Favorite and Least Favorite Seasons and Episodes

[amensisterfriend]

How would you guys rank the seasons from your favorite to least favorite? What are your all-time favorite episodes? Have any seasons/episodes improved for you with the passage of time and repeated viewings? Which ones still make you cringe?! This is the place to rank and discuss! 

[Taryn74]

I'll just tackle ranking the seasons for now --

 

1)  Season 6.  This is just the season, IMO, where everything came together and made something breathtaking.  There are a few not-great eps in it, but as a whole it is just. so. good.  Even if they weren't physically intimate yet (and really, at this point it doesn't really matter if they were or not) I think M/S had hit that point where they knew there wasn't "someone else" for either of them, and they were both okay with that.  And that is a beautiful thing to me.  S6 has some of my very favorite episodes of the entire series (Tithonus, Monday, Dreamland, Rain King, HTGSC).

 

2, 3)  Season 7 and Season 5.  I'm putting these two together because I regularly flip-flop back and forth on which one I love more.  S7 had a couple of eps that were IMO just offensively bad (FPS and FC) but overall most of the eps are good, solid eps.  I love X-Cops more every time I watch it, and that is no lie.  Plus S7 feels more "important" to me somehow, if that makes any sense.  I freaking LOVE the resolution to the Samantha storyline (I should head back to the UO thread for that one, heh) and I don't know, to me S7 just has a weighty feel to it that the earlier seasons don't have.  S5 has some eps that are very, very good....but it also has some that are pretty crappy, and overall I just don't love it quite as much.

 

4)  Season 4.  Some of the eps are almost flawlessly good, but some are so boring they almost put me to sleep.  Very hit-and-miss season, so it doesn't rank up there quite as high for me.

 

5, 6, 7)  Seasons 3, 2, 8.  In that order.  I think.  Again, I flip-flop on these.  I don't hate William or the baby storyline, so I actually enjoy most of 8.  Plus I love Doggett.  I think S3 overall has more solid eps than S2, but there are some really great ones in S2.

 

8)  Season 1.  It was a good start to a great show, but IMO the only truly exceptional episodes are Beyond the Sea and Eve.  (Well, the Pilot, but that's for sentimental reasons.)  I know a lot of people really rank Ice up there, but it's one that just doesn't work for me for some reason.

 

9)  Season 9.  Aside from William, because that was a damn good episode, and The Truth because we finally got Mulder back for real, I can live without most of S9.  And this is from someone who genuinely likes Doggett and came to have a weird fondness for Monica.  I just *can't* with S9 for the most part.

[amensisterfriend]

I loved reading these so much! I'm still sorting out my own thoughts as to how I'd rank each season season since---as you well know, being the friend who hooked me on this series---I'm only on my second viewing :) I do know that I share your fondness for those middle-to-late seasons (S5-S7), which came as a happy surprise since before getting into the show I recall reading in a few different places before watching that the series wasn't worth watching past S4/S5. I also agree about ranking S9 at the bottom, but I suspect we're not alone in that one :) 

 

I also know that I love S2 more than you do---I just have this weird attachment to that season---and like S4 less than you and most fans do. And:

 

I love X-Cops more every time I watch it, and that is no lie

 

I could watch this episode on constant loop! Expect it to pop up on my list of favorite episodes when I'm finally able to narrow mine down :) 

[Taryn74]

I could watch [X-Cops] on constant loop!

 

 

I know, right?  At first I thought I enjoyed it so much because it was such a clever take on a different TV show that I have a nostalgic fondness for (hubby and I used to watch Cops a lot when we were in high school/college) but the more I watch it, the more I love it as a study of M/S and their evolving relationship with each other.  I think it's pretty freaking awesome, actually.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Since I only watched from s3... working on 1 and 2 when I can XD.

 

1 Season 6 -- Too many cute moments between M & S! Arcadia and The Unnatural being among my favorites.

2 Season 7 -- Teh flirting! Those two were definitely going at it like rabbits by then ;). NO doubt about it. Je Souhaite and Requiem among my favorites there.

3 Season 4 -- For Home. That episode scared the shit out of me back in the day and is very well shot and directed.

4 Season 9 -- I didn't mind this season tbh. Things were getting back on track imo. And the Truth kiss, HOT DAMN >:)! That kiss was just SO *GUH* worthy... I hope that they get more of THAT in the new episodes! There is just NO excuse now ;).

5 Season 5 -- M & S were really starting to hit their stride in this season.

6 Season 3 -- Since I don't remember all that much of it :(. Onto a re watch for it as well!

7 Season 8 -- Whiny Scully! Hated it! Loved some episodes, but just the fact she was SO sad a lot of the time, pregnancy aside, really brought this season down. Loved Empedocles and Existance though.

[Bastet]

How would you guys rank the seasons from your favorite to least favorite?

 

I already ranked the episodes in the Elimination Game thread, so I'll just speak to seasons here.  My answer is slightly different every time I give it.  Based on my mood right now:

 

1. Season Three 

2. Season Four

    Season Two

4. Season One

5. Season Five

6. Season Six

7. Season Seven

8. Season Eight

9. Season Nine

 

Those last two I'm just guessing on; I haven't watched them.  Seasons two and four are tied; season two is more consistently enjoyable, but season four - despite having more episodes I dislike or am not interested in - has episodes I absolutely love.  So it's not really that I love season four, it's that I love Never Again, Leonard Betts and Memento Mori, really like Elegy and Unruhe, and worship at the altar of Small Potatoes.

 

When I say my list changes, I really mean how the first four seasons are ranked, and maybe whether five or six comes next after those.  Season five is when I was no longer in love with the show; I still watched it regularly and generally enjoyed it, but I was nowhere near as into it as I had been previously.  And then it was just a gradual decline in interest - with some standout episodes along the way - until I drifted away for good some time in season seven.

[amensisterfriend]

and worship at the altar of Small Potatoes.

 

Same here! This one is definitely in my top 10...which, granted, I've probably already said about more than 10 episodes :) 

[Blandings]

I've spent too much time this afternoon trying to figure out how I'd rank the seasons in order from favorite to least favorite. Right now I would say S3, S2, S5, S6, S4, S7, S9, S8, S1, S10. I'm about to re-watch, so I'm sure I'll be back to change this list as I make my way through the series. Usually whichever season I'm currently viewing suddenly feels like my favorite, at least with S2-S7.  

[Blandings]

Naming favorite episodes is even harder. I assume we can't list 50 episodes here, but that's about how many favorites I have! I just tried looking at the episode list and picking the five I would take with me to a desert island and came up with One Breath, Humbug, Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, Jose Chung, Bad Blood. It actually hurts to leave so many off the list. 

[AntiBeeSpray]

On 6/2/2015 at 4:23 PM, AntiBeeSpray said:

Since I only watched from s3... working on 1 and 2 when I can XD.

 

1 Season 6 -- Too many cute moments between M & S! Arcadia and The Unnatural being among my favorites.

2 Season 7 -- Teh flirting! Those two were definitely going at it like rabbits by then ;). NO doubt about it. Je Souhaite and Requiem among my favorites there.

3 Season 4 -- For Home. That episode scared the shit out of me back in the day and is very well shot and directed.

4 Season 9 -- I didn't mind this season tbh. Things were getting back on track imo. And the Truth kiss, HOT DAMN >:)! That kiss was just SO *GUH* worthy... I hope that they get more of THAT in the new episodes! There is just NO excuse now ;).

5 Season 5 -- M & S were really starting to hit their stride in this season.

6 Season 3 -- Since I don't remember all that much of it :(. Onto a re watch for it as well!

7 Season 8 -- Whiny Scully! Hated it! Loved some episodes, but just the fact she was SO sad a lot of the time, pregnancy aside, really brought this season down. Loved Empedocles and Existance though.

Update: Season 10 is now my least favorite. The writing was just bad from CC. Everyone else at least tried. CC... apparently did not.

This gif sums it up for me.

[festivus]

Season 10 was mostly forgettable to downright awful with one lovely episode (weremonster). 

[AntiBeeSpray]

44 minutes ago, festivus said:

Season 10 was mostly forgettable to downright awful with one lovely episode (weremonster). 

Yea it was. Only it was two lovely episodes (Home Again and Were-Monster), one ok one (Founder's Mutation) for me and three I rather forget (CC's that is).

[festivus]

Honestly the rest of the episodes were mostly forgettable for me, I think I could take my favorite moments from them and just make one episode. So that would make two good episodes in season 10. Two! Yeah most of that episode would be Home Again.

[AntiBeeSpray]

18 hours ago, festivus said:

Honestly the rest of the episodes were mostly forgettable for me, I think I could take my favorite moments from them and just make one episode. So that would make two good episodes in season 10. Two! Yeah most of that episode would be Home Again.

Glen did a good job capturing the essence of M & S. I think James tried but it felt off, chemistry wise. But writing wise it was way better than what CC did. Darin got their essence well and respected them same as his brother did. James did a good job with the William dream sequences.

[kokapetl]

The episode with Mulder and Scully investigating two Kathy Griffins for whatever reason was a pretty bad "bright and sunny California" post relocation episode. 

[AntiBeeSpray]

9 minutes ago, Kokapetl said:

The episode with Mulder and Scully investigating two Kathy Griffins for whatever reason was a pretty bad "bright and sunny California" post relocation episode. 

I find Babylon to be worse. At least parts of that episode were good by comparison to just one part of Babylon.

[GreenScreenFX]

First Person Shooter... worst episode EVER!

[AntiBeeSpray]

11 hours ago, GreenScreenFX said:

First Person Shooter... worst episode EVER!

Definitely. Very sexist. Can't even watch that one again.

[wanderingstar]

Favorite seasons: 4 and 5. They both had excellent standalones (Unruhe, Paper Hearts, Bad Blood, Folie a Deux) memorable/effective mythology episodes (Patient X/The Red and the Black) is still a favorite of mine.

For favorite episodes - the usual fare: Anasazi, Memento Mori, Bad Blood, Triangle, Monday. From later seasons, I also love Roadrunners and The Gift.

Least favorite seasons would be 7, 9 and 10. Seasons 7 and 9 just lacked energy. I can't remember most episodes from those seasons. Season 10 was just a mess.

Badlaa used to be my least favorite episode until season 10's Babylon came along. That episode was stupid beyond belief, and not to mention problematic in its portrayal of Muslims.

[AntiBeeSpray]

16 minutes ago, Gillian Rosh said:

Favorite seasons: 4 and 5. They both had excellent standalones (Unruhe, Paper Hearts, Bad Blood, Folie a Deux) memorable/effective mythology episodes (Patient X/The Red and the Black) is still a favorite of mine.

For favorite episodes - the usual fare: Anasazi, Memento Mori, Bad Blood, Triangle, Monday. From later seasons, I also love Roadrunners and The Gift.

Least favorite seasons would be 7, 9 and 10. Seasons 7 and 9 just lacked energy. I can't remember most episodes from those seasons. Season 10 was just a mess.

Badlaa used to be my least favorite episode until season 10's Babylon came along. That episode was stupid beyond belief, and not to mention problematic in its portrayal of Muslims.

How did 7 lack energy? I love that season. The flirting between M & S was prime time. And 9 had its good moments. Didn't mind Improbable. But I agree about season 10 being a mess.

FPS used to be my least favorite, now all of CC's efforts in season 10 pretty much eclipse it. Word. I understand what he was trying to do, but boy... was it bad. Both in the portrayal of Muslims, Texans and up to a point, M & S. The first office scene was fine but the end scene with them felt like the exact opposite. Just all sorts of forced. Hated it.

[amensisterfriend]

Quote

Seasons 7 and 9 just lacked energy.

I haven't rewatched (clearly I have to rectify that!), but the funny thing is that I remember thinking S7, while not perfect, had more energy than any other season! I felt like Mulder and Scully were more smiley, animated etc., and the storytelling and overall tone just seemed livelier to me somehow. 

[AntiBeeSpray]

14 hours ago, amensisterfriend said:

I haven't rewatched (clearly I have to rectify that!), but the funny thing is that I remember thinking S7, while not perfect, had more energy than any other season! I felt like Mulder and Scully were more smiley, animated etc., and the storytelling and overall tone just seemed livelier to me somehow. 

All of that. It was a breath of fresh air. I'd take that over what we got from CC in s10. It was flat, forced at times and stale. I can't explain what happened in s10, it's like they didn't want it. Don't kill me, it was just a vibe I got from it at times (behind the scenes aside -- that was the exact opposite of what we got on screen).

[joelene]

I'm just gonna go ahead and admit defeat and say that Badlaa is one of my favorite episodes. I mean considering how many times I've watched that freakshow...

[festivus]

Babylon was just bad. I watched all the season 10 episodes twice (weremonster three times) but I only watched Babylon once. 

 

When I watched the Kathy Griffin episode back in the day I remember thinking it was fine but I like Kathy Griffin. But when I watched it this time in my rewatch I thought it was terrible. Never need to watch that one again. I also didn't think FPS was that bad even though the video game thing was OOC for Mulder. I think I just like video game episodes of tv shows. I loved the ones they did on Community.

[AntiBeeSpray]

59 minutes ago, festivus said:

Babylon was just bad. I watched all the season 10 episodes twice (weremonster three times) but I only watched Babylon once. 

 

When I watched the Kathy Griffin episode back in the day I remember thinking it was fine but I like Kathy Griffin. But when I watched it this time in my rewatch I thought it was terrible. Never need to watch that one again. I also didn't think FPS was that bad even though the video game thing was OOC for Mulder. I think I just like video game episodes of tv shows. I loved the ones they did on Community.

Ah I haven't watched s10 more than once so far.

 

I didn't mind that episode. But FPS... outside of a few moments, I'll NEVER watch that one again. It was sexist and off putting. I love video games myself and I probably wouldn't have minded it if it weren't for the tone of the episode itself.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, festivus said:

weremonster three times

That's it??

That's the only episode from S10 I've re-watched (I bought the Blu-Ray for that episode and the blooper reel, basically), and I almost have it memorized.  I saw that (and the S10 premiere) at a screening, and could barely contain myself waiting for it to air so I could see it again.  That one became an instant favorite for me.  Nothing will ever top Bad Blood, Small Potatoes is still second, and I've not yet contemplated where exactly it sits in my ranking, but it's top ten for sure. 

[janestclair]

Babylon was terrible.  It's the only episode from S10 that didn't get at least one rewatch from me. Weremonster I've seen quite a bit, but don't have it memorized.  On the whole, I'm glad S10 happened, if only for that episode and Home Again.  

Babylon is still nowhere near as terrible as First Person Shooter or Fight Club which is the worst thing ever, but still terrible. What the hell where they thinking?  It's definitely in the top 5 least favorites, rounded out by Space and Hell Money. It pushed the butt genie off of that list, which is really something. 

[AntiBeeSpray]

1 hour ago, janestclair said:

Babylon was terrible.  It's the only episode from S10 that didn't get at least one rewatch from me. Weremonster I've seen quite a bit, but don't have it memorized.  On the whole, I'm glad S10 happened, if only for that episode and Home Again.  

Babylon is still nowhere near as terrible as First Person Shooter or Fight Club which is the worst thing ever, but still terrible. What the hell where they thinking?  It's definitely in the top 5 least favorites, rounded out by Space and Hell Money. It pushed the butt genie off of that list, which is really something. 

Yep. I like Were-Monster and Home Again, didn't mind Founder's Mutation either.

Disagree on that. At least even in FPS and Fight Club, Mulder and Scully seemed like themselves there, not forced, minus one scene in Babylon (the office one that took place early on). I'd even consider Space to be better since at least the bantering and interaction was good.

[Bastet]

I liked Mulder and Scully in season ten, and think the season on average was good (Babylon was pretty awful as I recall, the Weremonster episode was utterly fantabulous, the mytharc bookends were okay with good moments, and the remaining two MOTWs were good with great moments, so -- good on average).  It's hard to slot it into my ranking of seasons, though; it's so short, and the first six have such high nostalgia factors for me that it's hard to slide season ten in there anywhere.  I could probably put it before season seven, though, or at least equal with it.

I'd have to watch Babylon again to see if it would rank among my five or ten least-favorite episodes, but I have no real desire to do that.  First Person Shooter is definitely still below it!  Fight Club, too.

[wanderingstar]

Quote

Yep. I like Were-Monster and Home Again, didn't mind Founder's Mutation either.

Those are probably the 3 episodes I liked best from season 10. The CC-penned episodes were just...full of all the worst CC excesses.

Re season 7, I just re-watched it a couple months ago and other than X-Cops, Je Souhaite and Requiem. I found it pretty underwhelming. 

[AntiBeeSpray]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

I liked Mulder and Scully in season ten, and think the season on average was good (Babylon was pretty awful as I recall, the Weremonster episode was utterly fantabulous, the mytharc bookends were okay with good moments, and the remaining two MOTWs were good with great moments, so -- good on average).  It's hard to slot it into my ranking of seasons, though; it's so short, and the first six have such high nostalgia factors for me that it's hard to slide season ten in there anywhere.  I could probably put it before season seven, though, or at least equal with it.

I'd have to watch Babylon again to see if it would rank among my five or ten least-favorite episodes, but I have no real desire to do that.  First Person Shooter is definitely still below it!  Fight Club, too.

Ah. Well at least I laughed a bit more during FPS, but it's another episode I'm not able to watch again. Fight Club maybe. Since Scully couldn't believe that it was their clones fighting lol. I just thought it was stupid silliness by comparison. Babylon, I really didn't like, apart from one scene. The ending made me cringe, it's one reason among others (stupid dance sequence, domination sequence, waste of TLG, lame jokes, etc.) why I can't watch that episode again.

It's like CC wants to reset it back to a certain point in time and it doesn't work. It just comes across way wrong. Combine it with the music and the dialogue and I just want to cringe all over again. I got nothing from it. Apart from laughing when it first came out in a preview. That's not a good thing. I wasn't laughing with the scene, I was laughing at it. Only way I could even put up with it is to view it in a way some other fans I've read about have said that they thought about it. That it was a wedding (walking down an 'aisle', both wearing white). As silly as that seems, what the heck, we have nothing to lose.

 

22 minutes ago, Gillian Rosh said:

Those are probably the 3 episodes I liked best from season 10. The CC-penned episodes were just...full of all the worst CC excesses.

Re season 7, I just re-watched it a couple months ago and other than X-Cops, Je Souhaite and Requiem. I found it pretty underwhelming. 

Exactly. Them, the bts and the gag reel were the only reasons why I even bother to get a copy of s10 on dvd. It was all of his usual stuff, from the dialogue to the characterizations, only far worse than usual.

Ah. Well I'd probably find it better than what CC delivered this time. Almost any episode, even his old ones would beat these out.

[festivus]

Was Babylon the one where they did the Lumineers song? Whenever I hear that song now I think about Mulder and Scully so if it was that episode then that was the only good thing about it for me.

[AntiBeeSpray]

5 minutes ago, festivus said:

Was Babylon the one where they did the Lumineers song? Whenever I hear that song now I think about Mulder and Scully so if it was that episode then that was the only good thing about it for me.

Yep and it's the opposite for me. I really don't like it. CC made me not like that song at all. Just too saccharine. Glad that you were able to like it though. It just kind of threw the ending off. Mother love and sweetheart... no. It just clashes. Like it was put there to try to satiate shippers. It didn't work for me. Given that they're just friends, if even that. It feels more like a slap in the face and I'm tired of the games.

The break up was handled badly so any kind of reconciliation didn't mean a damn thing. CC just tried to get his precious 'tension and drama' back and it didn't work. It showed in the final product.

I've seen other shows that handle keeping 'tension and drama' in a show better without having to resort to cheap tropes.

[festivus]

I honestly don't remember that much about the episode (except not liking it much) but I do like that the song reminds me of Mulder and Scully now. I think I mentioned once in the song thread that I've never picked out a song for a fictional couple before so I do like it that now I think of them. Since then I've actually found another song I think of as my M/S song. So now I have two.

Edited January 4, 2017 by festivus

[AntiBeeSpray]

16 minutes ago, festivus said:

I honestly don't remember that much about the episode (except not liking it much) but I do like that the song reminds me of Mulder and Scully now. I think I mentioned once in the song thread that I've never picked out a song for a fictional couple before so I do like it that now I think of them. Since then I've actually found another song I think of as my M/S song. So now I have two.

I don't either, outside of how the scenes affected me for the most part. That song just kind of seems like a commercial. It doesn't really fit them in my opinion. Cool.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

20 hours ago, Bastet said:

I liked Mulder and Scully in season ten, and think the season on average was good (Babylon was pretty awful as I recall, the Weremonster episode was utterly fantabulous, the mytharc bookends were okay with good moments, and the remaining two MOTWs were good with great moments, so -- good on average).  It's hard to slot it into my ranking of seasons, though; it's so short, and the first six have such high nostalgia factors for me that it's hard to slide season ten in there anywhere.  I could probably put it before season seven, though, or at least equal with it.

I'd have to watch Babylon again to see if it would rank among my five or ten least-favorite episodes, but I have no real desire to do that.  First Person Shooter is definitely still below it!  Fight Club, too.

This is basically how I feel about season 10. The revisionist history from critics, some in the media, etc. that it was the worst season ever rankles me quite a bit.  Babylon was terrible (though worse than Alpha, my absolutely most-hated episode or FPS or FC? No, it was not worse than those) but Were-Monster was great, Home Again was great, Founders Mutation was good, My Struggle II was (in my opinion) decent with a suspenseful ending, and My Struggle I was weak but whatever. 

I just did a rewatch, and as mentioned, discovered I truly hate Alpha, it is my least favorite episode of all time.  Bad characterization, a sanctimonious protagonist (that isn't Mulder), a nonsensical plot, jealous Scully for no apparent reason, Mulder more clueless than usual, and most of all, even with all of its badness, just bland.  While FPS and FC aren't good episodes, either, at least they are memorable in their awfulness. 

In terms of seasons, in my rewatch I watched seasons 8 and 9 for the first time, and will say that the season I like least is the 9th.  That's not to say that the season didn't have its moments because it did - but the show lost a lot when David Duchovney left and without Mulder, it felt like a chore getting through it.  Season 8, though, I did like quite a bit. 

[AntiBeeSpray]

1 hour ago, eleanorofaquitaine said:

This is basically how I feel about season 10. The revisionist history from critics, some in the media, etc. that it was the worst season ever rankles me quite a bit.  Babylon was terrible (though worse than Alpha, my absolutely most-hated episode or FPS or FC? No, it was not worse than those) but Were-Monster was great, Home Again was great, Founders Mutation was good, My Struggle II was (in my opinion) decent with a suspenseful ending, and My Struggle I was weak but whatever. 

I just did a rewatch, and as mentioned, discovered I truly hate Alpha, it is my least favorite episode of all time.  Bad characterization, a sanctimonious protagonist (that isn't Mulder), a nonsensical plot, jealous Scully for no apparent reason, Mulder more clueless than usual, and most of all, even with all of its badness, just bland.  While FPS and FC aren't good episodes, either, at least they are memorable in their awfulness. 

In terms of seasons, in my rewatch I watched seasons 8 and 9 for the first time, and will say that the season I like least is the 9th.  That's not to say that the season didn't have its moments because it did - but the show lost a lot when David Duchovney left and without Mulder, it felt like a chore getting through it.  Season 8, though, I did like quite a bit. 

As far as I'm concerned, CC did revisionist history in regards to the mytharc. And the media has a right along with critics for thinking it's really bad. It's their opinion to think that it was the worst season ever. We all have our different views of it. I liked 8 and 9 over 10 in some ways. There were some really forced moments and dialogue in s10.

What did you like about MS II, apart from the ending? I thought it was rushed, full of some baloney science and the ending seemed anti-climatic. After Scully rushing to find Mulder, the interaction seemed downright clinical. 

[eleanorofaquitaine]

15 hours ago, AntiBeeSpray said:

As far as I'm concerned, CC did revisionist history in regards to the mytharc. And the media has a right along with critics for thinking it's really bad. It's their opinion to think that it was the worst season ever. We all have our different views of it. I liked 8 and 9 over 10 in some ways. There were some really forced moments and dialogue in s10.

What did you like about MS II, apart from the ending? I thought it was rushed, full of some baloney science and the ending seemed anti-climatic. After Scully rushing to find Mulder, the interaction seemed downright clinical. 

I didn't say that the media doesn't have a right to their opinion. I also have a right to be critical of that opinion.  I'm well aware of your problems with season 10, I just don't share many of them.

While I did find My Struggle II to be a bit rushed (I would have preferred it to take place over two episodes), overall, I found it suspenseful, and I actually like the twist on the mytharc, in terms of engineering a global pandemic.  I didn't find the science of it to be any more baloney science than any of the other scientific concepts that The X-Files used over the years - that's just the way the show rolls.

MSII wasn't perfect, by any means, but from the beginning, I actually liked it and found it to be a decent way to end the season.  I even liked the cliff-hanger.

[festivus]

I've never done a ranking of my favorite to least favorite seasons because for 1-8 each one is my favorite when I'm watching it. 9 & 10 would be on the bottom though but not necessarily because they're so bad. I had never seen most of season 9 until last year and I actually quite liked some of the eps from that season and now I'm sorry I missed them the first time around.  As far as season 10, I don't hate it at all, I just think a lot of it was forgettable. There was some really good stuff in there though and all in all I'm glad that we got it. 

[AntiBeeSpray]

7 hours ago, eleanorofaquitaine said:

I didn't say that the media doesn't have a right to their opinion. I also have a right to be critical of that opinion.  I'm well aware of your problems with season 10, I just don't share many of them.

While I did find My Struggle II to be a bit rushed (I would have preferred it to take place over two episodes), overall, I found it suspenseful, and I actually like the twist on the mytharc, in terms of engineering a global pandemic.  I didn't find the science of it to be any more baloney science than any of the other scientific concepts that The X-Files used over the years - that's just the way the show rolls.

MSII wasn't perfect, by any means, but from the beginning, I actually liked it and found it to be a decent way to end the season.  I even liked the cliff-hanger.

Fair enough.

I agree with you there. Maybe it would have worked better that way and with some rewriting. I didn't like it, given how it made Mulder get infected and have Scully get immunity. Unless it came from the chip in her neck, I don't see how that could even be the case. Up to a point. At least the science used then made sense.

I didn't. Found the pacing to be too fast. And the cliff hanger was cheap. That said, I wish that they would have kept one of the other takes where she at least touched his face. It fit the character. Made far more sense than the version that made the final cut.

[whateverhappened]

There's something about that first season. It's got the rough edges and awkwardness that many first seasons of shows have, but it's the one that I find myself wanting to watch the most often. Scully is so sharp and more lively, Mulder is lovable to me for most of it, and everything is so energetic, fresh and fascinating. There are a lot of really interesting ideas introduced even in the episodes that appear to be throwaway "monster-of-the-week". I also still love first learning about Samantha and thinking of what the mythology could have been as opposed to the mess it turned out to be. 

Every season has a lot of episodes that I love and a few that I skip, but the first three are still the ones I care about the most. Maybe I just like reliving how I first fell in love with the show all those years ago. I think I would rank them as S1, S3, S2, S5, S4, S6, S7,  S8, S9 and S10. 

[nightwing877]

Ranking the Seasons

Season 2 > Season 4 > Season 8 > Season 1 > Season 3 > Season 5 > Season 10 > Season 6> Season 9 > Season 7

Episodes (Favourite)

Eve, Anasazi, Darkness Falls, Detour, Field Trip, The End, Memento Mori, Bad Blood, Demons, Existence, Essence, Road Runner, This Is Not Happening, Badlaa, Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man, Wetwired, Tooms, Pilot and The Erlenmeyer Flask, Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster, Founder's Mutation, Duane Barry and Die Hand Die Verletzt.

Episodes (Least Favourites)

Space, 2-Shy, 3, Shadows, D.P.O, The Field Where I Died, First Person Shooter, Fight Club, Brand X

Edited February 10, 2017 by nightwing877

[Joe Hellandback]

I think the whole conspiracy angle is so played out it has become incredibly boring. However, I love this show and the characters so I still watch it for the funny, self referential eps like 'The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat', 'Babylon' and 'The Were-Monster'. 

[Kelloggirl]

Rude of me to barge in here without much introduction, but FYI, BBC America is having an X-Files marathon this Easter weekend, started with S1, Episode 1! It's so fun to watch a young Mulder and Scully...so fresh-faced and somewhat innocent. As of now they are on The Host - S2, E2. Ah, Deep Throat, Kryczek as not himself in Gender Bender, Beyond the Sea - it's a lovely bit of nostalgia!

[peacheslatour]

If anyone cares they're running Home on BBC America right NOW. 4:PM Pacific time.

[AntiBeeSpray]

On 12/11/2016 at 7:04 PM, AntiBeeSpray said:

Update: Season 10 is now my least favorite. The writing was just bad from CC. Everyone else at least tried. CC... apparently did not.

This gif sums it up for me.

This gif still sums things up!

CC's eps in s11 were even worse than in s10.

MS III was a full of fast cuts and was a semi-Ford commercial.

Plus One was nothing more than a cheap rip off of All Things and a set up for Scully's pregnancy. CC was trying to do s7 again only minus the icky romance and the kissing. And boy did it fail. St. Rachel's motel (once I found out the meaning that they were going for in the ep) made me cringe, given that the character died during childbirth in the bible. Bad foreshadowing there for Scully. I hope that once and for all that they leave the show alone. Let M and S be.

MS IV was another Ford commercial along with being full of chase scenes and nonsense and the end scene was full of bad.

CC has done more than enough steam rolling of M and S as characters along with Reyes. He's destroyed the show that I knew and loved.

For M and S, he took away their agency, their love for one another and their chemistry. For Reyes, he took away her agency, her dignity. He reduced M and S's son to being a murderer (in my opinion). It makes me sick to my stomach even thinking about it.

Edited May 1, 2018 by AntiBeeSpray

[Madam Captain]

I can't decide which season is my favorite as there are so many good episodes throughout the entire series. For me, its a toss up between seasons 5 and 6 but season 7 was also great. I have lots of favorite episodes too, probably way more than 10 but I will just list 10:

1.Humbug

2. Bad Blood - hilarious episode!

3. Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose

4. Home - for the creepiness

5. Small Potatoes - hilarious!

6. Badlaa - another creepy one

7. Roadrunners

8. Brand X

9. Triangle

10. Dreamland I & II