No, I didn't search every page to make sure there wasn't already an X-Files topic, but if there is, the fact that it isn't being talked about on the first page is a travesty! I mean, come on, y'all are talking about Twilight for God sake!!! So, come on, who here loves The X-Files? Who's your favorite character? Favorite episode?
I love the series; my favorite character is Skinner. There have been a few long-running review threads here over the years. I did one about five years ago. Starbreaker has one in progress that he updates every once and a while. It's a shame the second film didn't do very much business. I would have very much liked to have seen a third film released this year (2012) to tie up the mythology. Oh well.
There must be a third film wrapping up the story. If not, what was the point of the entire show if we can't see the Alien Colonization?
Chris Carter and David Duchovny ended up suing Fox after the series wrapped due to the way they handled syndication rights (selling them off to FX at less than market value, to keep everything under the News Corp banner). That put a wrench into any immediate, post-series plans, unfortunately. That was all resolved, as far as I know, by the time the second movie entered production, but by then the series was a distant memory and not the pop culture phenomenon it had been in the 1990s. (Having said that, I discovered the show during this period).
I don't know. I have a hard time agreeing with that. Yes, the show lost a lot of it's hype as time went on, but I also think that the show started losing said hype in it's eighth season, when the show clearly started going downhill. (Though, I have to say that I'm one of the few people that actually liked the last season) I don't think that lack of interest had anything to do with the failure of the second movie. Didn't I Want To Believe go up against Terminator:Salvation? That might be your reason..... Though, I've read that a lot of fans just didn't like the movie. And I really couldn't tell you why, because I thoroughly enjoyed it...Even though it was a tad weak.
Fans didn't like it because, after so many years without any new X-Files stuff, they wanted to see a movie about the alien mythology, not some random movie about Frankenstein and a child molester priest. That said, I love the movie for the exploration of Mulder and Scully's characters; I loved seeing where they had come in the years since we last saw them, but I wanted to see more from the story.
Personally, I wanted to see the return of the legless Indian butt dwarf from Season 8, but alas, it was not to be.
The show went downhill in second part of season 6 and then reached the low point in season 7. The only good episode of that season was the finale. The next two seasons were better (not that this is saying much) and went back to the classic darker feel of the show - which was a real refreshment after season 7's mostly lame lighthearted comedy - but the mythology had become such a convoluted mess by that point that there was no way to salvage the show.
I fell in love the show on DVD and I thought it was a great series til the ninth season started then it lost it's magic to to speak. But I love Skinner and the CSM, but Skinner was one of those characters on TV that you don't mess with, which is what made him so great.
On my recent rewatch of the series, the mythology didn't seem convoluted at all. I think being able to marathon the episodes helped a lot. After watching one episode per week for 9 years, a lot of the details of the mythology were forgotten, so the whole thing was confusing. Being able to watch the whole thing in a matter of months, I realized that everything (for the most part) actually made perfect sense.
I started watching this a few months ago, but stopped after about half a dozen episodes...it wasn't that the show didn't appeal to me, and when I watched it held my interest, but I didn't feel an "urge" to keep watching that I do with other shows!
I feel like the best episodes can be found in seasons 2-6, although my favorite season is actually the eighth year. Robert Patrick was a breath of fresh air, and Duchovny seemed more excited to be in half the season than he did in any season seven episode.] EDIT: Yeah, the first season is a bit hit or miss. When they hit on the mythology it is pretty good, but they hadn't quite figured out how to tell monster-of-the-week stories (Tooms excepted).
I think the hard part about trying to get into a show like that now is that it's just so episodic. The mythology/arc episodes take up maybe 10-20% of the total show. It's a fine format if you're just watching it week-to-week, but I find episodic television very difficult to get into if you're trying to catch up on DVD.
My memory told me that Seasons 8 and 9 were awful. I was so surprised during my rewatch that Season 8 actually turned out to be awesome! I loved Scully in that season and the way her mood shifted with Mulder being absent.
Oh, I think as it moves along the mythology starts to become more important. I'd say it's directly involved in 25% of the show, and indirectly figures in another 25% of it (episodes like "Paper Hearts" or "Red Museum").