Category Archives: X-Files

The X-Files S6 E16

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“Alpha”

It has been about a year since I started this X-Files rewatch and we have enjoyed some really great episodes. When The X-Files is doing well, few shows can match it. Sadly, there have been several clunkers during this time frame as well, which included the current episode, “Alpha.”

There were some ideas in the episode that could have worked well. It just felt run-of-the-mill and as if the execution of the overall story was just underwhelming.

Several concepts that did not work, that could have worked better with a different script, included the weird “love” angle between Mulder and the canine expert  Karin Berquist. While the character of Berquist was quirky and different, her motives were messy and convoluted. Another concept that did not work was the villain and his entire plan, as it were. Dr. Ian Detweiler was initially shown to be the man who captured and imported the dangerous dog, which we first seen locked in a cage on a boat. Later we find out that Detwiler is the dog himself and can shapeshift. How this happened was never discussed and none of this made any sense.

Worse yet was the finale, the final confrontation between Berquist and Detwiler, which was simply laughable. The cliche of a werewolf being impaled on a fence spike is used here in just the most painfully obvious manner.

I didn’t understand why any of this was happening and nothing made sense. It felt as if the entire story between Mulder and Berquist was just constructed so Mulder could get his “I Want to Believe” poster back after his own one burned in the fire set by CSM at the end of season five. Somehow, Berquist had the same poster and somehow, someone sent it to Mulder to have… for no apparent reason.

Season six has had some highs, but it has had its shares of lows too. “Alpha” is clearly one of the lows.

The X-Files S6 E15

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“Arcadia”

I remember loving this episode when it first aired. I still loved it after this rewatch, but it may have taken a slight step down. Still one of my favorite X-Files episodes.

Mulder and Scully going undercover as a yuppie married couple in a planned community to try and discover why people have been disappearing without a trace is a fantastic premise. It opens the show up to some funny moments as Mulder and Scully interact with each other and the neighborhood and its ridiculously strict rules.

This, I think, is a perfect episode to talk about something that I have truly noticed during this rewatch. I know there were people who thought Scully and Mulder were meant for each other, but this episode showed to me that they just did not have that lover connection. Each scene of them as a married couple, where there could have been sparks with their unrequited love, just lacked any energy and was played as humor.

I have never felt that Mulder and Scully had that “will they or won’t they” vibe of TV pairs such as David and Maddie of Moonlighting, Sam and Diane of Cheers, Richard Castle and Detective Beckett of Castle. I mean, I have no doubt that they loved each other, but more like brother-sister, or best friends. Heck, I would compare the relationship between Mulder and Scully more like that of Adrian Monk and Natalie from Monk. Closer than co-workers. Tighter than friends. Just platonic. Trying to do more feels uncomfortable, and that is the feel of “Arcadia.”

I do like the garbage monster which is revealed as a tulpa, a thought creature brought to life by the planned community leader Gene Gogolak, played by Peter White. However, the third act of the show sure seemed rushed. I think this concept could have been a two-part episode, although I know they kept those two-parters for the mythology episodes and not the monster-of-the-week affairs. I do think this could have worked as one in order to give a little more background to the monster and fleshing out the characters in the community more.

The comedic timing of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson is really great. They work in so many versions of this show. They are such solid actors. It just does not seem as if their characters are in love.

The X-Files S6 E14

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“Monday”

Some of the best X-Files episodes are the ones where they take a familiar premise from a movie or TV show and give it the X-Files treatment. We have seen movie/TV premises such as The Thing, Speed, Firestarter, Freaky Friday and Twilight Zone among others. This time it is Groundhog Day (although actually, according to Vince Gilligan, more of a Twilight Zone episode, specifically “Shadow Play” from 1961).

Mulder and Scully wind up in a bank near the FBI offices at the same time that a man with a gun (and a bomb) is there to pull off a robbery. It seems that no matter what happens, the bomb goes off killing everyone inside the bank.

However, the bomber, named Bernard, had a girlfriend named Pam and Pam was the one reliving the day over and again and realizing what was happening. She tried everything she could think of to stop the eventual explosion, to no avail.

The show brings up Deja vu in the middle, with Mulder telling Scully that all the terrible things that had happened to him that morning felt like had happened to him before. All Scully could ask was “When did you get a water bed?” which is a hilarious toss back to the two part episode from season six, Dreamland, where Mulder switched bodies with Morris Fletcher who bought the waterbed.

The show’s director does an admirable job of shooting each scene, which could have been very repetitive, in different manners and with different variations, which showed that things could be changed and was not just totally fate.

This was a nice blend of humor, which a lot of these premise episodes leaned toward, and serious drama. It was a very engaging hour of TV and has been a highlight so far of season six.

The X-Files S6 E13

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“Agua Mala”

The thirteenth episode of the sixth season of The X-Files is an episode that I do not remember ever seeing before. It was entitle “Agua Mala” which is Spanish for bad water.

Mulder and Scully get called down to Florida by the man who helped originate the actual X-Files at the FBI decades before, Arthur Dales, who was featured in an episode during the fifth season. There was a hurricane underway and he was worried about neighbors, who had contacted him about some kind of tentacled creature that had attacked the family.

The story was strange because the agents wound up at the neighbors house and met a deputy there. They went apart and wound up together later at another location. There were other people in this location (basically an apartment building of some kind) and the water monster was here too. I am not sure why it was here and at the other location.

I did like how Scully showed her take charge side. She was quite the leader during the episode and made several of the decisions. As Arthur Dales stated, Mulder is lucky to have a partner like Scully.

The resolution of the story was fairly silly and, even though I just praised Scully, she certainly had a Batman-leap (a term my friends and I had dubbed about Adam West’s Batman from the 1960s show-who would make unbelievable leaps of logic/guesses from ridiculous clues) involving the way to stop the creature. I am not sure there was any evidence for Scully to have made that leap.

Overall, this was not the worst episode of the X-Files I have ever seen, but it was nothing that really stood out as a strong installment either.

The X-Files S6 E11, E12

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“Two Fathers”

“One Son”

A big chunk of the mythology of the X-Files gets wrapped up in this two-part story, with pieces that have been major parts of the show for years.

It started off with the return of Cassandra Spender and ended with the deaths of the Syndicate, except of course for CSM. Mulder and Scully discovered much of the truth behind the Smoking Man, as Jeffrey Spender’s father.

Once again, Mulder had Smoking Man dead to rights with a gun to his head and did not kill that MFer. I want Smoking Man dead so badly. Again, the performance of William B. Davis as the Smoking Man is tremendous as he brings out the bloodthirsty nature of the audience.

Smoking Man also shoots and kills his own son in the offices of the X-Files at the end of “One Son.” Speaking of betrayal, CSM indicated that between Bill Mulder and him, only one of them had a son they could be proud of. What a dirt bag. This two-parter does a decent job of giving Spender a respectful, if not heroic, send off, as he spoke to Kersh about getting Mulder and Scully back to the X-Files, taking the responsibility for the deaths of the episode.

The alien story, which included alien invasions and colonization, hybrid human/aliens, rebel aliens, black oil, vaccines and sacrifices. It is fairly convoluted and I am still not sure exactly whose on the right side. However, it does set the show up to move in a different direction after this major piece of the mythology is brought to an end.

I hate Diana Fowler too, though I am not sure I am supposed to hate her. For now, I find her to be a rotten character who is in cahoots with the Smoking Man.

According to Wikipedia, this two-parter was written in part because Chris Cooper expected season six to be the final season of the show and was designed to give some answers to the series’s show-long mysteries.

The X-Files S6 E10

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“Tithonus”

I enjoyed this episode of the X-Files for all the ways it turned the typical formula on its head.

First, Scully was out in the field, assigned to a case with a different partner, and she would call back to FBI headquarters to talk to Mulder and he would do the background stuff. Lots of time, this was flipped, with Scully doing info searches or autopsies. Poor Mulder was like a sad puppy the whole time too.

This also felt like an opposite of “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” as we had an older man who could see death. This episode, the man himself could not die and he was determined to take a picture of death with the hope of being able to do what everybody else would do. This episode was played much more serious than “Clyde” was, which had some of the funnier moments in the early days of the X-Files.

The old man, Alfred Fellig, was played by character actor Geoffrey Lewis and he does a great job playing against Gillian Anderson.

At the very end of the episode, after Fellig had taken Scully’s place and had died from the gunshot wound, Scully was in the hospital from the same gunshot wound. Scully said “You know Mulder I don’t even know why I entertained the thought. People don’t live forever.” I think that was a reference, in Scully’s mind, back to Bruckman who had told her that she would never die. This brush with nearly dying herself from the gunshot wound made her question her own mortality in a very different way. At least, that is how I took it.

The X-Files S6 E9

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“S.R. 819”

After a couple of lesser episodes, “S.R. 819” regained the feel of classic episodes of The X-Files, featuring a conspiracy level event.

The show begins with the apparent death of Walter Skinner, setting up the stakes for the episode.

Flashing back to before the ‘death’, we see the events leading up to the current situation and we learn that someone had poisoned Skinner, injecting him with nanobot tech.

Mulder and Scully raced against time to try and save the life of Skinner.

Of course, Mulder and Scully did not solve anything. They circled the truth, but the events were out of their hands. The final shot, of a now compromised Skinner with Krychek of all people was a kick. Especially after Skinner’s ‘deathbed’ confession to Scully that he regretted not being more of an ally to them.

This was a tough episode, but very enjoyable. It had that early X-Files feel to it and advanced the mythology along nicely.

The X-Files S6 E8

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“The Rain King”

I have been typically been a huge fan of the X-Files humor episodes. “Bad Blood,” “Humbug,” Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose,” “War of The Coprophages,” and “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” are all classics for different reasons. However, not every humor episode hit as well as those.

“The Rain King” is one of those humor episodes that did not work very well for me. Victoria Jackson guest starred as Shelia, who was the center of the story of someone who can control the weather.

The story develops into a romance between some of the characters in this town and Mulder was stuck in it too. It was a weird story.

The best part of this episode was Scully’s dry reactions to some of the things that happened. There was one moment where Mulder told her over the phone that he was staying to help another man with his dating advice. The camera lingered on Mulder as no response came from Scully and the camera switched to Scully who just sat staring into the sky in shock. That was probably my favorite moment of the show.

This just felt too silly and the humor did not work. This was the second consecutive X-Files episode that was disappointing.

The X-Files S6 E7

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“Terms of Endearment”

I am torn over this X-Files episode.

Above all else, you got to love Bruce Campbell guest starring as this man trying to have a baby. Well, I guess there was more to it than that. He was a demon trying to have a normal baby.

The story itself was messy and needlessly convoluted. The devil image we got was pretty low grade too.

The show tried to flip the script, but it just felt forced and I was disappointed with the overall episode. I do love Bruce Campbell, but this was just not worth his time.

The X-Files S6 E6

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“How the Ghosts Stole Christmas”

A little spooky Christmas cheer with the X-Files in July.

This episode mashed-up a Christmas trope with a haunted house trope giving us something original between the two styles.

The show contained only four actors, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, of course, as well as Edward Asner and Lilly Tomlin, as the ghosts in the house.

Asner and Tomlin, two all-timers in the world of TV, brought a wonderfully different feel t the episode and their interactions with Mulder and Scully was the strength of the show.

There were plenty of fun ‘tricks’ played on out FBI agents by the two ghosts including showing Mulder and Scully their own dead corpses buried beneath the floorboard, and trying to manipulate them into offing each other. There was also a moving brick wall blocking the exit of several rooms in the haunted house.

The ghosts used this opportunity to share some dime store psychological tidbits on Mulder and Scully which hit pretty close to home. While it was intended to drive them mad, there was enough truth sprinkled in the dialogue to give the audience more insight into Mulder and Scully.

It was a fun, stand-alone episode of the X-Files which seems to be the overall theme of season six so far.

The X-Files S6 E4, E5

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“Dreamland, Part 1 and Part 2”

I recently spoke about the X-Files having episodes that are taking premises from movies such as “The Thing,” or “Speed” to fit them into the X-Files. This two-part episode takes the “Freaky Friday” premise and made it into the X-Files world.

Body swap films and shows were big at the time and it is understandable that the X-Files would go ahead and put their own stamp on it.

I love Michael McKeon. I have loved him as far back as Lenny from Laverne and Shirley, and then as David St. Hubbins from This is Spinal Tap. Seeing him as Man in Black, Morris Fletcher, was great and McKeon was awesome through the whole two episodes playing the new version of Mulder.

Seeing both Morris and Mulder in situations they were unfamiliar with brought some really good comedic moments. I enjoyed the Duck Soup-type mirror bit with Mulder and his reflection of Morris.

I saw some negative responses to these episodes and I did not agree with it. I found this to be a fun look at the idea of body swap and a new way to look at the Men in Black. Seeing how Morris responded to being Mulder was interesting, and Scully’s confusion was fun. I can understand that some may have wanted the main overall aliens story to continue instead of another funny episode. I love the funny episodes of the X-Files, as many of them are my absolutely favorite ones from the show.

I do think this could have probably been one episode instead of two as part of the second episode did feel stretched out. And some of the resolution of the story felt off. Even if the end of the episode with Mulder opening his apartment door to see of it was because of the furniture that Morris had bought. I guess this did not snap back in time as other things seemed to. That end plot hole was a little messy.

Otherwise, I enjoyed Dreamland.

The X-Files S6 E3

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“Triangle”

This was an absolutely wonderful episode of the X-Files. It was the combination of an old Twilight Zone episode and the Wizard of Oz, creating a exceptional tale of time warps and World War II escapades all inside the Bermuda Triangle.

Mulder finds himself in the Bermuda Triangle because a satellite found the Queen Anne, a British passenger ship that was rumored to have been sunk by Nazis in the war. On the ship, Mulder is in 1939 and confused about what was going on. Recognizable faces from Mulder’s life started showing up in the 1939 timeline, including Scully, Skinner, Smoking Man, and Spender, in differing roles than what Mulder was used to.

There was a scene in this episode that, in my humble opinion, may be the greatest scene ever shot for the X-Files. It is designed to look like a “Oner” a continuous shot that follows the characters as they move through the story in real time. It is something that a lot of movies and programs try to use these days, but such a shot was not used as much during the time of The X-Files.

It was not a single shot as I could find several “hidden” cuts as you would say, but it really worked well. The scene I am referring to as the greatest ever is the scene where the Lone Gunmen come to see Scully at FBI Headquarters and Scully sets off to try and find information about where in the Bermuda Triangle Mulder was. Following Scully around FBI HQ, going to Skinner, Kirsch, Spender etc. was brilliantly conceived. Scully running into Smoking Man was ominous and her interaction with Spender was hilarious. The scene ending with Scully jumping in the Lone Gunmen’s van and speeding away was utterly perfect.

There was another amazing moment in this episode that has to be considered groundbreaking. With a split screen, Mulder and 1939 Scully were coming down one of the aisles of the Queen Anne while regular day Scully was moving down another one. The two Scullys crossed paths and paused for a moment as if they could feel them passing by each other. This was such a clever use of the format that it stood out among a really exceptionally filmed episode.

The episode was clearly an homage to The Wizard of Oz. There are several Oz allusions though the episode and it ended with Mulder in a bed, much like Dorothy is at the end of the Wizard of Oz.

It is epic when a long running series takes a risk in the manner in which it is presented. Triangle was a massive hit for the show and I loved it more this time than my memory of it from before. This was exceptional TV.

The X-Files S6 E2

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“Drive”

Some of the best and most under-the-radar episodes of The X-Files are the ones that seem to take a premise or theme of a well known movie and adapt it into the world of the X-Files. There was an early season episode called “Ice” that was similar to The Thing. “Post Modern Promethean” was in the style of the Universal Monsters movies, particularly Frankenstein. This one “Drive” takes the premise of the movie Speed and plays with it so it fits with the X-Files concept. In fact, Mulder even makes a joke about seeing this movie.

Bryan Cranston was an unexpected face to see in the car with Agent Mulder. He was about a couple of years before being Hal in Malcom in the Middle and a decade away from becoming Walter White in Breaking Bad, but Cranston remained an amazing actor at any point of his career, playing antisemite Patrick Crump in this X-Files episode and forcing Mulder to drive him fast and to the west. Cranston was able to instill in “Mr.” Crump a humanity that took this character which could be considered the villain of this story and made him someone the audience was rooting for, despite his antagonistic approach to Mulder near the beginning of the episode.

The dialogue between Cranston and Duchovny was expertly written and helped take this premise to another level. It was much more than just an homage to Speed. It fit right into the world of The X-Files.

The episode kicked off with a fantastic hook, having Crump in a high speed chase with police, filmed from the above helicopter. The start of the episode set a tone that insured that this was going to be fire.

I really enjoyed this episode and thought the inclusion of Bryan Cranston made this episode a standout.

The X-Files S6 E1

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“The Beginning”

The opening “previously on The X-Files” showed that this season six takes place directly after the movie, The X-Files: Fight the Future, the feature length film that had been released in theaters, and the story told in that movie is included in this season premiere.

However, it is only part of the story as the episode also included details that were introduced in the fifth season finale, “The End.” Specifically, the use of the little boy who could read minds, Gibson, as well as agents Jeffrey Spender and Diana Fowley. These two agents were assigned to take over the work of Mulder and Scully, who were reassigned within the FBI with explicit instructions to not work on the X-Files again.

Fowley is one of my least favorite X-Files characters because she is such a sell out and feels as if she exists only to put a stress on the connection of Mulder and Scully. You can see that stress in this episode and Scully argued with Mulder and at one point asks him to trust her. I seem to remember a time when Mulder said that Scully was “the only one he trusts.” That seems to have been chipped away as the new Mulder only wants to hear from Scully if she agrees with him.

Diana Fowley becomes a major character over the next few seasons and it is part of the slipping of The X-Files.

The horrors that the show has put the character of Gibson through is shocking and terrifying, and not in a good way. The treatment of this kid has been very distasteful by everyone and I do like how he just calls the adults out because he knows what they were thinking.

Spender, of course, is a horrendous person too, because he is taking direction from Smoking Man, who continues to be the one character that has to have a bullet in his head. I am consistently stating how much I hate this character, which should go to show what an amazing job William B. Davis had done with this role.

However, the opening scene of the episode featuring a carpool, had some of the worst dialogue that I ever remember in an X-Files episode. It was shockingly bad and did not start the episode off well. Thankfully, an alien ripped out of someone’s chest and made things a lot better.

My memory is that The X-Files becomes difficult to watch over the next few seasons, so we will see how this rewatch progresses.

The X-Files S5 E19, E20

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“Folie à Deux”

“The End”

The were the final to episodes of season five of The X-Files. The first one was a monster-of-the-week story and the second one returned to the mythology episode seeing the comeback of Cigarette-Smoking Man, who does not seem to have missed a beat with his manipulations and evilness.

Starting with Folie à Deux, this was a very solid episode with a scary bug antagonist. It sounded as if they were unhappy with the look of the costume they were using and had visual effects make the monster harder to see. It is a logical step that a monster that is hidden is scarier than one you can see fully.

The introduction of Diana Fowley did not work well for me. She felt as just a conflict tossed into the relationship of Mulder and Scully. This triangle that was introduced just fell flat for me. I did not mind another agent accepting Mulder’s theories, but the romantic aspect just lacked any substance.

The introduction of mind reading child Gibson was much better though and gave me some of the flavor of “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” but with a little boy instead of an old man. I found there to be less comedy in this episode than in Clyde too.

Smoking Man is back and I want him dead yet! Honestly, this villain is just so effective that I want the character to pay for all of his crimes. He told Agent Spengler that he was his father, and he continued to manipulate the entire situation, as Spengler is being set up as an antagonist for Mulder.

The image of Mulder standing before the charred remains of the X-Files was shocking and powerful. Damn that Smoking Man.

Season six is next to come.