The X-Files

MrKnickerbocker

MrKnickerbocker

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Doo dee doo doo dee doo...DUN DUN DUN DA DA DA DA DA DA...

It's a thread for The X-Files! Based on a recent discussion in the Now Watching thread, I've decided to open up this one for all of our X-Files-related chat. Feel free to discuss the show, specific episodes, characters, etc. here!

@JudasMyGuide has just started the entire series from the beginning and I recently finished rewatching the whole thing, so hopefully we'll get to do some brief discussions about each episode or season.
 
Okay, I'm re-posting my thoughts on the first three episodes here

The Pilot
- As far as pilots are concerned and taking into consideration their limitations (that is, you need to introduce everything, you have lower budget, you don't have some things thought out yet etc), this was a good one. After all these years, I honestly still am not all that crazy about that particular storyline (beauty marks and a vegetative boy), but it was handled very nicely - the viewer is not buried in exposition, you get to meet the characters and it definitely leaves you wanting more. There are some pilot problems, though - in order to hammer in that scepticScully/believerMulder aspect, some of the dialogue is a wee bit heavy handed (Mulder jumps to "aliens!" almost immediately - gee, let the gal cool down her body before you dump her in the icy water, okay?), but there's only so much you can do in your 50 minutes. I remember being seriously underwhelmed by the pilot when I watched the series for the first time in high school - I don't feel that anymore. It's good!

- With all the focus on atmosphere and suspense, the 90's feel (both in the cinematography itself, soundtrack, technology and fashion), the FBI protagonists and those woody woods of a forgotten corner of America, I couldn't help but to remember Silence of the Lambs. And I mean that in a good way.

- That Scully's hysteria when she finds the mosquito bites does not fit her later characterisation too much, though, IMHO. Never noticed this before.

- Also, were they actually Losing Time? :ninja: #PortnoyConfirmed


Deep Throat
- A more "typical" UFO storyline (you know, Roosevelt, flying saucer, the whole nine yards), yet you get much less clichés than you'd probably expect. The episode is paced and written somewhat better, you can actually see the series getting "comfortable", if you know what I mean. I was expecting an explanation of those burns as well, yet they kept talking only about that psychic breakdown. Also, the first appearance of the ominous Men in Black :D

- They still seemed to care a bit too much about one of their "Level 2" agents, though :D

- However, I don't remember whether the title sequence gets updated in latter seasons, but I hope it does. My wife complained it looks rather amateurish and it's hard to disagree, actually. The main theme is awesome, of course, but those pictures... oh, well...

- Love the title shout-out and the character itself - need I remind you All the President's Men is one of my favourite movies ever?


Squeeze
- The first Monster of the Week episode... and one of the most memorable, it would seem (everybody and their brother keep mentioning Toomes everywhere, so it's not just me). In fact, at first there were two episodes that I remembered from my childhood and late night watching (and wishing I didn't, since both scared me shitless) - this one and Darkness Falls. Gee, that dude is creepy. Those nests... (ick).

- My biggest complain would be probably the old cop - 1.) he is kind of a Deus ex machina, let's admit it, 2.) he definitely does not look old enough to having been catching crooks in 1933 :facepalm: Also, he might have made the connection, etc. but at least the identity of Toomes might have been found only by the Dynamic Duo, ammirite? "Yes, it's connected and yes, it's Toomes". Just kind of unnecessary, is all.


Also, I'm currently translating that Czech article about the series that Knicks wanted to read. It's meant not only for die-hards, but also for people not familiar with the series (so it states the obvious from time to time) and my translation might leave something to be desired, but it's completely up to you lot whether you'll want to read it or not :p
 
JudasMyGuide said:
Deep Throat
- A more "typical" UFO storyline (you know, Roosevelt, flying saucer, the whole nine yards), yet you get much less clichés than you'd probably expect. The episode is paced and written somewhat better, you can actually see the series getting "comfortable", if you know what I mean. I was expecting an explanation of those burns as well, yet they kept talking only about that psychic breakdown. Also, the first appearance of the ominous Men in Black :D
- They still seemed to care a bit too much about one of their "Level 2" agents, though :D
- However, I don't remember whether the title sequence gets updated in latter seasons, but I hope it does. My wife complained it looks rather amateurish and it's hard to disagree, actually. The main theme is awesome, of course, but those pictures... oh, well...
- Love the title shout-out and the character itself - need I remind you All the President's Men is one of my favourite movies ever?

Squeeze
- The first Monster of the Week episode... and one of the most memorable, it would seem (everybody and their brother keep mentioning Toomes everywhere, so it's not just me). In fact, at first there were two episodes that I remembered from my childhood and late night watching (and wishing I didn't, since both scared me shitless) - this one and Darkness Falls. Gee, that dude is creepy. Those nests... (ick).
- My biggest complain would be probably the old cop - 1.) he is kind of a Deus ex machina, let's admit it, 2.) he definitely does not look old enough to having been catching crooks in 1933 :facepalm: Also, he might have made the connection, etc. but at least the identity of Toomes might have been found only by the Dynamic Duo, ammirite? "Yes, it's connected and yes, it's Toomes". Just kind of unnecessary, is all.
Click to expand...

Deep Throat:
- Some plot holes abound here indeed and you can see them working out the style of the show, but overall it's a solid episode. A little too similar to the first episode, maybe, but quite enjoyable.
- The title sequence gets updated...in Season 8 and then actually updated in Season 9, then changed back(?) in Season 10. It's weird.

Squeeze:
- Very memorable MOTW and a fan favorite.
- The old cop was very poorly executed, I agree. He looks all of 65 years old. The first season and second season have a lot of these unimportant characters that ultimately detract from the show rather than add anything. The information they give or character moments they incite are generally minimal and, as you said, could have been achieved without them.
 
As you get deeper into the series, before you watch the finale of season 7, I recommend watching the Pilot again.

I love Sixth Extinction (which starts of the end of season 6 & concludes beginning of season 7).

I think the most disappointing part of the series for me was during season 7 when they finally resolved the Samantha question.
Samantha's fate had very little to do with the mythology. "Walk in?" gimme a break. What a let down.
 
terrell39 said:
I love Sixth Extinction (which starts of the end of season 6 & concludes beginning of season 7).

I think the most disappointing part of the series for me was during season 7 when they finally resolved the Samantha question.
Samantha's fate had very little to do with the mythology. "Walk in?" gimme a break. What a let down.
Click to expand...

Samantha's ultimate fate was bullshit, I 100% agree. In that moment I firmly believed they assassinated Mulder's character.

I'm curious as to why you love The Sixth Extinction episodes, though, because I really hate them. The first one is fine, but the beginning of Season 7...I literally have no idea what happened in those episodes. Mulder has alien brain powers now? But they don't work on CSM and now are killing him? WTF.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Samantha's ultimate fate was bullshit, I 100% agree. In that moment I firmly believed they assassinated Mulder's character.

I'm curious as to why you love The Sixth Extinction episodes, though, because I really hate them. The first one is fine, but the beginning of Season 7...I literally have no idea what happened in those episodes. Mulder has alien brain powers now? But they don't work on CSM and now are killing him? WTF.
Click to expand...
Remember earlier in the series when Mulder was in Tunguska and was infected by the Black Oil? His tenitus & coma are a reaction to the alien dna now in him that was activated by proximity to pieces of the ufo off the coast of Africa that Scully goes to investigate. That's also why he can handle what happens to him better than csm can. The black oil that was already in him.
I love the angle that all religion was given to us by aliens when based on the engravings of the ufo hull. Mainly i most enjoy Mulder's glimpse of suburbia; his possible future if he would just give up and let go
 
terrell39 said:
Remember earlier in the series when Mulder was in Tunguska and was infected by the Black Oil? His tenitus & coma are a reaction to the alien dna now in him that was activated by proximity to pieces of the ufo off the coast of Africa that Scully goes to investigate. That's also why he can handle what happens to him better than csm can. The black oil that was already in him.
I love the angle that all religion was given to us by aliens when based on the engravings of the ufo hull. Mainly i most enjoy Mulder's glimpse of suburbia; his possible future if he would just give up and let go
Click to expand...

Ok, that makes sense...I guess? I always just assumed that the Russian experiments were using the Black Oil, hoping that it would infect someone that they could then use in some way...? But since they just never paid it off I assumed that meant the Russian Black Oil was a failure, i.e. maybe it wasn't potent enough or something? As often happens on TXF, the dropped plotlines without a clear payoff made me completely lose track of the idea in the first place.

And yes, the Scully stuff with the UFO and the further religious implications of it were fascinating, it was just the Mulder stuff I couldn't abide by.
 
Not too crazy about
the cliffhanger ending of the last (?) season. Lord knows how long it will be (if ever) it is continued.
Although I was happy the last season returned to the mythology. Making the 2nd movie about MOTW was a retarded idea.
 
Tooms is one of the best villains/monsters. I'm going to have to try to find the series online and rewatch it. I loved it at the time but I've a feeling I might look at it in a very different light now.
 
Conduit
- As far as I'm able to tell, this episode is not considered "Mytharc", for some reason, however it definitely should be. Let's see - alien abductions, creepy overprotective government agencies, Mulder's sister... oh yeah, probably the most memorable part of the episode must be the fact we finally learn more about Samantha, including the year of abduction (1972, if her birthday in 1964 is correct).

- That idea with the kid getting info through the TV set in binary was kind of cool, though I really don't understand why it was binary code at first, in many cases and then suddenly it was a really large picture...

- I liked all the "circumstantial" stuff regarding the aliens (the sudden discovery of the burnt roof of the trailer, the trees, the sand made into glass) - it was really cool, IMHO.

- I also appreciated the character of the mother, being really understandable and realistic, given the circumstances (being ridiculed for many years probably does not make you want to support fringe theories, I guess), even though it really did not help our Dynamic Duo (quite the contrary, in fact). Also, the "creepy kid" was quite well played by the actory, much better than expected at least, considering it's an early 90's series.

- That biker part went really nowhere, now didn't it?

The Jersey Devil
"Well now everything dies baby that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City..."

- The second "proper" MOTW episode, and not a really good one at that. I mean, M&S chasing a Neanderthal through Jersey? Now, don't get me wrong, the episode is quite well written, directed and shot (some of the directorial/cinematography ideas are quite alright, honestly), but it's all brought down by the completely laughable premise. Seriously, there's no suspense at all. Maybe it's me, but did anyone really care about that savage family? Especially considering the childish drawing of a long haired Ozzy Osbourne that's considered important for the most of the episode? (I throw that drawing in front of someone and the other party recognises it as "the Jersey Devil"? Really???)

- Taking the above into consideration, I am kind of pissed off that the first episode that shows Scully's personal life outside FBI and - in a way - thus deepens her bond with Mulder must be the one where they chase the hairy woman searching through the dustbin. Pity, that.

- Atlantic City coppers = dumb rednecks. Why?

- That college professor "anthropologist" or who the heck he was was again one of the completely unnecessary characters we talked about before.
 
Now I actually liked the Jersey Devil one, maybe because it's based on a slightly older legend, rather than more modern mysteries like UFOs. The episode really advances the sub-plot of the chemistry between Mulder and Scully. I think the writers were trying to play on the female instinct theme in that one: the Prehistoric Woman turns out to be hunting, and protecting her son; Scully is thinking what she really wants in life. Isn't this the one we see her helping at a kids' party, and one of the kids hurts himself? Scully thinking "shouldn't I really settle down and have kids?" and after the party thinking "hell no". Plus there's the suggestion that she's effectively competing against Prehistoric Woman for Mulder's attention....even if he's just chasing Prehistoric Woman because he's obsessed with 'spooky' stuff.

Conduit is a good solid alien abduction episode, classic X-Files fare.
 
I agree that the idea might have been good and the points you rise are actually quite intriguing, but the execution I really did not like. Even those philosophical speeches regarding "how different we are from them" irritated me, not because I saw that as a cliché, but because it felt shallow and simplistic, and it's all the dialogue's fault. I really liked Scully here and her characterisation, so we agree on that.

Also, if they kept those Neanderthals outside the city, it might have felt less absurd to me and I'd be more willing to accept the idea as a whole.

Brigantium said:
Plus there's the suggestion that she's effectively competing against Prehistoric Woman for Mulder's attention....even if he's just chasing Prehistoric Woman because he's obsessed with 'spooky' stuff.
Click to expand...

Never thought about it that way, that's really funny. :D
 
I've always had a soft spot for Conduit, even if it suffers from the early episode syndrome where not much happens. The kid is definitely creepy, but most of the subplots (binary, bikers) don't really pan out.

Jersey Devil, I tend to agree with Judas on. It's pretty muddled overall and the execution is less than stellar. Some of these early episodes have some terribly cringey dialogue. As for the cops being incompetent rednecks...that's just an X-Files staple. The actual location doesn't matter. :bigsmile:
 
I'm starting to wonder if some of these features are actually stock 90s TV/film characteristics. At the time I don't remember anything being odd about the X-Files, but now you mention it, there are some terrible cliches and cringey dialogue/plot holes. It would be in line with the whole faux 'serious' thing that was going on in popular culture in the era.

And now I need to go and hunt out some X-Files episodes and watch them again. :D
 
Well, there has been this new wave of gritty, cynical, cleverer-than-thou TV series, beginning with The Sopranos (actually beginning with OZ, but not many people remember that one) and continuing with Game of Thrones, Dexter, Breaking Bad, Mad Men... along with the other mysterious/adventure series being more "modern" and "winking" too (True Blood, American Horror Story, Lost ... well, I haven't actually watched Lost yet, but I have a pretty good idea how does it look like) and taking into consideration that "government conspiracy", "aliens" etc. have all became clichéd in the meantime, it is only natural TXF will look a bit silly, naive etc. to the modern viewer.

That said, I'm still surprised how well it actually manages to stand the test of time and it's definitely less silly and naive than I thought/remembered.
 
Those are mostly more high-gloss than X-files, which looked decided low-budget, especially in the first couple of series. I think X-Files maintained more of an entertaining and thoughtful plot than some of the others, which got bogged down too quickly in personal lives and tried out quirky situational stuff like 'what would happen if Dexter had kids'. X-Files was towards the forefront of that particular popular culture wave of cynicism, (American) distrust of government, and conspiracy theorism.

I particularly like one of the slogans associated with the series, 'I want to believe'. Which says it all about conspiracy theorism, really, in addition to the general escapism of modern mythology and the sentiments of the characters in the series.
 
I watched the show it lot when it was current and enjoyed it.
Tried to rewatch a few episodes year or so ago and was disappointed.
I'll have to give its other try.
 
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