I'm almost through my X-Files marathon rewatch at about two-thirds through Season 9.
Largely it's been a fun ride and only the second time I've watched the series all the way through. Before my two rewatches (about two years apart) I'd really only seen the show sporadically when it was in production.
I certainly count myself a fan and I think most like-minded folks would likely agree that Seasons 1-6 are essentially solid. In each season there are perhaps a couple or a few episodes that are just okay, but not really anything bad. I find Season 7 decent enough and even Season 8 isn't a total write-off.
Season 9, though, leaves something to be desired. And I've been thinking about why the latter two seasons---particularly the last---come off so disappointingly, particularly since many of the stories really weren't a divergence from what had been done before.
In terms of characters the presence of Mulder is sorely missed. Mulder had developed a quiet presence as well as a measure of levity that goes missing with his departure. It isn't that I dislike John Doggett, but he usually has such an air of earnestness about him. His interactions with Scully were decent enough, but his teaming with Reyes feels flat as I don't see anything of the same chemistry that Mulder and Scully enjoyed. Conceptually Reyes should have been Doggett's foil, but she doesn't come across strongly enough. The series tried, but it just didn't really click.
The measure of levity is also missing from the stories. Although there was definitely edginess and horror in many X-Files stories there could also be a lurking sense of dark humour. And they could flip it around by occasionally doing humourous stories with a dark edginess to them. It was a winning formula with good writing, direction and cast up to the task.
Later on the show lost its humour. The overall atmosphere of the stories could feel oppressive. It also lost a lot of its pacing where many of the latter episodes felt like they dragged. In the end much of it felt pointless. I am watching the last season for a sense of completion, but candidly you could pretty much skip the bulk of Season 9 and jump right to the two-part season/series conclusion.
It's been awhile since I've seen the first film, The X-Files: Fight The Future (actually I've only seen it once when it was released), but I do recall it feeling like much of the series at the time. The only other major thing I recall that while decent enough it also felt somewhat pointless and that much of its content could have been done in the series. The second film, The X-Files: I Want To Believe, reminds me of Season 9---largely pointless and an air of oppressiveness about it. I get they wanted to do a monster-of-the-week type story (actually my favourites of the series), but it largely fell flat. It isn't horrible, but it isn't a winner either.
While the latter seasons can be disappointing I still think that overall this a great series with the great bulk of it being solid.
Largely it's been a fun ride and only the second time I've watched the series all the way through. Before my two rewatches (about two years apart) I'd really only seen the show sporadically when it was in production.
I certainly count myself a fan and I think most like-minded folks would likely agree that Seasons 1-6 are essentially solid. In each season there are perhaps a couple or a few episodes that are just okay, but not really anything bad. I find Season 7 decent enough and even Season 8 isn't a total write-off.
Season 9, though, leaves something to be desired. And I've been thinking about why the latter two seasons---particularly the last---come off so disappointingly, particularly since many of the stories really weren't a divergence from what had been done before.
In terms of characters the presence of Mulder is sorely missed. Mulder had developed a quiet presence as well as a measure of levity that goes missing with his departure. It isn't that I dislike John Doggett, but he usually has such an air of earnestness about him. His interactions with Scully were decent enough, but his teaming with Reyes feels flat as I don't see anything of the same chemistry that Mulder and Scully enjoyed. Conceptually Reyes should have been Doggett's foil, but she doesn't come across strongly enough. The series tried, but it just didn't really click.
The measure of levity is also missing from the stories. Although there was definitely edginess and horror in many X-Files stories there could also be a lurking sense of dark humour. And they could flip it around by occasionally doing humourous stories with a dark edginess to them. It was a winning formula with good writing, direction and cast up to the task.
Later on the show lost its humour. The overall atmosphere of the stories could feel oppressive. It also lost a lot of its pacing where many of the latter episodes felt like they dragged. In the end much of it felt pointless. I am watching the last season for a sense of completion, but candidly you could pretty much skip the bulk of Season 9 and jump right to the two-part season/series conclusion.
It's been awhile since I've seen the first film, The X-Files: Fight The Future (actually I've only seen it once when it was released), but I do recall it feeling like much of the series at the time. The only other major thing I recall that while decent enough it also felt somewhat pointless and that much of its content could have been done in the series. The second film, The X-Files: I Want To Believe, reminds me of Season 9---largely pointless and an air of oppressiveness about it. I get they wanted to do a monster-of-the-week type story (actually my favourites of the series), but it largely fell flat. It isn't horrible, but it isn't a winner either.
While the latter seasons can be disappointing I still think that overall this a great series with the great bulk of it being solid.
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