Discussion Lost in a Good Fic -- The Well of Lost Plots Social Thread

@Tarsier: I've already thrown in the the towel. The last short season was enough to make me wonder why they came back in the first place. Duchovney looks and acts just as disinterested as he did in his later seasons of the original. The mythology story makes no sense at all. The stand alone eps were ok, but nowhere near the level the original 5 or 6 seasons.

 

Yeah, as far as actually being invested in the series, I threw in the towel after Mulder left. And I was SO DONE after they killed the Lone Gunmen. I've always been in it for the monster-of-the-week episodes, never cared much about the mytharc.

But it's a fascinating phenomenon to me - it seems like it should be such a niche show, like Firefly-level of popularity among paranormal enthusiasts, but it's always been really popular. And now, ten years later, for no reason at all (except money I guess??) it's still going, when nobody involved actually seems to care, and the fans have surely learned by now there is nothing but disappointment waiting for them in each episode, and yet, somehow, it continues... It's become an X-file itself I guess...

If anyone out there still genuinely likes the show, I apologize for the negativity and I'd be very interested to hear your take on the current state of the show.

 

I'm thinking of giving it a try after the season finale of Marvel Agents of SHIELD this Friday. My brother is fond of it and if he weren't two states away, we'd watch it together. I followed the OS devotedly; yes, the Lone Gunmen fell victim to Discouraged Writers syndrome, the phenomenon when the writers of a long runner know the thing is ending and kill off folks viciously. Honestly, writers need to listen to Timothy Zahn's (I think it was his?) writing philosophy of 'nobody needs to get killed off to make a good story.'

 

I've been watch a show on Netflix called Into the Badlands. I don't recall ever watching a show like it. My brain keeps throwing words at me to describes the show's visual style, which is both compelling and repulsive. The world created and characters that inhabit are equally compelling and repulsive. It is morbid fascination in my case. I cannot stop watching because there are story and character and visual style that freaking cool and on the flip side the show is brutal and bloody in a cable way that is not HBO or an R-Rated movie. I am near the end of S2 and though not compelled to write fan fic, wanted to see if I was alone in my thought regarding the series?

 

Upon Wiki'ing it, it sounds unique and appealing.

 

I'm not sure I've heard that quote before, but I like it! I feel a tiny bit of vindication that at least the writers might regret having killed them now - at least two of the Lone Gunmen had cameos when Mulder was off his nut in the last season and Langly is kinda in the second episode of this season. I've been hoping Yves and Jimmy would appear on The X-Files, but no such luck so far. I guess they don't need Yves since apparently Mulder and Scully have spent the last 10 years in action hero school...

The premise looks very interesting, but if it's beyond R-rated I don't think it is for me.

 

@Tarsier : into the Badlands is not beyond R-rated. I apologize if I was not clear about that. it is at the level of Walking Dead which is on the same channel AMC. So it is cable level effects. The blood effects are a mixture of stylized a la 300 and more realistic effects. Firearms do not appear to exist in this world any longer and all weapons are melee.

 

@brodiew Thanks for the clarification. I should clarify, I don't generally like even R-rated violence and I have no intention of ever watching The Walking Dead. So I still don't think it is for me, but it is an interesting concept, and I did enjoy looking into it and the source material

 

Sorry for the double post, but I have somewhat re-evaluated my opinion on The X-Files and want to vent a little. I’m actually not so sure the last two seasons are that much worse than the rest of the series. Not because most recent season isn’t so bad—I haven’t actually watched any more of it—but because I’ve been watching earlier seasons and now realize the show as a whole is just so incredibly hit or miss. I didn’t think things could be any weirder than that were-lizard episode in season 10, but then I watched Fight Club from season 7 (it’s not only weirder, but even less entertaining). I would say 80% of X-files episodes I don’t like, either because I find them awful or just boring. And yet, some episodes are so, so good! I watch Bad Blood and X-Cops a couple of times a year and they never get old.

Then I watched Jump the Shark (the episode where the Lone Gunmen are killed) fully expecting to hate it (I’d seen it once before but didn’t remember much of it)—in fact, I watched in part because I thought it would be terrible and my muse would get an idea for how to rewrite it better—but it’s actually not bad! It may even be good, as much as I hate to say that when they kill characters off. I don’t feel any particular need to “correct” it, nor do I have any particular ideas of how to do it better.

Anyway, I could ramble for a lot longer but I don’t really have a point, other than The X-Files is a weird show. Might be better for my sanity if I just avoid it...

 

But who said you had to be sane to be a writer?

These were outstanding among the very respectable amount of shows - BBC America is running the whole show, (in order?) and I've checked in a few times despite seeing them at original broadcast.

I can't even think about Jump The Shark ... The LG's own program was a hoot.

 

I shall borrow this quote.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the show when it was on the air, but I kinda feel like it hasn't aged that well (though it was certainly prophetic). Or maybe it just doesn't stand up to repeated viewings (I've watched it a lot ). I suppose most shows can be nitpicked to death if watched enough times. I do think Yves and Jimmy were excellent additions to the show, perfect foils to balance out the Gunmen.

 

Since most people are spending a lot of time at home these days, any recommendations for tv series?

I would recommend Medium. Appropriate for fanficcers because it is one of very few major network series that actually has alternate universes, full-episode flashbacks, and far-future scenes. Also a nice combination of police procedural and realistic paranormal. I love the pacing - nice and brisk, especially for a slightly older show (I tried watching Ghost Whisperer and Crossing Jordan because I thought they were somewhat similar shows from the same timeframe and I couldn't get through the first episode of each because they were sooo slooow). Perhaps most remarkably, I finished the entire series and I can't think of one thing that really annoyed me or made me feel like the writers were intentionally antagonizing me! Admittedly, that may be because although I very much enjoy the show, I'm not super attached to any particular character. Unfortunately, Medium was recently removed from Amazon Prime, I guess because it moved to CBS All Access. But I decided I liked the show enough to buy the whole series on DVD.

Other suggestions?

 

On my Tivo, on Catch Up, offerings are either listed as "within your package" or "subscribed", which means I can watch them; or part of Netflix or Virgin Media, meaning I cannot without an extra action that I'm not familiar with.

I started watching Westworld before Coronavirus hit, so got through season one, and five episodes into season two, but as at the Easter weekend, are still listed, but Virgin only, so I can't watch any more of them till I get dvds.

Also been watching space comedy, Avenue 5; a sort of reality show called The Heist; second Bulletproof season; and my own recordings of Elementary.