The X-Files

Started by MacGuffin, November 23, 2003, 07:42:14 PM

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Fernando

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on July 21, 2011, 03:31:22 PM
I guess by "gentle introduction" they meant "vaguely interesting, stretched-out, clearly below-average X-Files episode that somehow found itself on a movie screen."

that's exactly what it was, a bad episode on the big screen.

I think the finale (the truth 1-2) was a huge disappointment, this series deserved better.


edit:  :shock: ha, you have that as your fave episode (back then at least)  :yabbse-undecided:

Jeremy Blackman

No no, that's still my favorite. Actually I think that whole list is still right.

What are your objections to the finale? I'm willing to revisit it.

Folie À Deux is a very very very close second.

polkablues

The failure of I Want To Believe can all be boiled down to a single factor: Chris Carter writing and directing. The flick did make enough money that another movie isn't totally off the table, but if it happens, give it to Vince Gilligan to write the script, let Rob Bowman direct it (Fight the Future was great), and for god's sake, let it be funny. Chris Carter never seemed to recognize that the humor of the series is what made it a classic, and that tends to show in his writing.
My house, my rules, my coffee

Fernando

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on July 21, 2011, 04:32:19 PM
No no, that's still my favorite. Actually I think that whole list is still right.

What are your objections to the finale? I'm willing to revisit it.

I've seen it only once and remember being very mad about how it was handled, the part I most remember is the inclusion of cancer man, it seemed forced to me.

other than the above I dont remember much about it actually, just that at that time I felt the story was sub-par to the x-files standards, I mean seasons 1-7 standards, the last two were not the best ones although it had some good episodes.

maybe I need to revisit it too.


Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on July 21, 2011, 04:32:19 PM
Folie À Deux is a very very very close second.

probably my fave episode of the series.

Quote from: Fernando on September 21, 2009, 12:58:39 PM
The standout for me right now is the wonderful Folie À Deux from season 5, in particular there is this phrase "it hides in the light" that gives me chills, it feels wonderfully strange and something that coulda come out of David Lynch's mind.

would you agree it feels lynchian?

Jeremy Blackman

Good call, that part is especially Lynchian. Overall it diverts from Lynch, though, in that it doesn't have a puzzle, so it's pretty original. It's rooted in a zombie story, but beyond that, it's unsettling in a unique way that's also very, very deep, and I think few X-Files episodes achieve that. It's also mythic (note the final scene), which increases its greatness.

Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: polkablues on July 21, 2011, 04:41:51 PM
The failure of I Want To Believe can all be boiled down to a single factor: Chris Carter writing and directing. The flick did make enough money that another movie isn't totally off the table, but if it happens, give it to Vince Gilligan to write the script, let Rob Bowman direct it (Fight the Future was great), and for god's sake, let it be funny. Chris Carter never seemed to recognize that the humor of the series is what made it a classic, and that tends to show in his writing.

I think you're spot on. Except for maybe the first scene with Mulder, I Want To Believe was dreary and joyless. You also inspired me to find this. Looks like Vince wrote some of the very best episodes... a ton of my favorites, including 6 of my top 15 and Folie A Deux (!!!).

cronopio 2

first movie's really cool. FIGHT THE FUTURE.

Sleepless

I am really glad that The X-Files is finally getting some discussion going on this board. (Only now hitting 3 pages after all these years?) I consider myself a huge fan, but not to the point that I'm blind to some of the show's failings. That said, I'm finding myself disagreeing with a lot of the opinions being thrown around on here the past couple of days. Granted, First Person Shooter is far from a stellar episode but to say it's one of the series' worst? Not at all. It might not have technical computing accuracies down pat and yes, Mulder does go a little hormonal, but everyone involved is clearly having fun and enough of that enjoyment comes to benefit the audience as well. JB, I gotta respect you, back in the day it was primarily you as the board's designated X-Phile until I came along - but do you honestly think FAD is one of the show's best? I have to disagree. I'm not knocking the episode, it's solidly put together, but there's nothing significant or special about it. It doesn't have any of the charm or the heightened moments of sentimentality of those episodes which I consider to be the best. (FYI, some of my all time faves include Beyond The Sea, Duane Barry, 731, Jose Chung, Home, The Field Where I Died, Post-Modern Prometheus, Bad Blood, Drive, X-COPS, all things, Patience, Hellbound. Pretty wide selection there.)

I was never one of those people who dismissed the show when DD left either. Much as I wish he'd stayed, I fell just in love with John Doggett and I think the final two seasons (the mythology eps apart) were far better than most people gave them credit for. There are some classic, really good episodes there. (FYI Breaking Bad/Lost Fans: Aaron Paul is in 9X05 Lord of The Flies, Michael Emerson is in 9X18 Sunshine Days.)

Which brings us more or less up to I Want To Believe. I'll be the first to admit that I was more than a little disappointed when I left the cinema. In case you haven't figured it out already, I am a major X-Phile geek. The show singlehandedly (more or less) got me through those difficult teenage years so it has a special place in my heart. I Want To Believe does benefit from repeat viewings. The first time I saw it I was looking for the central X-File "thing" and it wasn't until too late I realized it was whether Father Joe was truly "psychic" or not. I knew going on that this was going to be a much slower, different movie from the bombast of Fight The Future (which I love and can recite line-for-line). If that's what you were respecting a repeat of then of course you're going to be disappointed. But please, give it another viewing. It's actually really good and cuts right to the heart of the essence of what The X-Files is all about. If you want to read some more of my indepth feelings for the show and thoughts about I Want To Believe, I encourage you to read my blog on the movie.

I'm glad we're talking about the show on here, it is long over due. Please excuse me acting like that crazy cat girl for X-Files, but I'm never going to change.
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

polkablues

In the course of rewatching the series, I'm realizing that above all else, what separates a great episode from a terrible episode is, to me, how the main characters are handled.  Mulder and Scully are brilliant characters, brilliantly portrayed, and the best episodes both hold true to what we already know of the characters and expand them, providing even deeper levels to them.  Monday, Bad Blood, Triangle, The Final Repose of Clyde Bruckman, even a bit of silliness like War of the Coprophages, make the show about more than a shooting gallery of paranormal creeps or an overarching mythology series.  In those high points, it's a show about these two fascinating people, and how they respond to their extraordinary circumstances, both as individuals and in their relationship to each other.

The majority of episodes are neither really here nor there; they have their story, and things happen, and the good guys ultimately prevail, and we have fun and say "What a great show" and get ready for next week.  But we don't remember those episodes when we're making our lists, because ultimately they're all the same.  The details differ, but the broad strokes all look the same through the Gaussian blur of our memory.

In the worst episodes, and I still count The Field Where I Died among them, the characters are betrayed by the writers.  Whoever was scripting that week (James Wong and Glen Morgan, I'm looking in your direction...) had a story they wanted to tell, but to fit Mulder and Scully into it, they had to warp them beyond recognition, turn these eminently familiar characters into strangers in order to fit the plot of the week.  First Person Shooter rang untrue to the characters in every way.  They even got the fucking Lone Gunmen all wrong.  And this is what I consider the biggest failing of I Want to Believe, greater even than the forgettable plot, that I never for a moment believed that these characters being played by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson were actually Mulder and Scully.  Not for a moment.
My house, my rules, my coffee

diggler

For me I always loved the Rob Bowman directed episodes. The three episode series of Anasazi - Paper Clip were what got me into the show and Bowman directed Paper Clip. That shot of the UFO taking off and illuminating Mulder in the mining factory is such an iconic shot for the show. I also loved the frantic chase in the underground tunnels where Mulder is looking for Scully and as they run at each other Scully's flashlight clicks on just as the music swells, that was always such a memorable moment for me. The mythology episodes became more and more tiresome but in those episodes it was firing on all cylinders. I used to get annoyed at the stand alone stories during the initial run because they put the main story on the backburner, but i'm glad they're there because those are the ones that are fun to go back and watch.
I'm not racist, I'm just slutty

Jeremy Blackman

I have to admit, especially when I originally watched the show when it aired, the mythology is what really attracted me. But as you guys have said, the truly great mythology episodes are somewhat few. The bulk of my favorites are standalone episodes that, as Polka described, don't betray the characters. (That's a great way to judge them.)

Folie A Deux, on top of its many other wonderful attributes previously described, also stays absolutely true to the characters. It's one of the best "Mulder has a theory/discovery" stories, and you completely root for him in this episode. The skeptical Scully thing is played out perfectly, too, and in a unique way because of how absolutely reasonable her skepticism is in this case. (SPOILERS) I also love how the early shootout with Gary sends Mulder on his mission, and we're right there with him, against everyone else. That moment of discovery combined with the shooting really does hit a moral pressure point. Also, the discovery itself is quite profound/thrilling, and the implications are disturbing in a very deep way. Ironically, this non-mythology episode has a conspiracy that's more unsettling than The Conspiracy. I love it.

And yeah, I'm with Polka on "The Field Where I Died." I might put that in the worst five. Maybe you have to be in the right mood or something, but for me, everything about it is just bad. is enough to make me gag. It could be the failingest X-Files scene of all time.

Sleepless

Chris Carter says a script for third X-Files film is nearly done and would like to see a release for the end of 2012 (12/21/12?) It will involve aliens and the whole conspirocy mythology. Skimpy details here.

There is already a petition going (encouraged by Gillian Anderson). You know you need to sign it.
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

Jeremy Blackman

Signed... even if this particular petition was written by a third-grader.

polkablues

Gillian Anderson seems really nice.

So I'm into the beginning of the ninth season now on my rewatch.  Season eight was actually a lot better than I remembered.  Robert Patrick brings it 100%, and most of the standalone episodes are right up to par with anything in the series.  I find myself getting really annoyed by Annabeth Gish.  Not sure if it's her acting, the writing of the character, or a combination of the two, but she just doesn't compare to the rest of the cast.  I actually wish they had carried on with Doggett's new partner from "Alone", the rookie agent who knew everything about the X-Files from having processed their invoices in Accounting.  That's so much more interesting a character to me than "vaguely New-Agey woman with single facial expression."
My house, my rules, my coffee

Jeremy Blackman

Totally agree on both Patrick and Gish. He was top-notch; she was unbearable.