It is a weight off my shoulders to have that final podcast done and out in the world. The original plan was to have it go out the Friday following the My Struggle II session, but our conversation got bogged down answering all those listener questions (my fault!) but after two hours of extensive bitching (my fault again to a large extent - I had several intro jokes poking fun at the writing given that's what a lot of online complaints were about, but rather than setting up a playful tone for the show, it opened the floodgates of negativity.) I knew it wasn't something I wanted to put out. We ended up doing the quiz, etc. regardless but I knew we'd have to record our discussion again. We did, a week later. But the audio was awful and people's hearts just weren't in it. I think I ended up using a bit of me and Avi from that second session, then I trawled through our first session to add in Garrett, Tiffany, and some more Avi. Although there was a LOT more of their stuff that I could have used, ultimately I wasn’t enjoying listening to it while going through the editing process, so why would I put it out there for everyone else? Obviously, I get the negativity, but at the end of the day the show is called X-Philes Talk X-Files for a reason – irrational unconditional love is a part of that to an extent. We're not out to play the part of legitimate critics here, but when we do have problems with the show we articulate them playfully and with good humor. I think we were true to that throughout the podcast, and Jessa/Roi in particular nailed that tone during the revival discussions. So yeah, I wasn’t not joking when I said getting this ep out was my struggle – it had been weighing on my mind since we abandoned that first recording. So it’s nice to hear you think it was a tasteful signoff. Phew.
One segment I had done in advance of our first recording session we ultimately decided not to use for various reasons. It’s a fake interview with Mitch Pileggi using clips from the show, in which we discuss how he’s secretly been a writer on the show for years, and that Fox have now asked him to replace Chris Carter as the head writer for S11. It was a goofily haphazard few minutes, but we all thought it was funny. But it was right not to include it. Avi initially balked fearing that even though it was clearly for shits and giggles, it would upset Mitch and jeopardize their relationship with him if he found out about it because he is apparently a both a delicate flower and drama queen (who knew?) Likewise, I quickly realized that just as with my extensive joking in the intro for the initial discussion, it just wasn’t the right tone. Live and learn. I might see if there’s a way I can stick it up here though, might as well have someone enjoy it since I did the work.
So, yeah – Founder’s Mutation… Maybe it was just the fact Mulder and Scully had slotted right back into working The X-Files after all these years, to be working together as they were. It felt lazy of the revival - they just took the show from two decades ago and stuck it in the present without any real effort. I found it jarring after the setup of MS1; that we were suddenly in this world. On reflection, the episode might have played better to me had it been broadcast as the 5th as originally intended. I did rewatch all 6 in production order (which does on the whole work a LOT better) but I think by that point I’d already built up animosity to the episode. However, it should play better in that original order because the arc of M&S reconnecting and learning to communicate with each other has already played out by this point. But everyone else seems to love the ep… Also on reflection, MASMTWM has a very similar problem in terms of the M/S relationship, but I guess I found it easier to ignore because I was focused on other things I was hoping for from the ep. Also, that was much more Mulder-centric and given the nostalgia trip DM was clearly going for, it felt more excusable given the context.
I know ranking stuff is extremely self-indulgent, but I do it anyway ;)
Thank you so much for listening and giving feedback throughout this experience. It’s been just a couple weeks short of a year that I’ve been working on XPTXF. It’s definitely bittersweet that it’s come to an end.
