S10.E06: My Struggle II

[Apocalypse Cow]

I liked this episode. I *knew* it was going to be a cliffhanger, but not really to the extent it was.  And overall, I liked the miniseries.  Were there some not-so-great episodes... yup.  But give me a crappy X-files episode over most anything else on TV now any day of the week. Einstein and Miller were better used this episode and I wouldn't be opposed to watching a show with them. 

[madam magpie]

I don't get it either because, c'mon, this is what The X-Files does. To be perfectly honest, I think I would have been disappointed if they hadn't ended on a cliffhanger. I get that television has changed and a lot of the delayed gratification that comes from a cliffhanger isn't what we're used to seeing anymore. But it was a lot of fun during the first run to end a season on a cliffhanger and to spend months speculating as to what's next. I don't see this as much differently and I've been honestly quite surprised at how many people seem to feel almost betrayed that they would end with a cliffhanger. CC, DD, and GA have been all over creation at this point saying they'll do more episodes if schedules allow, the ratings have been good and the limited series is making Fox money. I just don't think that they ever believed that this was going to be the end, and I can't get too worked up about it, even if it was.

Seems to me that wrapping up each season shows some fear on the part of the creative team too. If everything must be neat, is it because they don't have confidence that their story has legs?

I'm not bothered at all either. Is it because I'm old? I feel like the world of storytelling is full of cliffhangers, and I like it. Isn't it fun to imagine what's coming? And if this is it, who cares really? I'm sure Mulder and Scully will be fine. They've survived worse and always find each other in the end...which they even did here, frankly.

[Neurochick]

Normally I like cliffhangers, but this one sucked.  

 

I know, right? They've been working on this for 30,000 years or so. We'll have Afghanistan pacified before the aliens finally rule earth.

 

I wish the aliens would show up and they look nothing like anybody thinks, they're all giant cats or eight foot tall rappers or something like that, and they don't want the earth because it's nasty and polluted.  

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Seems to me that wrapping up each season shows some fear on the part of the creative team too. If everything must be neat, is it because they don't have confidence that their story has legs?

I'm not bothered at all either. Is it because I'm old? I feel like the world of storytelling is full of cliffhangers, and I like it. Isn't it fun to imagine what's coming? And if this is it, who cares really? I'm sure Mulder and Scully will be fine. They've survived worse and always find each other in the end...which they even did here, frankly.

 

I suspect some of it comes from watching the series in real time the first time around vs. coming to it later, where you get an immediate pay off and resolution. So yes, it may be because you're old in the same way I'm old - we're old enough to have watched it when one couldn't binge watch.

 

Normally I like cliffhangers, but this one sucked.

 

Neurochick, that's valid. But I think saying, "this didn't work for me" is different from people who are saying, "how dare they end on a cliffhanger!"

Edited February 23, 2016 by eleanorofaquitaine

[festivus]

Moronica sitting on a bench, in the rain. Unless she was sitting there when the rain started, she would have been sitting on a cold, wet bench. (Yes, things like that bother me.) And then Scully sits on it. too. Ew! Wet pants!

 

Yes that bothered me too. Did they have on raincoats? I can be so nitpicky about some things and then like eh for others. I didn't even notice that CSM wasn't talking out of his blowhole till it was mentioned here.

Edited February 23, 2016 by festivus

[TVHappy9463]

I liked it. I really liked how they tied the ending from the previous week's episode in to this week. The spaceship was watching Mulder and Scully on the farm last week. Mulder heard the music and now the spaceship comes at the end of this episode. Totally William on board.

I predict a time jump at the beginning of the next set of episodes next year. We will have a tidy narration by agent Miller or Einstein that will explain how the cure worked and with Spartan neutralized everyone went back to normal. Until...,,

I'm sure Fox was smart enough to anticipate needing everyone back for another run. Gillian will be done with The Fall and Duchovny will have wrapped S2 of Aquarious.

[Ronin Jackson]

Neurochick, that's valid. But I think saying, "this didn't work for me" is different from people who are saying, "how dare they end on a cliffhanger!"

 

I gotta admit I didn't really take too much time to find out what was up with this "event series", and more or less expected that it would be a stand alone 6 episode arc (I was aware there would be "monster of the week" episodes mixed). If I'd had more of an idea about what this was, which is basically, an actual attempt to revive the series for an indefinite period of time, I might have responded slightly more positively to the whole thing, though to be honest I may not have even watched. But the "event series" label duped me. This really was not much more than a middling 10th season of the show rather than an "event".

 

Of course I'm not a die hard fan of this show, and I probably would have a different take if I was. Even adjusting my expectations after the fact I think a revival should have been more substantial than these six episodes. Had the episodes been more involving and the cliffhanger more gripping I would probably have a better answer for the question "Why did I just watch this?"

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Cliffhangers are more palatable when you know there's going to be a resolution after your wait. That's why so many of us are unhappy with this one; there's no guarantee anything will ever come of it. 

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

The X-Files Limps To The Finish Line
There's filler, and then there's FILLER.

[JWalker]

Normally I don't have a problem with "cliffhangers". However Im somewhat apprehensive about this one. I have no idea when or if we will get to see any more episodes. Episodes with Gillian and David in them.

[snarktini]

The end isn't working for me because it feels more like the first half of a story, not a cliffhanger.

 

I think good cliffhangers are ones that reach some understanding / resolution AND THEN something else happens that is open-ended -- a plot twist or a question to be answered. Like, they catch the super powered villain, then our hero is sucked into a portal another dimension. Or, our heroes have triumphed in a shootout but then we see a stray bullet hit the best friend. There's a "OMG?!" moment, but the viewer is not left with more questions than answers.

 

Here, hardly anything was answered or resolved. They just stopped the story halfway through.

[Tardislass]

Just wanted to say thanks to all who posted. While we may not all agree on what the X-Files should be, it was great to hear from other fans since there aren't many in my RL. I will be taking a break from these boards now-and probably reading some cheesy fanfic. Hopefully, these boards will still be available for the next series and we can dissect the conclusion, William and the criminal lack of Skinner..unless the first scene next series is Mulder in the shower and Scully telling him about the weird dream she just had about the end of the world.

 

See you all in a year or so!

[maplebrew]

Since when can Mulder fight?

 

The episode felt like a prequel to The Walking Dead. This episode tells the story of how most of humanity turned into zombies.

 

1. That look of disdain on Monica's face as she has to insert the cigarette in/out of CSM's trachea.  How annoyed is she when he asks her to jerk him off because you know that's number two on his list of things that Monica has to do for him in exchange for saving her life.

 

 

It's reassuring to know that I'm not the only one whose brain went there 

[Grace284]

I have to admit, I love it when Chris Carter abandons all sense of internal logic and the workings of science and just goes nuts. There are aliens in your tap water! Potatoes are a government conspiracy! It's baffling, but it's fun. And hey, Mulder loves Scully and Einstein took several chill pills, that's all I need. Well, maybe more of Skinner wearily trying to get on with his job of solving actual crimes while Mulder keeps presenting reports on a possessed gang of badgers. But we can't have everything.

[Sandman87]

Now that I've had a chance to calm down a bit from the RAGE:

 

When Monica says "I'm going to tell you something you need to know", I half expected her to continue with "I just saved a ton of money on car insurance by switching to GEICO." Which would have made exactly as much sense as what she did end up saying.

 

Scully is a doctor and I am not, but she understands less about genetics than I do. Or am I supposed to give her the same technobabble pass that I give Scotty on Star Trek?

 

It's official; you can only kill CSM for good if you drive a stake through his heart, cut off his head, and then stuff a script that doesn't suck into his mouth. No wonder they can't kill him; they don't have the script.

 

The guy ripping the "no parking" sign out of the curb wins the award for Most Ridiculously Strong Faceless Extra With No Lines.

[SnideAsides]

I don't think I'd have hated the cliffhanger so much if it was original. But it was basically a shot-for-shot recreation of the end of Patient X, and I just can't with that.

[LaChavalina]

Fun Fact: According to Google Maps, it takes about 7.25 hours to drive from DC to Spartanburg, SC. What the hell was the timeline on this episode supposed to be? It appears to have taken them as long to drive 468 miles as it did for her to drive across town.

 

I don't object to a cliffhanger, but I do object to sloppy writing.

[alias1]

I was a die hard X Files fan back in the day.  Well, I hated the last two seasons, which is what they tried to build on here.  I was not a fan of this entire miniseries.  With only six episodes, there was only one that I actually liked.  And this last episode totally sucked.  I guess I'll just remember it the way it used to be. 

[eleanorofaquitaine]

It's interesting that Mulder didn't seem particularly surprised to see that CSM wasn't dead. Is that just because he knows that CSM is the kind of guy with nine lives? Or are we supposed to believe that Mulder knew he was alive?

[supposebly]

My, my that was a rather preposterous mess.

I kept laughing at it all and I'm fairly certain that wasn't the intent. Maybe it's because I've seen quite a few shows with way better writing since I had my X-files obsession but this was rather terrible.

 

Another Scully voiceover explaining her life to us, CSM blowing smoke out of the hole while talking, Monica sitting on a wet bench in the rain and having her character assassinated for no good reason, barely any Skinner, way too much Einstein, Miller driving hence and forth within a day. Have I mentioned I find him boring? Mulder picked up some skills and doesn't drop his gun anymore. How disappointing. Against my better judgment, I was hoping it would be Krycek who attacked him. Again, how disappointing. He's dead you say? Why should I care? CC obviously doesn't care about story logic, so I don't feel obligated to either.

 

So, it's no alien oil then? Do I care? Not really. Although that was a proper creepy virus. The plague or Anthrax just doesn't say X-files like oil behind the eyes does.

I like the idea that William is piloting that space ship.

 

You know, for all Mulder's abduction, wasn't he infected with something too and that's why he survived rotting in the coffin in season 8? I don't recall, I haven't managed to get to that season. They really should have infected him with the savior virus too, considering all the needles.

 

I watch this show because of Scully and Mulder and they weren't together, so I really couldn't get invested at all and just pointed and laughed.

 

I don't mind the cliffhanger because I don't really care all that much what happens next. I'm sure it will be a muddled mess too.

 

Maybe it's the twenty years I've aged, but I'm kind of over the aliens. Take the planet, don't take the planet, just make up your damn minds.

 

Same here. Also about the conspiracy of men. I'm certainly of over them. Let's have a conspiracy of women for a change! Maybe they come up with a better plan to repopulate the planet!

 

Now I'm wondering who will have to clean up all the dead people. This is going to be so annoying for the people who survive.

Edited February 24, 2016 by supposebly

[Prevailing Wind]

 

When Monica says "I'm going to tell you something you need to know", I half expected her to continue with "I just saved a ton of money on car insurance by switching to GEICO." Which would have made exactly as much sense as what she did end up saying.

It's what you do.  Bwaaahahahahaha.

 

 

 

Now I'm wondering who will have to clean up all the dead people

 

Band-Aid® Nose Man.  With that Band-Aid®, he won't even smell 'em.

[Baby Button Eyes]

It's strange that CSM has conquered obvious looking death so has there been any speculation that he is also immortal? I mean if Scully is, why not him for some suspicious reason?

I'm apparently so easy to please as throughout this miniseries I was just so happy seeing Mulder and Scully doing stuff again and having memories come back of the season 1-5 era, I haven't minded too much annoying issues. But I am sceptical of these new agents and their future in X-Files and how that will affect M&S. The chemistry of our two familiar stars cannot be replaced, in my opinion. My three ingredients for X-Files are Mulder and Scully investigating spooky stuff in the Vancouver rain. Not Los Angeles sunshine. I do wish they were not separated in the finale episode though. I do expect cliffhangers at the end of the season too. It's always been that way.

[TomServo]

I just choose to believe that the green beam on the duplicate-alien-technology ship serves the same purpose as it did in the first episode and everybody is dead now.

The worst part of it for me was when they were playing the suspenseful music while Scully and not-Ben-Swann were trying to locate each other on the bridge. I was supposed to feel anticipation over whether Mulder would be saved in time, meanwhile everyone else in that crowd of people on the bridge was also allegedly dying. Scully only had two bags of "vaccine" on her; it wasn't as though delivering the goods to Mulder was going to do squat to slow the rest of the chaos. "Yay! You're not dead! Now how do we get back home with all these bodies of the less fortunate littering the road as the result of your failure to quarantine yourself?"

[millennium]

That was ... really fucking bad.

 

The tone was right, at least.   I mean, this had the feel of the original X-Files.   The rest of it was a mess.   Too rushed.  All telling, very little showing.   The ugly reduction of Monica Reyes to CSM's bitch.  Mulder registering no surprise that CSM is still alive.    No Syndicate behind CSM that we know of -- were we to believe he was orchestrating all that singlehandedly?    Too much of the end of the world happened off screen.   The ONLY media we saw covering the pandemic was Tad O'Malley.     The idea itself, that the world was ending by virus and only a few chosen were to be saved, was recycled from Carter's old show Millennium.    No Mulder and Scully, just the two of them in different places.  

 

I wish the revival had never happened.    I hated episodes 2-5, not just because they were so terrible but because IMHO they defaced the series as a whole.   Last week I shut off the television when Mulder started line-dancing and I never looked back.

 

The six episodes should have been used to properly tell whatever story Carter had in mind for "My Struggle." I'm still not entirely sure what "My Struggle" was about, in large part because of all the hurried exposition and compressed plot.

 

I couldn't help but notice that the signatures on Dana Scully's FBI badges -- the original one in the credits, and the one in the opening scene of tonight's episode -- were completely different.   The signature in this episode seemed like a forgery.

 

Which kind of sums up how I feel about this whole revival.

[Snookums]

CSM is a twisted human being but Monica said it - he loves Mulder, in his twisted, CSM-like way, and he's always had Vader-like aspirations about his relationship with Mulder.  Which Mulder shoots down every time, in every way, with relish.  CSM has never accepted that Mulder would literally rather die a thousand times than give CSM what he wants. It's actually a rather apt metaphor for toxic parent/child relationships.

 

 

CSM always brings it. I liked his scenes;  a tired, cynical, smirking ol' Satan, still going up against all powers that be out of sheer cussedness. When Mulder asked if he was playing God and he laughed "Oh, no, not God"? That was the best line of the episode. He's the epitome of humanity's dark side, the walking embodiment of Too Mean To Die. All you can do with him is refuse, which Fox did, and good for him. 

 

As for the rest of this, though... nothing was better than this miniseries at pointing out that X Files, The Show could only have become what it was during its precise original broadcast era of the early nineties through the beginning of the 21st century. The spooky atmosphere blended with just enough shadowy history/science to become plausible could only have had its allure during the rise, in America, of home computers and the earliest electronic billboards (the best proof of this, in my mind, is that no episodes dated more quickly and unwatchably than the "internet" and "gaming" episodes.) People were riding the technology wave but it was still imperfectly understood enough to be able to support all sorts of shadowy corners and dimly lit alleyways, story-wise. 

 

Nowadays, though? Google and having more information in your phone than the world's greatest minds had access to previously mean that people just aren't able to buy what the show is selling, as much. It's simply too easy to spot the glaring errors/time skips/scientific impossibilities, even to the average bear. The Were-Monster and other standalones worked not only because they were hilariously funny but because they acknowledged that the show simply had to work harder to find the pockets of weird that could be accepted as "Okay, it's poooooossssible" by the audience, like the idea that a lizard person hangs out in the woods when he's not hibernating for ten thousand years. 

 

I could see them trying to work around modern day ease of information access but that New World Order? It's here, and it's rearranged how and what volume of information we can fetch to our eyes and hands in an instant. So the overarching mytharc? It needs to evolve, pronto.

[Snookums]

Moronica sitting on a bench, in the rain. Unless she was sitting there when the rain started, she would have been sitting on a cold, wet bench. (Yes, things like that bother me.) And then Scully sits on it. too. Ew! Wet pants!

 

 

Me too! The first words out of my mouth were "WET BENCH!" I'm a Seattlite and very aware of where you do and don't sit outside if it's raining!

 

Maybe it's the twenty years I've aged, but I'm kind of over the aliens. Take the planet, don't take the planet, just make up your damn minds.

 

 

Seriously, aliens, I don't care what percentage of your version of an ice sheet melted, either commit or get off the otherworldy alien pot. Although I chortled when Scully described the technology as a "gift" from the aliens. That's a mighty generous read of the situation, frankly. Much more  a "You wandered into the wrong neighborhood, boy" situation as far as that poor ET was concerned.

[Baby Button Eyes]

Me too! The first words out of my mouth were "WET BENCH!" I'm a Seattlite and very aware of where you do and don't sit outside if it's raining!

 .

Oddly, I had the reaction of "when did it rain in Vancouver?". The summer they filmed, there was a long, hot, sunny drought and I can't remember a rainy or overcast day like what I saw in that scene. Kind of ironic they returned to the place that lent part of the misty atmosphere to the show and all they mostly got was California type sunshine.

[Sandman87]

Making lemons out of lemonade, or maybe the other way around; a motivator from the episode.

[FurryFury]

That... wasn't good. At all.

 

Oh well, at least this revival gave me another script by Daryn Morgan (whom I absolutely adore) and some nice Mulder/Scully moments. So, worth it.

[Miles]

Like a lot of others have said the science in this was a mess and I can't suspend my dibelieve here, because it weighs as much as the super massive black hole at the center of the milky way.

But even if we ignore the science, considering how fast we have seen the illness to progess, there is no way they could even cure 1% of the population.

There really wasn't anything in this episode that actually worked, which is impressive in it's own way. It takes skill to fail so completely.

Also did CSM really cite global warming as one of the reasons why he was doing what he does, while he and his friends kept free energy from the world for almost 70 years? He could have stopped global warming, way before it became a problem, by sharing that technology with the world. Usually I would think it was just the character being a hypocrit, possibly whil not even realising it himself, but here I'm confident to say that it was just bad writing.

On top of that I'm wondering, if he can get skin grafts that leave no scaring at all (as that explosion would have burnt him completely), can't he also get a plastic surgeon to rebuild his face? Or in other words: What was up with that stupid mask? This isn't 1910. Somebody watched too much boardwalk empire.

 

For the umpteenth time, X-Files! Vaccines do not cure, only prevent new people from being infected!

Some vaccines work after infection, like the rabies vaccine. But this doesn't sound like a vaccine. Plus, for a vaccine to work, you by definition need a working immune system, which these people no longer posess.

 

Since Smoking Man staffer Monica suggested to Dana that her alien DNA will cure all the other sickies (who are actually alien-DNA-free) it must be true! Now Einstein and Scully are Doing Science because it's basically just that easy to make a cure. OR they are wizards! Which answer do you find more plausible?

I laughed quite a bit at this. I'm going with wizards! It would explain so much. Edited February 24, 2016 by Miles

[eleanorofaquitaine]

CSM always brings it. I liked his scenes;  a tired, cynical, smirking ol' Satan, still going up against all powers that be out of sheer cussedness. When Mulder asked if he was playing God and he laughed "Oh, no, not God"? That was the best line of the episode. He's the epitome of humanity's dark side, the walking embodiment of Too Mean To Die. All you can do with him is refuse, which Fox did, and good for him. 

 

 

CSM was Dick Cheney before Dick Cheney - a guy who does and justifies terrible things, but is totally convinced in the rightness of his cause.

[ksb]

Uneven writing with LOTS of clunky dialogue is one of the first things that comes to my mind after watching.

Overall, I think I *kinda* liked it, but like episode 1 it was too much story packed into too little screentime.

 

I guess these two mytharc episodes were more or less what CC had in mind for the third movie, which would explain many of the flaws of these episodes and also the reason why Mulder and Scully were separated throughout this one only to be reunited in the end, which is so clichéd (in a movie) and also one of my major beefs with this episode.

 

With more time, better writing and sharper dialogues the story idea itself would have worked better as a movie, IMO.

The way it played out it felt callow and at times pretty ridiculous which made it hard to suspend disbelief.

The pandemic idea was way over the top for  the short time of a TV episode, and it would have worked much better while also being more in tone with the show if they had stuck to an increase in random unexplainable cases of viral diseases in various areas which could have marked the beginning of a possible pandemic that could have been explored further  in the first three episodes of season 11 for example.

 

As much as I still wish William hadn't been brought back as the key to everything, I want to slap the person who came up with the stem cell nonsense that William now has to save Mulder. That's actually daytime soap material level and made me cringe.

 

Also Scully running around and later driving around with her in record time miraculously developed vaccine, just NO. Again with more time and context it could have worked in a movie but it didn't work for me in the episode.

 

And two rather unpopular opinions it seems:

I got really excited when Agent Einstein developed symptoms and hoped she would die.

I didn't buy Mulder's sudden fighting skills and the whole scene felt very gratuitous and unMulder to me.

 

Still, I don't care about all these flaws and letdowns too much, I got to see Mulder and Scully again, and that's really all I needed to be happy about the revival overall. Needless to say, I can't wait for the announcement of season 11 even if I have to sit through more endless mindnumbingly painful ramblings puked up by CC while on shrooms.

 

Edited to add: CC in HR interview: "I was directing episode four, which aired as episode five, and I still didn't know how the series would end. I came up with it in the middle of that episode. In terms of prepping for the finale, I was very late."

 

That makes sense, and it shows.

Edited February 24, 2016 by ksb

[Jac]

I need to watch this episode again as I was watching with my sister who was loudly complaining how crap it was the whole time, which I mostly agree with but I definitely missed things.

My first thoughts:

The science was dreadful. I as a student of the medical and health sciences and even more so as a person with an genetic immune deficiency (22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome which causes malformations or even a complete absence of the thymus and results in t-cell dysfunction beginning at birth) I was actually offended by how bad the science was and how wrong they got even basic historical facts about the smallpox vaccination program.

This felt like it played right into the hands of anti-vaxxers. That was highly disappointing and frustrating.

I didn't mind that Moronica was CSM's bitch, I liked her in the original series but I thought that it was a really interesting character twist, that thinking back upon it doesn't seem that far-fetched.

I was prepared for the cliffhanger. I never expected resolution. I have lost faith Chris Carter's ability to ever write one.

The episode felt very much like part 1 of one of the paired mythology episodes they often did in the earlier seasons, not a season finale.

There was a very good basic plot buried in this episode somewhere. The idea was interesting but the execution was a mess.

I didn't mind Einstein last week but I loved her here.

Robbie Amell is very pretty but he is not a particularly convincing actor and that felt like more of a problem this week than last week.

Mulder can be such a tool sometimes, actually, a lot of the time.

I don't mind that Scully and Mulder were apart for most of the episode.

I'm sad this is the end for now, for all his revival's flaws, and there were many, it was lovely to have new episodes of a show that has played a very fundamental part in my life on the air again.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Jac

[Juice4Cheeze]

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).

[festivus]

I didn't buy Mulder's sudden fighting skills and the whole scene felt very gratuitous and unMulder to me.

 

Yeah me either. I concluded that he must have watched videotapes and practiced fight skills during the many years he sat around alone in that house. Can't watch porn all of the time.

Edited February 24, 2016 by festivus

[Taryn74]

Echoing what so many others have said, the goings-on in this episode were way too rushed.  We needed a slow, climactic build-up to the possibility that the world is ending, like, tomorrow.  Not the haphazard, rushed mess that we got.  I sat here after the end credits and within about five minutes was able to think of a ton of ways they could have played scenes differently to actually build some suspense and put us in the middle of the action.  (Such as, hey Scully how about when you saw that Mulder was in worse shape than you thought, you explained things to Miller WHILE you were shoving needles into Mulder's arm or something?  Rather than step away from the car to wax poetic about stem cells and the MaybeAlienSaviorBaby you two had together?  You know, the one that you have no idea how to find so what difference does it even make?  Lord.  I expected her to turn back around and realize Mulder had died already while they were talking.  Heh.)

 

I fully expect to find out CSM was either already part alien when they blew him up in S9, or the aliens put him back together with their super special alien technology afterward.  Because otherwise, there is no way he survived that explosion.  Just no way.

 

I was never a huge fan of Moronica, but I don't believe she only took CSM's deal to save her own ass.  I think, if anything, she took it because she knows a way to use the information to save others, or at least hopes with Scully's help she can figure it out.

 

 

The pandemic idea was way over the top for  the short time of a TV episode, and it would have worked much better while also being more in tone with the show if they had stuck to an increase in random unexplainable cases of viral diseases in various areas which could have marked the beginning of a possible pandemic that could have been explored further  in the first three episodes of season 11 for example.

 

(Emphasis mine.)

 

Exactly.  Not only would have been completely fitting with the tone of the show, it would explain why nobody is reporting on it other than the "crackpot conspiracy theorists" such as Tad O'Malley.  Chicken Little running around screaming that the sky is falling only works when 99.99% of the population doesn't realize that the sky is actually falling.

 

This should have been, at the very least, a two-part episode, if not a three-parter.  They've done that before, and IMO did it well.

 

Having said all that, hey we got six more hours of Mulder and Scully than I ever dreamed we would get, so in that respect it's all good.

[HalcyonDays]

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.

 

Juice4Cheeze - I think this is the best explanation I've read and totally nails how these writers can produce material that - at the time of original publication - captured so many readers/viewers, yet fails upon revivals or newly published books a decade later, to be the 'same'. Thought the current Star Wars is right now seems to break that notion, but remember there was SW chapters 1-3 that faired quite poorly.

[AntiBeeSpray]

I suspect some of it comes from watching the series in real time the first time around vs. coming to it later, where you get an immediate pay off and resolution. So yes, it may be because you're old in the same way I'm old - we're old enough to have watched it when one couldn't binge watch.

 

 

Neurochick, that's valid. But I think saying, "this didn't work for me" is different from people who are saying, "how dare they end on a cliffhanger!"

 

Maybe. But I watched the first time around and I was not a fan of cliffhangers. Still am not. Does that mean I want an immediate payoff and resolution, no. But it does mean that I like some common sense. Back in the day, we at least had that. Now... not so much.

 

Not everyone loves/likes cliffhangers.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Maybe. But I watched the first time around and I was not a fan of cliffhangers. Still am not. Does that mean I want an immediate payoff and resolution, no. But it does mean that I like some common sense. Back in the day, we at least had that. Now... not so much.

 

Not everyone loves/likes cliffhangers.

 

Sure. But my only point is that no one should feel "betrayed" by a cliffhanger on The X-Files because that's the way the show has rolled since the beginning.  You don't have to like them, but they shouldn't be unexpected, at this point.

 

I mean, for all that people are excoriating Chris Carter, he obviously set out to achieve what he wanted to, both with this miniseries in general and this episode in particular - people are talking about The X-Files again. It is culturally relevant in a way that it wasn't when IWTB came out in 2008.  So mission accomplished, on his part.

 

(Which is not to say that I don't think that the ideas he laid out here were executed well. I do think that this episode was the best of the three that Carter wrote, but it could have been handled a lot more effectively. But the last five minutes leading up to the cliffhanger? That, to me, is not where the faults of the episode lie).

[HalcyonDays]

But it does mean that I like some common sense. Back in the day, we at least had that. Now... not so much.

 

This point is very true. Like, for all of the twistedness and mythology of Original!Recipe X-Files, I could get behind it. It's wasn't as far-fetched, even though it was.

 

Like, Flukeman? Radioactive bugs that could cocoon a full grown man? Tooms chomping on livers every 70 years to survive? Leonard Betts being decapitated and regrowing his entire head. A microchip implanted in one's neck, that would stop cancer. All of this - at the time - seemed plausible. Crazy, but plausible. Even Mulder and his long-winded explanation weren't too insane.

 

But the science for this episode - and the revival - was just off...Like, maybe we know too much these days with the internet at our fingertips, that it's hard to come up with something that's so crazy advanced but actually plausible.

 

Not everyone loves/likes cliffhangers.

 

I would put money on two different editings/filming of the episode. First version, if the ratings were not that good, then no cliffhanger. Second version (that we saw), with cliffhanger, if the ratings were really good and FOX basically told CC that yes, we would want a second season and GA and DD were on board. We got version 2.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

This point is very true. Like, for all of the twistedness and mythology of Original!Recipe X-Files, I could get behind it. It's wasn't as far-fetched, even though it was.

 

Of all the arguments against this episode, this is actually the one I understand the least.  I honestly and sincerely believe that it is less far-fetched to believe that a group of people would use some alien technology they happened upon to engineer a pandemic than it is to believe that they would work with unseen aliens who happened to be living among us (hello, Alien Bounty Hunter) to facilitate an invasion of the planet.  I mean, both are absurd, but at least pandemics or epidemics have some antecedents in actual human history, from the bubonic plague to the Spanish flu. 

 

Now, I agree that this was all very rushed, and I actually think that Carter should have just taken all three of his episodes and written about the unfolding panic of a pandemic, while Scully rushes around to find a cure, and Mulder does... I don't know what. Mulder-things.  But the basics of the story here actually makes way more sense to me than where the mytharc ended up previously.

 

ETA: One of the things that I agree with critics on - and believe CC should be held accountable for - is writing a story that seemingly validates anti-vaxxer propaganda. On that, I give him no quarter.

Edited February 24, 2016 by eleanorofaquitaine

[HalcyonDays]

Of all the arguments against this episode, this is actually the one I understand the least.

 

Basically, in OriginalRecipe!X-Files, whenever Mulder or whoever would spout their mythology, I never sat back, stared at the screen and thought "the hell are you talking about?" There was always some plausiblity to it that one could get behind, however strange it might be.

 

Government doing some shady stuff behind the scenes? Of course. Gov't secretly working against the aliens to save themselves. That's what happens today (just not with aliens, other countries). Aliens acting like parasites and taking over human bodies? We have parasites everywhere. Nanotechnology to cure people - we have progress on that today. Abductions - happens all of the time, and what one remembers can be twisted. In fact, there are ways to convince people they saw one thing, over another.

 

Global pandemic? Very plausble. PCR/DNA tests accurately completed in an hour? No. Chemtrails dropping I don't know what it was supposed to release. Scully immediately stating they needed Stem cells without even performing one bit of testing? Scully 100% accurately diagnosing o the fly?  Scully is going to be able to amplify and replicate her own alien DNA enough to cure millions of people. The amplification and replication only takes an hour or so? Tad O'Malley telling the world there is a cure for everyone, coming from one single person with a limited amount of body fluids to spare? How many IV bags are there kicking around to cure millions. Who is going to administer those IV bags - everyone seems to be sick. They mentioned that people were globally affected - so how is the cure going to get to France, or China or Australia or South Africa? Where is the communication to tell other states, provinces and countries to look for alien DNA in a human, and then replicate it for others? How on earth did CMS get hit by a rocket launcher and survive?

 

Unlike in Original series, there were little explanations, no information proved, just Scully quickly saying "we need this, we need that!" They didn't tell us why now the epidemic was released, they didn't reflect the proper time and procedures these tests take to complete. Why only Stem cells - why not anything else? Granted, I expect some of this will be explained in season 11, but it was just so abrupt, while in original XF, they would show the science, explain it (or have Scully question it) and have more information provided to the viewer. In this case, because of time, they didn't bother to give the viewers those crazy explanations that Original XF did so well, however far-fetch it may be.

 

ETA: Ha, I guess I shouldn't complain about super fast DNA testing results, considering all of the other craziness in the X-Files. Still surprised they had an actual science consultant in the show....they didn't do their job.

[madam magpie]

Of all the arguments against this episode, this is actually the one I understand the least. I honestly and sincerely believe that it is less far-fetched to believe that a group of people would use some alien technology they happened upon to engineer a pandemic than it is to believe that they would work with unseen aliens who happened to be living among us (hello, Alien Bounty Hunter) to facilitate an invasion of the planet. I mean, both are absurd, but at least pandemics or epidemics have some antecedents in actual human history, from the bubonic plague to the Spanish flu.

Now, I agree that this was all very rushed, and I actually think that Carter should have just taken all three of his episodes and written about the unfolding panic of a pandemic, while Scully rushes around to find a cure, and Mulder does... I don't know what. Mulder-things. But the basics of the story here actually makes way more sense to me than where the mytharc ended up previously.

ETA: One of the things that I agree with critics on - and believe CC should be held accountable for - is writing a story that seemingly validates anti-vaxxer propaganda. On that, I give him no quarter.

I think we need to stop holding fiction writers responsible for public craziness. If "the vaccine is a problem" works for the story, I think the writer should use that plot point as he sees fit. It's not Carter's fault that the anti-vaccine contingent is nuts.

That said, I also don't get the notion that a pandemic and unintended consequences of science are somehow less believable than aliens, creatures, lizard men, etc. pandemics are real things; aliens (so far) are not. I'm rewatching the original series now, and it's absolutely ridiculous in that pulpy, 1950s horror/alien way. It's not grounded in reality for the most part, though the way it's written, it certainly acts like it is. I just watched the episode where a guy's shadow becomes a black hole because of...wacky science. Or how about how Scully was mysteriously abducted by aliens, returned in a coma no one could explain, and then magically woke up? Or the one where the ghost of a woman's boss attacks people who wrong her? The X-Files wasn't more believable in the old days, but how we watched TV was totally different. There was an acceptance that TV was fun entertainment, not something we overanalyzed and nitpicked. I think this miniseries gave us exactly what the old series was...a little bit of everything and not a ton of the mythology. Maybe its tone is dated. I'm not sure about that. And I agree with others that it faltered some because the number of episodes was too short for several types of episode (stand-alone, mythology, etc.). But to me, this was exactly what The X-Files always was.

[Snookums]

Can't watch porn all of the time.

 

 

 I think you underestimate Mulder's skill set.

 

 

That said, I also don't get the notion that a pandemic and unintended consequences of science are somehow less believable than aliens, creatures, lizard men, etc. pandemics are real things; aliens (so far) are not. I'm rewatching the original series now, and it's absolutely ridiculous in that pulpy, 1950s horror/alien way. It's not grounded in reality for the most part, though the way it's written, it certainly acts like it is. I just watched the episode where a guy's shadow becomes a black hole because of...wacky science. Or how about how Scully was mysteriously abducted by aliens, returned in a coma no one could explain, and then magically woke up? Or the one where the ghost of a woman's boss attacks people who wrong her? The X-Files wasn't more believable in the old days, but how we watched TV was totally different. There was an acceptance that TV was fun entertainment, not something we overanalyzed and nitpicked. I think this miniseries gave us exactly what the old series was...a little bit of everything and not a ton of the mythology. Maybe its tone is dated. I'm not sure about that. And I agree with others that it faltered some because the number of episodes was too short for several types of episode (stand-alone, mythology, etc.). But to me, this was exactly what The X-Files always was.

 

 

 

Nailed it. Like I said in my earlier post, The X Files as a show came to be during a very specific period in American pop history--the early nineties through the early 2000s. It was a blend of tried and true monsters and other such pulp elements, regional mythology that was losing the last of its niche veiling, and the rise of personal computers and the internet. I wrote about it back in the day when I was rewatching the series with my husband: http://goddessoftransitory.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-truth-isnt-out-there-its-in-here-in.html (because I know you're fascinated!)

 

But I think the crucial difference in "believability" for a show like X Files is that we're willing to buy that which absolutely doesn't exist (werewolves, your liver looks delish, fluke worms from space in the Arctic circle) more then we are things that try to pretend they're plausibly able to exist (I can make a cure for billions in an hour with my own blood, fetch me some stem cells, only one internet crank cares about the entire world  crashing to a halt.) It's like that bit in Guardians of the Galaxy where Groot's drinking the fountain water and denying it, to Rocket's exasperation: "Yes you are! I just saw you doing it! Why are you lying?" 

Edited February 24, 2016 by Snookums

[madam magpie]

Nailed it. Like I said in my earlier post, The X Files as a show came to be during a very specific period in American pop history--the early nineties through the early 2000s. It was a blend of tried and true monsters and other such pulp elements, regional mythology that was losing the last of its niche veiling, and the rise of personal computers and the internet. I wrote about it back in the day when I was rewatching the series with my husband: http://goddessoftransitory.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-truth-isnt-out-there-its-in-here-in.html (because I know you're fascinated!)

But I think the crucial difference in "believability" for a show like X Files is that we're willing to buy that which absolutely doesn't exist (werewolves, your liver looks delish, fluke worms from space in the Arctic circle) more then we are things that try to pretend they're plausibly able to exist (I can make a cure for billions in an hour with my own blood, fetch me some stem cells, only one internet crank cares about the entire world crashing to a halt.) It's like that bit in Guardians of the Galaxy where Groot's drinking the fountain water and denying it, to Rocket's exasperation: "Yes you are! I just saw you doing it! Why are you lying?"

All good points, but I think there are lots of people willing to buy both. I said earlier, Scully is essentially an every woman superhero. She's got a mystical quality to her that she doesn't understand (and that's at odds with her scientific mind), and she's always been a bit of a prodigy. I mean, in the pilot, we're asked (with no explanation) to believe that this baby-faced girl in a suit that's too big for her is a doctor and FBI agent, when in reality, she could barely be out of college. Once you've sold me that (and they sold it; I totally believe Scully), I can get on board with all the other unbelievable things she can do: survive alien abduction, run in high heels, miraculously give birth to a baby with powers, invent a vaccine in five minutes, etc.

I think too that if they'd tried to update the tone of the show, people would have been furious and gone on about how it didn't match the feel of the original. With the people who like to complain, they had no shot of winning. I'm glad they stuck to what they know, mainly because I like that. If I want to watch a realistic story full of perfect science, I'll watch something else. For me, The X-Files was always camp.

Edited February 24, 2016 by madam magpie

[supposebly]

I don't really mind the science being so shoddy, it always was. I don't mind government conspiracies, they have been all the rage since, dare I say it, even before the X-files put them on TV. But they've been on TV many times now, there is a reason X-files is a precursor of a lot of show and themes, so it's old news now. Government conspiracies? I'd be surprised at people who believe everything the government does is above board. They are boring now.

At the time, it didn't have much to compare it to and it was new. Since then, we've had it done many times in many incarnations, scientists doing DNA tests in minutes (CSI anyone?), overarching conspiracies (Lost, Heroes, I think), monsters as main characters (Vampire Diaries, etc.), nice monsters (Supernatural, Grimm), evil monsters (ibid.). So, these days, because of that, X-files isn't going to add anything new to the table, topic-wise.

Another thing I realized is that it was fairly well written for the times where there was barely any serialized show (if at all) and there were almost no female characters like Scully, These days, she's not that special as a character, actually, compared to Stella or characters like Raylan Givens, Mulder and Scully feel rather one-dimensional. A sceptic, a believer, or a scientist (who works miracles) and a crazy person who is always right. So, comparing the show to today's writing of characters, it's rather pedestrian.

Don't get me wrong, I love it but CC writes just like he used to but now for all these reasons, his failures as a writer show up much more. He hasn't improved, he hasn't done anything new, the character development was done by others and Scully is reduced to her role as a failed mother (again) and her miracle work in the lab. Mulder was brought to his inevitable conclusion that he is a nutjob, which we all knew but even as a father, he took second-fiddle to Scully.

DD and GA are doing the best they can, but there is only so much you can do if you are faced with scenes where you run around the city and scold people for ripping out poles. Or drive to CSM without notifying Scully about it.

The only thing that was interesting was the exploration of the progression of their relationship and that was mainly in the acting and very little in the writing.

 

 

I think too that if they'd tried to update the tone of the show, people would have been furious and gone on about how it didn't match the feel of the original. With the people who like to complain, they had no shot of winning. I'm glad they stuck to what they know, mainly because I like that. If I want to watch a realistic story full of perfect science, I'll watch something else. For me, The X-Files was always camp.

I think if the tone is the level of writing from the 90's, it's a problem today. Still, I guess, I'm not nostalgic enough to require the show to be identical to its original because I think, TV writing overall has improved and moved on and if X-files wants to be more than a nostalgia fest, it needs to move on too. I seem to be in the minority since the ratings were very good, so I guess nostalgia won that one.

 

For me, the characters need to be written well and they were for the most part with quite a few things in there I thought unbelievable (Mulder's fighting skills, really that's the guy who is famous for dropping his gun?).

Scully jumping from one "conclusion" to the next with no evidence?

Scully saying things like: that's the Mulder I like or something like that. There were lines that just didn't feel right.

Edited February 24, 2016 by supposebly

[madam magpie]

I don't think it's written badly at all. I dug, "That's how I like my Mulder." That's how I like my Mulder too!

I think it's written deliberately campy. That's its bag, and in some ways, that's dated, sure. I saw an interview with Gillian where she said they'd originally discussed various types of productions (movies, updating, not updating, etc.), and one idea thrown around was a spoof of The X-Files as it had been, rather than a continuation of the story. My first thought was, "That sounds fabulously, hilariously awesome." My second was, "Ohhhh...the people on the Internet will lose their shit, though."

I think that because The X-Files had a lot of revolutionary elements to it, lots of people need it to be more than it could ever be. And yes, its revolutionary elements are commonplace now, and it's no longer a trendsetter...sort of like the Beatles. In their day, they were brand new and exciting. Today, they'd be just another boy pop band with catchy songs. That doesn't negate their importance, though, or mean that if they could reunite I wouldn't go see them and love it. (Also, cue Beatles lovers who consider me a music heretic. Go!)

Edited February 24, 2016 by madam magpie

[AntiBeeSpray]

Sure. But my only point is that no one should feel "betrayed" by a cliffhanger on The X-Files because that's the way the show has rolled since the beginning.  You don't have to like them, but they shouldn't be unexpected, at this point.

 

I mean, for all that people are excoriating Chris Carter, he obviously set out to achieve what he wanted to, both with this miniseries in general and this episode in particular - people are talking about The X-Files again. It is culturally relevant in a way that it wasn't when IWTB came out in 2008.  So mission accomplished, on his part.

 

(Which is not to say that I don't think that the ideas he laid out here were executed well. I do think that this episode was the best of the three that Carter wrote, but it could have been handled a lot more effectively. But the last five minutes leading up to the cliffhanger? That, to me, is not where the faults of the episode lie).

 

I don't. Only in regards to how certain characters were treated. That bugged me far more than this cliffhanger.

 

Figured he'd go this route, originally it was supposed to be a small one. But look where it's at now. -_- And that's not good. So in a way, I can see why some fans feel the way they do about it. Lack of resolution if there's no s11.

I don't think it's written badly at all. I dug, "That's how I like my Mulder." That's how I like my Mulder too!

I think it's written deliberately campy. That's its bag, and in some ways, that's dated, sure. I saw an interview with Gillian where she said they'd originally discussed various types of productions (movies, updating, not updating, etc.), and one idea thrown around was a spoof of The X-Files as it had been, rather than a continuation of the story. My first thought was, "That sounds fabulously, hilariously awesome." My second was, "Ohhhh...the people on the Internet will lose their shit, though."

I think that because The X-Files had a lot of revolutionary elements to it, lots of people need it to be more than it could ever be. And yes, its revolutionary elements are commonplace now, and it's no longer a trendsetter...sort of like the Beatles. In their day, they were brand new and exciting. Today, they'd be just another boy pop band with catchy songs. That doesn't negate their importance, though, or mean that if they could reunite I wouldn't go see them and love it. (Also, cue Beatles lovers who consider me a music heretic. Go!)

 

That line didn't seem off at all to me. I loved the line as well :). Fitting for how far they've come as characters. Both Morgans and Wong did a good job with them and their eps just showed CC's weaknesses that much more.

 

A new CC interview...

 

Source: tvinsider.com

[mahree]

I don't. Only in regards to how certain characters were treated. That bugged me far more than this cliffhanger.

 

Figured he'd go this route, originally it was supposed to be a small one. But look where it's at now. -_- And that's not good. So in a way, I can see why some fans feel the way they do about it. Lack of resolution if there's no s11.

 

That line didn't seem off at all to me. I loved the line as well :). Fitting for how far they've come as characters. Both Morgans and Wong did a good job with them and their eps just showed CC's weaknesses that much more.

 

A new CC interview...

 

Source: tvinsider.com

From the linked interview:  

"Looking to the science of the episode, you had two doctors, Anne Simon and Margaret Fearon, who were credited with you for the story. What kinds of discussions were had about the vaccine conversations?

They’re responsible for all of the science of the episode and walking me through it. Even as I was shooting, I was calling them and going, “What if I say this? What if the character says this?” When the actors are having to say so much dialogue that is scientific, and they say, “Can we say it this way?” I’d go, “I want this to be realistic. I don’t want this to be just made up science.” So I’d be calling Anne Simon and Margaret Fearon saying, “What do I do?” when there was a problem. They were all-important to helping me come up with the story, and walking me through it every step of the way."

 

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Edited February 24, 2016 by mahree

[Miles]

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 haven't read Rowlings detective novels yet, but by all accounts they are very good. So not quite sure what your point is here, because obviously some people can go with the times.