The X-Files : Season X (Spoilers!)
- Thread starter Sto-Vo-Kory
- Start date
You make some good points, Warped9.
The colonization was meant to begin in 2012 (shown in "The Truth"). Reyes told Scully that the Spartan virus outbreak had been set "in motion since 2012" and was designed to depopulate the Earth, leaving only "the chosen few." The depopulation agenda could very well be the first step to alien colonization and, thereby, connect closer to the mytharc of the first nine seasons.
The aliens (through human operatives) using viruses to effectively end humanity and initiate colonization would be kind of a cool subversion of the War of the Worlds story with Earth's viruses thwarting the alien invasion.
The colonization was meant to begin in 2012 (shown in "The Truth"). Reyes told Scully that the Spartan virus outbreak had been set "in motion since 2012" and was designed to depopulate the Earth, leaving only "the chosen few." The depopulation agenda could very well be the first step to alien colonization and, thereby, connect closer to the mytharc of the first nine seasons.
The aliens (through human operatives) using viruses to effectively end humanity and initiate colonization would be kind of a cool subversion of the War of the Worlds story with Earth's viruses thwarting the alien invasion.
Twas a big gamble though.
Imagine if the series bombed in the ratings and that was the last X-Files footage they ever released...
^^This.... right on the money Stovie.
I was really hoping for a movie in 2012.
Do you remember how the corn and bees played into all this? It's been too long for me.
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Don't think it was a gamble at all.
They knew how large the fan base is... this was going to be huge, even if it wasn't "great" X-Files. They had over 16 million watch the opener!!
I'll be watching the new stuff as it comes out too. Hoping they are a little better this time.
By that logic, the movies should've launched a whole cinema franchise.
What? ....
You said this ending wasn't a gamble because the X-Files has such a huge fanbase that it was always going to be successful. But it has not always been successful in the past. Carter actually talked about making a third movie if 'I Want to believe' was financially successful, but that third movie never came. The exact same thing could easily have happened here.
A television show is a lot different than a movie. Different kind of audience. Those who would sit down and watch a tv show wouldn't necessarily go watch that show in the theatre. For example, look at Generations/InsurrectionNemesis compared to TNG's ratings in its final season. (I excluded First Contact because that movie achieved mainstream appeal and didn't just have TNG fans going to see it.) For a movie to succeed, it needs to get the general audience to want to go see it. A television series is different because it needs relatively smaller numbers to be a success. The ratings for this season of The X-Files were consistently excellent so it will be back.
I loved this episode. I've noticed a general dislike of cliffhangers over the last 5 or so years so maybe they're just out of style for many people. I liked it and I liked how brave they were to end it in such a way. Maybe they thought it would lead into a 3rd movie or whatever. In any case, I thought the episode was great and can't wait for season 11.
I noticed cliffhangers have changed over the years from Best of Both Worlds bombshells that leave you hanging in the middle of a story to concluded stories before the end of the story and then a surprise twist of some kind that might start a completely new arc as a hook for the next season.
This X-Files cliffhanger was jarring because it was old school.
This X-Files cliffhanger was jarring because it was old school.
Cliffhanger? A sentence flashed on screen after the opening credits said in bold capital letters:
THIS IS THE END
So my mind set during the entire episode was just that, it's a finale. That idea did change in the final few minutes, however. As the clock was running out and the question of how it could possibly be wrapped up in time loomed closer I was on the edge of my seat, beginning to think it was going to cliff hang but then pow, the ship appeared and it ended on the closeup of her eye.
That seemed a damn fine ending to me. The eye in the opening credits has foreshadowed that moment since the first episode. So what happened next is easy to discern - the ship appeared, not to finish everyone off but to save everyone, starting with their favorite human, Mulder.
Any idea people have that the aliens were the instigators of the virus for reason of wiping out humans doesn't make sense to me. Men did that after discovering, by examination of the Roswell bodies, that their DNA held a key to immunity against diseases.
The cabals plan was to execute the majority of Earths population but save a selected few for their new world order. They liked Scully and wanted her in the nwo but hated Mulder. I suspect they gave him a chance to be included so not to PO Scully, but he refused. He would have died along with every else not given the DNA if the aliens had not appeared just in the nick of time. So yeah, by then I was on my feet praising the conclusion, not bemoaning another cliffhanger.
All that said, I understand my conclusion may not jive with everything done on the series throughout its run. But the body of work is huge so not everything can be expected to line up perfectly. Carter may have allowed scripts to shoot which he understood didn't perfectly follow the plan, but that's showbiz. Plus, dozens and dozens of x-files had nothing to do with the core story, they were just filler.
Having avoided everything X-Files until I had viewed the finale, I was not aware of Carters recent comments about its possible continuation. He doesn't seem to understand how well the finale works or, he's seen how people didn't get it and sees an opportunity to milk it further - an attitude the studio seems more than happy to agree with.
Whether I would be on board for more or not would depend on how badly what they do next steps on the happy place I currently inhabit concerning this episode.
THIS IS THE END
So my mind set during the entire episode was just that, it's a finale. That idea did change in the final few minutes, however. As the clock was running out and the question of how it could possibly be wrapped up in time loomed closer I was on the edge of my seat, beginning to think it was going to cliff hang but then pow, the ship appeared and it ended on the closeup of her eye.
That seemed a damn fine ending to me. The eye in the opening credits has foreshadowed that moment since the first episode. So what happened next is easy to discern - the ship appeared, not to finish everyone off but to save everyone, starting with their favorite human, Mulder.
Any idea people have that the aliens were the instigators of the virus for reason of wiping out humans doesn't make sense to me. Men did that after discovering, by examination of the Roswell bodies, that their DNA held a key to immunity against diseases.
The cabals plan was to execute the majority of Earths population but save a selected few for their new world order. They liked Scully and wanted her in the nwo but hated Mulder. I suspect they gave him a chance to be included so not to PO Scully, but he refused. He would have died along with every else not given the DNA if the aliens had not appeared just in the nick of time. So yeah, by then I was on my feet praising the conclusion, not bemoaning another cliffhanger.
All that said, I understand my conclusion may not jive with everything done on the series throughout its run. But the body of work is huge so not everything can be expected to line up perfectly. Carter may have allowed scripts to shoot which he understood didn't perfectly follow the plan, but that's showbiz. Plus, dozens and dozens of x-files had nothing to do with the core story, they were just filler.
Having avoided everything X-Files until I had viewed the finale, I was not aware of Carters recent comments about its possible continuation. He doesn't seem to understand how well the finale works or, he's seen how people didn't get it and sees an opportunity to milk it further - an attitude the studio seems more than happy to agree with.
Whether I would be on board for more or not would depend on how badly what they do next steps on the happy place I currently inhabit concerning this episode.
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I was trying to remember, did we ever actually see the human conspirators with the aliens in first hand? I guess if all we ever had was stories about them and the aliens, without actually seeing any of it first hand, you could say it was all lies, and the Syndicate and the stuff with the aliens were actually totally unconnected.
For those that believe Carter took a tremendous risk by ending the finale on a cliffhanger -- with no official renewal announced -- here's a quote from Variety.com, dated January 19, five days prior to the season 10 premiere. The "she" being quoted is Fox Television Chairperson Dana Walden:
If Walden felt confident enough in the revival to make a public statement like the one above, she probably offered Carter an even more concrete assurance in private. His decision to finish on a cliffhanger and bet on more X-Files episodes being greenlit was no real gamble at all.
If Walden felt confident enough in the revival to make a public statement like the one above, she probably offered Carter an even more concrete assurance in private. His decision to finish on a cliffhanger and bet on more X-Files episodes being greenlit was no real gamble at all.
It was on after a football game. They could have shown a The Golden Girls episode and got 10 million viewers.
Maybe I'm not well versed enough in Old School, but in my experience those BoBW types of cliffhangers have always been around and almost always been used in multi-part episodes. Using them at the end of a season has always been far less common, afaik, and, in my opinion, that is the way it should be - ending a season without resolving anything at all may be great for next season's ratings, but it's not good entertainment.
That's what I meant by old school, cliffhangers as season endings. It has been almost 26 years after all.
That's what I meant by old school, cliffhangers as season endings. It has been almost 26 years after all.
I understand that, but what I mean is I don't think (based on my experience) that this type of cliffhanger (bobw cliffhanger as you called it) has ever been commonly used in season endings. Season endings have always tried to wrap up a significant portion of plots, while simultaneously also leaving something big dangling in the air to bring people back next year. They don't just stop in the middle of the story the way this episode did. Best of Both Worlds is one of the few exceptions i'm familiar with.
