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"How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" is the sixth episode of the sixth season of the science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. It premiered on the Fox network on December 13, 1998. It was written and directed by series creator Chris Carter, and featured guest appearances by Edward Asner and Lily Tomlin. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.6, being watched by 17.3 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics, although some reviews criticized the episode for over-simplyfing the characters. The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this Christmas-themed episode, Mulder and Scully stake out a reputed haunted house. The duo soon discover a pair of lovelorn spectres living inside the house who are determined to prove how lonely the holidays can be. Carter based the episode around an idea he and fellow writer Frank Spotnitz had been working on, featuring a haunted house. Featuring the smallest cast of an ''X-Files'' episode—with only four actors—and a single set, "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" was the cheapest sixth season episode. The drastic reduction in the budget, however, put more strain on the main actors. ==Plot== Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) calls Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) on Christmas Eve to investigate a haunted house in Maryland. He explains that during Christmas of 1917, a young couple living in the house agreed to a lover's pact, one killing the other and the remaining one committing suicide. He explains that they could not stand the thought of being alone after the other died and during the afterlife; they wanted to experience it all together. Now, Mulder claims, they want to make couples who venture into their mansion have the same fate. Scully, who is busy wrapping presents, ultimately relents to Mulder's request. Inside the house, the agents experience strange phenomena: the door to the mansion slams shut, creaks are heard in the ceiling from the upper floor, and the shadow in the form of an old woman in a nightgown is seen, among other occurrences. Mulder and Scully reluctantly decide to investigate the floor above them. There, they find a massive library storing two corpses that have the same clothes and hairstyles as the agents, along with two gunshot wounds. They decide to go search other rooms, only to find that every door they walk through is the same library room they first entered. They then decide to split up, hoping to find a way out of the room. While separated, they meet the inhabitants of the mansion—Maurice (Edward Asner) and Lyda (Lily Tomlin). The ghosts soon turn the agents against each other. Scully is told that Mulder will kill her. Scully meets back up with Mulder, only for him to pull out a gun and shoot her. Scully, completely confused, loses consciousness, and the perspective shifts. It is revealed that Lyda is actually the one carrying out these actions and, through her ghostly ability to create apparitions, causes Scully to see Mulder instead. Meanwhile, Mulder comes upon a bleeding Scully lying on the floor. When he leans over her to try and help her, she shoots Mulder in the stomach. Again, the audience sees that it is Lyda pretending to be Scully, manipulating Mulder. Both Mulder and Scully stumble down the stairs in hope of just getting outside to die. They meet up by the door, both crawling on the floor, covered in massive amounts of blood. Scully claims he shot her, while Mulder claims she shot him. Mulder realizes that that could not have happened and stands up. The illusion is broken, and the two leave the house. Maurice and Lyda sit by the fire, holding hands, saying that they almost had the two agents. Meanwhile, at Mulder's apartment, Mulder and Scully exchange gifts, even though they told each other they would not.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「How the Ghosts Stole Christmas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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