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

X-Files! I miss it so much. It's my favorite televison drama/sci-fi/mystery show.

About an upcoming X-Files movie: I'll believe it when I see it. Unless they actually start filming the movie, I won't be taking the rumors very seriously.

 

Fallen Angel 1 X 09

Mulder pursues a tip given by Deep Throat that leads him to a government quarantined area and into an encounter with a downed UFO pilot and a conspiracy nut named Max Fenig.

*This one drops us right into the action with Mulder trotting around a forest. Flashbacks briefly detail a meeting with Jerry Hardin?s Deep Throat and set the stage. It?s an interesting way of dropping us in media res, as it were, and it works, probably because the series didn?t overuse it.

*And the introduction of the hilarious Max Fenig. He?s somehow both an empathetic character and a humorous one. His constant motor mouth manages, strangely, to be not the least annoying.

*Best line from Max: ?Me, I saw nothing (loudly) I . . . I didn?t see anything!!?

*A great bit that seems very realistic when the government provides a highly classified lie to back up their main release lie. In effect, they ?admit? that, though they told the populace that a train had wrecked with dangerous chemicals, it?s in fact the truth that a Libyan fighter jet was shot down. A second lie is more apt to seem like the truth. Or to put it another way, a lie you have to work to find is often assumed to be true.

*Hmm, FBI agents travel records are a matter of public records, thanks to the Freedom of Information act. Sadly enough, that?s probably true.

*The alien is wonderfully realized in this episode, being more than a little reminiscent of the Predator effect, wherein the background is warped. Of course, if you?ve seen the Season One Gag Reel, then you?ll never get the image of that poor guy in the red jumpsuit leaping around the woods to allow them to create this effect.

*The scene with Mulder and Scully interviewing the doctor is quite well done. I like the actor who plays the doctor.

*I like how Scully discounts Max Fenig?s story because he?s taking anti-psychotic drugs. Therefore, he?s crazy. Or, perhaps, because he?s taking medication, he?s more sane then you are right now. I mean, isn?t that the point of taking medication: to not be crazy.

*A great bit when Colonel Henderson views an infrared scanner and sees Mulder and Max huddled together in the center of the warehouse, while, unbeknownst to them, a third life form slowly creeps up on them.

*And it?s great to see Mulder pick up Max?s NICAP hat. Of course, in later episodes, we'll see that it?s been added to the welter of stuff that adorns Mulder?s office. It?s a great bit of continuity and is quite touching.

*A brilliantly executed scene with Scully seated at the end of a looooooong table, being questioned by a committee.

*And a great ending. Deep Throat being gone for so long, our memories of him are often a bit rosy. Compared to the selfish and brutal X, Deep Throat seemed a particularly sweet guy, but he has a moment at the end of this episode that seems very sinister.

*This episode is not often mentioned, but it?s a classic. It draws in more lines on the sketchy character of Deep Throat, sees Mulder and Scully brought before a committee and introduces the (somewhat) recurring character of Max Fenig, a charming and humorous fellow. *** ½ out of **** stars.

 

anyone here ever hear of a banned episode called "Home" or something? a friend of mine was wondering about it

 

That was the episode that kept my friend from ever watching X-Files again. It's about a family of psychotic inbreds. Freaked me out.

The scariest one I remember from my childhood was the one about the town of cannibals..."Our Town" was the name. Anyhoo, I've seen every episode except "Sleepless." I love the ocassional comedy episode like "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" (begins with a nudge to star wars), "Fight Club," and "Bad Blood." The conspiricy episodes creep me out, and there are things about the black oil, the shapeshifting, and the corn I still don't get. And the 2-parter about the Japanese scientists and the leper colony.

My favorite episode of all time is "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man." We learn that the CSM assassinated both Kennedy and King.

Oh, and the flashback episode where the Lone Gunmen first meet (at a tech convention, was it?) is great. I love the part where Mulder whips out one of those huge 80's style cell phones.

 

Banned? It's on my Season Four boxset.

 

I think I recall hearing that one network stopped airing ?Home? in syndication. I suppose the whole inbreeding thing was a bit twisted for some, but other than that I?d definitely say the episode is one of the series? most overrated.

 

My favorite episode of all time is "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man." We learn that the CSM assassinated both Kennedy and King.

Alas, that was retconned out as "Apocrphya" showed CSM already working for the government right after WWII.

 

Eh? I'll have to see that episode again. That was the one that ended with Krycek in the missile silo with the black oil and the saucer was it not? Cos that's all I remember.

 

I'm very ambivalent about that episode . . . parts of it are brilliance (the conversation on the ball field, the autopsy in the bathroom, the deputy's death) and parts of it are pure idiotic shock tactics (the discovery under the bed, the death of the sherrif). I'm very ambivalent. Not one of Morgan and Wong's best by a stretch, that's for sure.

Sleepless is a great episode, the introduction of Krycek as a 'friend.' Brilliant. The comic episodes are definitely great, but I hated Fight Club. Our Town is indeed a classic second season ep.

Those two are great . . . I remember CSM's riff on the 'life is a box of chocolates' speech was hilarious and the scene where CSM tricks Deep Throat into killing the EBE is just a masterpiece . . . whatever.

As to it being retconned, I choose to accept it in pieces: the Deep Throat/CSM scene, I accept as canon, even though it contradicts Deep Throat's version of the events from E.B.E.; I choose to believe that Deep Throat lied to Mulder, even when telling the truth . . . the other stuff, I can take or leave, but that scene is so damn brilliant that it has to stand.

Long post . . .

Eve 1 X 10

Mulder and Scully investigate when two men with identical daughters are killed in exactly the same way at exactly the same moment.

*This is maybe the best teaser of the first season, the little girl hugging the teddy bear, the father sitting on the swing, the holes in the neck . . . beautiful.

*This is one of those episodes that is so good even on repeat viewings because Mulder is so deeply, incredibly and amazingly wrong about everything he thinks is going on. You like to see that occasionally.

*This also makes this a very funny episode. By about the twenty-seventh UFO quip Mulder makes, you?ll be rolling on the floor.

*You know, I?ve seen this episode about four times now and I had never noticed how Cindy, the little girl, is watching cartoons on television and then, when the adults leave the room, we briefly see her switch over to a news channel. That?s actually pretty freaking hilarious.

*Great dialogue: ?And one of them was just abducted.? ?Kidnapped.? ?Potaytoe, potahtoe.?

*And another reason I love this episode: Harriet Harrison, a truly great actress, most well known for her scenery chewing performance as Frasier?s unethical agent Bebe Glazer on Frasier, is the villainous Sally Kendrick/Eve 6/Eve 7/Eve 8. And if you thought she chewed the scenery on Frasier, this episode must be seen to be believed. It?s almost operatic and wildly entertaining.

*And Deep Throat, having been so incredible in the previous episode, shows up as a total deus ex machina, giving Mulder all the information he needs to solve the case and then disappearing.

*My favorite moment in this episode and one that most people forget is

 

As to it being retconned, I choose to accept it in pieces: the Deep Throat/CSM scene, I accept as canon, even though it contradicts Deep Throat's version of the events from E.B.E.; I choose to believe that Deep Throat lied to Mulder, even when telling the truth . . . the other stuff, I can take or leave, but that scene is so damn brilliant that it has to stand.

Same here. That look of sadness on Jerry Hardin's face as he shoots the EBE is amazing.

I also love the scene in the conference room where CSM gives everybody the same tie.

 

Fire 1 X 11

An old flame from London brings Mulder a case of arson related deaths among the English nobility, bringing back to light his long repressed fear of fire.

*There are some great fire effects in this episode, let?s just say that from the outset.

*This episode is roundly criticized as a weak first season outing. I disagree. I think it?s a solid and entertaining one for several reasons.

*The main reason is a hilariously over the top performance by our villain, Cecil L?ively.

*I also love the inclusion of an old flame (get it?! DO YOU GET IT?!!? FLAME??!) of Mulder?s who?s an utter sociopath. Some people didn?t think her character rang true with Mulder?s. I disagree. Mulder?s always been a bit of a masochist in my opinion. Perfectly in character to see him with Phoebe Green.

*And Anderson nails her portrayal of Scully here. Her slight disgust and slight condescension regarding Phoebe is hilarious.

*The arson specialist in this episode is a hoot. I especially like how he keeps flirting with every female who steps into the room. No turn on like a slide show of horribly charred bodies, I suppose.

*He is also given a great speech about how fire often defies the laws of physics. ?I?ve seen fire bend around corners, seen it bounce like a rubber ball.? Very nice.

*And our villain, fantastic character, lights cigarettes with his mind, kicks puppies, does the cheesiest American accent of all time. I love him. I just love him.

*I love how the British couple enter the house and the husband comments on how a painting resembles his wife. It?s the kind of pointless but realistic thing to put in here. Just what people really do often do.

*I recall seeing David Duchovny on Conan O?Brien and he mocked the fact that in this episode, his character suddenly has a desperate fear of fire that was never mentioned before and is never mentioned again. I suppose that?s an apt criticism, but I still like this episode.

*When you?ve got two really fine actors, even a scene as simple and unassuming as the conversation between L?Ively and the Marsden?s driver can be entertaining and interesting.

*I love the scene where L?ively offers the woman in the bar a light and proceeds to burn the joint to the ground.

*Just a hilariously funny scene.

*Great line when Mulder states that the bar was across the street from a fire station and it burned to the ground before they could respond.

*Fun scene with L?ively entertaining the two small children of his intended victim with magic tricks.

*You know, this episode plays with the idea of accelerants, but I never really get it. Does L?Ively need them or not? Because sometimes he obviously uses them and sometimes he just as obviously does not.

*The final passages of this episode give us several truly great moments: Mulder walking in on Phoebe and the British politician in a clinch, fire rippling like waves down a hallway, the demise of the Marsdon?s driver.

*This episode succeeds thanks to the great performance of our villain, a scenery chewing, smirking, charming cad who?s obviously having a great time. As well, the nuanced performance of Gillian Anderson as a rather miffed, but also rather amused, Scully, having to deal with a horning in (and horny) secret from Mulder?s past adds to the charm of this episode.

*All in all, this one gets a lot of negative press it doesn?t deserve. *** ½ out of **** stars.

 

"Fire" is one of my favorite MotW episodes from the first season. The final line is the best, "I'm just dying for a cigarette."

 

Okay so I've just finished watching Season One through. Since I already have Seasons Three and Four, tomorrow I am going to order Season Two, and Season Five.

I am soooooooooo into Mulder and Scully right now.

 

It's Moldy and Scummy. Get it right.

 

Home is messed up.

 

Beyond the Sea 1 X 12

Scully tries to deal with her father?s recent death as Mulder attempts to debunk a psychic on death row who hopes to delay his execution by helping the agents find two abducted young people.

*Here, at almost the midpoint of the season, Carter and Company give us the finest episode of the season and a masterpiece that remains one of the finest of the entire series, an episode that proved that this was more than a show about scary monsters and pretty lights in the sky, but also a show about wrestling with human emotions.

*This episode introduces two stalwarts of the series, Don Davis as Scully?s father and Sheila Larkin as Margaret Scully, the mother who will be given quite a beating over the series, at least emotionally.

*This teaser, my mother won?t watch. We lost my father about seven years ago and this teaser is almost too much for me. The light hearted, if slightly uncomfortable banter, the sight of Davis in that chair, the phone ringing, the simple, heartbreaking line, ?Dana, we lost your father.? My mother won?t watch it. The rest of the episode, she?s fine with, but she won?t watch this teaser. That?s a testament to how well it works.

*This episode gets to the heart of Dana Scully in an incredible way. There?s been essays written, but I think it speaks for itself. She comes to work the day of her father?s funeral. ?It?s not until two,? she says. My God . . .

*The funeral is really beautiful too: Beyond the Sea, a great, great song plays as the ashes are scattered and there?s a great moment at the end: ?Was he at all proud of me?? ?He was your father.?

*And here we go. Brad Dourif as Luther Boggs! Finest guest performance of the first season, maybe of the entire series. Dourif is probably most famous to mainstream audiences as the psychotic killer of the Chuckie series. Of late, he?s gotten a slight boost by playing Grima Wormtongue in the Lord of the Rings films. It doesn?t give him much to do, but it?s good to see him again. Also see One Flew Over the Cuckoo?s Nest and Ragtime.

*And this is a bravura performance. As the would be psychic who hopes to get off of death row, he truly steals the show, channeling spirits, weeping, snarling, curling up into a ball, threatening, pitiful . . . it?s a fantastic performance.

*There?s a great bit where Mulder passes Boggs a strip of cloth that appears to be some sort of evidence and Boggs absolutely tears it up, going into a trance, screaming and weeping and then Mulder reveals that he tore the cloth of his Knicks T-shirt and it has nothing to do with the case. That?s great.

*And then the way Boggs brings up Scully?s father (singing Beyond the Sea, calling her Starbuck) is beautiful. And this is truly the episode that makes me angry that Gillian Anderson never won an Emmy for this series. She?s incredible. By turns, fragile, strong, vulnerable, grieving . . .

*What?s really great about this episode is how it turns the tables, casting Scully as the one who ?wants to believe? in Boggs and in the fact that her father has a message for her and Mulder is the skeptic, believing Boggs is only playing for time. This would turn up again and again in later seasons, when Carter began playing with the God and Satan episodes where Scully would get more and more in touch with her Catholic roots, but this is a stellar early example.

*I don?t know, but having lost a father myself, I think I feel a great kinship with Scully in this episode as she strives to find some sort of closure to their relationship.

*Mulder: Turn that phone off! Turn it off! Scully: Mulder, that?s your phone.

*Would kidnapping two lovers and killing them really qualify as ?reliving? the car accident that killed his mother? I don?t think so. Commemorating is more the word you?re looking for.

* You set us up. You?re in on this with Lucas Henry. This was a trap for Mulder because he helped put you away. Well, I came here to tell you that if he dies because of what you?ve done, four days from now, no one will be able to s

 

I still haven't watched Home since it aired. There was a moment in it that was very nice where Mulder got a shock learning that Scully might want to be a Mom one day. Other than that I refuse to watch it - incest...*Shudders at creepiness*

I love Eve and Beyond the Sea.

BTS was a GREAT episode where the first time the roles of M&S are reversed. Mulder refused to believe because of his prejudices towards Bogg, and Scully who was knee deep in her personal grief found herself open to reading signs that her rational mind would otherwise have ignored.

I recently watched a couple of favorite episodes - Unusual Suspects the one where we meet the guys in early 90s - Mulder w/ his giant cell phone, and Detour.

I love Detour it's a great creature-feature w/ the invisible, fountain of youth creatures who're attacking encrouchers to protect their environment. I love the slams on the lameness of company retreats and the dog lives

 

Detour is good i love in when Scully sings, "Jermiah was a bullfrog"

 

Yes, Gillian did a great job of singing tone-deaf

 

High praise for BTS, Rogue. I thought the beginning of that episode was a lot better than the rest of it. My personal favorite of the season (and the only one I gave a **** rating to) was The Erlenmeyer Flask.

 

1 X 13 Genderbender

Mulder and Scully investigate a serial killer who leaves his or her victims dead just after the throes of passion.

*This features one of my favorite Scully lines: (when Mulder posits that the killer may be able to produce and secrete pheromones) So, they should be considered unarmed but extremely attractive?

*And we get our first glimpse of The Kindred, a religious group obviously intended to suggest the Amish.

*I wonder how many times they had to practice that thing where Mulder kicks the map up into the air and Scully catches it. Cause that?s not easy.

*Humorously, Mulder and Scully, clad in their signature black trenchcoats, fit in quite well with the black clad Kindred.

*There?s a certain aroma of cheese about this episode, but it is entertaining. See the dinner scene.

*The episode picks up a bit as Mulder creeps around the underground tunnels and Scully is menaced by the lust monster in the upper bedroom.

*An interesting section about the dangers of pornography and its alluring qualities: ?He even liked the paper: slick and smooth.?

*Now that?s got to suck: in a heavy make out session, then suddenly your female partner is called out of the car by a cop. She then turns into a man and beats the cop senseless. That?s just really got to suck.

*Hilariously, the fellow here, who survives a make out session with the gender twisting killer, is played by Nicholas Lea who would emerge in season two as the duplicitious Agent Krycek, one of the all time great supporting players in a television series.

*And he?s hilarious here. I especially like his delivery of the line, ?She looked like a man.? Followed by the great line, ?The club scene used to be so simple.? Tell me about it.

*Though it makes a certain amount of sense. The ending tells the Kindred have ties to aliens. Couldn?t Krycek have been trying to track down the killer in his own way for CSM? This is the kind of thinking you do when you love a television series too much.

*And though some bash the ending, I love it.

*On the whole, a pretty blasé episode, with some nice moments. ** ½ out of **** stars.

 

The only episodes I like from Season One are Pilot, Squeeze & Tooms (OMG, a liver-eating contortionist!), EBE (Just because it introduced us to The Lone Gunmen), and The Erlenmeyer Flask.

 

I just watched Jump the Shark(it was on my Lone Gunmen boxed set and not the Mythology one) for the first time.

Yes, I did cry.

Edit: The six other people who watch this show that I regularly talk to thought it was pretty bad. Take that as you will.

 

1 X 14 Lazarus

When an old boyfriend of Scully is resuscitated after being wounded in a bank robbery, Mulder suspects that it may actually be the spirit of his killer that has returned.

*The best thing about this episode is Warren Dupre, the villain, who is killed and then returns in the body of Jack Willis. His relationship with his wife is hilarious, a sort of Bonnie and Clyde esque fascination. I?ll point out the highlights to you.

*Varnes, the expert on near death phenomena, cracks me up.

*I sense a big but coming. HA!

*Willis touches his wound, his hand comes away bloody, he says, ?Even ugliness is beautiful because of her.? HAHAAHAHAAHAHAHA!

*And it?s interesting with Willis actually trying to pass himself off as an investigator on a crime that he actually committed.

*And the way Mulder tricks Willis into signing a birthday card is classic.

*?Like I said, Mulder, stress. We both know it can significantly effect someone?s cursive standard.? I admit, I laughed out loud on that one.

*Though this keeps bringing up that Prelude to a Kiss movie I just saw: Namely, Dupre never knew Willis. The reverse is true, since Willis had studied Dupre in an effort to catch him, but Dupre had no idea who Willis was. How easy would it really be for him to imitate Willis, even in something so simple as walking across a room? Wouldn?t it be glaringly obvious that something was seriously wrong?

*Dupre attempts to prove himself to his wife by telling her what they did after their wedding. Seems they went down to the beach, slit open their palms with a buck knife and let the blood run into the ocean. ?So we can be married in all the oceans of the world.? Uh . . . huh.

*A nice twist when it turns out that Willis is diabetic and Dupre did not know that.

*A nice moment when an agent who has been needling Mulder for the entire episode comes to his defense when another agent says Mulder isn?t up to the task.

*And a beautiful moment when Willis has a memory of a trip with Scully.

*But I hate the moment where Willis actually morphs into Dupre? Just spit on the whole episode, why don?t you?

*A melancholy ending, but nice.

*On the whole, this is a fairly interesting episode, with moments of strength and moments of weakness. It?s fair. ** ½ out of **** stars.

 

Edit: The six other people who watch this show that I regularly talk to thought it was pretty bad. Take that as you will.

Doh! That edit was for a different thread. My bad.