The X-Files - First Time Watching

[Marsden]

Wow, the guy that cardassian on ds9 was the Scorpio Killer?

He was Kirsty's father in Hellraiser, too.



I did not know that.

I thought Monday was really good. I got the Groundhog Day vibe, but it was done so well that I didn't mind it. It's too bad that girl had to die. It's interesting though, because even though we're coming into this following Mulder, and Scully, too, it's she that is in the Groundhog Day situation, Mulder and Scully are just caught up in it. That's a big difference than the movie.


I liked how it continued the after effects of Dreamland, with the waterbed. It wasn't a story/plot continuation, but it means that even though the "effects" were reversed, the changes weren't. And I can't explain that.

 

[Forbin]

Oh, you MUST see Dirty Harry!

 

[tomalak301]

Oh, you MUST see Dirty Harry!

It's in a list of movies I should see but haven't, like the first two Godfather movies.

 

[tomalak301]

The Unnatural

I think it's safe to say that with three more episodes left to go in this season, I'm willing to call Season 6 a great year for The X Files. It's better than Season 4 and 5, but not quite there to Seasons 2 and 3, which I think were X Files at it's very (And coharant) best.

This episode is another episode that gave The X-Files a more comedic, and less scary, feel. In a season where I've appreciated the lighter side of the series, this episode was a good example of what this season has to offer. It's a good story, woven into the X-Files mythology, and we don't care if what Dales told was real or not. We're just along for the ride. It also helps that this episode featured the great game of Baseball, which is always a plus. I was a little bummed at the ending though, but it was still a great episode and the scene with Mulder and Scully hitting balls was really really nice.

 

[tomalak301]

Three of a Kind

I wasn't expecting one, so I was very surprised we got a follow up to the Lone Gunman episode "Unusual Suspects" from Season 5. This one was better, as it was another fun episode from a very fun season. Loved the tranquilized Scully, and even when she wasn't Tranquilized, Anderson had some really great lines. I was surprised Dechovney was nowhere to be found in this one though. It was actually nice to get one with just Anderson and the Gunman, as I think Anderson is a much better actor (Actress) than Dechovney is on this show.

 

[Marsden]

There's one more episode you should watch before the seventh season, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Springfield_Files

It's good all around. But it wouldn't fit as well after the season 6 final episode.

 

[tomalak301]

There's one more episode you should watch before the seventh season, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Springfield_Files

It's good all around. But it wouldn't fit as well after the season 6 final episode.

I think I've seen that episode, even though it's been years since I've seen any episode of The Simpsons.

I watched Field Trip last night and I think when all is said and done, Season 6 will be my third favorite season of the series, behind Season 3 and 2, respectively. This was an insane episode and it was kind of the serious "Bad Blood". Loved Anderson portray of Scully, figuring it out at Mulder's wake and just letting the Lone Gunman have it. Anderson has really had an amazing season in S6. Looking forward to the finale and now It seems I really am heading into the "later" seasons of the show, where people started to say it wasn't nearly as good.

 

[tomalak301]

Biogenesis/The Sixth Extinction: Part 1/The Sixth Extinction:Part 2: Amor Fati

Decent end to Season 6 and start to season 7. I was surprised to see Deep Throat agian, but it was very welcome. I also loved the ending of this story with Scully telling Mulder to Fight and then the two of them together at the end. This story reminded me, maybe on a character level, of Anazasi/The Blessing Way/Paper Clip, and I really liked it. There were some things I didn't like, such as Diana Fowley being killed off screen, and Krychek killing Kritschgau which seemed sudden, but other than that, nice start. So far, 6 seasons into the series I'm ranking them this way from favorite to least favorite:

Season 3
Season 2
Season 6
Season 4
Season 1
Season 5

 

[tomalak301]

Millennium

I vaguely remember the tv series, Millennium so this episode did bring back some memories, but I felt also a little out of it. It did a relatively good job explaining the Millennium group and where that series left off, but I wonder why they used The X Files to bring that series to more closure. The only thing I really did like was the final scene with Frank getting his daughter back and:

People really thought that Kiss between Mulder and Scully was controversial? Can't they accept it for what it was, it was the start of the Year 2000, we all remember where we were that night (Heck one of my favorite episodes of Voyager is 11:59 because it created a sense of nostalgia for what I was doing to celebrate the new Millennium) and I thought that kiss worked great and happened at the right time.

I do have a question regarding the series as a whole though, kind of in reaction to this thread's lack of activity. Is The X Files dated? Was it a series that worked in the time it was but not now in the time of Marvel and this new golden age of TV? I've been enjoying the series, but I wonder if it would work now. Maybe on CBS, but I doubt Fox would let it run as long as it did, especially the way it treats sci fi shows like Firefly and Fringe, even though Fringe got 5 seasons (And I've never seen Fringe, but I remember the various reactions when that show was on).

 

[Marsden]

I thought the X Files were great, and now that I've rewatched them all, my opinion has only improved. I can't speak for anyone else, but I just don't want to step all over your thread.

It was a coincidence that Amazon had a deal of the day that I could get all nine seasons and both movies for $80, but I was happy that I got them. I'm not sorry I got any of the seasons.

 

[Random_Spock]

Millennium

I vaguely remember the tv series, Millennium so this episode did bring back some memories, but I felt also a little out of it. It did a relatively good job explaining the Millennium group and where that series left off, but I wonder why they used The X Files to bring that series to more closure. The only thing I really did like was the final scene with Frank getting his daughter back and:

People really thought that Kiss between Mulder and Scully was controversial? Can't they accept it for what it was, it was the start of the Year 2000, we all remember where we were that night (Heck one of my favorite episodes of Voyager is 11:59 because it created a sense of nostalgia for what I was doing to celebrate the new Millennium) and I thought that kiss worked great and happened at the right time.

I do have a question regarding the series as a whole though, kind of in reaction to this thread's lack of activity. Is The X Files dated? Was it a series that worked in the time it was but not now in the time of Marvel and this new golden age of TV? I've been enjoying the series, but I wonder if it would work now. Maybe on CBS, but I doubt Fox would let it run as long as it did, especially the way it treats sci fi shows like Firefly and Fringe, even though Fringe got 5 seasons (And I've never seen Fringe, but I remember the various reactions when that show was on).

I think it was on account of people who just wanted them to remain friends and not go any further. It wasn't really controversial, just a cute moment in time . You hit the nail on the head too by saying it was great and that it happened at the right time.

I don't think it's all that dated tbh, only really datedness imo is due in part to the wardrobe at times .

 

[Drekstar]

Couldn't see if it's mentioned in other threads, but if you liked X-Files and its mysterious approach, try Probe with Parker Stevenson and Kolchak the Nighstalker with Darren McGavin, shows that X-Files drew from.

 

[tomalak301]

I thought the X Files were great, and now that I've rewatched them all, my opinion has only improved. I can't speak for anyone else, but I just don't want to step all over your thread.

It was a coincidence that Amazon had a deal of the day that I could get all nine seasons and both movies for $80, but I was happy that I got them. I'm not sorry I got any of the seasons.

Unless you're talking about episodes (right now) from late Season 7 to the end, you're not stepping over the thread. I was just wondering if this series truly will be remembered or if it's just part of an Era in TV that's long gone.

 

[tomalak301]

The Goldberg Variation

Shia LaBeouf was an episode of The X Files. Man he has changed so much. Yeah he was a young kid in this episode, but when you see this episode and find out that Shia played the younger kid and then you fast forward to his issues now, it's almost like two different people.

This was a fun episode, and I found out it was written by the same guy who did The Rain King, which is an episode I actually liked. I think I liked this episode better, but the cuteness was still there.

 

[VST]

It's amazing to realise the amount of well known people who first popped up in The X-Files. It's my favourite show of all time & I'm still sometimes surprised by who I spot (hell, I didn't even know about the Dave Grohl walk on in 'Pusher' until a couple of years ago).

Good recaps though. You've got me wanting to watch the show again from the start.

 

[gblews]

I thought the X Files were great, and now that I've rewatched them all, my opinion has only improved. I can't speak for anyone else, but I just don't want to step all over your thread.

It was a coincidence that Amazon had a deal of the day that I could get all nine seasons and both movies for $80, but I was happy that I got them. I'm not sorry I got any of the seasons.

Unless you're talking about episodes (right now) from late Season 7 to the end, you're not stepping over the thread. I was just wondering if this series truly will be remembered or if it's just part of an Era in TV that's long gone.

Not exactly a scholarly journal, but several years ago T.V. Guide had X-Files listed as T.V.'s second greatest "cult show" behind only (you guessed it) Star Trek. Just try and note the number of Files references in T.V. shows today. As for fandoms, X-Files was at it's peak of popularity at the time the internet and WWW was exploding. It had probably the second biggest online fandom right behind Trek.

"Philes" were the first group to buy a fan tribute in trade a magazine, something that became somewhat common in ensuing years with other shows.

So, it wasn't just the era. The show was unique and had two of the greatest lead characters in sci-fi history. The show definitely will be remembered.

 

[VST]

I would agree with that. Perhaps not to the same extent as Star Trek, though, given over the last decade it's barely been part of the public consciousness due to FOX just being crap in how they handle its future.

The inevitable reboot may change that though. That'll happen in the next 5-10 years, I suspect.

 

[tomalak301]

Sein Und Zeit/Closure

All throughout the series, there has been one driving point for Fox Mulder, the disappearence of his Sister. In these two episodes, we got some kind of resolution to that storyline, and while it's hard to go back and remember the complete storyline from 7 series of show, (Something in which I started the first season in December) I do know that this storyline became somewhat convoluted and changed so many times throughout those prior 6 seasons. Despite that though, these two episodes were beautiful, powerful, and moving.

Maybe my feelings on the revelation of Samantha here remind me of my feelings about Starbuck (Kara Thrace) at the end of Battlestar Galactica. In that finale, Starbuck was revealed to be an Angel, guiding the ship home. Here, Samantha was spared the Suffering she would have recieved and became an angel her self. I think my feeling was in these two sequences that any other way to explain it would have been a convoluted mess to a mystery that guided the series, so I was just done with it and appreciated the simplicity.

In a way, I kind of want to make a listing of various episodes of The X Files that carry the theme, just to watch them close together, kind of like how Star Trek brought out those DVD fan collections. So you have the Mulder Sister arc, ending with these two episodes, the Alien Colonists/Black Oil arc, maybe the overall Mythology, and then you can do some Monster of the Week storylines too.

Anyway, I know I'm rambling, but I really did like this resolution, mainly because I probably felt tired of it. I'm glad we got closure to this story, considering Mulder leaves at the end of the season (I know they got Doggett to start Season 8) and I know that I'm getting to the end of this series. It's nice to see some things wrap up finally, even though the mythology ended up being all over the place.

 

[VST]

The last moment of 'Closure' puts a lump right in my throat every damn time.

 

[Marsden]

I was happy, too, that they let Samantha, the "real" one, rest in peace. I thought the story was pretty strong, too, on it's own. I know there is a segment, probably a large one, of the audience that shunned all "supernatural" type elements in favor of "hard science/science fiction" elements, but I didn't mind this switch. I thought it was a really powerful scene in particular when Mulder realised they were standing in the field of graves and then the FBI agents doing the crime scene excavation. Also, for the whole series, anytime Skinner shows up, I like it. I also liked how they were given up on the whole thing as another of Spooky Mulder's crazy connections until Scully made the connection of the hwy sign to the evil Santa village.

That reminded me somewhat of Millenium, you said you didn't remember that one. I watched that one a lot, too. Frank Black was a little like Mulder, a brilliant criminal profiler for the FBI, but he had visions of the murders and murderers and could connect these clues for these horrible crimes to solve them. There were lots of murders, serial killers, mass murders, and other nasty things that he worked on. I didn't see the last part of Millenium to compare the X-files episode to. I'd like to check that out in the near future. I liked the X-Files episode, but it seemed like it was just there to let Frank get his daughter back and the rest was just extra. It may have made more sense if I saw the last season of that show.