User Reviews

The Goldberg Variation is about a very large a complex "Golberg" machine of life. I think its interesting how much thought and double meaning goes into the titles of some of these episodes and I think that understanding the titles help us to really see what the author was trying to get across. The obvious connection here is to Rube Goldberg who created the "Mouse Trap" type machines to represent cause and effect. All kinds of seemingly random individual acts come together so that we can see the chain of events. When I think of goldberg machines I always think of the giant one that is all over the ceiling of my local planetarium and takes forever to carry out its full course. The other reference in the title is to The Golberg Variations written by Bach as a means of teaching his students how to play the piano. I'm not sure what the connection is but I believe there is one intended.

The main character in this episode is a man who seems to have tapped into dumb luck. No matter what happens, the universe seems to be conspiring in his favor. He wins amazingly at poker with a straight flush and survives being tossed off a 30 story building by falling into a laundry crate. His luck appears to be taking its toll on those around him however as the balance issues cause very unfortunate things to happen to those around him whenever he takes advantage of his ability. This is seen with the kid who gets hit by the truck after stealing the lotto ticket, his neighbor played by Shia LeBeouf having liver disease and such a rare blood type that the chances of finding a donor are nil, and overall in the demise of the mobster and his gang. It is fun to watch how the events of the episode all conspire together and eventually lead to the death of the mobster who just happens to have a perfect match of liver for the sick boy.

A couple personal things I liked about the episode. I enjoy some of the humor of the episode and Mulder and Scully's playful nature. I like when Mulder falls through the floor and says his a** broke the fall. I think its great that Shia LeBeouf shows up in this episode which was way back before anyone knew who he was. Sometimes when I watch The X-Files now years after the episodes aired its almost like watching "Before They Were Stars" or something. So many actors did their earliest work on this show. Also, I can't quite pin it down but for some reason the mom in this episode reminds me of my own mom and for this reason I feel a very close personal attachment to her character and every time I see her get kidnapped it affects me emotionally probably a lot more than it should. For those of you who are familiar with the show Freaks and Geeks, I tend to have the same kind of emotional attachment to the mother on that show. I don't know what it is about them. Anyway, this is definitely one of the better episodes from season 7 in my opinion although not one of the better ones of the series. I enjoy this one every time I see it so I will give it an 8 out of 10.

Ooh, what a lucky man he was. That would be Henry Weems (Willie Garson), an otherwise nondescript gentleman who has the kind of good fortune that makes him incapable of losing. I couldn't imagine why Henry would never have thought of buying a lottery ticket until he overheard Scully and Mulder talking about it, but that little oversight worked for the story. The various Rube Goldberg contraptions, and especially the scenario with the first hit-man were pretty clever, but dangling from a ceiling fan by one's shoestring is more than a stretch, even if somewhat amusing. The best thing about this episode for me was the idea that Henry was doing it all for neighbor Richie (Shia LaBeouf before he lost his mind) in a most unselfish manner. It led to what was an uncharacteristic feel good ending for an X-Files story. Watch this one again and you'll consider yourself lucky.

The Goldberg Variation is a decent monster of the week episode with a few plot holes that lessen the enjoyment. It's interesting to see Willie Garson(from season three's "The Walk" as Roach) return in a starring role as Henry Weems, an extremely lucky man. He does a fine job in this starring role. What immediately caught my eye was Mulder telling Scully "nice outfit" when they first meet in the episode; further evidence of them acting differently towards each other after their kiss in "Millennium". It seems to be intentional by the writers. I don't understand why Mulder and Scully are investigating this in the first place. No crime was committed. They are just there because a man miraculously survived a thirty story fall. Mulder says that the agents who saw Henry get thrown off the roof gave chase but didn't catch him. Weems is walking, visibly limping, away from the shaft, and two able-bodied FBI agents couldn't catch him? For maybe the first time, Scully solves the case early by suggesting that Weems may have just been lucky surviving the fall, for which Mulder ridicules her. She ends up being right in the end, even though she doesn't believe her own theory. I like the parallel of the Hangman Goldberg device of Henry's with the mobster subsequently hanging himself, albeit upside down. A final plot hole is when the mobsters kidnap Richie's mom in the end. The mobsters had no way of knowing that Weems cares for the sick boy enough to trade himself for her. The Goldberg Variation is funny at times with several Mulder one-liners, but it doesn't totally work, trying to weave comedy with a serious story of a dying boy in need of a liver.