Rewatching "The X Files"

[Ron Maels Moustache]

This is also a very valid description of the episode. Perhaps it would have worked better if I wasn't broadly aware of where the show would go afterwards? Dunno.

I think it probably came down to conflicting ideas between Morgan & Wong and the rest of the writers about the kind of show they were making. It's worth noting that after being very influential in the development of the show in the first two seasons, M&W had been gone for a year and a bit before returning for S4 to complete their contractual obligations, and in the time the core writing team had solidified around the Carter/Shiban/Spotnitz trio who now seemed to be dictating the direction of the overall series arc, whereas before that the mythology of the show had been much more of a case of lots of different writers throwing stuff at the wall to see what would stick. So think it's evident there was a definite difference of opinion about where things were going.

In this episode in particular they seem to be putting forward a very John Le Carre idea of the powerful men who pull the strings actually being rather lifeless, grey, embittered individuals who've have sacrificed their personal lives in the service of their work, something which doesn't really jive with later portrayals of the character where he's basically just a cartoonish Mephisto villain type who revels in being evil just for the sake of it.

Edit: New page truth is out there

[Famous Mortimer]

Up to the most movie-like double episode so far, "Tunguska" and "Terma". It's the one where they intercept a diplomatic bag with some meteorite in it, and Mulder is briefly detained in a Siberian labour camp / experimental science place. Pace, excellent, action scenes, excellent, and Scully got a good chance to act her socks off in the Congress scenes.

But. Krycek (sp?) is in it, and the way they go "well, you've tried to kill us a bunch of times, but I guess we'll give you one more chance" feels like a relic of an earlier way of making TV. The way he went from an on-the-run spy to the best friend of all these Russian guys was a little bit of a stretch too, as was the elderly Russian stealth-ninja who was able to walk into the NASA lab to steal the meteorite fragment and kill young healthy people with no problem. Despite them knowing who he was, having a ton of photos of him and knowing roughly where he'd be going back to, he was able to escape the USA with no problems. This entire character felt like it was a deus ex machina to restore the status quo, borne out by (according to IMDB) these being his only appearances in the show.

[purlieu]

My overriding memory of that story is my housemate and I watching the whole show on DVD, and another housemate occasionally joining us; on this occasion, he kept calling the elderly Russian stealth-ninja a "sneaky Russian bastard" throughout. One of those bizarre little things that's stayed with me over the past 15 or so years.

[Famous Mortimer]

One of my least favourite TV show things is when a lead character does something which the show portrays as noble, but would actually 100% lead to them losing their job, and often doing prison time. So it is in the most recent episode, where Mulder frees serial killer Tom Noonan from prison because he thinks his sister might be one of his victims, and hopes he can lead him to her body.

Mulder falls so deeply asleep while "looking after" Noonan in a motel room that he's able to escape his handcuffs, lock Mulder up, steal his gun and badge and kidnap a little girl he met on the flight. Mulder eventually catches Noonan and shoots him, in front of the girl, who will have a lifetime of trauma due to what she's witnessed.

All it would take is the mother to wonder why the FBI agent who ruined her daughter's life is not only still in his job, but has suffered no disciplinary action whatsoever, for it to be national news. Heck, CSM and his cronies have a perfect opportunity to get Mulder fired and make sure he's not seen as a martyr, but they must have been on holiday that week.

Written by Vince Gilligan, too (with an El Camino used as a significant plot point). I mean, am I trying too hard to find things to criticise here? This stuff must have occurred to them when they were making the show, I'm not particularly smart.

[Famous Mortimer]

Best and worst of the show in two episodes. First up is "Small Potatoes", another Gilligan ep where a guy who used to have a tail also has the ability to shape/voice shift. It's revealed that Scully is a couple of glasses of wine and a normal, caring conversation away from kissing Mulder, which is something the show has not really hinted at to that point? The real Mulder cares a lot for Scully, but it's not remotely sexual. Well, I know it goes that way eventually, or something. Anyway, it's a great ep, always fun to see Duchovny playing someone else in Mulder's body.

Then there's a full-on mythology episode, where Skinner (who is ripped, and has the slim hips of a dancer, we see here) has to cover up something relating to bees that have smallpox infecting people. Blah blah CSM blah blah we find out that whatsername from the UN is also one of CSM's people. The whole basis for this - Skinner working for CSM because he promised to cure Scully's cancer - was weak in the beginning. Hello, person who I've never been able to trust for a single second! What's that you say? You're asking me to trust you? Sure!

[Mr Trumpet]

My mum always fancied Skinner, presumably because of this episode.

[up_the_hampipe]

Skinner is a total stud. He makes me feel safe. Everyone fancies him.

[Famous Mortimer]

The end of season 4 / beginning of season 5 is curious. The idea that everything Mulder and Scully have seen is an elaborate plot designed to discredit the pro-UFO people would have been solid if the people trying to sell the plot hadn't spent 4 years trying to stop them from seeing those things, hiding evidence from them, etc.

There was a non-fiction book which made this case about a few of the most vocal UFO people, and how they'd been driven mad by their CIA "handlers". Would've made a fascinating TV show, but this treatment of the topic isn't it; only partly because we know it's not true.

Someone remind me to watch the film at the end of this series, please (it came between 5 and 6, I believe).

[Mobbd]

There was a non-fiction book which made this case about a few of the most vocal UFO people, and how they'd been driven mad by their CIA "handlers".

Do you remember the title? I'd read the shit out of that.

There was a pretty docco along those lines a couple of years ago. That one was called Mirage Men.

[Famous Mortimer]

That's the one! Probably should have watched the documentary myself.

[Famous Mortimer]

We just had the backdoor pilot for the Lone Gunmen series, which honestly wasn't very good. The biggest thing is the strong implication that Mulder is the way he is due to taking on a hefty dose of that ergot-filled gas, or maybe it's just a red herring from Vince Gilligan (who wrote the episode).

As with many prequels, it doesn't convince that the people we see here are the same people we met several seasons ago. Frohike is so vitally important in the future that CSM is about to assassinate him personally, yet here he's just an electronics guy who gets carried along in Byers' scheme.

I'm half-tempted to watch the Lone Gunmen show too. Has anyone bothered? Worth a go?

[madhair60]

Worth a go?

no. Episodes 7, 11 and 12 are good, but that's three out of thirteen.

[Alberon]

Episode 1's conclusion is just weird for obvious reasons if you know what it is about.

[Famous Mortimer]

"The Post-Modern Prometheus" was made with some real care and attention to old-timey detail, and it was genuinely lovely seeing Mulder and Scully grinning at the end as the chap with two faces partied to Cher.

[Famous Mortimer]

Just had the one where it was all evil trees, not the show's best, it must be said.

[greenman]

Some of the mythology episodes are entertaining as stand alone episodes though. The one with the plane wreckage in season 4 or 5 is one of my favourites. I think they work best when they're delivering interesting or exciting set pieces, like when those blokes with no faces set everyone on fire; and less so when they're stringing the audience along.

Rewatching some of them for the first time since the original run yeah this does stand out more, in terms of telling a  story across them the arc episodes arent really that sucessful but taken alone I think they are often quite fun, the show playing around with various conspiracy theory ideas and occasionally having some good drama in them.

I am finding myself enjoying season 6-7 a lot more than I remember doing at the time and honestly I think the move to LA and the shift further towards querky comedy looks like it gave the show a bit of a shot in the arm at a point were it could have gone down hill, keeping the creepy atmospherics moreso for episodes were they have a decent idea.

I would still say though that its a show were you have a smaller number of episodes that stick out above the rest, there are probably 30ish across the series I can go back to a lot. Much of the rest of it is entertaining but its those episodes that really tend to elevate it into greatness.

[up_the_hampipe]

I am finding myself enjoying season 6-7 a lot more than I remember doing at the time and honestly I think the move to LA and the shift further towards querky comedy looks like it gave the show a bit of a shot in the arm at a point were it could have gone down hill, keeping the creepy atmospherics moreso for episodes were they have a decent idea.

Yeah I found that was the case during my lockdown rewatch. The opening portion of season 6 was particularly strong, the one with Bryan Cranston, the Bermuda Triangle episode and the Dreamland two-parter with Mr. Chicanery himself was a great run.

[greenman]

Yeah I found that was the case during my lockdown rewatch. The opening portion of season 6 was particularly strong, the one with Bryan Cranston, the Bermuda Triangle episode and the Dreamland two-parter with Mr. Chicanery himself was a great run.

The Triangle episode would definately be one of those "30ish", I think thats a great advert for the show just being ready to do anything. Tithonus from a bit latter on is probably my favourite episode of laid back moodiness and stuff like Agua Mala and Arcadia mix up the monster of the week formula with comedy nicely.