The X-Files

Montana Smith

Active member
I saw The X-Files Pilot when it first aired in the UK, but never kept up with the series. I watched the odd episode, but without seeing them in order they didn't leave much of an impression.


Several months ago a suitcase of DVDs came my way. Dumped half of them, sold a quarter and kept the remainder. Among those retained were six seasons of the show (1-5 & 7). I kept them out of curiosity, not expecting to enjoy them.

However, having now seen the first two seasons I'm really surprised how much I do like these. They pretty much stand the test of time, due to the storylines and the relationship between Mulder and Scully, and the fact that Chris Carter often cheated by creating suspense by sometimes not showing too much of the creatures or the effects. It was a budgeting consideration, but it works.

I have the feeling that Mulder is what Indy himself might have become if Lucas had followed through with his interpretation of the character as a paranormal investigator. He would have been Mulder and Scully rolled into one, exposing hoaxes and dealing with supernatural reality.

The X-Files, as Jose Chung commented in this thread, wasn't all about aliens. Poltergeists, satanic worship, native American mythology, telekinesis, and aliens, it's all viable in their world. Similar to Indyverse with its competing religions and practises, as well as aliens. The way that Mulder and Scully move effortlessly from an alien episode to a non-alien event is how Indy would probably treat his own adventures. He was at Roswell in '47 but seemingly took that in his stride as just another of his paranormal experiences.


Where's Matt deMille? I want to believe! :D
 

AndyLGR

Active member
Nice to see this thread resurrected. The x files was such an iconic show, although I felt it started to run out of steam around season 5 or 6, but I think this show will still stand the test of time favourably. There was good chemistry between the leads, good stories, intriguing and shady villains and it was very well made. It was staple viewing for me back in the 90s.
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
Yeah I have to agree Andy. One of my favorite shows... but I'll go one step further and say season 6 was the last good season before it went down hill.

The second movie however was a bit underwhelming for me, I like the "monster of the week" episodes and making one of those into a movie sounded killer to me (y) but while watching it I was thinking to myself the whole time, this is what they came up with? :confused:

I would have liked to see a third one to close out a trilogy dealing with the "alien mythology" but those hopes are now dashed as according to the show the invasion begins on December 21st 2012. I guess that doesn't matter in a film though, films can take place whenever...

(edit)
Really quickly while I'm thinking about it, the film Prometheus seemed to borrow heavily from the X-Files.
Black alien goo infected humans and changing them. The notion of Aliens seeding life on earth. etc.
 
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Stoo

Well-known member
Montana Smith said:
Where's Matt deMille? I want to believe! :D
Whisked away to Sirius B, perhaps?:)

The movies, I've seen, but only about a dozen episodes of the TV show and really want to see them all. I don't remember the title of one episode or the name of the family in it, but the story was probably the most shocking thing I've ever seen on primetime TV!:eek: (The one with the 2 hillbilly brothers who have sex with their deformed mother and keep her hidden under the bed.:eek::eek::eek:)

For Dr. Gonzo:
Similar to, "X Files", is another mid-90s show called, "Dark Skies", that ran for only one season. It creatively ties the alien phenomenon into many major, historical events of the U.S. in the early 1960s. (Ex. JFK assassination, The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, etc.) One episode, "The Last Wave", takes place in 1964 Los Angeles and guess who is a main character in that one? A young, UCLA film student named, Jim Morrison!:D
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
Whisked away to Sirius B, perhaps?:)

I wonder if they'll ever return him to us?



Stoo said:
I don't remember the title of one episode or the name of the family in it, but the story was probably the most shocking thing I've ever seen on primetime TV!:eek: (The one with the 2 hillbilly brothers who have sex with their deformed mother and keep her hidden under the bed.:eek::eek::eek:)

A quick search using the terms X-Files hillbilly sex mother brought up the episode Home from Season 4.

:eek: indeed!


There's been a few gruesome episodes within the first two seasons: the necrophiliac in Irrestistible, the cannibals in Our Town, the nail through the nose and the part-time conjoined twin in Humbug...
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
Stoo said:
For Dr. Gonzo:
Similar to, "X Files", is another mid-90s show called, "Dark Skies", that ran for only one season. It creatively ties the alien phenomenon into many major, historical events of the U.S. in the early 1960s. (Ex. JFK assassination, The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, etc.) One episode, "The Last Wave", takes place in 1964 Los Angeles and guess who is a main character in that one? A young, UCLA film student named, Jim Morrison!:D

Really? I have to try and find that episode!!!(y)

I do recall Dark Skies and wondered what happened to it. I didn't see that Morrison episode though. Nice! Thanks Stoo.


That episode you're are talking about Stoo, was it filmed in black and white?
If so the episode is called "The Post-Modern Prometheus".

EDIT: The episode is in fact called "Home" and is considered to be one of the most popular and disturbing episodes of the X-files. I actually believe they were not going to air it and changed their mind airing it much later on Halloween.
 
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Stoo

Well-known member
Montana Smith said:
I wonder if they'll ever return him to us?
We might get the answer in 5 weeks, on December 21st 2012.:)
Montana Smith said:
A quick search using the terms X-Files hillbilly sex mother brought up the episode Home from Season 4.

:eek: indeed!

There's been a few gruesome episodes within the first two seasons: the necrophiliac in Irrestistible, the cannibals in Our Town, the nail through the nose and the part-time conjoined twin in Humbug...
That's it!:eek: The Peacock family (and I forgot that there were 3 brothers, not 2). Since you haven't watched season 4 yet, I'm sorry if I spoiled the episode.:eek:

Those others you mention sound quite unsettling. Another special one had the story told twice. One version through Mulder's point-of-view and the other from Scully's. Very interesting and very humorous. (Don't know the title or which season.)

Gillian Anderson used to be a punker!(y)

P.S. Gonzo, I have the entire "Dark Skies" series. Let me clear out my PM Inbox and I'll send you my e-mail address.
 
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AndyLGR

Active member
Wasnt Home the one with the mother under the bed on a tray with wheels. Very disturbing and very Wrong Turn.

I thought Dark Skies was ok, evn though it was obviously cashing on the X files. Equally I thought Millenium was decent, but again was under the shadow of the X Files.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
Since you haven't watched season 4 yet, I'm sorry if I spoiled the episode.:eek:

Not at all. I didn't read the wiki post. Partially knowing what's coming is just intriguing.


While the alien/conspiracy storyline is the main arc, the non-arc stories are told so well that they're more than just placeholders creating anticipation of the next big conspiracy revelation.

I'm probably going to have to fill in the gaps in the collection, too. Along with getting hold of the films.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Reached the end of Season 3 and still enjoying the episodes.

There were, however, a couple that seemed out of step. They were fun, but they felt like parody episodes: War of the Coprophages and Jose Chung's From Outer Space.

During War of the Coprophages (the cockroach one), I was thinking right up until the end that it must be an extended dream sequence. It felt very surreal, and somewhat reminiscent of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis.

Even when it ended it was still difficult to rationalize it. That the cockroaches were robotic and of alien source - but maybe not all of them.
That the people all died of various causes relating to cockroaches, but more in the nature of accidents and reactions to them. Bambi's 'house' with the rippling wallpaper in the middle of a high security area.

Scully's envy over Mulder's perceived affair with Bambi was interesting as there's barely been anything between the two FBI agents up until that moment, apart from the odd show of tender friendship.

Jose Chung's From Outer Space was pretty wacky as well, especially with the Harryhausen alien!
 

AndyLGR

Active member
Montana Smith said:
Reached the end of Season 3 and still enjoying the episodes.

There were, however, a couple that seemed out of step. They were fun, but they felt like parody episodes: War of the Coprophages and Jose Chung's From Outer Space.

During War of the Coprophages (the cockroach one), I was thinking right up until the end that it must be an extended dream sequence. It felt very surreal, and somewhat reminiscent of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis.

Even when it ended it was still difficult to rationalize it. That the cockroaches were robotic and of alien source - but maybe not all of them.
That the people all died of various causes relating to cockroaches, but more in the nature of accidents and reactions to them. Bambi's 'house' with the rippling wallpaper in the middle of a high security area.

Scully's envy over Mulder's perceived affair with Bambi was interesting as there's barely been anything between the two FBI agents up until that moment, apart from the odd show of tender friendship.

Jose Chung's From Outer Space was pretty wacky as well, especially with the Harryhausen alien!
Not hard to miss are they? The quirky episodes were very strange. Almost like they were taking the **** out of themselves...

"small potatoes" in season 4 and "fight club" in season 7 spring to mind.

I remember discussing these with a friend of mine, all because CSI started doing similar quirky episodes too.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
AndyLGR said:
Not hard to miss are they? The quirky episodes were very strange. Almost like they were taking the **** out of themselves...

"small potatoes" in season 4 and "fight club" in season 7 spring to mind.

I remember discussing these with a friend of mine, all because CSI started doing similar quirky episodes too.

When I went through the extras the director of Jose Chung's said that as it was to be his last episode he decided to throw everything into it. And he was surprised Gillian could keep a straight face through most of it!

Lord Kimbolt, the Harryhausen alien, was made specifically as a homage. They took out frames to make him jerky. So, while the story is told from various different viewpoints, at least one observer believed they were witnessing a stop-motion creature!

AndyLGR said:
Almost like they were taking the **** out of themselves...

That's exactly how they played to me.
 

AndyLGR

Active member
And from memory the quirky episodes had an odd score to them too, that emphasised the silly aspect too. Which is exactly what CSI Vegas did in their own **** take episodes I thought.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
I made my way through the first season of Supernatural, which was noted to be 'the new X-Files' ...or something.

Apart from a few episodes I didn't think there was any real comparison in terms of the quality of the lead actors or the scripts. The 'monster of the week' entries were generally formulaic, bland and clichéd, apart from The Pilot, Scarecrow and Asylum.

Getting through Supernatural put me back on track with the X-Files. I'm on Season 5, and immediately the difference in class is apparent.
 
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Dr. Gonzo

New member
Montana Smith said:
Getting through Supernatural put me back on track with the X-Files. I'm on Season 5, and immediately the difference in class is apparent.

The final episode of season 5 is called "The End" ...if you truly want to watch the "whole series" chronologically, after that episode you need to watch the first X-Files film... as that is where you're supposed to view it and when the film came out (between season 5 and 6). Then move on to the season 6 premiere "The Beginning".
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Dr. Gonzo said:
The final episode of season 5 is called "The End" ...if you truly want to watch the "whole series" chronologically, after that episode you need to watch the first X-Files film... as that is where you're supposed to view it and when the film came out (between season 5 and 6). Then move on to the season 6 premiere "The Beginning".

Thanks for the tip.

I have to stop at the end of 5 because while I have 7, I don't have 6!

(My favourite seller on Play.com has the movie DVD cheap, so mission already accomplished).

:hat:
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
640px-Gillian_Anderson_%26_David_Duchovny_%289344570889%29.jpg


If you're reading the Season 10 comic concluding in June, stop, because the 6-episode miniseries shooting this summer follows a different canonicity. If this tv revival doesn't work there will be many others soon.
 

Duaner

New member
Moedred said:
If you're reading the Season 10 comic concluding in June, stop, because the 6-episode miniseries shooting this summer follows a different canonicity. If this tv revival doesn't work there will be many others soon.

The new miniseries will kick off in January after the NFC Championship Game. Cannot wait!!!
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
Spoiler, the season 10 finale was all a dream. Season 11 is half through, and includes an episode about the Mandela Effect. Gillian Anderson says she's done after this but Chris Carter says that wouldn't be the end.
 

TheFedora

Active member
Moedred said:
Spoiler, the season 10 finale was all a dream. Season 11 is half through, and includes an episode about the Mandela Effect. Gillian Anderson says she's done after this but Chris Carter says that wouldn't be the end.

The Mandela effect episode actually made me question some of the series that had already taken place up to then. I mean it was implied that guy was at least partially right.:)
 
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