joelene February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 Gilligan, Glen Morgan and James Wong and Darin Morgan being apart of it would be fantastic. Tim Minear would also be welcome. His X-Files episode weren't very good but I can cut him some slack for joining late and he's done some really good stuff since. 1 Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 lol at Fowley I definitely agree with you that Chris Carter was never the strongest writer on the show. But I (personally) felt like Abrams took the heart out of Star Trek, and I can see the same thing happening with The X-Files. This show has a certain quirkiness to it, and I think only Chris Carter (or another writer from the original team) could capture that quirkiness. Yea it did. But in a way... that quirkiness led to its downfall sadly imo. Not having a show 'bible' didn't help them in the slightest. It only led to confusion. 1 Link to comment
M.F. Luder February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 I hope that Chris Carter listens to the X-Files Files podcast. It really does a good job of breaking down what works with the series and what doesn't. I think the hardcore fans like Kumail understand what makes the show great WAY better than Chris Carter ever did. 2 Link to comment
Hidebehind February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 Yeah, definitely. Sorry for bringing up more questions, but what do you guys think they'll do about William if this ends up happening? I can think of a few possible scenarios: 1. Mulder and Scully found him already and he's a main character 2. Mulder and Scully are looking for him 3. He has to be sacrificed to save the world 4. He never existed (I doubt this will happen, but who knows). 1 Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 Yeah, definitely. Sorry for bringing up more questions, but what do you guys think they'll do about William if this ends up happening? I can think of a few possible scenarios: 1. Mulder and Scully found him already and he's a main character 2. Mulder and Scully are looking for him 3. He has to be sacrificed to save the world 4. He never existed (I doubt this will happen, but who knows). Good point. I think 1 and 2 are plausible. 3 wouldn't be out of the picture, but Moose and Squirrel have been through more than enough. 4, heck to the no. Just because CC messed things up doesn't mean the poor kid should be punished for it. 5. Maybe he looks for M & S since his adoptive parents get killed off. 1 Link to comment
queequeg February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 I have no idea what they will do, if anything, with William. I do know that they need to fix it, though. You hear that, Chris? Fix it. I also will not be OK if he has to be sacrificed to save the world. Poor Mulder and Scully have already lost sooo much, the last thing I want them to lose is their son with no hope of seeing him again. IWTB was just so damn depressing, and frankly I need some resolution for them. I need them to end on a high note. I also miss them as FBI agents. :( William would be 14 this year. That's sad. They've missed most of his childhood at this point. Gah. I could go with 1, 2, or ABS's 5. 3 and 4 would induce Lost levels of rage for me. 2 Link to comment
Taryn74 February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 Frankly I would still be happy if they just took Machines of Freedom and made a movie out of it. (I need to re-read MoF again. It's been a while. I just don't have time. THERE'S NO TIME! Ugh.) They would have to change up the doomsday date, since obviously the world didn't end in December 2012 LOL, but it would be easy enough to dream up some reason the date was off. But since that's a pipe dream.....I don't want William to be sacrificed, for all the reasons already stated. He doesn't need to never have existed either, that's just wrong. I like the idea of him being the one to come looking for M&S, because his adoptive parents were murdered and since his "powers" (whatever they may be) have always been an active part of him, he's know what's going on this whole time. Your friend is clearly wrong, because the answer is clearly X-Files. I love Sherlock, and even it hasn't been able to displace X-Files from its #1 spot, and it's a really damn good show. Heheheh, yeah. We tease each other about Lost v. X-Files all the time. He'll say something about "Lost...the greatest show ever written" and I'll be like "I don't know why you have so much trouble with your spelling. X.F.I.L.E.S. is not that hard to remember!" Good times. 2 Link to comment
kbs February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 I might be alone on this one, but I wish the William debacle didn't get more than a mention or two, since I can't think of an interesting and satisfying way to integrate him into the story. I'm with GA and DD who laughed their asses off when talking about the super soldiers and the magnetite. This was just so ludicrous and painfully stupid that I wish they would simply bury it all. If William were a normal kid then fine, let them find him in the end, but this whole cheesy saviour angle doesn't interest me one bit. Link to comment
Bastet February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 (edited) If William is anything more than a brief reference (like he was in IWTB), I will barf. Taking one of the worst decisions the show ever made and making him the focal point of the last thing we'll ever see of the original XF? No thanks. IMHO, Carter's biggest achievement was creating the show and the characters. As a storyteller ... he hasn't exactly been knocking them out of the park since X-Files. And even on X-Files, some of the best episodes were written by others. I agree. He's a good idea man, but even at that he got worse as the show went on. He can be just terrible as a writer. It's one of the reasons I'd rather see a limited-run series than a third film. Edited February 9, 2015 by Bastet Link to comment
Hidebehind February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 (edited) I might be alone on this one, but I wish the William debacle didn't get more than a mention or two, since I can't think of an interesting and satisfying way to integrate him into the story. I'm with GA and DD who laughed their asses off when talking about the super soldiers and the magnetite. This was just so ludicrous and painfully stupid that I wish they would simply bury it all. If William were a normal kid then fine, let them find him in the end, but this whole cheesy saviour angle doesn't interest me one bit. Nah, I agree. I hated the magnetite and the whole "prophecy" angle. It reminded me of Angel or BTVS, and that kind of cheesiness doesn't work for this show. I'm fine with William being in the series so long as they don't make him act like a bratty teenager. That would be awful. Edited February 9, 2015 by Hidebehind 1 Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 I might be alone on this one, but I wish the William debacle didn't get more than a mention or two, since I can't think of an interesting and satisfying way to integrate him into the story. I'm with GA and DD who laughed their asses off when talking about the super soldiers and the magnetite. This was just so ludicrous and painfully stupid that I wish they would simply bury it all. If William were a normal kid then fine, let them find him in the end, but this whole cheesy saviour angle doesn't interest me one bit. I'd HATE if they brought in the savior and magnetite thing too. Having him go off to find M & S is one thing imo, but the whole religious thing made me want to puke along with the supersoldiers. Nah, I agree. I hated the magnetite and the whole "prophecy" angle. It reminded me of Angel or BTVS, and that kind of cheesiness doesn't work for this show. I'm fine with William being in the series so long as they don't make him act like a bratty teenager. That would be awful. Amen! Seconded. 1 Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 If William is anything more than a brief reference (like he was in IWTB), I will barf. Taking one of the worst decisions the show ever made and making him the focal point of the last thing we'll ever see of the original XF? No thanks. I agree. He's a good idea man, but even at that he got worse as the show went on. He can be just terrible as a writer. It's one of the reasons I'd rather see a limited-run series than a third film. Playing devil's advocate here, but I don't think William was a bad decision. Just the execution was imho. You got 'who's the daddy' along with Mulder is JC (now who could forget that debacle? O_o) and William is a savior. It was just f'd up beyond belief. I hope they have the kid only have either limited powers or be normal, ala: what Mulder's brother did to him to get rid of his powers iirc. Link to comment
Bastet February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 I think the William storyline was, pardon the pun, ill conceived, not just poorly executed. (And I love that, prior to filming IWTB, GA forgot they'd even had a baby.) I don't want to see him again for a lot of reasons, one of which is I'd like the biggest of Mulder and Scully's numerous sacrifices to have been worth it, with the kid remaining safe and happy with his parents. Especially after all this time. Link to comment
joelene February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 Another vote for William being wholly absent. At most a throwaway line. I want the return to be fun and dark and exciting and scary and partner-y and have monsters, maybe a not too convoluted government conspiracy story and possibly a tiny bit of angst. What I do NOT want is a teenager running around, nor the search for one. 2 Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 Another vote for William being wholly absent. At most a throwaway line. I want the return to be fun and dark and exciting and scary and partner-y and have monsters, maybe a not too convoluted government conspiracy story and possibly a tiny bit of angst. What I do NOT want is a teenager running around, nor the search for one. I'd vote for Chris not being around tbh. Too bad it's not an option :(. That would at least focus the story better in some ways, even if the kid's involved. Just keep it to a minimum and for alien's sake, DON'T use him as a bee/interruption! If that happens, I'd run out of the room screaming. 1 Link to comment
Hidebehind February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 I wouldn't mind if they ditched all of the mythology past season 6 and went back to the black oil. I thought the original alien storyline was super creepy and awesome. Here's a deep question to think about: What length will Scully's hair be? And will it return to that rich red, or stay strawberry blonde like in IWTB? Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 I wouldn't mind if they ditched all of the mythology past season 6 and went back to the black oil. I thought the original alien storyline was super creepy and awesome. Here's a deep question to think about: What length will Scully's hair be? And will it return to that rich red, or stay strawberry blonde like in IWTB? I wouldn't either if the relationship wasn't the one it was back then. Keep it the way it is now between M & S. Who knows? Whatever length she wants it to be? As long as she isn't bald or looking like a Christmas bulb. Season 7 I'm talking to you XD. Link to comment
Hidebehind February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 Yeah---I think the season 10 comic books dealt with their relationship well. I wouldn't want to see tension between them. Her season 7 hair was definitely... interesting. I think my favorite was her season 4 hair. :) http://xfphotos.fredfarm.com/season4/tfwid/cap056.jpg (How is she so pretty?) Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 Yeah---I think the season 10 comic books dealt with their relationship well. I wouldn't want to see tension between them. Her season 7 hair was definitely... interesting. I think my favorite was her season 4 hair. :) http://xfphotos.fredfarm.com/season4/tfwid/cap056.jpg (How is she so pretty?) Yea I think so too for the most part. But please no bees or interruptions! Let them snuggle for gosh sakes and be playful. That's ONE thing Chris did right in IWTB imo. My favorite was season 9 hair. Liked the length. And tbh I liked the IWTB hair too. Wish it would had more texture though. Link to comment
millennium February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 (edited) Journal entry, February 9, 2015, 7:49 P.M.: I read an animated and speculative discussion about the length of Dana Scully's hair! Getting back to Chris and J.J. and Damon -- there ought to be a corollary that the longer a popular phenomenon lasts, the greater the probability that the very elements responsible for its popularity will degrade and eventually cease to exist. We see it all the time, not just in TV but in popular fiction (I'm looking right at you, Stephen King), in music (and you too, U2), in movies (Highlander: The Source) ... it's like all these guys have X-amount of talent in them. They burn it up like nitrous to shoot themselves to the top, and then there's nothing left. They just roll on, ever losing momentum but still expected to produce the goods. And when they try, the result often sucks. It's about money, it's about not being hungry anymore, it's about creating-by-committee, it's about forgetting what made them famous, but mostly I think it's about the well going dry. Edited February 10, 2015 by millennium 1 Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 Journal entry, February 9, 2015, 7:49 P.M.: I read an animated and speculative discussion about the length of Dana Scully's hair! Getting back to Chris and J.J. and Damon -- there ought to be a corollary that the longer a popular phenomenon lasts, the greater the probability that the very elements responsible for its popularity will degrade and eventually cease to exist. We see it all the time, not just in TV but in popular fiction (I'm looking right at you, Stephen King), in music (and you too, U2), in movies (Highlander: The Source) ... it's like all these guys have X-amount of talent in them. They burn it up like nitrous to shoot themselves to the top, and then there's nothing left. They just roll on, ever losing momentum but still expected to produce the goods. And when they try, the result often sucks. It's about money, it's about not being hungry anymore, it's about creating-by-committee, it's about forgetting what made them famous, but mostly I think it's about the well going dry. My thoughts exactly. Not something I'd usually talk about tbh. Yep. That's kind of what I was thinking too. Especially in regards to Chris. Link to comment
Hidebehind February 13, 2015 Share February 13, 2015 You all may have seen this already, but Frank Spotniz is doing an AMA on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2vrlhl/i_am_frank_spotnitz_writer_director_and_producer/ Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray February 13, 2015 Share February 13, 2015 You all may have seen this already, but Frank Spotniz is doing an AMA on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2vrlhl/i_am_frank_spotnitz_writer_director_and_producer/ Cool, nice find! Link to comment
Hidebehind February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 http://www.x-fileslexicon.com/exclusive/vincegilligan.html In particular... Matt: Now there’s a lot of media attention about Fox television in discussions to do an X-Files revival / mini-series with David, Gillian, and Mr. Carter; if asked, would you want to be involved? Vince: I would love to be involved. I don’t know with my current schedule, if I necessarily could be involved, but I got to tell you. I hope that is the case, and it works out that there more X-Files in the offing because even if I weren’t involved, I can tell you as a fan, I’d be right there with my Dr. Pepper and my big bowl of popcorn, and the lights dimmed down low. I think The X-Files is going to live forever. I think it’s a wonderful show, I am more proud that I can even express that I was a part of it, that I was a fan before I was ever a part of it, and I knew it was something special before I was ever involved in it. The thought that there could be more episodes of The X-Files is very exciting to me indeed. Absolutely if I knew I could do it, I would love to be a part of it, but even if I am not, you can know for a fact that I’ll be watching every episode and rooting them on, and being very much the fan boy that I started, in regards to The X-Files. Yay!! 3 Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 ^ That was my reaction too! :D I'm SO happy about that. I really hope that works out in that regard. Link to comment
queequeg March 3, 2015 Share March 3, 2015 Was this posted? Don't see it. X-Files Friday on Entertainment Weekly Community http://community.ew.com/author/kelly-connolly/ 2 Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 Just found this via Twitter: Empire Online 20 greatest X Files episodes Source: empireonline.com Pretty cool. 2 Link to comment
joelene March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 (edited) Lists are always fun even if I rarely agree with them (maybe that's half the fun?). Always nice to see DHDV on these lists, always fun to get curve balled by an episode like 731 at nr. 2(?!). Drive though, I like the episode fine but, come on, it's only on that list because the writer is a Cranston/Breaking Bad fanboy. Edited March 8, 2015 by joelene 2 Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 Yea they are, since they can tend to be so different. Link to comment
Taryn74 March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 Hee! I was so thrilled to see X-Cops on the list, as honestly my love for that ep grows every time I watch it. I think it's freaking brilliant. But then some of them I was like, wow. Really? Mostly I just love seeing XF still being discussed like it's a current show after all these years. 2 Link to comment
Mindymoo March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 I was pissed that Jose Chung's "From Outer Space" wasn't on there. That was one of the best episode of the whole series, definitely in the top five, and it's not even in the top twenty! And Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose should have been higher up as well. Those have become my two favorite episodes of the whole series, and nearly every XF fan I speak with agrees with me about them. 2 Link to comment
Bastet March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 (edited) So, first X-Cops comes up as #20. I find that episode rather stupid, so I'm thinking this person and I are not going to be on the same page. By the time I got to Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man, I knew it for sure. And Bad Blood down at #12? No JCFOS? No Small Potatoes? [Oops, it's there.] Triangle in the top 10? Drive in the top 10?! PMP in the top 5? I do like seeing DHDV ranked so high, but for the most part the list was a big ball of "I think we watched different shows" for me. Which is interesting, so I'm glad it came with more than a line or two about why each episode was chosen. Edited March 8, 2015 by Bastet 1 Link to comment
Taryn74 March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 Small Potatoes was in there, Bastet! I remember because they used the picture of Mulder after he broke the tail off the elder van Blundht's mummified body. I don't remember what slot it was in though. PMP way up there though....you got me. Link to comment
Bastet March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 Yeah, it's number 11. Maybe I hit next twice or something, because I completely missed that. I'm still thinking about Bad Blood down at number 12. Um, okay. Link to comment
Mindymoo March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 PMP was cute, but it was so cheesy. I wouldn't even rank it in my top 50. Same with X-Cops, minus the cute. Just all cheese. But yeah, JCfOS is such a glaring omission. It had everything! Charles Nelson Reilly was so brilliant in that role, the conspiracy was great, it had Alex Trebeck and Jesse Ventura as the men in black, and I loved Jose Chung's book at the end talking about how Agent Mulder was someone who got no joy out of life and was slowly going completely insane. Bad Blood should have been much higher if only for the fact that it is Gillian Anderson's favorite episode. Link to comment
janestclair March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 I wouldn't have included PMP or Triangle either. And Musings of a CSM? I think I've watched that one maybe twice? That was a total head scratcher for me. If we're picking a mytharc from the Anasazi trilogy, how can you pick Paper Clip over Anasazi? That's just crazy talk. Bad Blood should've been in the 5, at least. Where was Pusher? I was glad to see DHDV though. I think I'm one of the few who doesn't love JCFOS, so I'm ok with its absence on the list. It's fine and all, but for Darin Morgan episodes I prefer any of his others. As far as "what in the actual hell is really going on?" episodes, I prefer Field Trip, personally. Link to comment
Hidebehind March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 It's definitely interesting to see what people's favorite episodes are. I have to admit that I never "got" JCFOS (maybe because I'm younger than most of the references and cannot appreciate them). I was surprised that Squeeze was #1. It's my favorite episode, but this is the first time I've seen someone else rank it so highly. Link to comment
AntiBeeSpray March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 I'm a fan of a lot of the lighter episodes. Arcadia ranks up there (any datedness aside) -- seeing Mulder and Scully talk back and forth in it crack me up, so does The Unnatural -- some of the best flirting between the two of them imo. I also like Home for the way it was directed, acted and shot. Ice is another good one and the first episode I saw. Link to comment
Bastet March 8, 2015 Share March 8, 2015 I looked up the results of our elimination game to see what we wound up with as our top 20. Even with all the (terribly fun) "I can't believe you're voting that off now!" disagreements along the way - and the fact DHDV and WoTC didn't even crack the top 20 - our list wound up being a lot more in line with my personal list than is the Empire Online list: 20. Syzygy19. Eve18. Je Souhaite17. Field Trip16. Leonard Betts15. Squeeze13. Wetwired (tied)13. How the Ghosts Stole Christmas (tied)12. One Breath11. Darkness Falls10. Paper Hearts09. José Chung's 'From Outer Space'07. Ice (tied)07. Memento Mori (tied)06. Beyond the Sea05. Detour04. Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose03. Pusher02. Small Potatoes01. Bad Blood Link to comment
smrou March 8, 2015 Author Share March 8, 2015 Yeah, we turned out a damned fine top 20 list, I think. My personal list would probably only have a few differences in terms of the episodes included and then a bunch of rearranging, but would not be that far off from our group effort. And I think that list is much stronger than the Empire list. 1 Link to comment
joelene March 9, 2015 Share March 9, 2015 Yeah, our list is great! Except the HTGSC eyesore... Link to comment
Taryn74 March 16, 2015 Share March 16, 2015 I think Joelene got the acronym wrong. Pretty sure it was supposed to be "JCFOS". *grin* Link to comment
joelene March 17, 2015 Share March 17, 2015 Heh, everyone probably has at least one episode they see at the top and go "NGUGH." 1 Link to comment
smrou March 17, 2015 Author Share March 17, 2015 There are actually no episodes on our top 20 list that make me cringe. There are some I would drop off the list in order to replace them with others, but I genuinely love every episode on that list. Link to comment
joelene March 17, 2015 Share March 17, 2015 Mine is First Person Shooter. On what Top Episodes List would First Person Shooter ever appear on?! 2 Link to comment
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