The X-Files : Season X (Spoilers!)

[Warped9]

2012 has come and gone and no invasion. That shouldn't be hard to rationalize away. Maybe the aliens are fighting amongst themselves and decide to pospone or call the whole thing off. Maybe the 2012 date was a fiction of the Syndicate. Men/governments using the idea of alien existence as a cover for their own activities is certainly not a stretch particularly if they have access to alien tech.

Why would they destroy a valuable alien recon vehicle unless they already had the tech and/or hardware themselves?

While a lot of what was seen during the original series could be rationalized as men-in-black type activity it doesn't necessarily invalidate the existence of the aliens as well as a lot of the other weird shit Mulder and Scully (and Doggett and Reyes) encountered. Indeed it was briefly referenced in the first episode that the greys could well be benevolent and sinister men were misrepresenting alien motives to cover their own actions.

 

[RoJoHen]

Nothing is invalidated. I think it's just being put in a different context. There was more to the conspiracy than meets the eye.

 

[The Habs Fan]

More ratings news:

The final ratings for Sunday are out and X-Files has been adjusted up to a 6.1 with 16.19 million viewers. That's huge. Monday overnight ratings will be released later this morning.
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/01/26/sunday-final-ratings-jan-24-2016/

 

[Yanks]

Nothing is invalidated. I think it's just being put in a different context. There was more to the conspiracy than meets the eye.

I think you're right. It could be this is just a smoke screen to throw Mulder off because he was right all along!

 

[RoJoHen]

I get the impression that a lot of people misremember the mythology of the X-Files. It's understandable. There was A LOT of information that was randomly dumped on us over the course of 9 years. I didn't remember it very well myself until I rewatched the series a few years ago. People complain that it got crazy and convoluted, but it all actually made perfect sense in its own way.

The thing is, the aliens have been responsible for very little of what's happened on the X-Files. They certainly exist, and their initial discovery is what got the conspiracy started, but they themselves haven't really played a direct role. The conspiracy has always been the work of men. The Syndicate. Members of the government. The Russians. Section 31 (oh, wait).

The abductions and the tests have always been conducted by humans. Scully was abducted by men, and her "alien tests" were done by a doctor on a train. Samantha, Mulder's sister, was abducted by men and raised on an Army base. Granted, her DNA was used to make crazy alien hybrids on a bee farm, but it wasn't done by aliens. It was done by men trying to breed a superior race of humans.

This means Duane Barry was abducted by men. Billy Miles was abducted by men. Even Mulder was abducted by men. They were all just given false memories so that they would think aliens did it, to keep them off the trail of whichever men are actually responsible.

 

[The Habs Fan]

When I watched the X-Files the whole way through on DVD a few years ago, the mythology made perfect sense. Maybe it's because I remembered everything from having watching it in a short period of time. Now I'm re-watching the series and am at the end of Season 8 and it's making sense again the second time through. It's my impression that most people who dislike the mythology are those who watched it as it aired. I can see how it can become very complicated and convoluted over 9 years rather than watching everything over a few months.

 

[theenglish]

I get the impression that a lot of people misremember the mythology of the X-Files. It's understandable. There was A LOT of information that was randomly dumped on us over the course of 9 years. I didn't remember it very well myself until I rewatched the series a few years ago. People complain that it got crazy and convoluted, but it all actually made perfect sense in its own way.

The thing is, the aliens have been responsible for very little of what's happened on the X-Files. They certainly exist, and their initial discovery is what got the conspiracy started, but they themselves haven't really played a direct role. The conspiracy has always been the work of men. The Syndicate. Members of the government. The Russians. Section 31 (oh, wait).

The abductions and the tests have always been conducted by humans. Scully was abducted by men, and her "alien tests" were done by a doctor on a train. Samantha, Mulder's sister, was abducted by men and raised on an Army base. Granted, her DNA was used to make crazy alien hybrids on a bee farm, but it wasn't done by aliens. It was done by men trying to breed a superior race of humans.

This means Duane Barry was abducted by men. Billy Miles was abducted by men. Even Mulder was abducted by men. They were all just given false memories so that they would think aliens did it, to keep them off the trail of whichever men are actually responsible.

Thanks for this summary--I haven't watched the series in a long time and never watched the last seasons. I seem to recall though that the syndicate was working in conjunction with alien races in the original series, or kind of acting like a Vichy France type government--making a deal with the enemy to save mankind? Wasn't there an episode where it was revealed them men were each forced to give up a child (one of them Muldar's sister?)? Am I remembering all this incorrectly?

 

[The Habs Fan]

Monday overnight ratings: 3.2 (9.69 million)

it got the best ratings of the night and is only the second FOX show this year to post a 3.0 rating or higher.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/01/26/tv-ratings-monday-jan-25-2016/

 

[LeadHead]

9.6 million viewers last night!

 

[Warped9]

I get the impression that a lot of people misremember the mythology of the X-Files. It's understandable. There was A LOT of information that was randomly dumped on us over the course of 9 years. I didn't remember it very well myself until I rewatched the series a few years ago. People complain that it got crazy and convoluted, but it all actually made perfect sense in its own way.

The thing is, the aliens have been responsible for very little of what's happened on the X-Files. They certainly exist, and their initial discovery is what got the conspiracy started, but they themselves haven't really played a direct role. The conspiracy has always been the work of men. The Syndicate. Members of the government. The Russians. Section 31 (oh, wait).

The abductions and the tests have always been conducted by humans. Scully was abducted by men, and her "alien tests" were done by a doctor on a train. Samantha, Mulder's sister, was abducted by men and raised on an Army base. Granted, her DNA was used to make crazy alien hybrids on a bee farm, but it wasn't done by aliens. It was done by men trying to breed a superior race of humans.

This means Duane Barry was abducted by men. Billy Miles was abducted by men. Even Mulder was abducted by men. They were all just given false memories so that they would think aliens did it, to keep them off the trail of whichever men are actually responsible.

This makes sense. The aliens exist, but their real motives are obscured or even misrepresnted by a conspiracy of men who have acquired and used alien tech for their own ends.

 

[RoJoHen]

Thanks for this summary--I haven't watched the series in a long time and never watched the last seasons. I seem to recall though that the syndicate was working in conjunction with alien races in the original series, or kind of acting like a Vichy France type government--making a deal with the enemy to save mankind? Wasn't there an episode where it was revealed them men were each forced to give up a child (one of them Muldar's sister?)? Am I remembering all this incorrectly?

Yes, the Syndicate was working with some of the aliens, but even that was a smoke screen. The Syndicate was secretly working to create a defense against the aliens.

I feel like the Syndicate was just a tiny part of a much larger conspiracy.

As for Samantha, it's really unclear. Maybe she was given up to the aliens. Maybe that was just another smoke screen. At some point she was returned and raised with Spender. Then she ended up in a hospital and disappeared and then turned into starlight.

This makes sense. The aliens exist, but their real motives are obscured or even misrepresnted by a conspiracy of men who have acquired and used alien tech for their own ends.

And really, who's going to believe the alien abduction stories? It's the perfect cover. Rational people will just think you're crazy.

 

[davejames]

Ok this episode was MUCH better than the first, and really did have a nice throwback feel to it, especially with some of the shocking visuals and makeup effects. The story may not have been terribly original, but it at least seemed to flow and hold together a lot better, and had some nice little character moments and humor in it.

 

[Warped9]

Sometimes I think they make a bit too much of the passage of time and what has changed. It's not like Mulder and Scully have been in stasis all these years. Like the rest of us, and maybe moreso, they would have become accilmated to all the changes as they came about.

 

[JD]

I get the impression that a lot of people misremember the mythology of the X-Files. It's understandable. There was A LOT of information that was randomly dumped on us over the course of 9 years. I didn't remember it very well myself until I rewatched the series a few years ago. People complain that it got crazy and convoluted, but it all actually made perfect sense in its own way.

The thing is, the aliens have been responsible for very little of what's happened on the X-Files. They certainly exist, and their initial discovery is what got the conspiracy started, but they themselves haven't really played a direct role. The conspiracy has always been the work of men. The Syndicate. Members of the government. The Russians. Section 31 (oh, wait).

The abductions and the tests have always been conducted by humans. Scully was abducted by men, and her "alien tests" were done by a doctor on a train. Samantha, Mulder's sister, was abducted by men and raised on an Army base. Granted, her DNA was used to make crazy alien hybrids on a bee farm, but it wasn't done by aliens. It was done by men trying to breed a superior race of humans.

This means Duane Barry was abducted by men. Billy Miles was abducted by men. Even Mulder was abducted by men. They were all just given false memories so that they would think aliens did it, to keep them off the trail of whichever men are actually responsible.

Yes, the Syndicate was working with some of the aliens, but even that was a smoke screen. The Syndicate was secretly working to create a defense against the aliens.

I feel like the Syndicate was just a tiny part of a much larger conspiracy.

As for Samantha, it's really unclear. Maybe she was given up to the aliens. Maybe that was just another smoke screen. At some point she was returned and raised with Spender. Then she ended up in a hospital and disappeared and then turned into starlight.


And really, who's going to believe the alien abduction stories? It's the perfect cover. Rational people will just think you're crazy.

But what about all of the stuff with The Black Oil, the shapeshifters, and the faceless rebels. There was also all of the stuff on the crashed ship in the Arctic or Antarctic in the first movie. I don't really see how all of that could have just been faked by regular humans.

As for the second episode, it was good. It really felt like a classic episode of the series. I haven't seen any of the original episodes with William, but Mulder and Scully imagining life with him still gave us some nice scenes.

 

[RoJoHen]

But what about all of the stuff with The Black Oil, the shapeshifters, and the faceless rebels. There was also all of the stuff on the crashed ship in the Arctic or Antarctic in the first movie. I don't really see how all of that could have just been faked by regular humans.

I never said it was faked. The alien threat was real; that's why the Syndicate was pretending to work with them. It's just that what the aliens were doing wasn't the real conspiracy. The conspiracy was what the humans were doing behind their backs. That's why they were abducting women and stealing their ova. They were trying to create alien/human hybrids that would be immune to the Black Oil virus.

So yeah, all that still happened. And Mulder certainly uncovered a lot of things, but it still barely scratched the surface of the real conspiracy.

 

[Yanks]

Sometimes I think they make a bit too much of the passage of time and what has changed. It's not like Mulder and Scully have been in stasis all these years. Like the rest of us, and maybe moreso, they would have become accilmated to all the changes as they came about.

Agree. I too had the same feeling. I hope they don't go there again.

Break.... good choice with Annet Mahendru. She plays a good Russian (The American's). Too bad her vehicle just happened to blow up :-)

 

[Marsden]

I actually like the premise of a top-secret government project that involves human abductions and experimentation.

Yes, it was great when it was already revealed by Michael Kritschgau in season 4.

The first episode was a goofy mishmash of stuff picked from the previous nine seasons, plus it had way too many clips. It's not good when a show reminds me of Shades of Grey. There was no plot except: Skinner has Mulder and Scully reinstated and put in charge of the new reopened X-Files. The rest was a waste of time. But I accept it for what it was, a chance to put all of the pieces on the board and get things moving again and that makes it worth it.

Not as bad as Fight Club, but in the same area.


Founder's Mutation was good, not great, but good. I like how that conspiracy isn't the complete driving plot but it's still part of it. I just wish it didn't remind me so much of Drive. I guess crazy sounds in your head can seem similar even though they are completely different sources.

I like that they've kept the tradition of either Mulder or Scully being afflicted with the same problem. One thing I can say about X-Files is I've never seen another show that's not afraid to punish it's main characters so much.

It figures Spooky Mulder would be someone that could hear something that no one else can. I still remember the old Rumanian guy telling him to be careful because the evil saw his face. That's another reason I liked Mulder, he was fearless in the face of evil, whether it was evil spirits or aliens, he would do the right thing to defeat it and Scully was a great and helpful partner, aiding him when he needed and keeping him in check as well so he didn't destroy himself. I hope they can get that back.

Bottom line: I am so looking forward to next weeks episode and can't imagine not watching the last 4.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

I think I prefer the wig Anderson wore in her daydream to the one she wears in the "real life" of the show. It looks closer to her actual hair in IWTB.

 

[Awesome Possum]

But what about all of the stuff with The Black Oil, the shapeshifters, and the faceless rebels. There was also all of the stuff on the crashed ship in the Arctic or Antarctic in the first movie. I don't really see how all of that could have just been faked by regular humans.

As for the second episode, it was good. It really felt like a classic episode of the series. I haven't seen any of the original episodes with William, but Mulder and Scully imagining life with him still gave us some nice scenes.

It could be that the aliens are trying to stop the conspiracy from using their technology.

There is that one episode Jose Chung's From Outer Space. It heavily implies that the government is behind the abductions using recovered UFOs and pilots dressed as aliens to abduction people and experiment on them. It gets complicated because the pilots got abducted as well.

Mulder's informant said that Mulder didn't have the "why" yet, but that he's close. The actual aliens could still be involved, they just aren't working directly with the conspiracy.

I did find it interesting that when the injured alien at the Roswell crash was shown bleeding, that it wasn't the green toxic blood that has been shown on the show. I'm not sure if they just reconned it or Roswell really is a smokescreen and that wasn't really an alien.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Note too that the Black Oil and the Greys are two different species, with the latter appearing to be more benevolent (e.g., "The Unnatural," 6 x 19).