Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted March 15, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted March 15, 2020 After finishing picking through Star Trek: TNG, decided to pick through The X-Files as I haven't watched any for well over a decade. I've not bothered with the main storyline stuff because it got boring and stupid after about two seasons but the standalone episodes rarely put a foot wrong, did they? I'm up to the end of series 3 now and beyond that I don't remember them as well after that so I'm looking forward to some surprises. Blood, Jose Chung's From Outer Space and Pusher are three of the best standalone TV episodes I've ever seen. I think I'll watch them up to when Doggett comes into it and then maybe do Deep Space Nine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 Now you're talking Devon. It's worth sticking with right up until the point they did the film, which was very good. Â The whole thing falls off a massive cliff after that though. Â The quality of Season 5 onwards is just terrible. X Files is a fascinating series. Â Some of those standalone episodes in the first 3 series are absolutely brilliant slices of horror, and the over-arching alien invasion story was absolutely on point for the era. But Chris Carter is a very limited film maker and seems not to be able to self filter. Â The highs of the series are very high, but the lows are shockingly low. Â In the revival series, his story arc episodes are fucking terrible, whereas some of those written and directed by guest directors are great. Of its time, basically. Â Pre millenial tension plus aliens = 90s mania. As a series, Buffy has aged far, far better if you're looking for period thrills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members bAzTNM#1 Posted March 16, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted March 16, 2020 David Duchovny had such a weird career. Soft-core porn star ("Red Shoe Diaries") to "X-Files" and then movie main-stream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted March 16, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted March 16, 2020 2 hours ago, bAzTNM#1 said: David Duchovny had such a weird career. Soft-core porn star ("Red Shoe Diaries") to "X-Files" and then movie main-stream. Via having a crush on Larry Sanders. Is the series on a streaming service? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gaffer Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Good thread, this. Seems I'm always in the minority as quite liking the ongoing conspiracy episodes when it comes to these discussions. They're ludicrous, of course, but they always had me engaged until about halfway through the shows run. Everything dwindles from season 6 on, though, and Chris Carter struggles to navigate what he's created to a satisfying conclusion. The production shifted from Vancouver to LA, too, and everything becomes a bit less moodier as a result. Most of the monster of the week episodes became overly camp and silly as well, as opposed to genuinely gripping. Psst...I didn't half mind it again for a bit when they were trying to set up Robert Patrick and Anabeth Gish as the replacements. It felt a bit fresher and some of those episodes were tidy. Dare we speak about the films? At the height of X-Files mania the first one I thought was a pretty decent extended episode. The less said about the one with Billy Connolly in it, the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rule One Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Squeeze and Tooms are the stand outs of the entire X-Files for me as they were the only episodes of it that made my younger mind shit itself. I could switch off from most of the other nonsense but our house had an old vent system which creeped me out and I'm sure that I put tape over my bedroom vent 'just in case' I was visited by such a monster. I stuck with it until season 6 in which it declined rapidly and could no longer hold my interest. Seasons 3 and 4 were its peak. The less said about newer stuff, the better. I know it is an X-Files thread but did anyone watch the Outer Limits that the BBC had on around the same period? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted March 16, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 16, 2020 1 hour ago, ColinBollocks said: Is the series on a streaming service? They're all on Amazon Prime. 9 hours ago, Loki said: As a series, Buffy has aged far, far better if you're looking for period thrills. Any threads I create are Whedon-free zones. 33 minutes ago, Rule One said: Squeeze and Tooms are the stand outs of the entire X-Files for me as they were the only episodes of it that made my younger mind shit itself. I could switch off from most of the other nonsense but our house had an old vent system which creeped me out and I'm sure that I put tape over my bedroom vent 'just in case' I was visited by such a monster. I liked the awareness they had in that first season of what a great creation Tooms was to bring him back later in the series. It's a shame they didn't do that with Donnie Pfaster - they brought him back, what, five series later? I watched Quagmire last night, which was an obvious episode for them to do, but they make it a lot better with Mulder and Scully's interactions, especially when they're stranded on the rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rule One Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 23 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said: I liked the awareness they had in that first season of what a great creation Tooms was to bring him back later in the series. It's a shame they didn't do that with Donnie Pfaster - they brought him back, what, five series later? I watched Quagmire last night, which was an obvious episode for them to do, but they make it a lot better with Mulder and Scully's interactions, especially when they're stranded on the rock. Squeeze was meant to be a one and done for Tooms which makes the follow up even better because they managed to get it right in terms of what the initial episode brought to the table and more crucially, timing. If they left the follow up a season or two then it wouldn't have had the impact it did. Bringing Pfaster back way later after most people would have forgot about him, killed his place and meaning. Mixing him with another character, Rev Orison, who had the legs for an episode of their own proved that the X-Files had lost its legs. Pfasters character had enough for at least one or two follow ups due to the fact that he was one of the few characters that wasn't full on paranormal/monster and had affected Scully's mindset. They never fully explored the avenue that despite all that they had seen/been through, the human mind and its seemingly limitless depths of evilness it can sink to is just as scary as any paranormal activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted March 16, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted March 16, 2020 Bad Blood, from season 5, is one of the most fun standalone episodes they ever did. The episode is one of Vince Gilligan's, and it's told from both Mulder and Scully's points of view - so you see what about them irritates each other, and the handsome guy Scully has a thing for has buck teeth and a hick accent in Mulder's point of view. Genuinely funny throughout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rey_Piste Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 When it comes to the X-files it's really split into pre and post film. Pre film is the first 3 seasons, where most of the episodes are single monster of the week with bits and pieces showing the cigarette smoking man occasionally. The problem is that from around halfway through the second season they start off doing the annoying continuity episodes. Any episode with Krycek in tends to be awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Started rewatching a few months back and it is still such a fun show, plus when Steve Hytner popped up in Ice, I amused myself with imagining him saying "That's gold Scully, GOLD!" I wish I still had the X Files Compendium thing that I got for Christmas 96, and I still maintain that Anasazi/The Blessing Way/Paper Clip is still one of the best end of/start of series that there has ever been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iMPACt! Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Loved the X-Files when I was younger although the weird BBC 2 scheduling made me lose track. Young ones today don't know how easy they have it. Finally watched it end to end prior to the revival. The revival series especially the last one were absolutely unnecessary. There is no chance of another season so now there are open ends without any chance of being closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rey_Piste Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, SuperBacon said: I wish I still had the X Files Compendium thing that I got for Christmas 96, and I still maintain that Anasazi/The Blessing Way/Paper Clip is still one of the best end of/start of series that there has ever been. I had this book, which covered the first 2 season and the second book, which was the same colour in a spearmint blue. That one covered the 3rd season and the film. EDIT: I actually found an amazon link to the book. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unofficial-X-Files-Companion-Mysteries-Conspiracies/dp/0517886014 Edited March 16, 2020 by Rey_Piste Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator Onyx2 Posted March 17, 2020 Awards Moderator Share Posted March 17, 2020 "N. E. GENGE"? That has to be a pseudonym. Or he'd been on a Rons binge.   Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted March 17, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 17, 2020 I'd forgotten what a grim episode Home is. I remember when Sky One premiered it, they had warnings on it before it and after every ad break. Definitely one of the best they did though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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