XFiles Rewatch Season 1

[AlphaFoxtrot]

The rebels are the ultimate because it looks cool, they really don't make any sense. Like how do they breathe, or communicate? And why is having your lips fused a tighter seal than a space suit? But, it's a pretty cool look, and people being set on fire is a pretty nifty form of execution. But is it at all believable that two factions of super old aliens would fight with switch blades and candle lighters?

 

[NotASlayer]

But in this universe why do the Rebels cut out there own eyes and set people on fire. How come they don't shape shift ???

Yes, these are ways in which an alien invasion can make some kind of plot sense, rather than trying to make this one make perfect sense, because, well, it doesn't. 😀

But is it at all believable that two factions of super old aliens would fight with switch blades and candle lighters?

Or laser swords.

Lots of sci-fi weapons in visual media are less effective than lots and lots of bullets.

 

[Btvs fan]

Yes, these are ways in which an alien invasion can make some kind of plot sense, rather than trying to make this one make perfect sense, because, well, it doesn't. 😀



Or laser swords.

Lots of sci-fi weapons in visual media are less effective than lots and lots of bullets.

I'm coming to the end of Season 5 (not least its only 20 rather than 24/25 episodes) and you definitely getting a feeling of finality with it. Then theirs the fact the title of the season Finale is literally called The End !
Plus there's the old Carter interviews at the time saying 5 years is long enough which given the multiple seasons simply to squeeze as much money as possible from the shpe afterwards is unintentionally hilarious 😂

But another reason is simply the time it was created and how people viewed things. The Xfiles had started in 1993 and Season 5 was 1998 and the movie came out the same year.

Going into the 99/2000s people's tastes had changed/were changing yet Carter was still beating the same horse and his ego didnt make him realise that.
Now he's not the only one, Joss Whedon and Buffy was the same. Especially after 9/11/Afghanistan and Iraq Buffy just felt off but it feels more evident here with the Xfiles and Government/Aliens colonisation plans it feels very 90s . Hell its still evident givin he made ANOTHER come back and was trying to do the same stuff only without writers like Vince Gilligan etc to help and now Gillian Anderson wants nothing to do with him.

 

[Btvs fan]

@NotASlayer
So I saw the Season 5 Finale The End and I gotta say it was incredibly dull. I'm guessing they were saving there powder for the movie but really not a lot happens except an old girlfriend of Mulders shows up for the most uninteresting love triangle you could write.
Also Cancer Man shows up and tells Agent Spender he's his father but given he's written as a complete idiot and he couldn't care less about his missing mother that falls flat too.
And the Jesus kid who can read minds meh couldnt care less😐
If this was going to be the series Finale it would've been a huge disappointment .

Anyway on to the movie

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Not a fan of the movie. I also associate the Black Oil period with the point the series began to run out of ideas.

 

[Btvs fan]

Not a fan of the movie. I also associate the Black Oil period with the point the series began to run out of ideas.

Just seen the movie and while not awful it's at best OK nothing morw it's basically 2 TV episodes strung together and yeah the Black Oil changes with the episode. This time it's basically the Xfiles version of the face Hugger from Alien forming a life form that bursts out people's Chests and seems very animalistic. Very different to the intelligent life it was before!

In fact the plot of this film doesn't make sense. Apparently they arrived before even Dinasours were on Earth, so it was lifeless, They then decided to freeze themselves and wait for humanity (how did they know humanity would even happen ?) Before waking up to infect people. So given they were awake during cave man times why didn't they do it then ?

Anyway they're animalistic bit somehow cam operate intergalactic space craft and at the end just to decide to take off for well reasons I guess 🤔

Carter basically rips off a load of old scripts like Ice but in badly paced way. Mulder and Scully bounce around for no real rhyme or reason. Plus how the hell did both get out that Military base anyway !

Hell the score even rips off the Terminator at one point!

 

[Btvs fan]

@NotASlayer @Cohen @thetopher So I decided to do what I said I wouldn't and watch the first episode of Season 6 as the Movie doesn't follow on from the Season 5 Finale and the Season 6 episode does and its crazy that Scully is denying she was literally kidnapped and put on an Alien ship and Mulder was like I saw it, I rescued you from it, like WTF Carter trying to do a reset AGAIN that doesn't work
Anyway already I can see moving to LA was a bad idea. There's not the same mysterious atmosphere and setting that Vancouver had.
Honestly in hindsight maybe they should've gone with Duchovny threats to quit if they didn't get to move. Moving Scully into the lead and say Bender sorry Spender as her jnr partner back when the writing was still moderately fresh would've worked better rather than keeping a clearly bored Duchovny

 

[NotASlayer]

So I decided to do what I said I wouldn't and watch the first episode of Season 6 as the Movie doesn't follow on from the Season 5 Finale and the Season 6 episode does and its crazy that Scully is denying she was literally kidnapped and put on an Alien ship and Mulder was like I saw it, I rescued you from it

There is a reason why The Scully is a trope (just like The Mulder). Though of it had been God's Own Spaceship, the roles would have been reversed.

 

[Btvs fan]

There is a reason why The Scully is a trope (just like The Mulder). Though of it had been God's Own Spaceship, the roles would have been reversed.

I mean technically by Scully own logic isn't God basically just an all powerful Space Alien with the powers of creation 🤔
Anyway apparently everyone just decides to leave the the Xenomorph sorry I mean the Xfiles Alien and the kid (even though he's meant to be the new kid Jesus!) in the reactor room for well reasons I guess 🤷

Anyway episode 2 where Mulder and Scully face of against Walter White. Though Skylars death via head explosion at the start shot from TV camera footage is shocking. All the Cops round him and I'm like yeah Better Call Saul 😄

 

[Btvs fan]

So I'm in the middle of Season 6 of the Xfiles and it's feeling tired. They basically do the same stuff over and over again (Scully was Literally held captive on an Alien space ship in the film and by the first episode of Seaskn 6 she forgets AGAIN! ) and press reset when they do. Only this time it's in LA and really sunny and lacks the atmosphere and horror feel of Vancouver though the episode Drive with a pre Walter White Bryan Cranston is excellent
I'll try and finish the season.... but damn they should never have moved to LA. Its hard to have a spooky and mysterious show when it's all bright and sunny
Plus there's loads of guest stars popping up.....

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Re: Movie; They apparently had the same problem that the Next Gen films did, that the studio really wanted an entry level summer tentpole, so they had to abandon the ongoing television plot in favor of a soft reboot.

Which I am not opposed to. The best use of a theatrical movie for a ongoing TV series is either 1. A Series or Season Finale that would benefit from a larger budget. 2. Stitching a Pilot to a popular arc to make a good introduction to the series, like those Cushing era Doctor Who movies. Trying to do a soft reset then reveal the mysteries of the Invasion 2012 plot with Martin Landau was probably not going to please either groups of viewers.

 

[Btvs fan]

Re: Movie; They apparently had the same problem that the Next Gen films did, that the studio really wanted an entry level summer tentpole, so they had to abandon the ongoing television plot in favor of a soft reboot.

Which I am not opposed to. The best use of a theatrical movie for a ongoing TV series is either 1. A Series or Season Finale that would benefit from a larger budget. 2. Stitching a Pilot to a popular arc to make a good introduction to the series, like those Cushing era Doctor Who movies. Trying to do a soft reset then reveal the mysteries of the Invasion 2012 plot with Martin Landau was probably not going to please either groups of viewers.

TNG had finished by the time of Generations (terrible film) but then Worf joined DS9 which was still going on so it was hilarious how he kept showing up for the films and they're ignoring the fact he married and then became an Ambassador etc 🤣
To be fair to the Xfiles movie it completely ignored the Season 5 finale and the part Alien Jesus kid.
The movie basically felt like a 2 parter stiched together and it ripped off old episode plots (Ice) and the Alien films.
Hell even the score during the Tanker chase sounded like it was lifted straight from the Terminator. It also introduced but did not kill brand new characters like the German Syndicate leader who never show up on the TV show !!!

Reading the back story the movie was shot during the crews holiday time between 4 and 5 and they were literally writing scripts and handing out while filming on set. It felt rushed.
It's ironic but 1997 Chris Carter was actually right. End it with 5 seasons THEN do a movie, NOT do a movie while doing season 5 !!!

 

[NotASlayer]

TNG had finished by the time of Generations (terrible film) but then Worf joined DS9 which was still going on so it was hilarious how he kept showing up for the films and they're ignoring the fact he married and then became an Ambassador etc 🤣

Yes, why wasn't Sisko in command of the Defiant in First Contact? 😀 (A vastly superior film.) And you had the whole Dominion invasion plot essentially ignored by the film, and the Borg attack essentially ignored by DS9.

Reading the back story the movie was shot during the crews holiday time between 4 and 5 and they were literally writing scripts and handing out while filming on set. It felt rushed.
It's ironic but 1997 Chris Carter was actually right. End it with 5 seasons THEN do a movie, NOT do a movie while doing season 5 !!!

Trying to do a movie and a series at the same time with the same writers sounds a stupid idea!

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

IIRC Duchovy and Anderson were both getting too hot to keep on TV, so having them make a movie every two years while continuing with new actors on the TV show was the plan. That I get, I haven't seen enough of the last two seasons to see how that would work.

My wish would be that the movie was based on "something" big that happened off screen a year before release, that clearly changed the status quo of the series, but we don't find out what until the summer afterwards. Like, the vaccine gets introduced to the Greys and decimates them, or they find Samantha, something that would wrap up that era of the series, then start the transition to a more monster of week style show, and a government conspiracy that's more earth bound. A film that could serve as a abridgement of the first five seasons as well as a satisfying conclusion to it.

 

[Btvs fan]

Currently watching the episode Monday and it's a decent bit of writing. Basically the Xfiles does Groundhog day and it's well done.

Two Father's and One Son were also a decent 2 parter and a good way to kill off the Syndicate

 

[Btvs fan]

IIRC Duchovy and Anderson were both getting too hot to keep on TV, so having them make a movie every two years while continuing with new actors on the TV show was the plan. That I get, I haven't seen enough of the last two seasons to see how that would work.

My wish would be that the movie was based on "something" big that happened off screen a year before release, that clearly changed the status quo of the series, but we don't find out what until the summer afterwards. Like, the vaccine gets introduced to the Greys and decimates them, or they find Samantha, something that would wrap up that era of the series, then start the transition to a more monster of week style show, and a government conspiracy that's more earth bound. A film that could serve as a abridgement of the first five seasons as well as a satisfying conclusion to it.

I'm currently on episode Alpha.
Do you remember the Cat episode that was really awful both in story and filming that everyone hated.
Well we are doing it again only this time with a Dog instead !!!!
In some respects it might be worse because Jeff Bell clearly doesn't know how to write a 3 act script as he's just repeating the same stuff over and over. It's glorified padding.
The one decent thing is Andrew Robinson (Garak from DS9) he shines everytime he is on the screen only he's not in it that much. If the episode focused on him and cut out the fluff it would've been far better

 

[thrasherpix]

I don't know if I should post or not, so I'll keep it brief (a compromise). By luck I managed to get the entire first season of the X-Files, and just recently finished watching it. I generally liked it a lot, certain exceptions (like Space) notwithstanding.

Rather than expand on those I liked in particular (which would be paragraphs) I thought I'd just say that I thought the season had a very strong opening (Pilot) and came up with a good season end (Erlenmeyer Flask), though the last ep of it does add to why Scully still can't believe Mulder's theories.

I'm really tempted to keep going, but I don't have the full collection, not even for the seasons I really like.

 

[Btvs fan]

I don't know if I should post or not, so I'll keep it brief (a compromise). By luck I managed to get the entire first season of the X-Files, and just recently finished watching it. I generally liked it a lot, certain exceptions (like Space) notwithstanding.

Rather than expand on those I liked in particular (which would be paragraphs) I thought I'd just say that I thought the season had a very strong opening (Pilot) and came up with a good season end (Erlenmeyer Flask), though the last ep of it does add to why Scully still can't believe Mulder's theories.

I'm really tempted to keep going, but I don't have the full collection, not even for the seasons I really like.

Seasons 2 and 3 are definitely the strongest and have some truly great episodes in them so I'd recommend you carry on for those.

BTW what did you think of Ice and Beyond the Sea in Season1 as those are my favourite episodes from that season

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

The X-Files is on Hulu. It was pretty popular during the Series collection days, you should be able to DVD set in the wild. Or Fandango it, there's a series bundle for $50.00 USD.

 

[thrasherpix]

BTW what did you think of Ice and Beyond the Sea in Season1 as those are my favourite episodes from that season

Ice is one of my favorites, well told, and demonstrating the changes of mood well (especially as it goes from inquiring to paranoia). It's more disturbing to me in that nature really does has some nasty, even bizarre, surprises, so it's believable to me. (As a bonus, Jeff Kober who plays Rack in BTVS plays Bear in this ep.)

Beyond the Sea had a good start, with Scully's dream of her father talking (but no words coming out) pulling me in. It was interesting to see Mulder and Scully change places on who believes, more or less. This was among the better of episodes, and I'd say a Scully-centric one.

Rather than expand on those I liked in particular (which would be paragraphs) I thought I'd just say that I thought the season had a very strong opening (Pilot) and came up with a good season end (Erlenmeyer Flask), though the last ep of it does add to why Scully still can't believe Mulder's theories.

I just wanted to clarify here (since my personal emphasis on the words won't show here which could make it seem like I'm saying something other than what I intended) that I meant Scully should've been a lot less skeptical after what she does to save Mulder. What she sees should make it clear that at least some of what Mulder talks about is true, and yet she continues to remain skeptical in spite of the season finale.

Though I believe season 2 starts off good with her at least being a little paranoid. I'm going to watch that soon.