Category Archives: X-Files

The X-Files S7 E13

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“First Person Shooter”

Arguably, “First Person Shooter” was the worst episode of the X-Files of the first seven seasons. I remember watching this episode when it first came out and finding it totally ridiculous, and not in the good X-Files ridiculous ways.

I guess you could compliment David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson for doing what they could. They seemed to be giving it their best despite the terrible plot.

It’s always fun to see the Lone Gunmen too.

After that, what can I say about this episode? According to Wikipedia, it did win two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Visual Effects for a Series… so I guess there is that.

The X-Files S7 E12

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“X-Cops”

Bad boys, bad boys… whatcha gonna do?

This X-Files episode was an extremely clever and creative one as it was a blend of X-Files and another of the big hits on FOX at the time, Cops.

Cops was a TV program that had cameras follow different law enforcement agents around and recorded their interactions with their cases. This X-Files episode crossed over with its fictional story of what we thought might be a werewolf, but turned into much more. It was a creature of some sort that was feeding on fear.

Some of the best and most classic episodes of the X-Files blended the bizarre, paranormal world with comedy. “Bad Blood,” “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space,” and “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” being top examples the show’s comedy. “X-Cops” expertly mixed its comedy in with this ultra serious and realistic situation.

I loved how Scully was reacting to the camera crew. Every time she made some comment or turned a different way, Gillian Anderson showed off her remarkable comedic timing. For example, Scully, doing an autopsy, turned directly to the camera and said “The FBI has nothing to hide,” a statement Skinner had told Scully on the phone when she called him to let him know about the cameras involved in this case.

The episode started with a disclaimer about a special episode of the X-Files and followed that with the Cops TV show theme song. The title included some shots of Mulder and Scully, which was done to prevent any audience members from being confused and thinking that Cops was on instead of the X-Files.

This is one of the best episodes of season 7 and should be included on any list of the best X-Files episodes ever.

The X-Files S7 E10 E11

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“Sein Und Zeit”

“Closure”

The X-Files investigates the JonBenét Ramsey case.

Ok, not exactly, but they may as well have.

Only, they tied it into Mulder’s missing sister and his own family tragedy.

I was surprised when this turned out to be a two part episode as some horrible images were shown, including a mass graveyard of children. This was a shocking moment that I did not expect in this series.

You see, at first, I felt very dismissive of this episode, in particular “Sein Und Zeit” because it felt as if the fictional case of this episode was such a take off of the Ramsey case that it seemed exploitive. Then when they tried to connect it to Mulder’s sister, it really took another step away from what I wanted.

Then, Mulder’s mother, who had tried to contact him, committed suicide.

And the emotional power of the episode really took over.

David Duchovny brought some of the best work I have seen from him in a long time. The scene where Scully tells Mulder that his mother had a terrible disease and that she had committed suicide and not killed by some mysterious conspiracy was extremely powerful.

This was all building to answering the question about what happened to Samantha Mulder. As I am watching it, I did not believe that the show would give us a final truth. I saw on Wikipedia that Chris Carter believed that season 7 might have been the final season of the X-Files so I thought that maybe that elusive mystery would finally be revealed. The title “Closure” leads to the idea as well.

Cigarette Smoking Man showed up to see Scully, and I kept yelling at her to shoot him in the head. She didn’t.

As I continued to watch the episode, I started believing that the show might actually give an answer to the mystery. I did not grasp the idea of what in actuality happened. Samantha was apparently taken by “walk-ins” which was a concept told to Mulder by a psychic named Harold Pillar (Anthony Heald) who was also in search of his own missing son. A walk-in was a being made of starlight that would take children who suffered horrible fates.

That whole concept was strange, but the scene where the spirit of Samantha Mulder came to Fox Mulder and hugged him was quite beautiful and provided the character with some serious closure. He could accept that Samantha was gone and, as he said at the end of the episode, he said, “I’m fine. I’m free.”

I am still not sure how his mother played into this. What was her message? Did she know this was Samantha’s fate or what was going on. We saw Mulder’s mother’s spirit come to him and whisper something. I am just not sure that fit with what the show was telling us.

We also got the image of the little girl whose disappearance started this whole thing indicating that she too had become starlight and was, in fact, dead.

I am not sure I love the resolution of this seminal mystery, but I am happy that it is done. I am not sure that all of the different times when we learned bits about Samantha fit into this theory and it works best when you forget about some of those. The whole Samantha mystery was used multiple times over the seasons for episodes and I wonder how much they knew about what actually happened to Samantha.

No matter what, even if the resolution was not totally satisfactory, I am glad that it was addressed and that Mulder was given closure. It is good that this Samantha story ended here.

The X-Files S7 E9

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“Signs and Wonders”

Another religious centered episode of The X-Files, this time focusing on snakes as a symbol of the Devil.

This was really creepy, with some frightening moments with these rattlesnakes. I can’t imagine how uneasy someone who worked on the show that had a fear of snakes must have felt during the filming of this episode.

Apparently, David Duchovny was one of those. According to Wikipedia, Duchovny was said to be “not within blocks” of the scene where Mulder is attacked by a bunch of snakes. Thank god for stunt people, I guess.

There were some gross and scary imagery included in this episode. There was an insane scene featuring actress Tracy Middendorf who was pregnant and giving birth to snakes. Ugh.

This was another episode that I do not remember from season seven. There have been several of those so far and I wonder why I do not remember these. I must have watched them as I was big into X-Files by this point. One would think that some of the imagery of this episode would be difficult to forget.

I am not a fan of snakes so this one would not be an episode that I would revisit.

The X-Files S7 E8

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“The Amazing Maleeni”

Magic. Sleight of hand. Misdirection. Everything that goes into a good magician and a interesting antagonist for Mulder and Scully.

The case for our agents this week did not include any supernatural/paranormal events (unless you count someone turning their head 360 degrees around). Still, I found this one to be extremely entertaining as I was trying to figure things out as it went along. A case that could actually have been solved without the inclusion of the paranormal.

Interestingly enough, this was another episode that I did not remember anything about from the first time airing. That only helped with the idea that I could try and figure things out as we went. I thought the overall writing was pretty good as I usually can see through things like this fairly quickly, and this one kept me guessing.

I could see where some X-Files fans might not be a fan of this episode because of the lack of the typical X-Files mystery, but I had a lot of fun with it. I also enjoyed watching Mulder and Scully matching wits with the two magicians. The writing keeps them a step behind, but allows them to not look dumb while doing it.

Real life magician Ricky Jay played The Amazing Maleeni in the episode and he does a solid job. Sure some of the story may be convoluted, but it all just worked for me.

I might not want a lot of episodes like this one, but I found the tone and style of this one to be a welcome diversion from what we were used to in this show.

The X-Files S7 E7

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“Orison”

One of the most fascinating aspects of the X-Files has been the inclusion of religion and faith into the story. Fox Mulder, who believes in just about anything and everything, has a blind spot where it comes to God. To a point where he has been dismissive of spiritual belief over the years. Meanwhile, Dana Scully, the skeptic, the agent placed on the X-Files to debunk the craziness of Mulder’s work, believes in God and Heaven. This strange dichotomy continued in this episode “Orison.”

This episode was basically a sequel to the second season episode “Irresistible” where the character of Donnie Pfaster originally debuted.

The episode really brought it home as Pfaster kidnapped Scully with the intention of killing her, as the one who got away. Scully fought hard, and I was absolutely rooting for her as she showed some solid attack moves. Of course, stopping to try and use the phone was an error in judgment. She should have just found something to pummel Pfaster into oblivion.

I loved how Scully was able to get herself free and did not require Mulder to save her, even though he arrived and held a gun on Pfaster, she was already loose. Then, the dramatic scene where Scully shot Pfaster multiple times was surreal.

Was this out of character for Scully? Maybe, but it is absolutely understandable. This character of Scully has had plenty of close calls and this one felt even more personal. When Scully worried that it was not God that had spoke to her to kill Pfaster, that was chilling.

I would have liked more with the priest who had helped free Pfaster. The titular character, Orison, was a bit of a toss aside character in a story where his presence was vital.

I am never a huge fan of the religious based episodes of the X-Files because it feels as if Mulder’s total denial of God does not fit his character, but this focus on Scully made this a worthwhile episode.

The X-Files S7 E6

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“The Goldberg Variation”

“Luck isn’t a superpower…” said Deadpool to Domino in Deadpool 2. Well, we saw in that flick that it absolutely was. Longshot would also disagree with that assumption.

It seems that Fox Mulder would be in that camp too as Mulder and Scully come across a man who was thrown out of a window of a 300+ story building, falling to his apparent doom, only to walk away practically unscathed (he did have a bruise on his elbow).

“The Goldberg Variation” introduced us to the character of Henry Weems, who appeared to have the most amazing luck in the world, while people around him had to suffer to keep the balance. Cause-and-effect, as Mulder said.

This is a “monster-of-the week” episode where a sad sack individual has something weird or paranormal about them and have to spend time with Mulder and Scully. We see the same idea in Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose from season three, only that turned out more tragic than this one did.

Henry Weems got himself in trouble with the mob by getting involved in a poker game and winning big. The whole gangster part of the episode was a bit far, but I did like the overall end for the plot. It was nice having Henry connected to the boy in the building who needed a transplant. I thought from the beginning that Henry would wind up being the person who would be compatible as an organ donor and that he would die at the end to save the kid.

However, making it one of the gangsters was a nice twist, subverting the expectation of the trope. It also worked nicely with the theme of the episode.

The X-Files S7 E5

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“Rush”

I was able to get back to The X-Files after a bit of a break. The next episode was one that I did not remember seeing before. I don’t think I was missing a lot by not remembering this.

Something mysterious gave three teenagers super speed that was destroying their bodies. The sheriff’s kid was the lead bad guy… never saw that before (sarcasm).

The three kids were very dull and unlikable. None of the performers were stand out and they were not going to elevate the material above what was on the page.

Fact of this episode, there was nothing great about it, but there was nothing terrible about it either. This is one of those types of episodes that will be easy to forget. Maybe I did see it before.

The X-Files S7 E4

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“Millennium”

This episode had a couple major things. One of them was this served as closure for the TV series Millennium, a FOX show also created by Chris Carter. Millennium had been on FOX for three years, but had been canceled. Since it was canceled after the final episode had been recorded, which left the show on a cliffhanger, this crossover helped put that series to bed.

Lance Henriksen starred as Frank Black, a former FBI profiler, in both this episode and the series, Millennium. I watched a few episodes of that series, but I never got into as much as I did the X-Files.

The other major event here was a kiss between Mulder and Scully. This was done at New Year’s Eve as they watched Dick Clark reporting on the ball drop at New York Times Square for the year 2000, which was, of course, the turn of the Millennium.

This had a story of zombies and it felt a bit off for the show. The zombies here were reanimated corpses of former FBI agents, and there were moments that were creepy. However, I just felt this was too unlike an X-Files episode. It was a Monster-of-the-week episode, but these zombies were too up in your face for the X-Files.

I’m am glad those fans of Millennium got to say goodbye to Frank Black and his daughter Jordan.

The X-Files S7 E3

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“Hungry”

This X-Files episode tells the story through the POV of the monster-of-the-week. Apparently both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson had movies to film and they had to film their scenes ahead of time.

So the episode focused on the character of Rob Roberts, played by Chad Donella. We discover early on that he is the monster, eating people’s brains, and we see him through most of the episode.

LOST’s Jacob, Mark Pellegrino, also guest starred as Derwood Spinks, a dirtbag employee of the fast food restaurant where Rob worked.

This was an interesting episode with a noted bit of humor going through the episode. It is a light episode, but a fun watch. It is not going to find its way onto any best of lists of the X-Files episodes, but it is watchable.

The X-Files S7 E1, E2

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“The Sixth Extinction”

“The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati”

It has been awhile since I ended season six of The X-Files, which was a first part of a three part story that would help to reboot the mythology of the series.

Honestly, the X-Files does such a great job of creating villains. Many times, villains are created to be cool, and people love them, despite of the terrible things they may have done. However, I hate these villains on the X-Files. I want Smoking Man dead. So badly. Same goes for Krychek or Diana Fowley. Of course, this episode saw the end of one of them… off camera. Diana Fowley dies at the end after the show tried to redeem her in the eyes of the viewers. It did not do that for me. The whole ‘she helped out Scully, find Mulder’ did not do it for me. In my book, she was never with Mulder in any way but the selfish way.

The show’s mythology took a turn here and set up the final push for the series. This became more of a sci-fi series than it ever had before. The whole old man Mulder arc was a bit much too, which again tried to show Smoking Man in a more positive light. I just want that smug bastard dead. Great performance from William B. Davis, as always.

The minute Albert Holsteen showed up in Mulder’s apartment, I knew what the show was going for. It was clearly a spirit coming to help Scully and that whole bit was quite a cliche.

The end where Mulder and Scully claim to be each other’s ‘touchstone’ was well acted, but I have never felt any sort of romantic relationship between Mulder and Scully. I could see them being something deeper than romantic and I choose to see this scene in that light.

This trilogy ended season 6 and kicked off season 7 well, and helped keep the show on track moving forward.

The X-Files S6 E21, E22

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“Field Trip”

“Biogenesis”

The sixth season of The X-Files, one that had some absolute highs and absolute lows, wraps up with these final two episodes.

One of them was a really bad trip (though a wild and bizarre episode).

‘Shrooms cause trouble for the agents in “Filed Trip” which found both Mulder and Scully trapped underground being devoured by a plant as they hallucinated different ‘realities’ about what was happening.

The episode felt like one of those Russian dolls. When you thought we had come to a crossroads, there was another story inside.

It was fun seeing the different hallucinations that Mulder and Scully had and how their POVs played into each of them.

The season finale for season six was “Biogenesis” and it led to Mulder being in a mental institution and Scully in Africa chasing after an artifact that could prove that aliens put the human race on earth at the beginning of the planet.

It feels as if the X-Files reignited its mythology with a slightly different focus, though we have appearances by Smoking Man, Krychek, Diana Fowley, and Albert Hosteen, characters all involved in previous X-Files stories. Skinner also took a step back with his involvement in the conspiracy/mythology of the show.

As all season finales of the X-Files seem to go, the show will be a to be continued until the beginning of the following season. Season 7 is one where the show goes through significant upheaval with new characters and exits by major figures. I’m not sure where things will go as I was not a fan of what happened during this time frame so I guess we’ll see how I react to it now.

The X-Files S6 E20

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“Three of a Kind”

No Mulder in this episode as we get a Lone Gunmen-centric episode. The trio is at a government convention in Vegas as Byers continues his search for Susanne Modeski, in a story that is basically a sequel to the Unusual Suspects, an episode from the second season.

We get Scully involved as a supporting character here, and Gillian Anderson was fun, getting a chance to see her act in a different manner than we were used to seeing Scully.

It was also kind of fun to see a cameo from Michael McKeon as Morris Fletcher, who was in the episodes “Dreamland.”

This was the perfect definition of a filler episode. It was a fine episode, but nothing that really stood out. It was enjoyable, but certainly nothing that is necessary for The X-Files.

There are only two remaining episodes in season six before we move onto some major transitions in the X-Files universe.

The X-Files S6 E18, E19

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“Milagro”

“The Unnatural”

Two straight X-Files episodes that were more well received by the rest of the world than by me.

Both “Milagro” and “The Unnatural” are attempts to create an episode that is different and original, and, while that is certainly true, I just did not like either one much.

My original reaction to “The Unnatural”, out of my memory, was that I enjoyed it. This rewatch was different. I found it kind of dull. I do love baseball and this episode was kind of a love letter to baseball.

I do have to say that the use of the N-word in the cold open was shocking. I can’t imagine that being used on TV, specifically the broadcast network, today.

In “Milagro” the main antagonist was played by John Hawkes. He is decent in the role, but the story was just so bizarre and weird with the manner in which the episode dealt with Scully.

I just did not get into either of these episodes. Both had positives about them, but they did not work for me.

The X-Files S6 E17

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“Trevor”

This was yet another X-Files episode that I swear I have never seen before today. I am surprised how many of those types of episodes happened during the first six seasons, which was a time where I was an extremely big X-Files fan.

“Trevor” is a monster-of-the-week story dealing with an escaped convict who, because of a tornado, developed the power to walk through objects. Wilson “Pinker” Rawls is the convict who was in pursuit of what seemed to be missing money he had during a robbery prior to his incarceration, but the story turned out to be something much more personal.

It is revealed about halfway through the episode that Pinker was, in truth, looking for an old girlfriend named June who kept a secret from him. The secret was that she had given birth to his son, a boy named Trevor.

I saw a quote from the director of this episode, Rob Bowman, who indicated that, yes Pinker was a terrible killer, but the main antagonist of this episode was June, because she had hidden the fact from him that she had given birth and that he just wanted to be with his son. I do not think there is a bigger bunch of hooey than that. It felt as if the show tried to make Pinker the victim at the end and, when June hit him with a car, killing him, that she had done the wrong thing. Even Mulder made a comment that maybe Picker just wanted another chance.

What a load of crock. Seriously, this guy had been leaving a path of dead bodies in his wake as he was searching for June and Trevor. He would have killed Scully if she hadn’t gotten away, inside a phone booth. Mulder had discovered that, although he could walk through objects, he could not pass through things that was an insulator to electricity, glass, rubber etc.

This switch at the end trying to place Pinker in a positive light dragged the episode down several pegs for me. I did enjoy what was here prior to that, but the show just did not build any sympathy from me for this murderer.