Sunshine Days

"Sunshine Days"
The X-Files episode
Oliver Martin manages to telekinetically turn his house into an outdoor landscape. The shot required elaborate effects and green-screening.
Episode no.	Season 9 Episode 18
Directed by	Vince Gilligan
Written by	Vince Gilligan
Production code	9ABX18
Original air date	May 12, 2002
Running time	44 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
David Faustino as Mike Daley Michael Emerson as Oliver Martin John Aylward as John Rietz Tyson Turrou as Blake McCormick Stephen W. Bridgewater as Henry Jacocks Arlene Pileggi as Arlene Damon Kaylor as Orderly Eric Don as Young Anthony Fogelman Robbie Troy as "Carol Brady" Keith Forster as "Mike Brady" Marice Lynn Rossas "Alice" Danielle Savre as "Marcia Brady" Nick Campisano as "Greg Brady" Stephanie M. Herrera as "Jan Brady" Nolan Irwin as "Peter Brady" Sharayah Montgomery as "Cindy Brady" Jack Bensinger as "Bobby Brady"
Episode chronology
← Previous "Release" Next → "The Truth"
List of The X-Files episodes

"Sunshine Days" is the eighteenth and penultimate episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, and the series' 200th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network on May 12, 2002. The entry was written and directed by executive producer Vince Gilligan. The episode is a "monster-of-the-week" episode, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the mythology, or overarching fictional history, of The X-Files. "Sunshine Days" earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.2, was viewed by 6.5 million households, and 10.4 million viewers in its initial broadcast. It received mixed reviews from television critics.

The show centers on FBI special agents who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). In this episode, Doggett, Reyes, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and Scully stumble on to a bizarre murder case where the main suspect is a man with an unusual obsession for The Brady Bunch. Despite their initial differences—both in investigative style and love of The Brady Bunch—the four of them soon learn that the man's telekinetic ability is the ultimate, undeniable proof of an X-File.

The episode marked Gilligan's second directorial effort, after season seven's "Je Souhaite". The Brady Bunch house set featured in the episode was completely rebuilt. According to Anderson, people came "from all over Los Angeles" to get their pictures taken on the set. In addition, it contained several elaborate effects. "Sunshine Days" was the final "monster-of-the-week" entry in the series; the series finale, "The Truth" would deal with the series' overarching alien colonization mythology.