"The X-Files" Fight Club (TV Episode 2000) Poster

(TV Series)

(2000)

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6/10
The first rule of Fight Club is - you do not talk about Fight Club.
Muldernscully14 July 2007
I'm going to talk about Fight Club anyway, the much maligned episode, that many people categorize as the worst X-Files episode. I wouldn't go that far. I feel that people take episodes like these too seriously. These tongue-in-cheek episodes need to be taken with a grain of salt. Don't expect too much from them, and you won't be disappointed. Granted, this is not a great episode, but it's still half-way decent.

One thing that jumps out right away is how do Mulder and Scully find out about Bert Zupanic? They're searching for Betty Templeton and they arrive at Zupanic's door with a newspaper photo of him and Betty Templeton or Lulu Pfeiffer. No explanation is given on how they connected him to the two women or how they came across the photograph.

Later, Scully meets Mulder at an auditorium, and she dumps all this information that she has supposedly uncovered on Lulu Pfeiffer and Betty Templeton and how they have been following each other around the country for the past 17 years, leaving devastation in their wake. I'm sorry but there is no way that Scully would find out the specific of information in so short amount of time.

The funniest part of the episode is when Scully goes to the local jail and finds Mr. Damfuse, the father of Betty and Lulu. He screams at Scully, which are some of the best lines of the episode. Another thing of note is that whenever Damfuse talks, a weird sound plays. It's very odd.

Another thing that caught my eye is that the manager, Mr. Saperstein takes Zupanic's money that is owed him, but then acts is as if he never received it. He then happily takes money from Lulu and Betty later on at the fight. The last thing about the episode that troubled me is at the end when Mulder and Scully are giving an exposition to explain the events of the episode. They are giving this exposition to Mr. Saperstein in their office, for who knows what reason. I imagine it's just a plot device in order to be able to explain things.

Fight Club is kind of a confusing episode with a very odd story. But I think that Kathy Griffin and Randall Cobb did a fine job in their guest roles as the doppelgangers and the man they both loved. Sure, Fight Club has numerous problems, but its still fun to watch. And if do like this widely hated episode, remember the second rule of Fight Club: You do not talk about Fight Club.
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7/10
What's so special about you!!!
Sanpaco1319 July 2007
I actually quite enjoyed this episode. I mean it starts out with a couple Jehova's Witnesses beating the crud out of each other. Then Mulder and Scully's stunt doubles. Those scenes are pretty novel just to watch especially the first time. Another reason I like this is because ever since I saw Big Business I have been intrigued with the idea that there could be someone else out there that looks EXACTLY like me! That would be so wild! HA! Anyway I know I'm probably way too easily amused but hey whatchagonnado? Finally the clincher for why I like this episode: "The sound of your voice is like a jackhammer on my eardrums!" I look at this episode as Chris Carter and crew just messing around and having fun for a bit. The story isn't all that amazing or profound but it is fun to watch the actors having fun. I give it a 7/10.
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7/10
"Oh, crap!"
classicsoncall10 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
For Mulder, this might have been his most ignominious X-File case. How do you come back from getting sucked down a man-hole? Well fortunately, recover he did to make a comeback in this weird tale of doppelgangers and pro wrestlers. There's a combination for you, along the same lines as cowboys and aliens.

As an old time wrestling fan back in the Sixties and Seventies, I enjoyed the side story here with Bert Zupanic, well portrayed by Randall 'Tex' Cobb, who actually was a heavyweight boxing contender at one time. His ring opponent in the story was Rob Van Dam, a pro wrestler in his own right, but the nice surprise here was catching 'Judo' Gene LeBell in a cameo as a bartender. He's well respected among the world's martial artists, and has quite a reputation as a former wrestler and judo master, along with being a busy movie stunt man. Too bad he didn't get to mix it up here, but he was sixty eight years old when this show was filmed.

Nobody on this board mentioned it, but keep your eye on the characters of Betty and Lulu, both portrayed by Kathy Griffin. Betty drives a red car and dresses in shades of red, while her alter-ego Lulu drives a blue car and wears shades of blue. It was kind of neat too, that the Koko Copy Center sign kept the same red/blue motif going. That was a brilliant stroke of writing actually by Chris Carter, that both girls applied for a job at a place that specialized in making copies; Betty and Lulu were an exact copy of each other.

It's funny, but most of the other reviewers here comment on how this episode wasn't received well by most fans, but it seems each of them liked it for their own reasons. I'll include myself in that category, I didn't think it was too bad. You know, when I was a kid, I can recall watching any number of shows and movies that hinted at disaster if a character ever met him or herself as a result of time travel. A similar concept is at work here, expressed as two original copies meeting with unpredictable results, so the same idea with a slight twist.

Best line of dialog in the show came from crazy old Mr. Danfous (Jack McGee) commenting on his sperm donor status that resulted in both Betty and Lulu - "I Yankee doodled into a plastic cup"! I'm not going to be able to erase that imagery from my brain anytime soon.
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7/10
I enjoy Fight Club
nightwishouge22 February 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Chris Carter has a strange sense of humor. You can tell this from his other MOTW episodes. I actually prefer Fight Club to his most-celebrated episode, The Post-Modern Prometheus (blasphemy I know). While The Post-Modern Prometheus has a self-consciousness to it--I think Carter was trying to mimic Darin Morgan's insightful and bizarre worldview complete with random pop culture references and pathos-infused comedy--Fight Club is just unfiltered, unabashed weirdness. It makes no sense. It's not trying to make any sense. What's the point of the Mulder-and-Scully doppelgangers at the outset who beat the crap out of each other? There is no point; it's just a strange misdirect. Weirdness for its own sake.

Kathy Griffin is a divisive figure as a performer. I like her. She's good in this episode.

I love seeing the aftermath of the brawl between Mulder and Scully in the final scene. I think every X-Files fan kinda has a weird desire to really see them go at it. Of course Scully would win, no contest; she's tough and disciplined, would have been a model student at the academy. Mulder is lazy; he's gotten soft, doesn't commit to anything outside his very specific fields of interest (including keeping up on combat training). Scully would wipe the floor with him. Unless endurance to pornography was somehow a deciding factor.
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4/10
The stupidest X-Files episode ever
quark189 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
The comedic X-Files episodes are usually big hits with fans but this one crosses the line to plain stupid and irritating. Written and directed by Chris Carter, really? Did Chris run out of ideas? He already did a doppelgänger comedy episode so he thought adding a double set of doubles would make it better?

And Mulder and Scully shouldn't be explaining all this at the end to a crook who should be arrested for stealing money.
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By far the worst episode
big_kmc2 November 2022
Just pointless in every way. It's like the Xfiles was mocking itself which was strange. Even the music was horrific. Kathy Griffin's performance was not magical and could have been done by any actress. It's like the writer wanted us to lose respect for mulder and scully and their work. The plot ultimately made no sense and there was no explanation for the what we just wasted an hour of our lives watching. There's a saying in writing to prevent laziness that is: "Show don't tell" and all the sudden Scully got some pieces to the puzzle from a supposed internet search we didn't even witness. Very weak sauce and not funny at all...
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7/10
Did you know?
silentwindslash3 January 2007
Rob Van Dam is listed in the credits here. He is an actual wrestler who, as of January 2007, works for the WWE. As this appeared in 2000, he was not with the WWE, and was with the old ECW, which appeared on TNN.

The episode itself is a bit goofy and experimental, which generally characterizes any Chris Carter-written non-mythos episode, as this one is. Kathy Griffin, a comedic actress, is one of the main characters in this episode, but she does not do much comedic work. Her presence in the episode only seems to suggest danger. The script is written in such a way that Ms. Griffin's character(s) may actually be one and the same person who keep meeting each other. The presence of Mulder and Scully look alikes at the beginning of the episode seem to suggest that this may be a case of parallel universes intersecting or overlapping. Scully's theory about the origin of the girls, which relies on knowledge of artificial insemination, doesn't hold up in light of the look-alikes, and the presence of a doppleganger or double for the male guest star lead in this episode.

Parallel universe? Or sperm that just won't die? You decide.
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4/10
Quite a poor episode.
Sleepin_Dragon25 September 2022
To Jehovah's witnesses call on a woman, and receive the cold shoulder, a few minutes later, they call on another woman, believing it to be the same as the one they just encountered, bemused, the pair start scrapping.

Not one of my favourite episodes, I generally like the quirkier offerings, but this one felt as though all involved were sending the show up, it's almost impossible to take this one seriously, it does have some good, creative imaginings, but the realisation is cack-handed, it's like trying to put a jigsaw puzzle of Elvis together, but half of the pieces are of Hulk Hogan, it just doesn't fit together.

Chris Carter, his writings and production team may have been getting a little fed up with things, and decided to have some fun, this one is just too silly, if just doesn't gel, I couldn't wait for the credits to roll, so I could crack on with the next.

Some of the dialogue is very poor, I think Duchovny was Anderson are both good here, big I'm not sure either are playing it with any real gusto, I think the pair look somewhat disinterested.

Some of the acting was questionable, I can't say that anyone stood out, well maybe not in a good way.....

4/10.
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8/10
No s... Sherlock.
suck_my_balls_kyle24 June 2020
Not sure why everyone's complaining. That's the only reason why I decided to write this review. Classic X-Files comedy. Don't miss it.
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1/10
By far, the worst episode (..so far)!
tfonias744 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I always enjoyed the goofy/loony episodes scattered around the seasons of x-files. But this one is BAD. It is not even a parody, it is plain BAD.

The acting, the guest stars and most of all the music.. I could not believe what I was seeing and hearing. Scully acting as an idiot, grinning for no reason at stupid situations. The story itself is plain stupid. Two identical twins that when they are in proximity the time/space continuum starts to tear down.... When you see the next twin pair you actually want to shoot yourself.

It is clear why David wanted out the series. This episode shows exactly how "tired" the whole cast and people around the cast are.

I cannot waste any more time on this.
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8/10
I laughed a lot.
warrenscooper19 August 2020
How is this getting bad reviews? It's very interesting, intriguing and mostly very funny. Actor's hamming it up superbly.
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1/10
Awful writing, pointless stupidity
briansgate30 November 2022
This episode was possibly the worst the show ever had. There were so many contrived coincidences and moronic scenes that it boggles the mind to learn that Chris Carter wrote this. It was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, but it was just plain stupid and boring. The 7th season was horrible, with this turkey airing right after "Hollywood AD," another abomination that deserves to be buried and never aired again."First Person Shooter" was another horrendous 7th season travesty, as was "The Amazing Maleeni," "The Goldberg Variation" and "X Cops" and the insufferable and pretentious "Closure," which made a mockery out of the suffering of those who have lost young children with this cheesy feel-good story about murdered children all going away to a better place. Canceling what was once perhaps the best show on TV at this point would have been a mercy killing.
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1/10
Awful, just awful
clairelconway4 August 2021
This is the worst X-Files episode ever, and there are a few that could claim that title, like the episode before this. At least that one had some charm. This is just awful, Mulder spends half the episode disappeared down a drain and I wish the other half had gone with him. The actor who plays "the angriest man alive" is one of the worst performances in anything I've ever seen. In fact all the actors aside from David/Mulder and Gillian/Scully are pretty much terrible. Skip it is my advice.
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1/10
Simply, stupid.
noelhostad2 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers
X Files usually does great comedy episodes, they're subtle and charming. And we see Mulder and Scully really enjoying themselves. This was a disaster.

I know there are no intelligent supporting characters in this one but even after they see the doppelgangers both in the same place at the same time they seem to go back to NPC status straight after. If a 4 year old saw 2 women who looked the same they'd just assume 'twins'. You could argue they have some brain fog in the fighting that transpires, but it's too much of a reach. The wrestler especially seems completely incurious about what the hell is happening.
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9/10
Great X files Comedy
nicofreezer10 May 2021
One of the best comedy episode in the show, Entertaining from A to Z, love the Wrestling part, also the first scene with the Fake Mulder and Scully is pure genius. People dont remember why they dislike this one, they should think with their own mind.

Great episode , few show Can do episodes like this.
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1/10
Horrendous episode
wtw-9230215 February 2024
Was almost going to say this is the second worst X Files episode after 'First Person Shooter' but at least that one had the good grace to be so bad I was able to stop watching after 5 minutes. This episode is incredibly bad but kept me believing there would be a turn that would make things make sense, but I got fed up with ten minutes left and stopped watching.

This is an absolute stinker. It's played as a "comedic" episode but it has no charm other than the very first lookalike gag that did make me chuckle. There's nothing I can say that others haven't already. Just don't repeat my mistake and give this episode any chance to settle in.
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9/10
Kathy is so good
regnilhcan14 June 2006
Going back and seeing Kathy in her early work is so fabulous! I absolutely love this episode. Even though the show as a whole was free falling by this point, Kathy made it great. It is hard not to laugh at her though. After seeing how good she was in this episode, it is hard to understand why she is not in more television series or in movies. The funny thing is that I can see the real Kathy even when she is playing another character. Anyway, this episode was very original and fun. By this point in the series, the X Files had become almost a comedy, which was very unfortunate. I highly recommend this episode to all Kathy Griffin fans, but hard core X File fans should stay away.
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10/10
Funniest X-Files Epsiode
gayan-kuruppu9 December 2018
Actually, this episode is awesome, and funny episode. Cobb's appearance on the episode plays the major foot print.
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9/10
Mm. What does it all mean?
bombersflyup31 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Fight Club is about two women, who when come into proximity cause an outbreak of violence to anybody in the vicinity.

While not one of the great episodes, it manages to yield the laughs. With Mulder being sucked down the manhole; the constantly angry father; and Scully unraveling the mystery to the manager. The simplicity of the plot, its weakness.
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9/10
Great X-Files Comedy
padresteve13 December 2023
This has always been one of my favorite episodes of the X-Files. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love all of the paranormal and more traditional Sci-Fi episodes, however, when the writes and characters chose to poke a bit of fun at themselves and the genre it is great. Every truly great and long running Sci-Fi series has done similar things from time to time, and sometimes the more series fans take offense, but humor, irony, and self-parody give added life to the characters and the stories. Stories like this make the other more serious ones more believable and interesting. Kathy Griffen did a great job in this, and the chaos that her characters bring is not unlike the chaos when certain people get together. The fights between the missionaries, agents, and the disasters in the bar and print shop are hilarious, while the looks that she gives herself are to die for. Doppelgängers are a part of life for all of us. People have told me about mine in different places all over the country. Thankfully, I have never met one, even the ones I am told were great looking.
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