The truth is in here: watchin' The X-Files (NO SPOILERS)

[caisson2delta]

Glad that you're getting a chance to see a truly amazing series. This definitely brings back some nostalgia for me. I remember watching it, from the pilot, from day one and being totally enthralled by it. You will come across a few boring, and some outright silly, episodes, but all in all it was a great show. I remember being saddened when it finally ended. It has been on my " to get " list of DVD series.

 

[stonester1]

It does have one of my favorite exchanges.

DEEP THROAT: Why are those like yourself, who believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life on this earth, not dissuaded by all the evidence to the contrary?

MULDER: Because all the evidence to the contrary is not entirely dissuasive.


That's Mulder in a nutshell. Scully, the scientist, adopts the theory most likely to explain most of the evidence while dismissing the rest as aberrant, at most indicative of the need to slightly revise conventional theory. Mulder, the pseudoscientist, grasps the smallest aberration as an indictment of an entire paradigm. And his new paradigms are usually pretty out there. That's why we like him, his ideas are weirder than ours.

Besides, Mulder's point is VERY valid. Scully is an awesome character, but when it comes to comparing how I see the universe...Mulder all the way.

 

[Canadave]

Other good bits included a Before He Was Famous version of Seth Green, and the mysterious dude at the beginning and the end. I wonder what's up with him? Who does he work for? What the hell is his name?

Those things will be answered in time. As for his name, just call him Deep Throat. We eventually find out the names of a few of these shadowy characters, but the nicknames (like Cancer Man) are the ones that really stick.

Duly noted. Though chances are good I'm going to forget that.

Delta1, I agree, that was a very good exchange. I'm a bit more of a Scully than I am a Mulder, but I can certainly appreciate where he's coming from.

And lastly, for Luckyflux, I'm going to start pasting in the short synopses from Wiki, let me know if this helps.

1x03 "Squeeze"
A-

Mulder and Scully investigate a series of murders where there appears to be no tangible method for the murderer’s entrance and escape. Eugene Victor Tooms, a seemingly normal janitor, is suspected by Mulder to be a mutant who kills his victims and extracts their livers in order to prolong his existence.

So let me get this out of the way first: I am so very glad that the searching-the-Internet montage replaced the pouring-over-microfiche montage. There's only so many ways you can make old transparencies of newspapers look interesting!

Okay, so that aside, I found this episode pretty fantastic. I really wasn't expecting anything quite this good this early on. The villain of the piece was amazingly creepy, and seemed like a genuine menace. Even though they never really delved into the "why" of the whole thing, it still worked very well with him playing something of a force of nature role.

Also, full credit to the production team for cranking up the suspense. The whole sequence of Mulder and Scully investigating Stretchy McCreepyson's lair had me on the edge of my seat, and taking the subtle route of having him go after Mulder worked brilliantly.

That said, the episode wasn't perfect. The subplot with the douchy FBI agent was utterly predictable, and the guy never even came close to appearing likable. I know he's not supposed to, but they could have at least tried to give him a little depth. It was a nice attempt to show how the X-Files fit in to the FBI, but unfortunately it didn't really work.

Thankfully, that only took up a small portion of the hour, and the rest was solid enough to earn an early A-grade.

 

[Aragorn]

Before you watch season seven, you might want to watch all three seasons of Millennium to understand where Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) is coming from. Plus there is at least one X-File crossover I can remember on that show.

And watch the first X-Files movie after season five.

 

[Harvey]

Before you watch season seven, you might want to watch all three seasons of Millennium to understand where Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) is coming from. Plus there is at least one X-File crossover I can remember on that show.

And watch the first X-Files movie after season five.

Ahem.

There's a short-lived spin-off called The Lone Gunmen that aired during season eight. It's a comedic spy show of sorts and quite different in tone to The X-Files. It's not at all important that you see it, though it is referenced a few times in season nine.

There's also Millennium, which aired during seasons 4-6. It wasn't supposed to be a spin-off, but there ends up being a crossover with a minor character and some other references to The X-Files during its three year run. After it was cancelled, the main character, Frank Black, crossed over on The X-Files early in season seven.

Then there are the two movies. The first takes place between seasons five and six. The second takes place after the series.

I really enjoy Squeeze. Tooms is quite a character and I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that he might have something to do with the episode Tooms later on in season one. Though I think it's one of the weaker seasons of the series, there are quite a few standouts all the same, and this is one of them.

 

[Delta1]

Doug "Stretchy McCreepyson" Hutchison also played a bad guy on Millennium and a character on Lost (and lots of non-genre stuff, besides). He has always struck me as a real chameleon.

 

[indranee]

we luuuurve newborn Philes! eagerly reading your reviews. come back with more please...

 

[RoJoHen]

Holy crap, every season is available instantly on Netflix! I now have a new project!

 

[Canadave]

Don't worry folks, I'm still alive... no alien abductions to report yet.

I've just been busy the past few nights. Tuesday night required Lost watching, and I decided it would also be a good night to get my girlfriend to watch Star Trek III for the first time. And last night I had a meeting in the evening and didn't home 'til late, so suffice it to say, I didn't feel like writing any reviews.

However, I'm back now, and with a double review!

Doug "Stretchy McCreepyson" Hutchison also played a bad guy on Millennium and a character on Lost (and lots of non-genre stuff, besides). He has always struck me as a real chameleon.

Holy shit, he played Horace! I would not have even noticed if you hadn't pointed this out... amazingly different portrayals. Though based on his X-Files appearance, I can see why they cast him as Ethan's father.

Right, now that I've bored the non-Lost fans, here's a pair of reviews, as promised earlier in the post.

1x04 "Conduit"
C+

As Section Chief Scott Blevins expresses his concern with the direction of the X-Files department, Mulder becomes obsessed with solving a case that closely parallels an ‘encounter’ he experienced as a child. Which dealt with alien abduction and an exploration of Mulder's determination to find his sister, Samantha Mulder.

Somewhere in this ultimately muddled script, there's a good character piece about Fox Mulder. It's a pity it's so hard to find...

The episode really isn't terrible overall, it's just messy. Some girl is abducted by aliens maybe and her brother can hear radio transmissions for some reason which somehow lets him find her kind of and their mother saw a UFO in the past but it doesn't seem to be important and wait there was a murder when did this happen and everyone lives happily ever after somehow. And yes, the only way to really describe the plot of this episode is to discard commas, because that's the only way to get across how it plays out.

So while the main plot lacks... coherence... the subplot about Mulder's sister that runs throughout is quite well-done, and really redeems the episode somewhat. The tape of Mulder's hypnotism sessions combined with the shot of him in the church were pretty moving, and I'm eager to see how this particular storyline will play out. I just wish the storyline could have reappeared in a better episode.

However, at least it was better than...

1x05 "The Jersey Devil"
D

The murder of a homeless man which is very similar in detail to a murder committed in 1947 leads Mulder and Scully to the legendary man-beast the Jersey Devil roaming in the forests surrounding Atlantic City.

After I watched this, I was going to give it a C-, but the more I thought about it, the lower the grade got. It's probably best I didn't wait any longer to type this up, then...

Anyway, the teaser is really promising and well-shot, but this episode suffers from exactly the opposite problem as "Conduit." It's way too straightforward, and there's nowhere near enough plot. This was evident towards the end of the episode when I realized I'd spent the past fifteen minutes watching people stumble around in abandoned buildings and OH GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!

Plus, the ending was ripped straight from the King Kong mold. I think the police are the real monsters here, people!

Anyway, I expected these kinds of growing pains from a new series, and the fact that "Squeeze" came three episodes in already puts TXF season 1 ahead of the first season of TNG.

 

[RoJoHen]

I really enjoy Squeeze. Tooms is quite a character and I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that he might have something to do with the episode Tooms later on in season one. Though I think it's one of the weaker seasons of the series, there are quite a few standouts all the same, and this is one of them.

For sure!

 

[Harvey]

Oh, The Jersey Devil. Not the series' finest moment. I especially like the cheesy badness of the green-screened Atlantic City behind Mulder when he's on the phone in the "casino." Or the fact that New Jersey looks strangely like Vancouver...

Don't worry, it gets better. Well, except for Space.

 

[Canadave]

^ I noticed that "Space" doesn't even have a Wikipedia article. This does not fill me with confidence.

 

[DevilEyes]

There's a lot of bile for the last two seasons, but I don't necessarily share it. I liked some of the new characters, and they managed to squeeze a few good monster stories in between the meandering mytharc episodes. It's not a stretch to say the series could have continued if they'd made a clean break with the Mulder-Scully era. Just MHO.

I liked the new characters also. I also think that the 8th season was someways bit better and darker than the seventh
But its true that the best years are definetly seasons 1-5
The X-Files was, and is one, of my favorite TV-shows of all time. When it started it was dark, well done and interesting show..and its that still today.
And Mulder and Scully...the best damn team on TV!
The actors have such great chemistry, something that you cant buy with money.

Season 1 is pretty good, but the show really takes off in season 2. Seasons 2-5 were the best. There are some great episodes in season 6, but that's where the show started going downhill, especially with the Mythology self-destructing, with the bad tendency of farce episodes, and the move from Vancouver to LA was not a good idea. I really missed the old feel, that new XF tended to be visually too bright and sunny.

Season 8 and 9 were certainly much better than season 7, but that's not saying much, since season 7 was goddamn awful, absolutely the nadir of the show. Too many comedy and parody episodes which were really bad and unfunny (The X-Files did some good comedy episodes in earlier seasons, but most of them were far smarter and funnier), none of the old school dark X-Files episodes, the few serious episodes were very lackluster, Duchovny was playing himself rather than Mulder, and don't get me started on "Closure". At least the next two seasons got back to the darker feel of the classic X-Files, and Robert Patrick was great. Although the Mythology was a convoluted mess that couldn't be salvaged anymore.

Anyway, enough about the later seasons. Cavadave, you're in for a treat - as I said, season 1 is good and seasons 2-5 are great. Although some of the monster-of-the-week episodes will be just as atrocious as Jersey Devil, or worse, some other standalones will be great, as well as every main storyarc ('Mythology') episode until the second part of season 6. Just don't expect the Mythology to make sense in the end.

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm working my way through Season 1 since I found it on Netflix Instant last week, and I must say, it's a lot better than I remember. I'm surprised at how many episodes that I consider classics are in this season. I'm also very impressed with the acting. I feel like they had these characters figured out right off the bat.

 

[Canadave]

Just don't expect the Mythology to make sense in the end.

Heh, yeah, I've heard this. Not too big a deal, though, as long as the ride is enjoyable.

Also, y'all need to bump this thread more. It inspires me to write.

1x06 "Shadows"
B-

When an unseen force commits several murders where a young woman is present, Mulder suspects that it is the spirit of the woman’s former boss who was believed to have committed suicide but was actually murdered and he is protecting her from his business partner.

To be honest, I'm struggling with finding much to say about this one. It was pretty run-of-the-mill: not terrible, but a long ways from excellent at the same time.

Most of the stuff with the ghost was reasonably spooky, I suppose, by the standards of network television, but certainly nothing approaching the level of something like Doctor Who's "Blink," or Buffy's "Hush."

Mulder and Scully had some good moments, I suppose, but again, nothing really stood out for me.

The one thing I do have to say is that I wish the writers would stop leaning so heavily on the "But it may not be over!" stings to end the episode. It's getting really predictable. Makes me wonder if there's a TV Tropes page for it, and if The X-Files might very well be the trope namer.

 

[Harvey]

Open-endings are definitely an X-Files staple. Mulder is investigating unsolved cases, after all, and despite his best efforts most of them seem to stay that way by episode's end. Which could lead one to wonder why Mulder is able to keep his job with such a low success rate, but the show presents better questions worth expending time over.

 

[Delta1]

Mulder keeps his job because he has a patron in Congress, whom he mentioned pretty early on (Pilot?). There may or may not be other reasons he's assigned to the X-Files. But his job isn't going to get him any kind of advancement in the Bureau. FBI culture was very, very conviction-oriented through the 90s. If you weren't building cases that put people in jail, you weren't doing your job. The FBI's other raison d'etre, counterintelligence, was seen as a bit of a dead end until 9/11--so I can only imagine "unsolvable paranormal phenomena" is a professional death sentence. "Nobody down here but the FBI's most unwanted."

 

[stonester1]

Just don't expect the Mythology to make sense in the end.

Heh, yeah, I've heard this. Not too big a deal, though, as long as the ride is enjoyable.

Also, y'all need to bump this thread more. It inspires me to write.

1x06 "Shadows"
B-

When an unseen force commits several murders where a young woman is present, Mulder suspects that it is the spirit of the woman’s former boss who was believed to have committed suicide but was actually murdered and he is protecting her from his business partner.

To be honest, I'm struggling with finding much to say about this one. It was pretty run-of-the-mill: not terrible, but a long ways from excellent at the same time.

Most of the stuff with the ghost was reasonably spooky, I suppose, by the standards of network television, but certainly nothing approaching the level of something like Doctor Who's "Blink," or Buffy's "Hush."

Mulder and Scully had some good moments, I suppose, but again, nothing really stood out for me.

The one thing I do have to say is that I wish the writers would stop leaning so heavily on the "But it may not be over!" stings to end the episode. It's getting really predictable. Makes me wonder if there's a TV Tropes page for it, and if The X-Files might very well be the trope namer.

Personally, I loved this ep. I thought it was a very effective, creepy ghost story.

 

[stonester1]

Mulder keeps his job because he has a patron in Congress, whom he mentioned pretty early on (Pilot?). There may or may not be other reasons he's assigned to the X-Files. But his job isn't going to get him any kind of advancement in the Bureau. FBI culture was very, very conviction-oriented through the 90s. If you weren't building cases that put people in jail, you weren't doing your job. The FBI's other raison d'etre, counterintelligence, was seen as a bit of a dead end until 9/11--so I can only imagine "unsolvable paranormal phenomena" is a professional death sentence. "Nobody down here but the FBI's most unwanted."

Exactly. And, given Mulder's passions, not giving a FUCK about advancement, and having Congressional patronage, and given that no one else wanted the department, Mulder has pretty free rein.

But not unlimited. You'll find that out.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

Very good series. Avoid the last couple seasons.

I'd go further and suggest avoiding all the conspiracy arc episodes. I loved the monster of the week, "things" like Tooms especially.

Although the spoof UFO episode (I spoil nothing by describing it as such!) was enjoyable.