The X-Files

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

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Jeremy Blackman

Listening to Tiffany and Garret's criticisms, and their exasperation, did nothing but increase my affection for the episode. I kind of love all the various ways that Darin is trolling the audience. Hearing Tiffany's frustration with the sex scene really sold it for me. I'm with you on this one.

In terms of metaphysics and inexplicable things, we've had much crazier episodes. Like Dreamland. Or Je Souhaite, in which Mulder used a genie to wish for "peace on earth" and wiped out the entire human population.

Mulder learning that so many monster stories were hoaxes is completely in line with his current thinking. After all, he (chronologically) just discovered that the colonization conspiracy was not what it seemed to be. Also, Mulder is not saying "this is all garbage." He is more discouraged than anything. You can sense some of his depression lingering. And still, as we see throughout the episode, he is still very eager to believe, which is validated in the final scene.

Sleepless

I'm showing them that comment!

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


Jeremy Blackman

I would be hard-pressed to defend this episode against criticism. I'm not sure it holds up to scrutiny of any kind.

And yet, I had some kind of strange misplaced affection. It feels exactly like an X-Files episode, for better or worse, all the way down to the obviously Canadian actors shot in soft focus. The lighting is perfect in this episode. And yes, the flashlight beams crossing absolutely killed me.

But man, they really drilled us into the ground with those themes. Let no subtext remain! And connecting the William story with the Trashman story was quite a painful stretch.

polkablues

Last week's episode was pure season five, this one was pure season two.
My house, my rules, my coffee

Sleepless

Only saw it late last night, and I was really tired, so I need to let this one percolate some more. Read some reviews this morning, and can't decide whether the ep pulled off the balancing act or not. I suspect I'm going to be the Nwgative Nancy on this week's podcast, but I still prefered it over Founder's Mutation. Defintiely feels like a S1/2. Feels connected to Jersey Devil (because of the homelessness) and Arcadia (because of the Tibetan thoughtform.)
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.

Sleepless

Rewatched it twice, and just got done with the podcast, and I've got to say this one has really grown on me.

Bad news though: word on the street is Monday's episode is awful.
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

The fact that there are any shitty episodes in a six-episode season is troubling, the fact that there might be as many as three is legitimately concerning.
My house, my rules, my coffee

Jeremy Blackman

SPOILS

It wasn't terrible! I admired the ambition. This is Chris Carter's Hateful Eight. All of his instincts fully unleashed with absolutely no oversight.

The comedy worked surprisingly well. The cultural themes worked, let's say, slightly better than Teliko.

The philosophy... Well, I'm not actually sure — the last 2 1/2 minutes were a blur because of that god-awful song. I don't know if I actually registered any of the words. This "let's take a walk and talk about God" sequence felt even more bizarre than the "trip."

Speaking of which. Mulder having a placebo-induced hallucination is a brilliant idea. I'm on board. Should have been explored further, but I think they might have pulled it off. (Except that they later mention "the shrooms" unironically as if speaking lines from a different draft. The script could have used another polish.) The trip scene began totally pedestrian, but the line dancing... good God, I was sold so hard by the line dancing. And the backflip. Yes. What followed felt right out of a Julie Taymor movie. Likewise, I approve.

That song at the end, though. That song. When I rewatch, I'll be skipping the last section for sure. And the zoom-out earth view made me shake my head. That didn't take.

Lauren Ambrose was a delight. I wouldn't mind a spinoff. Replace the guy, though.

Sleepless

^ THIS. All of this.

I can see why the epsiode really alienated some people - especially fans mad that for an entire episode Mulder and Scully are seperated. I think those final few minutes are his gift to that particular subset of fans who felt slighted by the rest of the ep. I'm with you - it didn't work for me either. The zoom out at the end of Improbable (the Burt Reynolds ep) worked better, because at least it fit in tonally.

But there is lots of good stuff here as you pointed out. It touches on multiple things CC has dealt with before, and while it doesn't always work here, there's plenty that feels cohesive enough. My initial gut reaction was that the representation of muslims here was overly simplific and irresponsible - most particularly the conclusion where there is a whole room full of would-be suicide bombers. I get that for the purpose of the story they need the threat that there is this "cell" out there in the local community, but it would have sat better with me (and been more realisitic?) if it was just one or two young guys. I did think the teaser worked really well once it got going showing the mutual culture-clash unease. A little heavy-handed which you'd expect from XF, but on the whole fairly restrained in certain aspects too. Until the people on fire running around.

Gotta say, as much as it's not going to go down as a standout ep, there is a lot of ambition here. I get why its not everyone's cup of tea, but I didn't dislike it. It's a completely out of leftfield epsiode, but when you unpackage what its trying to do there is a lot to talk about here.

And yes, Lauren Ambrose was great. According to IMDB she's back next week. (So's he.)
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.

Fernando

agree with both.

liked the episode more than I expected actually, but like JB that horrible song at the end burned my ears, I actually don't remember a single word of dialogue.

I liked the partners switch, Mulder and Einstein had a good dynamic, Scully and Miller's was so so, I too think the guy was miscast and yes Lauren Ambrose was great, glad she'll be back for the finale...

damn, six episodes are just too few.

polkablues

The episode was objectively a mess, the racial politics were troublesome at best, and that Lumineers' song, while a great song (fuck the haters), has been overplayed to the point of self-parody, but somehow it all coalesced into something unique and amazing. My favorite episode of the revival season, and it's not even close.

I even kind of liked Meathead Mulder. If they do a spin-off with Einstein, I'd be cool with keeping him.
My house, my rules, my coffee

Sleepless

See, this is why I love Xixax. I was worried about this ep ahead of time, then I watched it, saw that it was getting overwhelmingly negative reviews from fans and critics, I rewatched it, I decided that I actually really liked it, then I worried I was wrong, but then you guys all validated my opinions. I spent a lot of time thinking about this episode all day yesterday. I think it's probably the most ambitious thing CC has ever written. It actually succeeds for me because of his lack of cultural sensitivity rather than in spite of it, for many reasons – I'm just not sure how much credit I should give him for that.
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

I'm just going to pretend that didn't happen.

Jeremy Blackman

Good episode... of the podcast. LOL. It was suitably dense and chaotic. (Could *name redacted* have possibly talked over people more?) I don't envy the amount of wrangling you were faced with. I loved how you got much stricter about halfway through. I was cheering you on.

Strangely, the part of My Struggle 2 that troubled you the most — the insane UFO cliffhanger — is the only part of the episode that excited me. (No, five seconds out of 42 minutes is not great.) All the magic of this season has been in those really crazy moments, so perhaps it was refreshing to finally get one. It came after an entire episode of anticlimax, including the "confrontation" between Mulder and CSM, which is one of the worst things I've ever seen.

I feel like #2 was so bad that it harms #1 in my estimation. You can no longer be intoxicated by that fast-paced Fight the Future energy in the same way, because now you know what it's leading to.

Here's a question for the podcast, if you want to use it: What does "My Struggle" even mean? Does it describe Chris's experience writing the episodes?