The X-Files - General Discussion

[Aethera]

This topic replaces the old The X-Files forum which has been vaulted at the location below:

http://forums.previously.tv/forum/568-the-x-files-v/

[FormerMod-a1]

I think this might be the best picture ever.

[Bastet]

16 minutes ago, aquarian1 said:

I think this might be the best picture ever.

It's completely over my head - who's the guy on the left, and why is it great for them to be doing that gesture together?

[FormerMod-a1]

It's Giorgio from the show Ancient Aliens (which is presented as real).  It's like worlds colliding.   I'd google Ancient Aliens, I can't describe it wll.  But if X Files and Fox Mulder were real, these two would certainly work together.

[AntiBeeSpray]

I remember that pic. It's too funny. :D

[festivus]

Ha! I loved Ancient Aliens and that goofy dude that's on it. Haven't seen that show in forever. 

[Taryn74]

On 1/16/2019 at 2:25 PM, Bastet said:

It's completely over my head - who's the guy on the left, and why is it great for them to be doing that gesture together?

Heh, it was over my head too.

[Sharna Pax]

I do love how Duchovny is such a good sport about everything X-Files related.

I just rewatched a couple from Season 1 - Miracle Man and Born Again. Miracle Man is a little too religious for me, but there's one moment that cracked me up: Mulder and Scully are searching the courtroom where the plague of locusts happened, and Scully asks what they're looking for, and Mulder's like, "....clues???" Duchovny's delivery is really funny, somehow.

I always get Born Again mixed up with Lazarus and Young at Heart, but on rewatch I quite liked it. I like the cop played by Maggie Wheeler, and I like that she makes a lot of the important connections on the case. And all the Chinatown/gangland killing/fishtank stuff is atmospheric enough to elevate a pretty generic reincarnation story; you really understand why this guy would feel compelled to come back from the grave for justice. 

There's a moment I really like, where Mulder and Scully are sitting with the little girl's mother as she reacts to the news of yet another death that her daughter was present at. Maggie Wheeler shows up to talk to Mulder, clearly about something important, but instead of just getting up and following her, he takes a moment to get the mom's attention and tell her gently that he has to leave. And it does take a little bit of time for her to look over at him, just like it would in real life, so we're just sitting there waiting with Mulder. It's the sort of inconsequential little scene that you rarely see, because shows tend to skip over that sort of thing in the interest of time. But it tells you a lot about what a genuinely nice person Mulder is - in the first season, at least. There's also a cute moment when the little girl is working with the police sketch artist/computer guy, and Mulder gets him to put a funny mustache on the face and makes the kid laugh. First season Mulder is a sweetheart, is what I'm saying.

[DaynaPhile]

Ok I’m confused about why we can’t reply in all the old episode specific threads anymore?

 

anyway, I was watching a fan vid (thank heavens they are still being made!) and can’t place this screenshot.  Someone asked in the comments and all that was said was that they thought it was season 6 but I don’t think so, based on Scully’s hair it looks more like season 4. Help?

[chitowngirl]

I don’t know about the screenshot, but low traffic forums got converted into single topic threads.  

2 hours ago, DaynaPhile said:

Ok I’m confused about why we can’t reply in all the old episode specific threads anymore?

[Taryn74]

2 hours ago, DaynaPhile said:

Someone asked in the comments and all that was said was that they thought it was season 6 but I don’t think so, based on Scully’s hair it looks more like season 4. Help?

Season 5 - All Souls.

And no, I'm not going to admit how long I've sat here flipping through screenshots to find it.  Heh.

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, DaynaPhile said:

Ok I’m confused about why we can’t reply in all the old episode specific threads anymore?

It was announced a while back that many forums for old shows and/or those with low-traffic forums were going to be either vaulted and replaced by a single thread or simply condensed (minus posts in the threads for things like games and small talk) into a single thread, and that started happening in December.  XF initially made the cut, but was later vaulted.  So the old forum can still be read, but all new discussion must take place in this thread.  Here's the pinned post on the overall process.

[DaynaPhile]

Thanks Taryn! Explains why I didn’t recognize it. Not an episode I rewatch very often. I think I might though just for that gaze. 

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, DaynaPhile said:

Not an episode I rewatch very often. I think I might though just for that gaze. 

Ugh, Mulder's just such a jerk in this one though! It never ceases to amaze me how condescending he can be any time Scully's faith comes up.  :/

[DaynaPhile]

So I’ve missed the season finale and it’s been removed from Fox streaming. Anyone have a source where I can find it? I know I probably won’t like it but I can’t leave it unwatched. 

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, DaynaPhile said:

So I’ve missed the season finale and it’s been removed from Fox streaming. Anyone have a source where I can find it? I know I probably won’t like it but I can’t leave it unwatched. 

Don't do it!

Heh, just kidding.

Do you have Amazon Prime?  It might be available to purchase as a single episode still.  (I'm not sure, I bought seasons 10 and 11 as they aired so they just show up in my video library already.)

[kassygreene]

Hulu has the entire series still.  And I believe they still have a free trial period.

[DaynaPhile]

I was reading through the IMDB trivia for the ep Home and I found this. Am I really just that dense that I can’t recall another child they had together besides William? It’s not referring to Emily. 

If its a spoiler for the final episode just tell me to go watch  

Edited April 5, 2019 by DaynaPhile
Crop photo

[festivus]

I didn't watch it but it is. Blergh.

[Bastet]

I wouldn't tell my worst enemy to go watch that awful episode. 

But, yeah, the answer to your question lies therein.

[Baby Button Eyes]

And technically, William wasn’t his son either. *sigh*

[MissL]

13 hours ago, Baby Button Eyes said:

And technically, William wasn’t his son either. *sigh*

La la la (fingers in ears) I can't hear you!  

William was the product of those two ridiculousy hot for FBI agents finally getting it on in season 7 on every available surface. Yep. 

[Baby Button Eyes]

As far as I’m concerned, canon officially ended with Mulder and Scully holding their newborn son between them, future as a family being happily together at the end of Season 8. 

Season 9 and forward is just a nightmare dream Mulder was having one night 😉

[MissL]

16 hours ago, Baby Button Eyes said:

As far as I’m concerned, canon officially ended with Mulder and Scully holding their newborn son between them, future as a family being happily together at the end of Season 8. 

Season 9 and forward is just a nightmare dream Mulder was having one night 😉

Absolutely and completely on board with that! 

[DaynaPhile]

Oo, there’s got to be some fanfic for that kind of ending out there somewhere....

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎4‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 10:25 PM, DaynaPhile said:

Oo, there’s got to be some fanfic for that kind of ending out there somewhere....

We already got the perfect ending to the X-files, the alien gives Reggie, Mulder and Sugarboobs the book which explains it all. 

[Taryn74]

This might be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

[Taryn74]

I'm doing a series rewatch, just finished up S2 and the first few episodes of S3.  Rewatching the early seasons and paying attention to Teena Mulder's mannerisms and reactions to things, I'm even more convinced now that she was actually the one with strong ties to the Consortium, and Bill Mulder was just her patsy.  And I'm thankful for Mulder's sake that he never seemed to realize that, and any memories which might have led to him figuring it out he blocked deeply enough that even hypnosis and regression therapy didn't recover them.  He deserved that little bit of peace, at least.

[Taryn74]

I was reminded today what an absolute DELIGHT Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose is.  So many great lines.  "I can't take you anywhere" "Too bad about your negative energy, Mulder" and Clyde Bruckman almost desperately asking his neighbor "Do you need any supplies, any dog food?" after the vision of the dog eating her entrails just cracks me up.  So horrible, yet so funny.

But this one manages to make the serious moments really good, too.  Just a fabulous episode all around.

[festivus]

On 7/28/2019 at 4:35 PM, Taryn74 said:

I was reminded today what an absolute DELIGHT Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose is. 

That was always my favorite episode. I saw that this thread was active again and although a rewatch is a long way in my future there is something I want to say.

Spotify has taken it upon itself to make me a playlist called Your Summer Rewind and it played like four of my shipper songs in a row. The reason I bring this up is because I blame this on the posters in the old X-Files forum. It wasn't until I started hanging out there that I ever even thought to have shipper songs! For the record, my Mulder & Scully song is Feel by Robbie Williams. I think the first verse fits Scully pretty well and the second one is Mulder's. Keep in mind I picked this one before the revival so it's for the old days of the X-Files. Those good old days of the looks of longing and the just had to touch each other days.

[Taryn74]

Just finished watching Paper Hearts.  I always forget what an emotionally exhausting, yet fabulous, episode this is.  The guy playing Roche is perfect, absolutely perfect.  He has that quietly sinister aura about him that makes you believe he could be a perfectly trustworthy, bland salesman who also happens to be a serial murderer of little girls.  Gak.

Everybody was pitch perfect in this episode, really.  Skinner angry, Mulder horrified at himself yet knowing they are working on a very short time table so he has to buck up, Scully concerned yet doing whatever she has to do to help Mulder think through what Roche's next move might be.

I'm also intrigued by the thought of Mulder's memories holding the fact that Teena and Bill made "the choice" together and Bill ultimately went along with whatever Teena wanted.  That reinforces my beliefs about Teena Mulder (pointed out in previous posts) very well.  

Oh, this show.

[Taryn74]

Something else occured to me yesterday.....I remembered reading a fanfic several years ago which made mention of the Fox being linked to Native American folklore as a Protector.  At the time I read it, that was just one more emotionally jarring irony about (Fox) Mulder not being able to protect Samantha the night she was taken.  I didn't think much of it but it stayed with me because it was just that sad, you know?

But since lately I can't let go of this idea of Teena Mulder being far more involved with the Consortium than Mulder (or we) ever realized, and knowing what we know now about CSM actually being Mulder's father even though Bill Mulder didn't even realize (at least at first) that CSM even knew Teena let alone that they had a relationship......I got to wondering if the plan to take a family member from each person in the Consortium, and the cover-up stories that would be given, may have dated back to before Mulder was even born.  Did Teena and CSM always know that Teena's younger child would be the one taken, and giving the older child a lifelong guilt trip about it was just part of the plan?  Was he given the name Fox on purpose, as kind of a sick irony, rather than just a terribly sad coincidence?

I will probably never like Teena Mulder again, tbh.  She has leaped far closer to the top of my Hated Characters List than her husband, for sure.

Here is a snippet of info I found about the folklore, btw -

Quote

Protector Of The Family

Fox animal medicine is associated with being the protector of the family. Due to its keen ability to hide itself within its surroundings, the fox can protect the young. It is cunning and playful and will keep a predator away from its family. It will sometimes use silly tactics to call attention away from the den and is usually quick enough and sly enough to get away itself.

[Taryn74]

Leonard Betts:  I'm sorry, but you have something I need.

*cue tears*

Currently sitting here trying to make myself watch Never Again. It's a good episode but BOY does it kill me emotionally. I remember the endless discussions we had back in the day about whether or not Scully would have gone out with/slept with Jerse if she hadn't suspected she had cancer, and whether or not there were any tell-tale signs leading up to her trying to distance herself from Mulder, and I'm sorry but I just cannot see it. Especially binge-watching where I go through a season in just a couple of weeks, I see NOTHING that indicates anything other than M/S's relationship is actually growing closer and stronger right now, not the opposite. Scully's emotional crisis feels very sudden and out of left field and I don't like it.

[Bastet]

13 minutes ago, Taryn74 said:

I remember the endless discussions we had back in the day about whether or not Scully would have gone out with/slept with Jerse if she hadn't suspected she had cancer,

But she didn't suspect.  I know airing them out of order caused that incredibly unfortunate implication (and ticked off Gillian Anderson [not to mention me, and to this day, as you're all about to be subjected to yet again]), but as Never Again was written, performed, and edited, Scully had no cancer worries going on.

First, Never Again was written.  So Scully's actions are predicated on four years of feelings about the path her life has taken (and Gillian, Morgan, and Wong's desire to finally get into the dark side of that), not any one thing - not even solely about Mulder's behavior, and certainly not about a cancer scare that doesn't yet exist.

Next, Leonard Betts was being written.  During that process, they found out Darin Morgan's script, which was supposed to be the next episode, definitely wasn't forthcoming (he's notorious for needing months on end to complete a script).  Having to decide whether to move an episode up or write a new one (to take the place of Darin's missing script) in the midst of writing about a guy who eats cancer sparked a revisit of the heated discussion in the writer's room during the summer hiatus, when they'd argued about whether or not to give Scully cancer at some point (because they'd established that all the other abductees developed cancer, so did they have to follow through or was that not the right tone for the series); the "yes, cancer" faction (it had been a pretty even split) had won, but CC had not made a final decision on when in the season (or maybe even not until next season) they'd pull the trigger on that storyline. 

So, the decision was made to tack on the "I'm sorry, but you've got something I need" and nose bleed to Leonard Betts, and quickly crank out (which is why Memento Mori took so many writers four were credited) a script to follow that, in which she is diagnosed.

Fast forward a couple of months, with all three episodes in the can, and FOX was scheduling its post-Super Bowl programming.  The network wanted Leonard Betts - a more traditional episode, well-poised to draw yet more new viewers to the series (remember, this is not far into the switch from Fridays to Sundays, which was about the network wanting to expand XF's popularity; they were in love with the ratings, and wanted to take them higher and higher, and in fact LB wound up being the show's most-watched episode) - to air instead of Never Again, which would have aired that night had it been just another Sunday.  Thus, the switch -- LB aired first, then NA, then MM.

[Taryn74]

Ha ha ha I remember that you were one arguing very strongly for "the other side" back during the day @Bastet.  I miss those long, drawn-out discussions so much!

I know my headcanon doesn't always fit showcanon, but IMO there's nothing wrong with that. We hardcore 'Philes honestly probably have a better grasp on the characters than some of the writers do. (If nothing else, S10 and S11 probably make that pretty clear, ha!)

I just don't think I'll ever be convinced that Scully was just so fed up with it all by this point in the series that she would go off the way she did. I don't know. 

What I do know is that I'm bracing myself for my heart to be shattered into a million tiny pieces over the episodes to come. *sob*

[Taryn74]

Well, I finally did it. Made myself watch Never Again and then Memento Mori yesterday.

First off, I want to say Never Again truly is a fantastic episode - it's tense, and a little scary, and definitely nerve-wracking, and Scully is totally believable.....I just don't feel it fits where it's at. At all. Like, it should have been back in late S2 or early S3. And that's not even based solely on Scully's mindset during the episode, it's based on Mulder's attitude and actions, too. Like, why is he such a jackass all of a sudden? Yes he's always been one to tease Scully a little to lighten the mood when things are tense between them, but he's never just a jerk to her the way he was in the beginning of NA, and he certainly was never one to try to act like her superior or that he had the right to boss her around. Ugh. Just, ugh.

And then Memento Mori happens and their relationship is back to being the thing of pure beauty that it truly is. (For which I am very grateful, heh.)

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, Taryn74 said:

Like, why is he such a jackass all of a sudden?

All of a sudden?  This is Mulder.

I mean, it wasn't until IWTB that I thought being so thoroughly with him might not be unhealthy for Scully.  He was never just a jackass, and their relationship always had moments in which he was truly wonderful, but there was not much Mulder could have myopically said/done that would have felt out of character to me during the original seasons.

[Taryn74]

I'm finally up to Detour next in my rewatch, which is going more slowly than I would like. I'm all a'flutter with excitement!

[Taryn74]

"You try any of that Tailhook crap on me, Scully, I'll kick your ass."

and

"I don't wanna wrestle."

How did I forget about these two GEMS?! 

[MissL]

On 11/9/2019 at 9:05 PM, Taryn74 said:

"You try any of that Tailhook crap on me, Scully, I'll kick your ass."

and

"I don't wanna wrestle."

How did I forget about these two GEMS?! 

I’m still partial to “maybe if it rains sleeping bags you’ll get lucky.”  Follow that with Mulders slightly shocked face and it’s also a gem.

plus I’ve always loved the way Scully says “I fell in a HOLE.” 

[janestclair]

21 hours ago, MissL said:

plus I’ve always loved the way Scully says “I fell in a HOLE.” 

I snorted just thinking about it.

My rewatch stalled out on Season 3. I just could not get past Hell Money.  Hoping to have time to pick it back up during winter break, though I may just skip that episode or I'll never get any further.

[Taryn74]

3 minutes ago, janestclair said:

I snorted just thinking about it.

My rewatch stalled out on Season 3. I just could not get past Hell Money.  Hoping to have time to pick it back up during winter break, though I may just skip that episode or I'll never get any further.

You can do it!

Bad Blood is up next. Ahhhh I'm giddy just thinking about it.

[Taryn74]

Rewatching has made me nostalgic for some of my favorite XF fanfic. Just finished up Aloysia's By Falling In and In and it was every bit as fabulous as I remember. Do yourself a solid and go read it!

[Taryn74]

Just finished Folie a Deaux, so The End is next and then my favorite FIGHT THE FUTURE. Ahhh, I love that movie so much. I was pregnant with my first child when it came out, my husband was working second shift so we kept strange hours anyway so we went to see it at like midnight in the theater right after it came out. Good times, goooood times.

[Taryn74]

Fight the Future was every bit as good as I remembered it. 

Something that stood out to me back after Redux II that I forgot to comment on - CSM wasn't supposed to survive that shooting. It was commented on several times by different people that he lost too much blood to survive. I think everyone forgot about that, or glossed over it, by the time the final seasons rolled around and we were surprised to see him survive the bombs to the caves. But I think this just further solidifies the idea that he is a supersoldier and has been for some time.

[MissL]

On 11/22/2019 at 9:33 PM, Taryn74 said:

Fight the Future was every bit as good as I remembered it. 

Something that stood out to me back after Redux II that I forgot to comment on - CSM wasn't supposed to survive that shooting. It was commented on several times by different people that he lost too much blood to survive. I think everyone forgot about that, or glossed over it, by the time the final seasons rolled around and we were surprised to see him survive the bombs to the caves. But I think this just further solidifies the idea that he is a supersoldier and has been for some time.

I find myself wishing especially during the reboot that they’d just let him stay dead. Just shows CCs escalating lack of creativity as the seasons progressed (in my opinion). 

[Taryn74]

"Fog? ...... Holman!"

"Mulder, when was the last time you went on a date?" "I will talk to you later."

Hahahahaha I love Rain King so much.

[festivus]

10 hours ago, Taryn74 said:

Hahahahaha I love Rain King so much.

I do too. Didn't Mulder say something about that cow having his name on it? lol.

[Taryn74]

2 hours ago, festivus said:

I do too. Didn't Mulder say something about that cow having his name on it? lol.

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

[Bastet]

14 hours ago, Taryn74 said:

I love Rain King so much.

I do, too, which is pretty astounding since Victoria Jackson is in it.