The X-Files

Started by Stupot, Tue 26/01/2016 02:17:13

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Stupot

So, Mulder and Scully are back.
Let's talk about it :-)

Some thoughts about "My Struggle".
Spoilers in 'hide' tags of course.

Spoiler

I tried to avoid reviews but I had read some mixed opinions, mostly negative to be honest. But I mostly liked it.
I was expecting it to be sickeningly fan-servicey, which it was to some extent (the constant repetition of the phrase "want to believe" was bordering on ridiculous) but most of it was handled a bit more tastefully than I gave it credit for. For example, the 'pencils in the ceiling' shot, which I knew was an inevitability was actually handled a lot better than it was in the second movie, where it makes me cringe every time.

Some of the dialogue was sketchy, to say the least. Another wave of script editing might have done the trick. At one point, O'Malley said something like "I want to know my ass is hanging by more than just a slender thread." Sounds like they got three different people to write the beginning, middle and end of that sentence and not tell each other what they'd written.

This episode also highlighted one of the things that always kind of bothered me about The X-Files in general, especially later seasons. The fact that this is a show mostly about one man's quest to find out these deep dark secrets, but then there are just hundreds, if not thousands of scientists, doctors, soldiers and other military personnel, and god knows who else who seem to know all about it. It makes Mulder's look stupid. It was all much more dramatic when it seemed that it was all being done by a small mysterious group of men.

The new direction of the conspiracy seems interesting, although I confess I'm not 100% clear what that actually is. And another problem is that they didn't even acknowledge the the fact that aliens were supposed to have invaded on Decemmber 22nd 2012. Or was that stuff all part of the Massive Lieâ,,¢ that Mulder kept referring to in this episode? I'm a bit confused about that.

I did start this by saying I liked it though, and here's why (other than the simple fact that my favourite show of all time is back on TV):

I liked the Roswell stuff. Roswell has always fascinated me. Something happened on that day and we can only ever speculate as to what that was. This episode put a nice spin on it (although the CG of the injured Alien will not age well).

I actually liked the awkward relationship between Mulder and Scully. A lot of the shippers (who think they are fans of the show but are actually just fans of Mulder ans Scully's relationship) were very pissed off about their break-up, and haven't stopped crying about it on Twitter and giving Chris Carter a hard time. But I think it made sense. In fact it follws on naturally from the 2nd movie, which was already sowing the seeds for some incompatability issues. It worked and I think it is better for the show in that it can now focus more on the pair solving paranormal cases and less about them kissing and cuddling

So overal, yes it was a flawed episode of TV, especially for a mythology episode, but it was by no means as bad as some of the original episodes could be. And I hear stirrings that episodes 2 and 3 are better, so fingers crossed.
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Mandle

WTF?! Has it started already?! Where can I catch it?!

Snarky

It's airing on Fox in the old-fashioned way. :-D It's also available on streaming through Fox Now, but you need to be in (or proxied into) the US.
In other countries, it varies.

Stromvin

Just seen episode One and yeah kinda liked it. Not sure if i agree with the "Aliens are not the baddies but men are" thing. But as much as i like cool Spaceships, i was always much more interested in the non main plot episodes. This whole Roswell Government Conspiracy Thing just is less cool to me than the monster of the week ones. Well at least some of them. I forgot the name, but the episode with the office worker whose chef was a creepy Insect which "droned" his employees, scared the crap out of me. So did the one with the mermaid/evil twin monster that tried to invade peoples bellys.

So yeah im excited ;)
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Snarky

Quote from: Stromvin on Tue 26/01/2016 12:23:26I forgot the name, but the episode with the office worker whose chef was a creepy Insect which "droned" his employees, scared the crap out of me.

"Folie à  deux" (by Vince Gilligan). Yeah, that's a good'un!

QuoteSo did the one with the mermaid/evil twin monster that tried to invade peoples bellys.

"Humbug". Darin Morgan's first episode: he's generally considered the show's best writer, and is writing another one for the new series (episode 3, I think).

Stromvin

I really do hope you just googled that Snarky, otherwise id be impressed and intimidated ;)
Considering your last sentence i have high hopes now. Always searched for something that gives me chills like x-Files, but most series disappoint in that respect.
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Snarky

:-D

No (except to check that "Folie à  deux" was by Gilligan), but I've been rewatching the show ahead of the new season, and those two are pretty memorable.

One series that might be as eerie as The X-Files is Hannibal, if you haven't seen that. And it has Gillian Anderson!

Kumpel

#7
Yeah! The dream team of paranormal investigation is back on track!

Spoiler
My Struggle:
I couldn't make much out of the first episode, which seemed a little bit overreaching with it's paranoidical gibberish blabbering - even if the roswell scenes and the ending with the kill squad / assasination by UFO where pretty good CGI-wise. Also it threw away half of the show's mythology with a few sentences... I dont know yet if I like where the main-arc is heading now. But the M/S-chemistry is still on fire. I just love these guys interacting.

Founders Mutation:
Now that is what I am talking about! Just fantastic how bluntly but nevertheless cool the creators transfered the old-schoolness of this cult show into our modern times. I got a Fringe feeling more than once which for me is the best a mystery scifi show can achieve nowadays (Fringe is the scifi-mystery queen! Watch it if you missed it). It was pretty brutal, much more than what X-Phillies are used to. But it continued to build the new story on the side line with a clever case and great actors. Now I am completely into the new X-Files.
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@Stupot+:
Spoiler
They did mention the 2012-plot element! I guess Mulder called it the beginning of a countdown... (roll) Which sounds for me like the authors need more time to find a solution for cutting that old story thread...
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Stromvin

A true believer then, guess i can live without fear now ;)
I tried with Hannibal i really did. Actually i dont even know why i stopped. Guess there were more interesting shows that time ...
I liked Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal though, really good choice of actors in general there is guess.
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Stupot

#9
Quote from: Kumpel on Tue 26/01/2016 16:07:44
@Stupot+:
Spoiler
They did mention the 2012-plot element! I guess Mulder called it the beginning of a countdown... (roll) Which sounds for me like the authors need more time to find a solution for cutting that old story thread...
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Spoiler
Oh really? I must have blinked and missed it. Still, for such a major plot point to be given next to zero resolution is a bit of a cop-out. I'm not saying they have to devote a whole episode to tying up Season 9 but at the least it needs some acknowledgment.
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Like Snarky, I've been rewatching the whole series, averaging 1 a day since, what? May or June? Seasons 1 to 3 were on Hulu, but after that I had to do seasons 4 - 9 entirely on DVD rentals. It got pretty intense and expensive the last couple of weeks because I fell really behind over Christmas and had to play catch-up. But it was great fun and I enjoyed interacting with other rewatchers on Twitter (even though they are all shippers)

Now, excuse me. I'm about to watch the second new episode.

Some thoughts on Episode 2:
Spoiler
Founder's Mutation is definitely a step in the right direction. I wasn't disappointed at all. The writing was a lot stronger and less cheesy. The case was in one sense very familiar but also quite different to anything they've done before. The episode itself was left unresolved, suggesting Kyle and Molly will be back, causing trouble at some point, and maybe even prove a major part of the season's throughline. Which is interesting because episodes 2-5 are supposed to be 'Monster-of-the-week', but this still felt very much part of the overall umbrella of conspiracies that the previous episode seemed to be trying to introduce. I wonder if that will be the case with all the MotW episodes, that they will all be linked together. Which goes back to Kumpel's Fringe comparison. With Fringe, even the strange weekly cases were related to (or a result of) the things happening in the overall mythology.

Founder's Mutation suggests to me a similar approach. But I guess we'll have to see what happens in the next few epsiodes. Next is a Darin Morgan episode, which are always quite singular and have their own weird line of continuity.

One thing I'm not enjoying is all the on-the-nose timestamp references to 2016. The idea is supposed to be to illustrate how much things have changed since the original run of the show. Google gags, YouTube celebrities, smartphones with finger-print detection, even the well-intentioned commentary about how far we are supposed to have come on homosexuality since the 90s. I mean obviously technology plays an unavoidable part of a show about solving strange crimes, and social commentary is an important factor of many good TV dramas, but the more of this stuff that gets ham-fistedly packed into these episodes, the earlier they will look riduculous when all that 2016 stuff becomes laughable 'old' stuff.

I mean, fair enough, we do look back fondly on the classic X-Files with their brick-shaped mobile phones and talking about "The Net" and "Mainframes", so I could be totally off. Maybe in 2035, we'll all be laughing fondly at the Google jokes. But I'm more inclined to think we'll be cringing.
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Cassiebsg

Just finished episode 1 and.... meeehh... not impressed really (story wise). Not sure what I was expecting though. Probably shouldn't had watched the little "x-files re-open" documentary first... lot of spoilers there. :-\

Spoiler

And smoking man is back? Really!? The only safe bet that he won't be in it, that that chapter was closed... and they just bring him back from the dead!? >:(
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Still, am sure I'll watch all remaining 5 episodes... and more if they decide to do more. But will always miss the feel season 1 to 3 gave me, that was ripped and steeped on afterwards... the "we don't give answers" at the end of the episode, "you figure it out", type of feeling. Guess that is dead and buried. :(
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

Stupot

#11
Spoilers for "Mulder and Scully Meet The Were Monster":
Read only if you've seen it or don't care.

Spoiler

This is the one a lot of fans will have been looking forward to the most. Darin Morgan's few episode are among the best of the entire run of the show. They are the 'funny' ones. They are the ones with the most in-jokes and they are also the ones which play the most games with themes, tropes and audience expectations. They are the ones which make you think (if you pay enough attention).

"M&S Meet..." disappointed me. The references and Easter-eggs were mostly fun, but a lot of it was just too damn cringeingly fan-servicey (pencils again? Oh for fuck sake). The humour was in the vein of "classic" Darin Morgan, but something felt... off. It was trying too hard to be a Darin Morgan Episodeâ,,¢ And didn't quite hit the mark.

The whole 2nd half of the episode was just one over-long explanation of the twist, which could have been done in a quick flashback montage. Instead the were-monster gives us an extended account of his time in human form, going on to explain how the lizard form is his actual form and he just changed into a human sometimes, and that humans are the real monsters. This is all explained in dialogue and flashback sequences leaving no room for the viewer to work anything out for themselves. In this episode, Darin Morgan does all the thinking for us and leaves nothing to chew on expect for a bunch more easter-eggs I probably missed the first time round.

A lot of other folk on Twitter etc. have used words like 'classic' and 'perfect.' Maybe extra layer of meaning went over my head but I can't agree. I mean it was fun, yeah, but I had high expectations for this one and they weren't met. I can't even see how an X-Files newbie could be able enjoy it, without the context for all the Easter-eggs.
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Gurok

Quote from: Stupot+ on Wed 03/02/2016 03:09:17
Spoilers for "Mulder and Scully Meet The Were Monster":
Read only if you've seen it or don't care.

Spoiler

This is the one a lot of fans will have been looking forward to the most. Darin Morgan's few episode are among the best of the entire run of the show. They are the 'funny' ones. They are the ones with the most in-jokes and they are also the ones which play the most games with themes, tropes and audience expectations. They are the ones which make you think (if you pay enough attention).

"M&S Meet..." disappointed me. The references and Easter-eggs were mostly fun, but a lot of it was just too damn cringeingly fan-servicey (pencils again? Oh for fuck sake). The humour was in the vein of "classic" Darin Morgan, but something felt... off. It was trying too hard to be a Darin Morgan Episodeâ,,¢ And didn't quite hit the mark.

The whole 2nd half of the episode was just one over-long explanation of the twist, which could have been done in a quick flashback montage. Instead the were-monster gives us an extended account of his time in human form, going on to explain how the lizard form is his actual form and he just changed into a human sometimes, and that humans are the real monsters. This is all explained in dialogue and flashback sequences leaving no room for the viewer to work anything out for themselves. In this episode, Darin Morgan does all the thinking for us and leaves nothing to chew on expect for a bunch more easter-eggs I probably missed the first time round.

A lot of other folk on Twitter etc. have used words like 'classic' and 'perfect.' Maybe extra layer of meaning went over my head but I can't agree. I mean it was fun, yeah, but I had high expectations for this one and they weren't met. I can't even see how an X-Files newbie could be able enjoy it, without the context for all the Easter-eggs.
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Spoiler
For me, the bit to chew on was the plot that framed the episode. They were really echoing audience sentiments to some degree in the opening scenes, where Mulder talks about looking at old investigations with wiser eyes. The way this lack of enthusiasm was carried through to the point at the end where Mulder says he wants to believe made the whole episode a self-aware look at what motivates Mulder to investigate X-Files and what motivatation the audience has to return to it.

My favourite lines in the episode: "Not everything can be reduced to psychology." "That's what you think!"
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Mandle

So...everybody just gave up talking about the series after Episode 3?

Well....I can kinda see why after having finally watched the whole series in a marathon today (They just came out on DVD here)

Spoiler

Episode 3 was the best of the bunch, and things steeply went downhill after that...Culminating in the horribly BOOOORRRIIINNNG "finale" of Episode 6...

So....the enite world is going to hell in what an X-Files fan should be creaming themselves over: WE FINALLY GET TO SEE THE CONSPIRACY'S PLAN HAPPENING AND DESTROYING THE WORLD!!!

Except that we mostly just get a bad episode of "House" with Scully and Einstein hurridly talking tech about DNA, and some rehashed scenes between Mulder and the CSM showing their basic conflict of ideals???

BOOOORRRIIIIINNNGGGG...

I was not even disappointed by the "cliffhanger" ending as I had honestly stopped caring by that point and just saw it as one more thing Chris Carter was pulling out of his ass...
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Danvzare

Quote from: Mandle on Sun 03/07/2016 12:52:33
So...everybody just gave up talking about the series after Episode 3?

Well....I can kinda see why after having finally watched the whole series in a marathon today (They just came out on DVD here)

Spoiler

Episode 3 was the best of the bunch, and things steeply went downhill after that...Culminating in the horribly BOOOORRRIIINNNG "finale" of Episode 6...

So....the enite world is going to hell in what an X-Files fan should be creaming themselves over: WE FINALLY GET TO SEE THE CONSPIRACY'S PLAN HAPPENING AND DESTROYING THE WORLD!!!

Except that we mostly just get a bad episode of "House" with Scully and Einstein hurridly talking tech about DNA, and some rehashed scenes between Mulder and the CSM showing their basic conflict of ideals???

BOOOORRRIIIIINNNGGGG...

I was not even disappointed by the "cliffhanger" ending as I had honestly stopped caring by that point and just saw it as one more thing Chris Carter was pulling out of his ass...
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Personally, I rather liked this short mini-season. Sure the beginning was a little lackluster, and the ending could've taken a much more entertaining approach. But you've got to admit, the episodes in between were pretty damn good. My favourite was with the were-human (or whatever I'm supposed to call that thing). :-D

Mandle

Quote from: Danvzare on Sun 03/07/2016 13:24:26
My favourite was with the were-human (or whatever I'm supposed to call that thing). :-D

Yeah, that was Episode 3....Also my favorite!

Cassiebsg

Uhm...actually I can't even remember if I watched episode 2. :-[
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

Problem

#17
All in all a mixed season. The first episode was by far the worst. It felt rushed and unfocused and I got the impression that it was way too short for what it wanted to tell. The last episode was also quite poor, though slightly more thrilling than the first.
The episodes in between were much better. And yeah, episode 3 stands out, easily one of the most entertaining X-Files episodes ever. So the season wasn't all great, but it had great moments and was good enough that I'd watch another. ;)

Stupot

I was expecting great things. In the end we got quite an accurate cross section of the first nine seasons, which is to say, some moments of genius and some rubbish. Founder's Mutation was my favourite. As much as I wanted to love ...Were-Monster, I wasn't feeling it.

I didn't mind the cliffhanger at the end but I thought it was quite a silly move to make when season 11 hadn't (and still hasn't) been greenlit. But then I guess it was always that way.

Spoiler
my biggest gripe is Reyes working for CSM... In fact I've got issues with the fact that CSM is even still alive after we literally saw him. Skeletonized in The Truth. But I have to keep reminding myself this IS the X Files. A lot stranger shit has happened than a simple bit of regular immortality.
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KyriakosCH

I also gave up after ep3. I wasn't familiar with 'funny' x-files eps (apparently they had those in the old series too), and was really disappointed with the imbecility of the episode :)
That said, many fans of the series thought it was great.

Well, Scully was 'great' :)
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