The Truth Is Out There: The X-Files Discussion Thread

sidious618: The black oil infected the little gray aliens and through them they contacted the Syndicate so they would supply them for test subjects. The test subjects were to become alien human hybrids or Super Soldiers to make the colonzation easier. In exchange the Syndicate members would be saved from the culling....

O geez, I always thought the black oil was created by the little grey dudes to spread a virus to kill off all the humans and that they only hooked up with the Syndicate so that hybrids could be created as slave labor *head-thunk*....but then again I sorta stopped watching near the end....

My season four fave...that's hard: I'd go with Paper Hearts or Unruhe...Demons is an often overlooked little gem too.

 

I think Season 4 is when the X-Files hit its stride, it gradually got better from 2,3, and 4, which i think is the best by far of the whole show. Unruhe, Paper Hearts, Never Again, Small Potatoes, all were so good, even the mythology episodes, Herrenvolk and Tunguska, good. Alex Krycek was so good in Tunguska, with his stupid "a## haircut".

 

Season 6

The crew move to L.A and there is only 4 myth episodes in it. What do I think of this season?
I watched the movie a long time ago so I was not lost with the beginning. The look and feel of the show has realy changed but I did not mind it THAT much and while the myth gets realy tierd the stand alones has never been better.

I belive this season has delivered the best set of stand alones so far in the series. You have got eps like drive, triangle, dreamland I and II, how the ghost stole christmas, the rain king, monday, the unatural, three of a kind and field trip. Theese are all realy fresh, original and most of all realy good episodes.
Season 6 is a huge step up from the more or less tierd season 5 and parheps my favorite season after the 4th.

The beginning 4/6
Drive 4/6
Triangle 6/6
Dreamland 5/6
Dreamland II 5/6
How the ghost stole christmas 6/6
Terms of endearment 3/6
The rain king 5/6
S.R 819 4/6
Tithonus 3/6
Two fathers 4/6
One son 5/6 (Finaly some answears)
Agua mala 3/6
Monday 5/6
Arcadia 3/6
Alpha 2/6
Trevor 3/6
Milagro 4/6
The unnatural 6/6
Three of a kind 6/6
Field trip 5/6
Biogenesis 4/6

 

Monday,Arcadia, and Field Trip i liked. Arcadia was very funny. I loved Mulder's reaction when Scully walked out with that stuff on her face, and the pink flamingo.

 

That was a funny but incredible silly one as well. How the ghost stole christmas cracked me up real good. When Scully goes bimbo in three of a kind was one of the funniest moments as well.

 

Hello again. Bought season 7 a couple of days ago and I have seen most of them. Some good episodes and some bad weak ones. One thing is for sure. The magic that was seasons 1-4 is long gone and the show seem more like an avreage SFI show. The mythology episodes are not the same anymore. The sixth extinction part 1 is the worst season premier yet. But with great episodes like: Hungry, Millennium, goldberg variation, orison, sein und zeit and closure it's still a realy good show.

The sixth extinction 3/6
The sixth extinction II: Amor fati 3/6
Hungry 5/6
Millennium 4/6
Rush 3/6
The goldberg variation 5/6
Orison 4/6 (Better than Pushers comback)
The amazing maleeni 5/6
Signs and wonders 3/6
Sein un zeit 5/6
Closure 5/6
X-cops 1/6 (worst episode ever!! What the hell were they thinking)
First person shooter 2/6 (Stupid episode with alot of laughs)

 

Not a fan of Amor Fati, eh? I quite like that episode. I love when Mulder hugs Deep Throat in his home- I thought to myself, "Self, that's how the X-Files is!"

 

i think season 7 is my least fav season of all 9. Duchovny clearly did not want to be there, and it was just overall very average.

 

I have watched the rest and I still think it's great and more entertaining than season 5 and, though the show has changed it's still alot of fun. There was some realy good episodes this season and even though the sixth extinction part1 was kind of blah the season finale is one of the best myth episodes so far IMO. And by the way whats wrong with Mulder? Seems like the same Mulder to me. Here are the scores of the entire season. I rewatched some episodes and changed my mind about some of them. Im gonna use the four star rating system.


The sixth extinction **
The sixth extinction part II amor fati ***
Hungry ***
Millennium ***
Rush **1/2
The goldberg variation ***
Orison **1/2
The amazing maleeni ***
Signs and wonders **
Sein und zeit ***
Closure ***1/2
X-Cops *
First person shooter **1/2
Theef *1/2
En ami ****
Chimera **
All things **
Brand X ***
Hollywood A.D. **
Fight club **1/2
Je souhaite ***1/2
Requiem ****

 

Theef and Fight Club are two of my least favorite of all time.

 

Theef was crap but fight club had some moments in there if ya ask me I think I have become an x-files junkie. Truly amazing show Could you tell me what you think of season 8?

 

Hey OWK, your fellow x-files junkie here. I've been a big fan since the first season. What is it about season 8 that you want to know?

 

Overall, season 8 is weak, but it has moments. I haven't seen all of it though . . .

 

What you think of it, How many eps are Mulder in and a little insight.

 

i think Mulder was in like half 11 or something, the show is not like the 2,3,4 in Vancouver at all anymore, but i think Season 8 is actually pretty good. Scully goes from being the skeptic to the one believes everything, while John Doggett is, the marine, does not believe in aliens. I remember one episode "this is not happening" Scully freaks outs at the end when she thinks Mulder is going to die, its was pretty good episode.

 

Hello, folks. My Season 2 set came in last Monday, so that means the diary ought to be starting up again soon. I'd have watched some of it by now, save for the fact that I've been in a big crunch with a lot of papers to write, and I'm not sure I'd be able to stop once I get started. I might reward myself with the first episode of the season if I can get this current paper finished.

And speaking of papers, today I turned one in for a class in which we viewed "The Postmodern Prometheus," about that self-same episode. Six pages discussing mediatization and its effect on society, heavy on the Baudrillard quotes. Good times.

 

Great Cant wait to hear your put on it.

 

Started season 2 today, which means the diary's starting up again, too. An X-Files newbie's journey continues.

Little Green Men- Some good stuff to be found in this episode. It's sort of a How Mulder Got His Groove Back thing. Duchovny did really well with his scenes expressing doubt as to whether his paranormal proclivities were worth continuing, or if they even were before. Credit for a nice opening monologue centered around "I want to believe," which seems like the other element at play alongside "The truth is out there."

I was much less impressed with Kid Mulder in the flashback scene. Good idea to actually show the Samantha abduction, though.

Ah, an early question of mine is answered- we do meet a friend of Mulder's on Capitol Hill. Neat that he and Scully meet at the Watergate parking garage as well, and it again proves my theory that the only time anything interesting happens in a parking garage is in the movies or on TV.

Great moment when the alien transmission repeats Mulder's "trust no one." Good scene all around.

Paranoia seems to grow here, though it ends in a nice affirmation of Mulder and Scully's partnership.

Cigarette Smoking Man shows up again, which is very cool. Even talks to Mulder at the end, which is better yet. Then we get this great moment where Skinner just kicks him out of the room, which is not something I'd guess he could do. I think I figured out why people like Skinner from that scene.


The Host- Ah, monster of the week. Flukeman's a creepy one. A few nice "boo!" moments, particularly that first Russian guy getting yanked under the water. The sanitation worker coughing up the worm was creepy, too.

This is probably the most exciting thing that ever happened to the supervisor at the department of sanitation. It'll make for a good story at parties.

Then there's the introduction of X, or so I gather from the back cover. Trustworthy? I'm taking Deep Throats advice for this one. I'll be very curious to follow how this works.

Have to say I like that they're not just starting the X-Files up again. The slow build is pretty cool. More good stuff from Skinner here. Is he developing sympathy for our very own Spooky? That's probably an excessive way to describe it, but he does seem to be a bit less antagonistic toward him.

Predictable ending, but a strong episode, I'd say. Good to get to see more.

 

Two great episodes. As you say, the slow build is something the X-Files does very well. Recall it's been an entire season since we heard Mulder mention his friend in the Capitol; we finally meet him and his speech about the Brandenberg concerto is fabulous.

Second season is where the real complexity of relationships starts to build: Skinner's second episode, the Smoking man's fifth and already tension is building.

As for slow build, note the introduction of X, nothing more than a voice on a telephone. Soon, you'll see him; soon you'll meet Krycek too and with the Smoking Man, Krycek, Skinner and X all in play, things really go off the beam.

The first season was great in its own way, but the second season is when the show becomes more of a 'miniseries' and less of an anthology show. Season two - the start of the asskicking.

 

That would be a great promotional tagline. The complexity of character does seem to be ratcheting up as it goes.

Blood- I kep on trying to remember where I had seen the actor who played Ed Finsch (I think it was Finsch) before, but didn't get it until later. He was Sebastian in Blade Runner, where he gave off a similar, if less crazy, vibe.

Interesting premise, the drugs plus subliminal messages thing. Leads to that nice misdirection in the hospital when the TV says "Do it. Do it now."

Return of the Lone Gunmen. I like the way they play off Mulder in their scene.

Kudos to Mulder for taking Ed down so well. Apparently whoever was running the show thought he did well, too, sending him that message at the end.

Sleepless- So this would be Agent Krycek. I wasn't sure exactly where they were going to go with him, and the way things turned out was very interesting indeed. His meeting with Cigarette Smoking Man makes me think that his appointment was possibly in response to Skinner's kicking Smoking Man out of the office in Little Green Men. In any case, his comments about Scully made me uneasy.

And our first face-to-face with X. That he has some connection to Deep Throat is interesting (also interesting that they never call him Deep Throat on screen until the first season is over). I have to wonder what's in it for him, and why he should be anymore trustworthy than Krycek.

The villain has an interesting hook, one that ties in with the show well: mind games. I'd be a bit crazy if I hadn't slept in 24 years, too.

Duane Barry- The psychiatrist in this episoe kind of looks like my pastor. Just thought I'd put that in there.

Hostage negotiation can be interesting stuff, and if your perpetrator is ranting about being abducted by aliens, well so much the better. The referring to himself in third person thing got a little old, though.

Once the hostage stiuation ended I had to wonder why the episode didn't do so as well. Then we get to that ending and what seemed like a pretty routine episode ended up being part one of our very first two-parter. My guess was that he tracked Scully with the implant she had with her, which Mulder brings up in the next episode.

Ascension- The tagline changes again. "Deny everything" doesn't quite have the same ring to it as "Trust no one," but it's cool that it's up there, anyway.

This episode is a real winner, and it really made me appreciate Mulder. Not that I had problems with him in the first season, but this is where the character is starting to click for me. Great bit with him bolting out of his apartment when he gets Scully's message, coupled with the interrogation.

Krycek is at the top of his game, here, too, first with that great meeting with Cigarette Smoking Man, later trying to stop Mulder from getting to the top of the mountain.

Really, we get to see good stuff from just about everybody here. X meeting with Mulder again, moving the plot forward and demonstrating that he's not just another Deep Throat. Smoking Man does an excellent job in his talk to Krycek, particularly the reasoning behind not killing Mulder and the very interesting hint about his previous connection with Krycek. Then there's Skinner, with that great scene with Mulder making his case against Krycek, then Skinner reopening the X-Files in an excellent payoff moment. Really, the only character who missed out on the spotlight here is Scully.

And that last image of Mulder staring up at the sky is a great way to end the episode.

 

This season starts realy good and the Duane Barry two parter is one of my favorite episodes ever. Dont like blood so much but the rest little green men, the host and sleepless are all great episodes.

You have so many hours of amazing entertainment ahead of you Season 2 is better than the first I think.

I am gonna buy season 8 today. I was wondering what box sets you collect. Do you have the big paper collectors editions, thin pack collectors editions with no extras or the european version slim packs where all the discks are in one big plastic DVD cover incl extras?

Great posts keem em commin

 

Blood is awesome; we'll be seeing more of the messages via electronics in later seasons.

Sleepless is a fantastic episode and not just for Krycek; the plot is awesome as well.

And the Duane Barry two parter is one of the best two parters ever: Scully in serious jeopardy and lost at the end, Steve Railbeck playing to the hilt as Barry, Krycek playing nice and duplicitious (I particularly like his silent conversation with Barry). Great stuff.

 

One Breath is a good episode, you really get see how much Mulder cares for her.

 

One breath is a damn good episode Bought season 8 today and thought Id give away my scores on the 8 first.

Within ***
Without ***
Patience **1/2
Roadrunners ***1/2
Invocation ***
Redrum *1/2
Via negativa ***
Surekill **

 

One Breath did impress me, and there'll be more on that soon. Like, later in the post soon.

3- Sometimes I'll pick a few words to describe my feelings on a particular movie, book, TV episode, what have you. This time it was "Umm... what?"

It started off somewhere around the interrogation of vampire whatever #1: "He's the father, I'm the son, and she's (emphasis mine) the unholy spirit." Umm... what? This is sounding like a '70s B-movie.

Later, at Kristin's house, Mulder stays behind with a possible vampire killer woman, alone. Um... what? She says he needs to clean up, and in the next scene he's shirtless and shaving. Umm... what? They actually sleep together. Umm... what?

I seriously have no idea what's up with this episode. And, since I buy the sets that aren't ludicrously priced, I have to watch it again if I want to see that deleted scene. Yikes.


One Breath- And then we have this incredible rebound with what's probably my favorite episode of the season so far. Where to start? How about the great first scene, with Mrs. Scully narrating the story about young Dana and that garter snake that just says so much.

The first scene of Mulder in the hospital, going absolutely berserk over how Scully got there, screaming at everyone in sight, trying to steal somebody's admission forms... great intensity.

Another example of X-Files slow reveals wherein we meet Melissa Scully, with the crystal healing stuff and "feeling her soul" in the room. No wonder Scully's so good at arguing with Mulder's unusual ideas; she's had all this time to practice with her family.

There's the amazing stuff we get when Mulder chases the guy who stole Scully's blood sample and ends up running into X, who absolutely tears into Mulder, shoving a gun in his face and giving this practically enraged diatribe about Mulder being his tool and Mulder not having what it takes. Then the part where he shows what he thinks it takes, taking down the thief and putting a bullet in his head, point blank. Wow. Definitely not Deep Throat.

Mulder confronts Cigarette Smoking Man in his own home, which is again great stuff. Smoking Man has a gun in his face and still always seems in control of the situation. He plays Mulder perfectly. When he says "And that's why I'll win," I felt like he might be right. Also, Cancer Man is a cool alternate name for him.

Skinner's speech about his time in Vietnam is... I'm running out of superlatives. Let me check a thesaurus... smashing. The whole scene is delivered pitch-perfect.

The Lone Gunmen come back again, and we even get a new one. The Thinker, huh? At least I can remember this one's name. I'm sure the rest will come with time.

Scully's dad even shows up again. Very good stuff with him talking to Scully.

The conclusion runs through perfectly, as well, Mulder choosing to be with Scully over taking revenge, Scully's return, the odd little bit where we find out there is no Nurse Owens. This is an awesome episode. How did they manage to pack it all in to 45 minutes?