves catches him, the two meeting coincidentally as she snoops around the TLG headquarters.

While this really isn’t my kind of episode, it is cute, with Frohike wearing a toupee and lederhosen, submitting to “mom” when she wants to pamper and look out for him. I just think all the cutes might be a bit much for many X-Files fans. It is as harmless as any episode about an old Nazi poisoner might be; it has zero intensity and is toned quite playful. A mother who had been looking for her son and so “in bliss” that he has found her is at the heart of it…and the episode does have its heart firmly in place, even as Frohike must tell her he wasn’t really her boy. Yves once again emerges to help TLG but also earn some bounty money in the process. It is her who usurps Wilhelm and informs Jimmy Bond that he isn’t who they think he is. She is also responsible for Jimmy’s involvement (Frohike is so ready for TLG to dump him because of his airheaded nature), including a cool Mission: Impossible makeup ruse that draws out the poisoner. Byers and Langly aren’t all that involved in a lot—this show kind of gives each member episodes devoted to one of them significantly while the other two have individual scenes that amuse and charm)—that goes on in the episode except hang around the van and do surveillance. While the odds aren’t good that this will make my top 5 for the lone season of The Lone Gunmen, I didn’t think it was without merit. But I wasn’t as invested, and my interest in the lightweight story was admittedly low. Just the same, not a total waste. The cast still appeal.