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I do think the swooning tends to overwhelm the critical discussion. I can't say I'm guiltless on that front. I have some major issues with that episode, but it's hard not to be sucked in by the flirtiness of that scene.

That's not an unpopular opinion, I don't think. I have read (and perhaps made) many rants over the years about that line. And also the line, "Getting into the heart of a global conspiracy. Your obscenely overdue triple-X bill. Oh, I... I'm sorry, Scully. Those last two problems are mine, not yours." Dismissing the global conspiracy issue as being his problem and not hers? I mean...who was the one who was abducted, you dick? Yeah, I have some issues with the writing of that scene.

The thing is, once you release the whole thing in one go you lose the week-to-week vibe. Because sure, some people will still watch week-to-week, but lots of people will already have watched and started talking about the whole thing. I've watched some shows that were released all at once, and the viewing experience can be great, but the conversation just isn't as good, in my experience. I agree.

Another reason I think William should be kept out of it altogether. The thing is, a lot of really hardcore fans didn't watch through the end of the series and just would prefer to ignore that seasons 8 and 9 (and in some cases even before that) didn't exist. Choosing to stop watching wasn't about being less passionate but, I think, about deciding that it was too painful to watch a show that was no longer what they'd fallen in love with. I think the revival's a little different because a)we already know it's only 6 episodes, b)we know it's Mulder and Scully, not some Scully/otherpeople nonsense, and c)there's a strong sense of nostalgia now, that couldn't exist while the show was still running. I think the fans who quit when the show ceased to be what it had ocne been are very much interested in checking out the revival, but if it's filled with mythology stuff that was introduced in the last few seasons those people will check out. So just leave that stuff out of it, is my solution. It never made any sense anyway. (This is also a reason why I think the absence of Doggett and Reyes is an entirely positive thing.) I really hope they don't do that. It might get more viewers that way--I don't really know--but just from the perspective of enjoying it as a fandom I think week-by-week is so much better. Getting to discuss (and, perhaps, flail) after each episode here and various other online places is so much more enjoyable than having it all come out in one batch so people watch at different times and also the discussion isn't naturally broken up episode-by-episode. And having it stretch over six weeks means there's a much longer stretch of time during which there's new content to talk about and also new content to look forward to. I mean, if it all uniformly sucks then maybe having it all dump at once would be better. But I'm slightly more optimistic than that and want it to be more of a communal experience.

I think that would be worse in a way. Just more drama. So it's damned if we do, damned if we don't. I don't understand how it would be more drama for him to be mentioned--this would basically be one scene at the most, and likely just a few lines within one scene--than for him to actually appear on the show. I still would prefer for him just not to come up in any way. But if the writers feel that he just cannot be ignored, I think a mention would accomplish that with minimal drama without taking up time that could be used elsewhere.

That's a really cool ring, Glory! I would definitely not want an engagement ring, and I think if I were to the point of discussing marriage with someone I would just make that clear. I don't know if it's here that we discussed things like proposals, but I'm also very opposed to the concept of a surprise proposal (for me...others can of course do as they please) so before any "official" proposal happened, if it were to happen, I know I would have discussed marriage and various details surrounding it with the person and my desire not to have an engagement ring is something I'd bring up in that context. When my sister got engaged, there was never any official proposal--they just started planning the wedding, which is the point at which I considered them engaged though to be honest I'm not sure they ever used that word--and at least for a time I know her fiancé did intend to get her a ring (a hand-me-down from family) but for whatever reason it just never happened. So they just have wedding rings. Particularly cool ones, in my opinion. And my friends who got married in the fall, they have rings that they wore through their engagement, but those are also the rings they exchanged in the ceremony. So they're wedding rings now, but I guess before the wedding they were engagement rings?

I didn't watch season 9, so I really don't know much about the way the William plotline went down except that he was given to be adopted by another family in order to protect him (right?). Anyway, I could imagine him coming up in the revival in the context of maybe someone raising the possibility of contacting him...and then Mulder and Scully both being vehemently opposed and leaving him just where he is without any contact. Would that make any sense given what happened in season 9? At any rate, that way he would be mentioned without ever being seen and without becoming involved in the whole mythology.

I give to panhandlers. I live in a suburb so don't encounter them all that often these days, though I used to live and work in a city where I saw them all the time, and I'd give to some people sometimes and sometimes just pass by. Still do that when I'm in the city, though these days it's not unusual for me to have literally zero cash on hand. And if there's a panhandler at an intersection it's not unusual for me to roll down my window and give them a little money, particularly if it's a bitterly cold day. Maybe the meager amount of cash they get from me helps them get through the day and maybe it doesn't--hell, maybe they really need it and maybe they don't--but it's not going to make a difference in my life, so I sometimes toss it their way. I also give to organizations that help people in need, so for me it's not an either or.

a) I agree it's better in season 4. I just also think it's great in season 5. b) I would argue you've chosen a somewhat atypical look with that season 5 cap. Here are some other Scully hair looks from season 5: Detour: Kitsunegari: Kill Switch: Bad Blood: Patient X: c) I'm not actually trying to change your mind, but looking through pictures of Scully is always good fun. ;)

I could definitely see considering only the Vancouver years to be classic XF. I think there's a definite shift that happened after moving to LA, if only in general atmosphere (perhaps more dramatically in season 6 than season 7, actually). Even though I love a lot of season 6 and some of season 7 I wouldn't argue much with someone who claims they don't qualify as classic XF.

In the broadest sense, "classic" X-Files would be Mulder and Scully investigating aliens/paranormal/etc. Some people probably have an even more limited definition of what qualifies as "classic"--there are those who I think would probably say that leaving Vancouver was a significant enough change that it ceased to be "classic" XF anymore. But certainly Mulder/Scully I think is the defining element of the show, so remove one or both of those and you're way out of "classic" range. ETA: See? :)

Exactly.

*gasp* I love season 5 Scully hair!

I own those too! Also the grey alien one.

Re:bagging, I meant to mention before, but some places have a system in place designed so everyone bags their own groceries but they can do it while the next customer's food is being scanned. I've definitely seen it in a couple of the big supermarkets in Europe and I think I might have seen it once somewhere in the midwest (possibly a Meijer?) but I might be remembering that wrong. The way it works is that the bagging area has a divider down the middle and a bar that flips so that when one person's food is being scanned the items go to one side of the area and when the next person's food is scanned the bar flips so their food goes to the other side and the first person can continue bagging their own items. Here's a picture:

I always bring my own bags and I just grab them out of the cart before the cashier starts checking (or ask the cashier to hand them to me if I forget to do that), walk to the end, and bag my own stuff while the cashier scans. I'm certainly not alone in doing that--I see other people do it frequently. Again it's not an issue for me since I always bring my own bags, but most if not all of the places I shop have bags accessible because the bagger stands at the end of the checkout counter (not behind a counter) so in the absence of a bagger I can just go stand right where they ordinarily would. If I had concerns with my food actually being dented and squished due to poor bagging I might step in, but generally that's not an issue for me. The poor bagging that I experience all the time just has to do with not putting items in bags in a way that a)as much can fit as possible, and b)the bag can actually stand up on its own. Some baggers do a great job but a lot just kind of pile things in--usually at least following the logic that heavy/solid things should go on the bottom and light/soft things on top--and then I end up with bags that, when I put them in the car, fall over and stuff rolls out. And 5 or 6 bags being used when everything would have fit easily in 3 or 4. I frequently repack the bags when I get to my car.

Yeah, no kidding. Sometimes I want to interfere because they're doing a particularly crappy job, but I never do because I think that would be rude.

Whenever possible I avoid doing things like grocery shopping if I'm in any kind of a hurry so I tend to be pretty patient when things take a little longer than expected for whatever reason, but I too get...maybe not annoyed but just plain old puzzled when people stand there rather than bagging their groceries. I mostly see this at Trader Joe's because it's the one grocery store I shop at that doesn't have designated baggers. The cashiers do the bagging, and sometimes a cashier will put the items into bags as they go, but most often what I see them do is just scan all the items and leave them on the counter and then bag afterward. It would drive me absolutely crazy to stand there while my items accumulate when I have perfectly functional hands that I can use to do the bagging so I find myself shocked at the number of people who just stand and wait. They have literally nothing else to do at that time (if they were wrangling kids I'd totally get it!) so why not bag the groceries just to cut the boredom if nothing else? Having said that, however, if I had my way I would always bag my own groceries because that way I could do it the way I like. And I understand that not everybody is as particular about the process as I am, so whereas I see the checkout lane with no bagger as a wonderful opportunity for me to do my own bagging I guess not everybody sees it that way. And again...I'm not in a hurry in these situations, so the fact that I have to wait a bit longer because the person in front of me didn't bag their own groceries is not really a big deal and I'm generally pretty calm about it, but I just don't get it.

The addition of Yvette Monreal strikes me as terrible casting news. She's very attractive, but she is a horrible actress if her work on Faking It is anything to go by. Replacing Stephen Collins with Bruce Davison is a great move, though.

I only go to one or two movies a year, but I already have plans to see Pitch Perfect 2 with friends (preceded by a viewing of Pitch Perfect) so I selected that one in the poll.

Yeah, I've long thought one of the oddest things about the sexlessness of the Mulder/Scully relationship and Mulder's and Scully's lives outside of that relationship is that both Duchovny and Anderson are such openly sexual people. They are no shrinking violets, those two, when it comes to sex. Yeah, that's what it seems like to me.

If there isn't a spot next to a curb (or pillar in a garage) available for me to park in, I generally will park next to another (well-parked) car rather than somewhere with empty spots on either side. Between two well-parked cars is even better. I think it reduces the chance of some horrible/careless parker pulling in next to me at least slightly. I want to be next to another person who is as careful as I am.

I hope that with six episodes available they'll have one funny one.

This is one theme song that I purchased and have in my iTunes. I love it. But I hadn't listened to it in ages, so I thank you for reminding me. (Listening to it right now.)

Yeah...I have a lot more sympathy for Tony than that. It's not that he wasn't at all selfish and certainly he knew he was taking a risk, but living in a time and place where it was illegal for him to pursue a life that would be fulfilling and happy for him made his options pretty limited and I can see how he could feel a sense of desperation that could lead to risky behavior. Yes, he could just be alone for his whole life, but the fact that he tried to make a life for himself in the way that society taught him was the right way to do it and ultimately found it wasn't enough doesn't make him totally unsympathetic in my opinion. Sure, he probably knew he was attracted to men before he got married, but that doesn't mean that he'd accepted that fact. It doesn't mean that he knew he couldn't be happy in a hetero marriage. It's not like he probably got the impression from anyone ever that just accepting that he's gay was an okay way to go. I'm sure he felt he needed to fight against his nature, and marrying a woman was the way to do it.