Juice4Cheeze

I actually enjoyed the final season of Fringe to a degree ... it just felt rushed to me, was all. The introduction of too much, with not enough focus on some more critical answers and mythology. The expanded Fringe universe, however (comics, the Observer book, Walter's lab notes online for many of the Season 1 episodes, etc) helped to answer some of the questions, but still. I feel like just when Fringe started to show us it's realized potential, it got cut short due to being cancelled, so they rushed a bit of the final season. It still was enjoyable to me, however. Sci-Fi channel had a short 6 show series called The Lost Room several years ago. THAT was excellent, in my opinion. Almost a cross between X-Files and Fringe. I wonder what X-Files could become in the hands of that team of writers, etc. FWIW, I believe you can still watch those epi's of the Lost Room free on Youtube. IMO, the pilot of Fringe (Season 1, epi 1) was interesting ... then they went directly to X-Files for the next two episodes, with the MOTW format and little mythology. Episode 4 of Season 1, quickly brought us back to awesomeness and Fringe's own uniqueness, and in my opinion is one of the best hours of the genre ever produced. Fringe took it's time, however, but the reveals over the various seasons are worth it imo, and make Fringe stand out as a unique entity from X-files, for sure. You can see it's roots, but it goes to other levels. JJ Abrams does seem to brainstorm a project, lay some groundwork, and then move on, leaving it to others ... but with Fringe, I had little complaints, personally.

Oh I gotcha ... yeah I didn't get totally what you meant then. I thought you meant known to the FBI AND the public, not just within the FBI but not the public. However, with the Pearl Harbor reveal that was the season ender (to quote the other poster) ... I don't know how they could "keep it within the FBI" any longer. As far as Mulder coming to terms with being the man instead of trying to stick it to the man, should the series take such turns ... if the show were to take the route of pretty much investigating aliens which are now known within the FBI, but not the general public AND they manage to explain away the pandemic and UFO appearance to where the gen pop eats it up and writes it off, then Mulder would arguably become something even more than "the man" ... he is touching upon Men in Black territory ;-) And I think spun properly, that could be a very interesting angle to take the X-Files. I'm not talking Will Smith or Jesse Ventura style, but in a more serious, humanized type of tone. Which is partially what I was getting at in my earlier posts ... how can X-Files go back to the shadows once things are out in the light ? And this last episode seems to put things into a light that will be hard to spin into something else and not offend the intelligence of the viewer. All in all, I actually liked this series and found it entertaining :) So I'm not one who is making "This sucked and they betrayed us !" noises, nor am I one who was drooling over every second. I was expecting a 7 out of 10 "I'm pleased feeling", and got a 6 out of 10, so I was happy :)

Hmm ... that would be interesting. Basically have aliens be the main focus openly, and have X-Files folk investigate their interference ? Interesting. One problem with that, imo, is that it makes the focus narrowed down, which X-Files didn't really ever do completely. Secondly, one thing X-Files did well was hint at explanations for the mysterious things that happen around us. It did take them to extremes, but still ... it had a plausibility while remaining a mystery, to some degree, from the general public. For something to go "public" in X-Files to where it's more or less accepted by the public, it takes one key aspect away from X-Files that it's always had: the shadows. And I think that's another reason this last episode felt a bit bogus to some fans, because it rushed the process of bringing what was in the shadows out into the open. One moment, it's a hidden conspiracy. The next moment, it's a nation wide pandemic with Tad explaining on national news that it's aliens, and a UFO appears over a bridge in broad view of everyone, etc. If they do stick with aliens being out in the open, there will arguably still need to be a shadow element, something even bigger, more mysterious, still outside of the grasp of Mulder and Scully, etc ... to where the X-Files will still be needed to push the envelope, and not just investigate the new norm of worldwide knowledge about the existence of aliens and alien DNA in the general population. But I'm not sure what element could be added ...

I'm not sure it's totally run it's course. Again, look at a show like Fringe (again, Abrams). Fringe very obviously had X-Files as an inspiration, and used it's format to a degree with much of it's filler and MOTW episodes. However it took the "conspiracy" in a totally different direction, and it worked, imo. I think for X-Files to do the same, the series would have to do something similar ... move beyond government conspiracies, or at least make them more obvious and not focus on them as the big reveal. Move beyond "aliens !" or perhaps have a different take on the alien issue, as Fringe did. As far as the characters ... yes, Miller and Einstein are tiresome and predictable. I could see Mulder still being a crucial figure in such a series, as his beliefs are pliable and I could see refocusing his passions plausible. Scully, interestingly ... I may suggest SHE has run her course. Scully isn't as pliable, imo. Mulder is like a dog with a bone when it comes to chasing things down rabbit holes. But to see Scully go in a completely different direction wouldn't be as plausible, imo. Her continued skepticism may grow too predictable and tiresome. It's not that Scully couldn't have a critical role in a complete X-Files upgrade, but it would be something more of a backburner role I may imagine. Someone like Mulder needs a new partner, one that challenges him to go into undiscovered country, not attempt to ground him into old ones. Miller and Einstein aren't sell-able, and yes, are tired. So I think it's still possible to make it compelling, because at least a few of the characters are still compelling in their own right. And Mulder especially ... Mulder is still waiting to service the front lines of the mysteries of the universe. Scully, was not, and it comes across in her continued demeanor. William could be a great angle, depending on where they go with it, so long as they avoid the classic "good parents, child who turned to the dark side in their absence" theme. I'd be interested to know that as well.

I know, right ? The thing that bothered me about that ... is one of the reasons, arguably, they didn't just have her tell Scully on the phone, "It's me, Monica Reyes," is because they wanted to do a reveal for the audience. However ... the opening credits showed that Anabeth Gish was in the episode. So anyone to whom the reveal of "Hey, Reyes is in this epi ! They brought her back !" would actually mean anything, anyone who was paying attention to the opening credits would have already realized she was going to be in this episode. So the wait on the reveal that it was Monica Reyes fell flat. I knew the moment I heard the voice it was Gish's voice, and anyone who is a fan of the show would probably have recognized her voice as well, let alone the fact that her appearance would be anticipated by the mention of Gish's name in the opening sequences. So that was a wasted reveal, imo. The coyness served no purpose and didn't build up anything.

Hey thanks :) The current Star Wars is a reboot by none other than JJ Abrams. Fringe, which I mentioned earlier as being very much built off of X-Files imo, was a JJ Abrams concept as well. And of course the new Star Trek is a JJ Abrams reboot. I don't think Lucas, Carter, Roddenberry, etc ... could arguably change enough to write something that would seem upgraded, updated, "new", etc. I'm not touting Abrams as the one to do it all, but I am pointing out that he's an example of someone who seems to be able to build upon the themes of those types of individuals, and give it a fresh element and angle that DOES bring it up to speed in a different enough way, imo. Nolan is another example, look what he did with Batman. I think it would be interesting to see someone else take the helm of X-Files ... but utilize the same crew as much as possible. I would add, one of the reasons we watched X-Files differently back then, is because conspiracies were hiding behind every corner, and many of them were verified fact. In some ways, the X-Files was a source of information ... it fed off this idea that conspiracies were all around us, just beyond our grasp while pulling strings behind our backs. The information age of the internet, and the common place nature of conspiracies now, have somewhat diminished our awe and wonder at such things. What lies in Area 51 ? We have better things to do, and plus, there are dozens of documentaries on it. Aliens ? Sure, pick your version: you want someone with tall hair telling you about them, or a former astronaut ? It's too common place and at our finger tips. However it doesn't mean they don't still exist ... Carter still treated them like they were "mysterious" in this short series, the stuff of crackpots ... they no longer are. I think the crux of X-Files is conspiracy, not aliens ... they need to play off conspiracy differently to have a fresh reboot. Dig at what may still cause that wonder in a person over the conspiracies around them. And my point was that obviously some people's attempts to go with the times, fall flat and seems more like a throwback. As far as Rowling, I was simply mentioning her as an example of someone who creates complex mythos arc stories, she hasn't attempted any "reboots" yet of anything, so to say she does or doesn't keep up with the times wasn't something I was saying about her specifically.

Lucas, Carter, Rowling ... I think so much is expected of individuals who build mythos stories like they do, because they build them with forward thinking in mind. The future in space, or the possibilities of magical worlds in current parallel realities, or massive conspiracies to where the future is planned for an ever-evolving present. But these people are also a product of their current time, and when others expect them years later to be able to produce the same effect with their story telling ... it seems to fall flat. They can only see so far ahead, only dream so far ahead, and their "new" stuff, years later, quickly feels like an old record. Something resembling their greatest hits. I think that's what this current X-Files "reboot" or "event" felt like: a homage to CC and company's greatest hits ... at times ... while still trying to reel in ratings for business. If you were expecting CC to suddenly take the old and reinvent something entirely new, that had more cohesion than the previous X-Files, and was still forward thinking in it's plausibility ... I think you would be disappointed. Because not many creators of stories like this are often able to do such things. Since CC did X-Files ... alien conspiracies are common place memes now. It's now "History Channel" stuff. Shadowy cabals are the subject of common hip-hop songs. Guys like Jesse Ventura, Nick Pope, etc, actually exist in the public eye and were in government, and haven't been assassinated yet. For CC to take the X-Files and make them more relevant to today, to where they have the same effect on the viewer, he would have to reinvent HIMSELF I would think. A more up-to-date reboot of something along the X-Files, was Fringe, imo. It had similar themes which it took in vastly different directions. I think if X-Files were to survive in a full reboot, and make die-hard fans happy as well as bringing in new ones while still remaining true to it's origins ... it needs to add some elements to it which it's been missing. Chief among those, is thought out and cohesive continuity. From here on out. Second, is some element it never had in the originals, or, an element it only hinted at from time to time. Like time travel (which it did directly touch upon).

It may be a bit of a stretch, but I may assume that William is actually in control of that UFO in the final scene, in some fashion. Perhaps he's even in it, locating Mulder in order to save him. CSM probably knows about William, and had a hand in helping to shape Williams life thus far in order to make use of him for the coming scenario we see play out in the finale, though he may not know William is choosing to save his own father, etc.