The X-Files - General Discussion

[festivus]

5 hours ago, Taryn74 said:

Which Scully completely ignored while continuing to check him for head trauma. Bahahahaha.

He is head trauma. < 3

[MissL]

21 hours ago, Taryn74 said:

Which Scully completely ignored while continuing to check him for head trauma. Bahahahaha.

And Scully the medical doctor checks for head trauma by repeatedly running her hands through his hair. Nice job Scully.

I also love Rain King but I feel like I shouldn’t because man it’s almost poorly written fan fiction come to life. David And Gillian are a treasure.

Mulder’s glee reaction shot when Scully first gets mistaken for his wife (because he knows she’ll hate it.) Scully's disbelief when she finds out Mulder’s giving out love advice. It’s all amazing.

[Taryn74]

15 minutes ago, MissL said:

And Scully the medical doctor checks for head trauma by repeatedly running her hands through his hair. Nice job Scully.

I also love Rain King but I feel like I shouldn’t because man it’s almost poorly written fan fiction come to life. David And Gillian are a treasure.

Mulder’s glee reaction shot when Scully first gets mistaken for his wife (because he knows she’ll hate it.) Scully's disbelief when she finds out Mulder’s giving out love advice. It’s all amazing.

Ha ha ha, right? I'm sitting here cackling to myself all over again. It's just so much fun. It's utterly ridiculous and so over-the-top and none of it should work, and yet somehow it just does.

"A man. Controlling. The weather."

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, Taryn74 said:

It's utterly ridiculous and so over-the-top and none of it should work, and yet somehow it just does.

"I brought you a leg."

Yes, "Rain King" is an episode that succeeds in spite of itself.  Between Scully and Mulder having to share a motel room and strangers commenting on/making assumptions about their relationship, it is indeed fucking fanfic.  And, as I mentioned, Victoria Jackson.  Sheila is a drip, so it's not even like Jackson transcends her usual level of crap, and the "happy ending means marriage and baby" trope is in no less need of killing here as it is elsewhere.  There's this horrible nice guy entitlement vibe, that Sheila has to return Holman's feelings (no surprise, since it was written by the guy who wrote the horrifically sexist "Alpha"), but Holman not being among those who behave that way mitigates it.

But there's so much else to make me laugh.  For example, every single second of Scully's reactions to Kroner, its residents, and Mulder; Gillian slays it in this episode. 

It benefits from being in season six, which is much like season four to me -- it has episodes I love, but also a whole lot I don't give a shit about.  So the ones I like, I like even more than I would in a better season.

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

"I brought you a leg."

That, and "[Cindy] said I'd have to crawl back to her" are truly LOL moments for me. Haaaaaaahahahaha.

[Taryn74]

"Why are you always in a mood?"

"Because nothing ever changes."

Monday is such a fantastic episode. Tithonus as well. I tear up every time watching these two.

[Taryn74]

"Sounds like crap when you say it."

LMAO.

I love this show so much.

[Taryn74]

I had to build myself up to watch Sein und Zeit and Closure. I know people hate these episodes because they hate the way the Samantha arc ended, but personally I can't imagine a more powerful ending to her story. "I'm fine. I'm....free" gives me chills every single time. I sob my way through the entire scene where Mulder follows Harold's son and sees all the kids playing happily every time.

"They did more tests today, but not the horrible kind. I was awake and they made me lay still... while they shined lights in my eyes. They asked me questions, but I always lie now and tell them what they want to hear, just to make them stop. I hate them and I hate the way they treat me... like I'm an old suitcase they can just drag around and open up whenever they want to."

^ Those lines from Samantha's diary just really struck me this time. Gaaaahhhhh.

[Taryn74]

Just finished Je Souhaite, which means that Requiem is next.

Pray for me. I'm not ready for this.

[Taryn74]

It's a good thing I came to really like John Doggett, because some of these S8 episodes are painfully bad. Ugh.

I actually don't mind the mytharc eps that much. It's the MotW's which are killing me. They're just so stupid. Patience and Roadrunners made no sense whatsoever, and I remember thinking Invocation was really dumb too (it's next).

[Taryn74]

I guess it's because I haven't endlessly rewatched S8 and beyond the way I have earlier seasons, but I can't believe I never picked up on the metal guy in Salvage being able to "rebirth" himself exactly the way the Supersoldiers and/or Alien Replicants later can (Not!Dead Billy Miles and your spinning metal spine, I'm looking at you). It's not listed as a mytharc episode, but it's too damn identical to what we see happen later to be a coincidence IMO.

Also, now that we've exhausted the Consortium and Teena Mulder mytharc eps, I am absolutely 100% convinced that she knew what was going on with Samantha's disappearance all along - both before and after Samantha was taken - and now outranks her husband as one of the Big Bads in my mind. Not necessarily for going along with the plan, because I think in the beginning they really did believe this was the only way to help save the human race, but for lying to Mulder all these years and let him drive himself insane chasing after the sister that she knew was dead. I hope she rots in hell.

[Taryn74]

Almost finished with S9 of my rewatch (and just in time, as I've been getting notifications that the episodes are being taken off amazon prime in a couple of days). I remembered liking Audrey Pauley, one of the few Doggett/Reyes centric episodes I do like, but this time around I found I've liked more of the S9 episodes than I remembered before, but less of the S8. Strange.

In the middle of Improbable right now. This is such a bizarre episode, LOL, but I've always found this exchange really powerful --

Quote

 

"You know, there's a secret to this game, Wayno, and I'm going to tell you what that secret is......choose better."

"You got something to say to me, you say it."

"Son, I just did."

 

 

[Bastet]

Remember the brilliant videos some seriously-dedicated fan with a lot of time on her hands made using her M&S action figures to give six-second recaps of each episode?  I recently re-watched all her recaps of the original series (which still cause a friend and I to randomly declare "It's aliums, Scully" in the middle of a conversation):

Okay, I don't know why every time I paste that link, it comes up as the season one, rather than all seasons, video; you can just click through on her channel, but this link will take you directly to the all seasons video that is supposed to be embedded.

And then I went looking for season 10:

And 11:

Which I only vaguely remembered.

"What if the last episode was just a crazy mess?"  Indeed.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Bastet

[Taryn74]

6 hours ago, Bastet said:

Remember the brilliant videos some seriously-dedicated fan with a lot of time on her hands made using her M&S action figures to give six-second recaps of each episode?

Ha! I have never seen these! Can't wait to dive in.

[DaynaPhile]

I have all this time during quarantine and multiple streaming service subscriptions...but all I want to watch is X Files. It’s like the television version of comfort food. 

 

Edited for comparison clarity. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by DaynaPhile

[Bastet]

It is a long and silly story as to why my friend sent me the link to a two-year-old tweet, but this cracked me up:

 

[Taryn74]

On 3/29/2020 at 11:51 PM, Bastet said:

Remember the brilliant videos some seriously-dedicated fan with a lot of time on her hands made using her M&S action figures to give six-second recaps of each episode? 

I finally remembered to come back and watch these! Hilarious!!!

[Taryn74]

Fun little conversation I just came across. 

 

[supposebly]

I finally watched most of season 11 but avoided every episode that had 'William' in the episode description (no Struggles and no Ghouli). I actually thought what I saw wasn't terrible and I enjoyed spending time with the two. Gillian Anderson seemed more at ease and the hair was at least a little closer to what I was expecting. But I'm really really over Darin Morgan's episodes. In between the little absurdities, they just go on and on and I'm bored. And this one seemed particularly pointless.

And the umpteenth time where Mulder doesn't trust Skinner. This time, it really made no sense at all. If the only reason is that Kersh tells him Skinner had been acting weird, that's no reason for Mulder. Still, I like that they addressed Skinner not advancing.

I loved the AI-goes-crazy episode because Mulder didn't tip but I'm not sure why Scully was affected. Maybe it was the ride share because she didn't leave a good "review".

I also liked the episode with not-dead Langly. Somehow it felt like a proper X-files episode. They followed clues, there were shadowy types of some kind and then no one was arrested at the end. Although I had to laugh at Scully falling down that shaft. Mulder didn't seem very concerned looking for her. I guess he knows she's not going anywhere.

Not sure why the twins were killing people but again, it felt like old-school X-files.

Familiar was too much. Did we ever have an episode where children got killed? It seems a bit much for X-files. It reminded me a bit of "Die Hand die verletzt" but without the fun gross parts. Just too serious and violent in tone.

I liked how the themes that got addressed seem to fit more with the times. Well, except all the baby talk. Season 10 felt like written by my dad who thinks all this internet stuff is the end of the world and wouldn't touch a computer if you would pay him. Well, not quite but Mulder not being able to work his own phone in the Darin Morgan episode was just so idiotic. 

I'm not liking the ninja abilities Mulder and Scully have these days. This is the guy who seemed to drop his gun all the time and now they take out well-trained specialists? That just feels false to me. 

I wasn't sure what was up with Mulder and Scully's relationship and there were a few moments where I just couldn't ignore the stupidity regarding all this, but in my head, I decided they were together but not living together. That works most of the time. And to be honest, I wouldn't want to live in the mess that is Mulder's house. I liked Scully's house and apart from the excessive smart house stuff, it felt like something she would like.

So, I can happily ignore whatever happened with William or Scully being pregnant, pretend CSM is dead as he should be since he blew up in season 9, and I have mostly forgotten season 10. And now, I will go back to rewatching older seasons. 

Edited August 6, 2020 by supposebly

[supposebly]

I just watched a season 4 documentary. I actually had forgotten/repressed that they killed the baby in Home on screen. Still, it had a whole different quality than the killing of children in Familiar. 

[Bastet]

Frank Spotnitz held a contest to create lyrics for the XF theme song.  I think the winning entry sucks, but who cares, because a shit ton of people from the show performed it as a fundraiser for World Central Kitchen (José Andrés's organization):

 

[Taryn74]

Aw, what fun!

Robert Patrick, tho. What have you done to yourself?!

[Bastet]

23 minutes ago, Taryn74 said:

Robert Patrick, tho. What have you done to yourself?!

I told my friend who sent all this to me:  Robert Patrick looks like he just got out of prison after 25 years of hard time.

[Taryn74]

9 hours ago, Bastet said:

I told my friend who sent all this to me:  Robert Patrick looks like he just got out of prison after 25 years of hard time.

You are not wrong! LOL

[BetterButter]

‘X-Files’ Animated Comedy Series in Development at Fox

[MagnusHex]

I've recently finished season 5 and wrote a review for it. It was great and I enjoyed it. Here's my take on it:

The X-Files Season 5 Review

Think back to the fall of ’97. The X-Files was at the top of its game. A serial that changed the face of television forever, bringing TV sci-fi drama to new heights. A movie was even coming up due to its success and most of its production was completed. Things couldn’t have been better for the peak of the series. Right?

Back in season 4, when the X-Files movie, “Fight the Future” was being written and filmed, there was a lot of scheduling conflicts that have occurred for both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. Furthermore, Chris Carter was torn between three different commitments: X-Files the series, Fight the Future, and his other baby, Millennium starring Lance Henriksen. This resulted in some drastic spikes in quality, with the season rising and falling in its inconsistency.

The production of season 5, by contrast, was a lot more relaxed.

“Fight the Future” had been written and filmed, and with the second season of Millennium handed over to Glen Morgan and James Wong, Chris was free to turn his focus back on the X-Files. But there was one little snag: “Fight the Future” had been written. The series couldn’t proceed with any plotlines that might disrupt the consistency of the canon in the upcoming movie.

The flip-side to this problem was that it allowed Chris and his writers the freedom to try out ambitious ideas for the series, leading season 5 to be quite possibly the most experimental season yet. While on the one hand, all “mythology” episodes would have to be self-contained and not have any significant impact for the rest of the season, on the other hand, you get fun episodes like “The Post-Modern Prometheus” (a tribute to James Whale filmmaking and Frankenstein) and “Kill Switch” (a William Gibson special, the father of cyberpunk and inventor of the term, “cyberspace”). It’s even host to a Stephen King script (“Chinga”), albeit leading to a somewhat disappointing and conventional monster-of-the-week storyline that didn’t meet the heightened expectations of “master of horror Stephen King writes The X-Files!”

Nevertheless, the fact that the TV series had reached the point where it’s successful enough to hire a talent like King speaks volumes about how far it had come. Alongside many other ’90s cult favorites like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “The Simpsons”, The X-Files was basking in its glory days as a sensational icon of television.

Of course, it’s not all fun and games down in paradise. There were times when the restraints of the movie lead to some very contrived writing in service of returning things to status quo. For example, Mulder’s newfound skepticism of his long-held belief in the supernatural proved to be not only short-lived, but arbitrary. In spite of harboring the belief that the existence of aliens was part of the government’s artifice, Mulder would constantly believe in other forms of the supernatural, be it invisible conquistadors (“Detour”) or even killer trees (“Schizogeny”). It could be argued that Mulder’s skepticism merely extended to aliens alone, but the portrayal of his new cynical attitude could also be inconsistent at times (Mulder complaining about being “monster boy” sent off to nonsensical assignments involving the supernatural during “Folie à Deux”).

There were a few other occurrences where the writers wanted to have their cake and eat it too, balancing the tightrope of keeping the lore intact for the movie while injecting potential character developments that would ultimately lead back to the status quo. The most evident of these developments was Scully’s supposed daughter, Emily, who had to be killed off because the movie wasn’t written with such a context in Scully’s character. It’s not just mean-spirited to Scully, but also led to one of the most lackluster and problematic portrayal of the character in the episode, “Emily”, where she stood around looking sad (in almost every single scene) as Mulder got to run around chasing the bad guy.

It really doesn’t help that since season 4, Scully had been written into a more traditional female role that was the opposite of what made her character so exciting in the first place: a smart, independent, no nonsense professional who could stand on equal grounds with Mulder. Instead, most of her character’s essence in season 5 boils down to her desires to be a mother, which is itself a clichéd stereotype of female roles in life. There’s nothing wrong with writing characters in appropriate gender roles like a muscle-bound male character such as Rambo, just as there’s nothing inherently wrong with a woman desiring children, especially after becoming infertile. But it’s the way that such a refreshing character was reduced to an archetype that feels like regression.

This cliché is aggravated by Mulder’s conspicuously masculine role as the action guy who gets most of the action-packed scenes full of gunfire and door-pounding. If Scully’s maternal portrayal hadn’t been accompanied by Mulder’s aggressive and dominant portrayal, her desires to be a mother wouldn’t have stood out as much. Furthermore, there were subtle hints in the episode, “Christmas Carol”, that Scully was to blame for choosing the path of a career woman, for associating with Mulder and all the nonsense that ultimately led to her infertility in the first place, as if her choices to stray away from being a traditional woman seeking motherhood was the wrong decision all along. It doesn’t help that Scully might have even been inspired by similar ’90s female characters like Clarice Starling, another intelligent and self-confident woman who wouldn’t let something so clichéd dictate her lot in life.

But like most of season 5’s faults, it’s still a relatively small problem compensated by the greatness and novelty of most episodes.

For one thing, we get a nice flashback episode to The Lone Gunmen in “Unusual Suspects”, which explores how the trio came together and how they met Mulder. As an example of how the writers creatively utilized the problematic nature of the movie schedule getting in the way, this episode only came about because of Gillian’s absence filming the movie.

For another, we get clever self-aware critique on the age of the show. “The Post-Modern Prometheus” isn’t just a great tribute to Frankenstein and James Whale monster movies, but also an allegory for Chris’ concerns about his creation (The X-Files) going beyond his control. As stated, Chris had planned to end the series at five seasons, but Fox wouldn’t consider the notion of killing off such a healthy cash cow, and so the series dragged on ‘till its zombified years. Similarly, “Kitsunegari”, an episode about the return of “Pusher” (Robert Patrick Modell) was a play on the uninspired horror movie sequels that don’t feel quite have the same impact as the original. It even invoked the classic horror trope of the villain’s family member being involved in the new killings.

Most episodes, however, seem content on playing around with the relationship dynamic between Mulder and Scully beyond just reversing the skeptic/believer role that’s most evident in “Patient X” and “The Red and the Black”. “Bad Blood”, for example, is a fun little episode with a nonlinear structure and two unreliable flashbacks from Mulder and Scully, exploring the various frustrations the two have towards one another and how they view their partner and themselves. Later on, “Folie à Deux” reconciled their differences by showing how devoted Scully can be towards her partner’s earnest search for the truth while at the same time become influenced by the madness that he sees.

But the one recurring theme that remained consistent throughout the season is the subject of children and parental relationships. “Christmas Carol”/”Emily” focus on the eponymous young girl who could very well be Scully’s daughter; “Schizogeny” is about a troubled teen accused of murdering his step-father; “Chinga” tells a tale of another young girl who might possess psychic powers; “All Souls” features four handicapped girls being hunted down by an incarnation of the Devil himself; “The End” has another kid who’s a psychic and a prodigy chess player; “Patient X” spends a good amount of time devoted to Agent Jeffrey Spender and his own frustrations with his supposedly delusional mother; “Travelers” is a flashback episode involving Mulder’s father; “Mind’s Eye” deals with a blind woman trying to rid herself of her father’s sins, and so on and so forth. Such a consistent throughline might have to do with the fact that Chris had taken on an entirely new crew of writers for the series, but the fact that they knew what they were building up to (the movie) also helped keep everyone on the same page.

The theme of children-parent relationships would also remain consistent with the larger overarching theme of the series, the sins of the father passing down to the son. Aside from being a ’90s TV show dealing with the potential corruption of the American government in the ’70s passing down its crimes to the later generations in the ’90s, there’s also Mulder’s father whose involvement in the conspiracies against the American people would ultimately affect his own children, both Fox and Samantha. More than just a supernatural drama with spooky monsters and aliens, The X-Files was also about the more personal themes like these and how the government’s cover-ups and schemes, justified by the “greater good,” would affect the very lives of its people (as seen in “The Pine Bluff Variant” and the CIA testing bioweapons on fellow citizens). It’s the reason why the series has gained such a cult following and heated debates about government conspiracies like the eavesdropping of fellow Americans, something that’s been more fact than fiction since the days of MLK.

But with The X-Files coming to the midpoint of its entire run, it’s also where cracks started to show in Chris’ capability to hold the mythology of the series together at Fox’s behest, such as his introduction of the notorious Diana Fowley.

Fans of the show would come to loathe that name due to her interference with the Mulder and Scully relationship, but she’s also responsible for turning Scully into an uncharacteristic jealous lover, another character cliché even Gillian, for all her marvelous talents, had trouble keeping interesting for the following seasons. Diana’s existence served no grander purpose other than to give Mulder a partner who shares his belief of the supernatural, and yet her introduction felt like the heavy-handed forcefulness that would come to define the ridiculous contrivance present in the rest of the mytharc. She was introduced as a fellow FBI agent who supposedly worked together with Mulder during his early years working the X-Files. It’s the kind of dumb plot convenience that would come to ruin many TV series, such as the likes of “Once Upon A Time” and “Dexter”.

In fact, the very season finale itself, “The End”, was chock-full of plot conveniences to tie together the plot threads needed for the coming of the movie and the rest of the series, conveniently bringing back the Cigarette Smoking Man (from his hideout in Canada) for this episode’s assignment due to vague reasons unknown, conveniently inserting Diana the paranormal expert in an FBI meeting prior to the revelation that their assignment was related to the paranormal, conveniently having the CSM burning down the X-Files only at this point of the series just to serve the greater plot that’s the movie, where Mulder and Scully are split up (a plot that’s been played out in the season 1 finale, “The Erlenmeyer Flask”). That’s a whole lot of conveniences enough to fill a barrel. And that’s not even considering what ultimately happened to the CSM between season 9 and the X-Files revival!

Regardless of its flaws, season 5 of The X-Files is an interesting examination of a TV production that’s building up towards a movie. It shows us what kind of serialized storytelling the series was supposed to be, how it had more freedom to explore beyond such a restrictive format when given the opportunity, and the resulting rewards and consequences from such freedom.

Season 5 is an ambitious moment in the series’ lifespan. It would solidify its status as the peak of TV storytelling for years to come long before that spark is completely snuffed out in the later seasons.

Final Rating: 8/10

[MagnusHex]

The X-Files: Fight the Future

(after showing a clip of Mulder urinating beneath a poster of 1996's Independence Day)

"Hahaha, hahahaha, oh my god! That is so funny! Hahahahaha! Absolutely brilliant pinpoint satire from Chris Carter. No wonder he went on to such a distinguished, varied career that in no way peaked and sputtered out in the '90s like the human equivalent of Pogs. I mean, just look at it. (shows the clip again, laughs again) Do you get it? Do ya?! The X-Files is a smart movie about space aliens, and Independence Day is a stupid movie about space aliens, and the best possible way to point out this obvious superiority was to have the paranoid conspiracy guy pee on something. Ha! Classic.

And in no way is it as lame and awkwardly dated as The X-Files overall, since that series definitely didn't ultimately reveal itself to be a rambling cluster-f with no idea where anything was going and absolutely doesn't not work at all now that we're all slightly more aware that smug, paranoid white guys who think the government is out to get them are in reality seldom sexy, interesting or particularly heroic. Ha-ha-ha! Nope. Fox Mulder doing a literal piss-take on the ID4 poster is THE height of sophisticated satire undertaken by an enduring classic film against a disreputable flash-in-the-pan. I mean, that's just one of the reasons why X-Files: Fight the Future is considered a modern classic audiences worldwide can quote from memory and that you can't help but rewatch every time it's on, while Independence Day is a forgotten '90s relic that feels like it never happened, right? Right?"
- Bob Chipman's meanspirited take on X-Files: Fight the Future in his "Independence Day: Really That Good" video

In my defense, I hesitated against posting the above quote (let alone posting the entirety of it) not just because it feels overtly meanspirited, but also out of fear that it might distract from the review. Buuut on the other hand, I grew up with Independence Day and it's a favorite movie of mine and I had to deal with that look from people whenever I said that it's one of my top 10 movies. Yeah. So that short scene in the X-Files movie, belonging to a franchise I didn't grow up with, making fun of my favorite movie in such a tasteless way for a quick fatuous joke, really deserves that overtly verbose and meanspirited quote in my humble opinion, especially when it turns out that the big-screen debut of the longrunning TV success wasn't even that big of a deal, feeling more like an extended TV episode that in no way dealt with the ongoing mythology arc of the series in any consistent or satisfying way.

In fact, Chris Carter and director Rob Bowman (who went on to such a successful film career with the likes of Reign of Fire and Elektra) had the challenge of appealing both hardcore X-Files fans and casual movie fans who might have just came across the franchise for the first time. Its clunky expositions and awkward handwaving of self-contained storylines that were of very little significance to X-Files season 6 show just how problematic this particular film adaptation of a successful TV series really is under the surface, and in no way did it mirror the much more satisfying and successful The Simpsons Movie (2007) that provided a far more satisfying closure than this movie ever could for their respective TV counterparts. And this is even more frustrating for an anime fan like myself, because movie extensions of TV series happen all, the, time in anime (particularly popular mainstream anime like One Piece and Detective Conan). I've seen at least a dozen of these and have been utterly disappointed by at least 60% of them, feeling like I just wasted myself an hour and a half of my life that I'll never get back.

But in all fairness, much like those anime movies, there is still some appeal in bringing a TV production to the big screen: bigger budget, a grander scale and a chance to reinvent the classic theme song to something more epic and orchestral. You get huge building-destruction explosions, you get intense helicopter chase sequences through a corn field, you get multiple guest stars like Martin Landau, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Glenne Headly and Blythe Danner, and you get an all-expenses-paid film expedition to Antarctica with Lord of the Rings/Peter Jackson-level of scale when setting location backdrops in the narrative. Everything is bigger and louder than the TV series.

However, let's face it, the real appeal of this movie is the Mulder/Scully relationship, the two important speeches in this movie that define the significance they provide to one another. And even if Fight the Future's silly little virus storyline magically cured by a vaccine (after the infection has taken place - that's not how vaccines work!) is insignificant and even counterproductive to the TV production, it does well enough in reflecting the overarching themes and the spirit of the series, and maybe that's sufficient and should be the realistic expectation one should have going into such a film.

Mulder: "How many times have we been here before, Scully? Right here? So close to the truth. And now, with what we've seen and what we know, to be right back at the beginning with nothing!"
Scully: "This is different, Mulder."
Mulder: "No, it isn't! You were right to want to quit. You're right to want to leave me. You should get as far away from me as you can. I'm not gonna watch you die, Scully, because of some hollow personal cause of mine! Go be a doctor. Go be a doctor while you still can."
Scully: "I can't. I won't."

Such a conversation might as well been Chris' own summary of the two characters, their motivations and how that motivation has affected one another, with Mulder's vengeance against the government for kidnapping his sister becoming an obstacle in Scully's medical ambitions, while Scully's own cynicism and pragmatism have been softened by her inspired admiration for Mulder's passion and faith for the unknown. The film's core appeal is its character study, even if it's not so much character development. It's a self-aware callback to the show's frustrating meandering in conspiracy-exposure that ultimately lead to fruitless effort, but nonetheless tightening the bond between the two agents' pursuit of justice in their own definition and context of the word.

It's a heartfelt commentary on the series, an endearing one that feels like a nice tribute to what the series stands for, two passionate souls trapped in a meandering journey to nowhere with each other's company their only comfort. Even if Scully is once again reduced to a damsel archetype, even if she's once again trapped in a forced impregnation narrative that also plagued so many older series like Angel and Star Trek: The Next Generation the same way it plagued The X-Files (it's practically a central narrative for Scully in the series' fourth and fifth season), these saving graces are perhaps enough to say, "it's good enough of an effort for their first movie," even if their follow-up film adaptation would ultimately end in disaster, disgrace, and on the audience's part, voluntary amnesia. It's good enough.

That'll do, Chris. That will do.

Final Rating: 6.5/10

Edited October 16, 2020 by MagnusHex

[MagnusHex]

The X-Files, Season 6, Episode 14: Monday

Alright, it's been a while. I kinda abandoned The X-Files and Millennium midway through season 6 and 3 (respectively) late October last year because of something that happened. Phew, it's been a long time, but thankfully, my memory's good enough to remember bits of what I've seen in X-Files and Millennium S6/S3 so far.

Season 6 of The-Files so far has been an interesting journey. While season 5 is still far more experimental and ambitious (to my liking), season 6 had a bunch of unique takes on the franchise as well, including episode 14, Monday. the latest in a series of episodes where Mulder and Scully themselves got personally involved in some supernatural body-swapping/time-repeating/time-traveling/dimension-hopping hijinks. Yeah, season 6 is weird, and I'm not making it up.

And the thing is, this kind of daring experimental TV, something that will only come to be commonplace in the new Golden Age of Television during the 2000s (with The Sopranos and Mad Men), it reminds me a lot of Millennium season 2 (of which Glen Morgan and James Wong were the showrunners), which is ironic since Chris Carter seemed to try his best to wipe clean and retcon all of Morgan and Wong's experimental writing during Millennium season 3. In Chris' defense, what the writer duo did for the season 2 finale was a bit too challenging of a corner to write out of. Chris would've had to set the show in an entirely new genre in order to continue Morgan and Wong's legacy.

But wow, Monday, episode 14, was quite a trip. I mean, it's risky af for starters. An anime did it (The Melancholy of Haruhi) and it became notorious for decades (Endless Eight). Monday is none the worse for wear as it does have more variations in each cycle (and doesn't stretch out to eight episodes of repetition), but there were times early in the episode that I started to get bored. It still ended up becoming very entertaining and engaging, however, with the emotional stakes of Mulder and Scully trying to save each other being an effective hook. Some of the best action or even sci-fi movies have a simple plot like this: Predator is about a group of commandoes getting hunted by an invisible alien. Alien is about an alien aboard a cargo ship returning home. Die Hard is merely a lone cop trapped on a building of terrorists. Chris does well enough with this simple plot for this episode. It might as well have been an episode of Law & Order if you take out the time loop, but it's still quite an engaging episode nonetheless.

This, ladies and gentlemen, this is why The X-Files was so popular back in the day. Season 6 X-Files was still very much in its prime, and as Bruce Wayne said it, it's "Damn good television."

Edited February 25, 2021 by MagnusHex

[Taryn74]

Monday remains one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. I found it to be incredibly well done, beginning to end.

[MagnusHex]

The X-Files (Season 6, Episode 18): Milagro

It's understandable that a lot of folks hated this episode. Its pretentious prose was the least of its problems; its disgusting and misogynistic portrayal of Scully (which, to be frank, was really nothing new since Scully's pregnancy saga since season 4) was the main issue people were upset with.

But I'm reluctantly attracted to the plot, because I too wrote something similar perhaps 10, 15 years ago. I wasn't aware of The X-Files back then, I wasn't aware of this episode's plot, but in my youth, I wrote a fan fiction with a similar story. I had an idea around my head where this writer's stories would come alive, and his characters would seek vengeance for the god-awful and cringe-inducing circumstances he would put his characters through. I was... a troubled youth back then; my stories weren't always the most tasteful. lol Nevertheless, that idea did grow more tasteful and interesting over the years (this was a little bit before "Stranger than Fiction" came out too). It even had a title: "Fictitious". Then the title changed to "Escapist", and the "writer" became a virtual reality user who creates his stories through VR instead of writing. Needless to say, it went through production hell and was kinda abandoned.

So, as someone who wrote a story of such a similar nature - and not just wrote it, but worked on it for more than a decade - I definitely have a special attachment to this episode's plot. In my defense, any other TV shows with a story like this (bearing a less tasteless script) would still get my attention regardless. And to be honest, reading Darren Mooney's article on them0vieblog (a geek culture website that does essay-length reviews for genre television), he did have a good point about how "Milagro" expresses what was possibly Chris Carter's struggles during The X-Files season 6 at the time. Much like how "The Postmodern Prometheus" expressed that The X-Files (TV show) is like a monster that has grown beyond the control of its creator (Chris Carter), "Milagro" is indeed an interesting meditation on a writer's role and relationship with his characters, expressing whom has the real agency behind the characters' motivation, and whether if a writer's intentions truly means that much when Scully has already become such a fleshed out character that audiences could point out that she's not acting like herself (even if Chris created her).

But yeah, it's still pretty pretentious and it's still a hot mess. The intentions behind this personal meditation were understandable... but man, Scully's portrayal really doesn't score Chris any points when the track record of tasteless Scully portrayals has been very, very poor (even in season 5). I mean, you've read my X-Files season 5 review above, you know how I feel about Scully's portrayal there. I was not happy, in spite of the fact that I enjoyed the season.

Regardless, this episode has gotten me thinking again... man, I really should've finished that fan fiction. I never got to complete it. Ever.

Edited March 1, 2021 by MagnusHex

[MagnusHex]

The X-Files (Season 6, Episode 19): The Unnatural

The Unnatural is a nice little experiment for The X-Files (perhaps not unique or significant enough to call it "an experiment for genre television") because it felt so different from what usually goes into the show. For one thing, it lacks the usual dour, depressing and cynical reflection of American history (not that I dislike that kind of story). It's so hopelessly upbeat and corny that you know it's written and directed by someone different. And it was: it's David Duchovny's directorial debut (though not his first time scripting X-Files).

And in spite of the episode almost feeling like a cheesy Hallmark Channel special at times, particularly with how idealistic it treated '40s racism, I think that David did a remarkable job for his directorial debut on the show. He's obviously been on the show long enough to know the material, so he knew how the formula of the episode format worked by that point, and yet, at the same time, he took the familiar material and gave it enough heart and charm that it almost felt like an entirely different TV show (in a good way). "Field of Dreams" comes to mind here, but the poignant ending and the provocative way it dealt with the anxieties of alienation and persecution of African Americans in the '40s (with the folk song gospel "Come And Go With Me To That Land" really hammering the melancholy), it could have been too cheesy and even preachy if it went overboard with its racial themes. You know, we're not filming "Selma" here, or one of those  many social injustice specials like "The Hate U Give" - this is still predominantly The X-Files. And yet, somehow, it all works so beautifully to really tug the proverbial heartstrings in me by the end. And this is coming from a cynic who really dislikes corny and cheesy Hallmark productions.

I guess one reason for this is that, in spite of what I said above that made it seem like I dislike shows that preach about social issues, I'm actually a sucker for these kinds of narratives as well (as long as they're not too heavy-handed and biased towards any one minority group). As a Chinese myself, there was a phase during last year's turmoil that I got interested in movies dealing with similar racial tensions. Last year was the first time I watched Selma, for example. It's pretty interesting, because even though I'm a Singaporean, I've always been more interested in American history (the beautiful and ugly parts of it).

And besides, I think it's also unfair and untrue to just say that this episode is all about racial matters; it's actually more about the love for the American pastime, baseball itself. I've never played baseball in Singapore (especially since it didn't even become an actual sport over here until recent years), and I know very little about the sport, but I know enough about its portrayal in media to know that it has this mystical and spiritual kind of feel in movies featuring the sport, whether it's the aforementioned Field of Dreams or The Natural. It feels appropriate that a homey episode such as this should feature the love for baseball as a prominent theme.

But ultimately, it's still the ending that sticks with me the most. It's kinda weird how only the poignant ending with Arthur holding Exley stood out for me when the rest of the episode is pretty enjoyable as well. The relationship between the two men felt natural instead of coming off like some artificial construct meant to preach some social propaganda. David did well to inject humor between the moments to really sell the chemistry and friendship between the two. Again, it's sometimes too rosy of a picture, considering the time period it's set in, but man, it still makes me want to like this episode so much somehow, that innocent and idyllic charm of this episode.

And of course, let's not forget the other most important part of the episode: the shipping. Oh my god, the "Noromos" were probably freaking out at that final scene. It was probably as huge of a development in relationship for the shippers as that "Fight the Future" kiss from the movie.  Look at how much fun Mulder and Scully are having while hugging together (okay, not technically hugging, but still). And that parting shot with the baseball transitioning into a sea of stars... Oh god, David, so corny, and yet still warms my heart. lol

[MagnusHex]

The X-Files (Season 6, Episode 20): Three of a Kind

Man, season 6 is just chock-full of corny heartfelt episodes, huh? lol I mean, I didn't mean that in a negative way since "Three of a Kind" is a pretty enjoyable episode at the end. That bittersweet '90s charm of lone heroes walking away to fight for another day, some might call it corny, but even a jaded cynic like me enjoy that kind of melodrama every now and then. I mean, it's definitely not one of the strongest episodes of the series - far from it - but it could be worse. At least you didn't have Trisha Yearwood singing "How Do I Live" to the end credits as the episode plays out. God, that would've been too much. One reason why "Con-Air" felt so dated to me.

But I can see why a number of fans labeled season 6 the beginning of "X-Files Lite". I mean, you had a tearful gospel paying tribute to the dead the previous episode in "The Unnatural" and now you've got this diabetic coma inducing romance going on here this episode. Fans that have been following since season 1 kinda got attracted to the show because of its darker and more self-serious elements that made the fans feel self-important when it comes to thinking about potential government conspiracies in the real world after all. Season 6 marks a dramatic change in tone and genre that's understandably off-putting. Noromo fans were probably jumping off ship by this point, especially with that Mulder/Scully baseball "practice" last episode.

I think that personally though, I don't really share that sentiment as much. I'm no fan of romance shows, but these kinds of storylines are sweet once in a while. It's a waste of the Lone Gunmen's characters because they don't really get much character development other than "Byers almost got his happy ending." Down the course of the series, I doubt this episode would have any impact on their character arc at all, so this might as well be a filler episode.  And yet, much like "The Unnatural", it still managed to work its wholesome magic quite effectively on me for some reason (even though we've had at least 10 corny X-Files Lite episodes by now this season, which is admittedly a little overbearing).

I'll say one thing though: Scully's character was wasted so much. She didn't even get to kick the Lone Gunmen's ass at the end. Pfft.

[MagnusHex]

The X-Files (Season 6, Episode 21): Field Trip

You know, if I hadn't read The A.V. Club's review of this episode, where the very first sentence told me that "it's just a dream..." yeah, this would've been a more intriguing episode. lol

That's the problem with many X-Files and even Millennium episodes. Their appeal are often (though not always) held together by this one twist that if you happen to have that twist spoiled for you, it would ruin the entire experience. Considering that Chris Carter had wanted to end the series for a long time since season 5 (and turn it into a series of movies), but Fox was unwilling to let him do so, it wouldn't have surprised me if Chris had tried to end it by killing Mulder here, especially when David Duchovny was similarly worn out by the series and wanted to move on with his career. It wouldn't necessarily make for the most satisfying conclusion, and it's certainly gonna be a tired and cliched one down the road of genre television (see how "Dexter" ended for example), but it would still feel like a suitable resolution for the series, Scully the skeptic picking up where Mulder left off and going out with a bang against the conspiracies and government agents. Again, not really the most impressive of endings, but I could picture a network television greenlighting something like that, since other TV series do have abrupt endings of this nature.

But of course, it is all a dream, so none of this matters. lol

It does contain quite a few genuinely compelling moments though in spite of that spoiled twist. Darren Mooney of "them0vieblog" called this episode a spiritual successor to the season 5 episodes, "Bad Blood" and "Folie á Deux", since along with "Field Trip", these three episodes examine Mulder and Scully's perspectives of each other, how they define each other's personality in their point of view. And that's the key term here: point of view, something that's played around in these three episodes to not just mess with the audience, but also explore Mulder and Scully's feelings about their partner. How would Scully feel if Mulder is KIA for example? Or how would Mulder feel if Scully buys into his conspiracy theories? The answer that the episode offers is one we've already been given multiple times in the past, perhaps more prominently in the X-Files movie, "Fight the Future", when Mulder told Scully how important her position as a skeptic was to him in spite of how frustrating she could also be. But even though it's been said before, it's still a nice little plotline to use again in the penultimate season finale, even if the doubly-whammy twist near the end feels a little too M. Night for my taste.

That ending though, I have the same feeling towards it as I did towards Millennium season 3, episode 20, "Nostalgia", in that the episode just ends. No reflection on the very fact that they literally almost died! No reflection on their fragile mortality going out to these field missions against supernatural forces that stack the odds against them. Nothing. It just ends. I mean, I know it's a nitpick to criticize these kinds of endings since it's not necessarily a bad way to end an episode, but I'm someone who prefers a more satisfying conclusion where the characters acknowledge the thematic subject of the episode in some way.

Maybe next episode then. lol

Edited March 4, 2021 by MagnusHex

[MagnusHex]

Because of my sudden departure from watching the series in the middle of season 6, I think that loss of momentum left me feeling reluctant in writing a full review like I did with season 5, among other reasons. So instead, I'll just say a few words.

By Season 6, you could see that The X-Files was starting to lose its steam. Coming off the movie, the series was still having a huge commercial success, yet at the same time, the myth arc episodes this season were the weakest among the first six seasons. "Two Fathers" and "One Son" resolved nothing in spite of their overhyped promo ("Full disclosure! All the answers!"). Nobody important died and only the minor villains were killed off. "Biogenesis" trod on an old (and ridiculous) idea of "aliens created us." Even the shipping has gone nowhere, forever trapped by the status quo.

It's not a bad season, especially the first handful of episodes like the amazing one-shot episode, "Triangle", the hilarious "Dreamland I and II", the single-location "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas", and the heartwarming (albeit super-corny) "Rain King". You could tell that creator Chris Carter was trying to experiment with the episodes now that they've done practically everything a TV series creator could dream of (syndication, a movie adaptation, and having more than five seasons of excellent stories and compelling characters). But like the other seasons, you do get the really awful standalones like the generic MotW "Alpha" and the disjointed "Agua Mala". I think these stand out more this season because aside from those handful of good episodes I mentioned, the rest aren't really peak X-Files amazing quality either. The X-Files was beginning to lose its touch.

And then by the following year, prior to season seven's release, David Duchovny would sue Fox and Chris for cheating him out of syndication profits. Two years after, he would depart completely, replaced by Robert Patrick (albeit returning to the cast some time later). As it was said at the end of The Terminator, "There is a storm coming in." Cue Sarah driving towards dark foreboding clouds.

I think that the writers were aware of this too. More often than not, Chris loved to incorporate sly messages in his shows through metaphors (albeit not often clever ones). A lot of season 6 episodes had to do with time, or rather, how Mulder and Scully were trapped in repetition, forever driving into the endless night searching for The Truth™. Scully remarked upon this at the beginning of Dreamland I:

And then later on in "Monday", the two were literally trapped in a time loop, forever repeating their boring, predictable routine. Sounds ominous if you ask me.

Regardless, it's been a great six years ride. Most TV series would be lucky to make it past season 1 back in the '90s. Six is a long time. But ladies and gents, it's downhill from here.

Season 6 Final Rating: 8/10

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by MagnusHex

[Taryn74]

6 hours ago, MagnusHex said:

By Season 6, you could see that The X-Files was starting to lose its steam.

It's funny because while this is usually the mainstream opinion, S6 is actually probably my favorite season, and the stretch of mid-S4 thru S7 is definitely my favorite portion of the series. S8 is even really solid (IMO) once you get past hating the direction they were taking the show.

[MagnusHex]

8 hours ago, Taryn74 said:

It's funny because while this is usually the mainstream opinion, S6 is actually probably my favorite season, and the stretch of mid-S4 thru S7 is definitely my favorite portion of the series. S8 is even really solid (IMO) once you get past hating the direction they were taking the show.

I agree that there were a lot of quality episodes in spite of the lightheartedness of it all, such as Monday and, to some extent, The Unnatural. Maybe 7/10 is too harsh. My ratings are usually arbitrary anyway.

But I think that my problem with the season wasn't necessarily that I dislike it - I mean, I enjoyed myself more often than not, especially compared to my viewing of Millennium season 3 alongside it. And like I said, Chris experimented with this season a lot. Triangle and Drive are perhaps the more stellar episodes because of these experimentations, with the former being shot in a single shot, and the latter having an adrenaline-fueled plot about Mulder being forced to drive across the desert at gunpoint (also starring a future Walter White). At the same time, much like how Chris and his team of writers felt, I could get a sense that the writers had been doing this for perhaps too long, and now the myth arc was starting to spin out of control, becoming too convoluted for its own good. There's a reason why Chris desperately wanted to end the series at season 5 (but Fox wouldn't let him), so now he's forced to continue the farce and come up with ideas as best as he could.

Granted, season 7 (and perhaps even 8 ) might still have some solid ideas leftover that might not be too bad, but when I look back at season 6, how Scully was constantly forced to play the role of skeptic over and over beyond the realm of believability, it's easy to see that the character development was really starting to stretch thin. What else haven't they done already with these two characters that would be just as interesting (except having a serious relationship, which wouldn't happen until "The Truth" in the season 9 finale, I'm assuming)?

Also, L.A. is too bright. Lacks the dread of rainy Vancouver that made The X-Files so spooky. It's ironic that David Duchovny forced the crew to move to L.A. because of his personal desires to be close to his then-wife, Téa Leoni, but went on to sue Fox and depart the show just two years later. It's not David's fault, but man, is it amusing irony. The move has cost the show lots of storytelling opportunities, but David was just leaving them behind to clean up the mess.

Edited March 6, 2021 by MagnusHex

[Taryn74]

49 minutes ago, MagnusHex said:

Also, L.A. is too bright. Lacks the dread of rainy Vancouver that made The X-Files so spooky. 

Yeah, the change was VERY distracting. I guess in a way it came at the right time, since the mytharc was kind of shifting at the same time and the show was becoming less about chasing monsters in the shadows, but it really was jarring.

[Taryn74]

Hubby made me watch UHF last night. As soon as it ended I got out my S6 XF DVD's and said if I was going to watch Victoria Jackson, I was at least going to enjoy it LOL. Rain King for the win!

[SnideAsides]

I feel like season six's bad episodes stand out so much more because it had been so long since the show really had any, not because they're actually that shit on their own. Like, the first few seasons you've got the really great episodes (Eve, Irresistible, Pusher), the solid middle-ground episodes that are fine but unremarkable (Lazarus, Aubrey, Oubliette), and the really dire episodes (Ghost in the Machine, Space, Firewalker, Teso did Bichos), and you can clearly tell which is which.

But then, like, what even are the bad episodes in season four? Sanguinarium is a camp B-grade "What if Melrose Place did horror?" thing and that's the point, and pretty much all the other ones that get brought up are either divisive (TFWID, Musings, Never Again) or really only get considered because of this show's issues with representation of minority groups rather than because they're actually bad (Teliko, Kaddish, El Mundo Gira, Elegy; see also: S3's Hell Money). Take out the representation issues and I'm pretty sure after Sanguinarium (and maybe Terma) the next most universally disliked episode in season four is Synchrony, and even that's just a harmless piece of filler that nobody ever discusses.

I'm less of a fan of season five than most, but again, it's remarkably solid. The great episodes are some of the best in the entire show, but even if I think the mediocre episodes are considerably more mediocre than usual, there's not really any outright duds. Like I could maybe be convinced about the killer tree episode, but even that has a spark that's missing from most of the episodes that usually end up on Worst Episode lists.

Season six though, there's a big glut of really remarkable episodes (Drive, Triangle, How the Ghosts Stole Christmas, S.R. 819, Tithonus, Monday, The Unnatural, Field Trip) and there are fewer mytharc episodes than usual to weigh the season down. The remaining ten standalones honestly aren't great, but most of them are at least quirky fun (the Dreamland two-parter, The Rain King outside of Victoria Jackson's acting, Arcadia, Three of a Kind) or are at worst just mildly underwhelming (Terms of Endearment, Trevor), with Milagro being divisive. So that just leaves Agua Mala and Alpha as being true stinkers, and because they're basically the first crap episodes in about three years, they stand out more. And even then, I can see what they were getting at with both episodes ("Ice, only a comedy!" and "X-Files does Cujo!"), it's just they biffed the execution horrifically.

I usually skip Alpha when I rewatch the season but I don't mind putting Agua Mala on for some background noise if I'm doing other stuff. They're certainly shitty episodes, but they're not nearly as obnoxiously bad as the episodes I hate in season seven and onwards.

Edited May 12, 2021 by SnideAsides

[Taryn74]

4 hours ago, SnideAsides said:

So that just leaves Agua Mala and Monday as being true stinkers,

You scared me for a minute until I saw that you had already listed Monday in the remarkable episodes LOL. Monday is easily one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, and that is saying a lot. I think you meant Alpha since you bring it back up later?

I love Agua Mala in all it's ridiculousness, mostly because Scully is just so OVER. IT. throughout the entire thing. Her snippy "I can show you my ID" when the cop doesn't want to let them through during the hurricane just completely cracks me up.

I personally consider Terms of Endearment to be a true stinker, ha ha. Something about it just doesn't work for me. Like, at all.

 

4 hours ago, SnideAsides said:

and the really dire episodes (Ghost in the Machine, Space, Firewalker, Teso did Bichos)

I have a strange fondness for Firewalker and I really don't know why.

 

 

[supposebly]

On 5/11/2021 at 9:30 PM, Taryn74 said:

I have a strange fondness for Firewalker and I really don't know why.

 

Mark Sheppard? At least that's my excuse.

I'm on an intermittent re-watch while reading student papers and I am currently finishing Darkness Falls. Between Ice and this one in the episodes of the 'group of strangers trapped somewhere' trope, I prefer this one. No overacting and it has Titus Welliver.

[Taryn74]

3 hours ago, supposebly said:

No overacting and it has Titus Welliver.

Plus it has Scully in that enormous bright colored puffy jacket that I think everyone owned at some point in the 90's LOL.

[supposebly]

5 hours ago, supposebly said:

Mark Sheppard? At least that's my excuse.

I'm on an intermittent re-watch while reading student papers and I am currently finishing Darkness Falls. Between Ice and this one in the episodes of the 'group of strangers trapped somewhere' trope, I prefer this one. No overacting and it has Titus Welliver.

Sorry for quoting myself, I just realized that I was thinking of Fire, not Firewalker, which does not have Mark Sheppard.

[MissL]

10 hours ago, supposebly said:

Sorry for quoting myself, I just realized that I was thinking of Fire, not Firewalker, which does not have Mark Sheppard.

No but it has Bradley Whitford and that’s pretty awesome. I have a fondness for Firewalker myself. 

[Taryn74]

Together again! (Sort of) 

[Ms Lark]

New York Times "Guest Essay" 6/25/21 by Chris Carter:

I Created ‘The X-Files.’ Here’s Why I’m Skeptical of the New U.F.O. Report.

 

 

[supposebly]

X-files seems to be off Amazon Prime in Canada. Only the two movies are left. Is that true in the States too?

I sometimes hate the whole streaming business. No control over what is available.

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, supposebly said:

X-files seems to be off Amazon Prime in Canada. Only the two movies are left. Is that true in the States too?

I sometimes hate the whole streaming business. No control over what is available.

Yeah it's been off Prime for a while. The free version, anyway. I know because I was down to the last handful of episodes of S9 and it got pulled. I was hopping mad LOL. (Nevermind that I have the DVD's. I just like the ease of streaming.)

[Taryn74]

Just sharing a little something I made today.

 

[festivus]

I don't know if it's been mentioned but Comet shows three episodes every weeknight. Last night the Big Blue episode was on. I'm glad Mulder didn't find him. I loved the end when it showed him just swimming around in his lake. The big bad alligator was caught and now he'll be left alone.