The X-Files (1993-2002)

I was watching some of this last year, and as I wait to be able to buy a new TV I'm watching some TV stuff on Netflix Instant.

"Fearful Symmetry"

I'm not into the whole animal rights thing overly, but I thought this was a pretty cracking good episode. Better than I had expected it to be. A good guest star.

I remember one episode with a cow being caught in a twister and ending up on Mulder's roof. And another with two black gays.

Had some great tv viewing with this series, especially when it was in syndication and they'd show several in a row on late-night TnT in the USA...I adored the smoking man...

And of course, I have the porn version...

The first few seasons were pretty good. It all went South after Gillian Anderson's return from pregnancy.

Dog Bond, which season was the one where Mulder hooks up with that female vampire? I think it was the same season Giovanni Ribisi and Jack Black had a guest appearance on one episode.

Salomé wrote:

The first few seasons were pretty good. It all went South after Gillian Anderson's return from pregnancy.

Dog Bond, which season was the one where Mulder hooks up with that female vampire? I think it was the same season Giovanni Ribisi and Jack Black had a guest appearance on one episode.

Was this an episode where Agent Scully was missing? It sounds like Season 2, episode 7 called '3'.

Brief synopsis. Whilst Agent Scully is still missing, Agent Mulder embarks upon an investigation involving vampires in Los Angeles, subsequently becoming involved with a sultry female vampire who yearns to escape her lifestyle.

Mrs Aural Sects wrote:

Salomé wrote:

The first few seasons were pretty good. It all went South after Gillian Anderson's return from pregnancy.

Dog Bond, which season was the one where Mulder hooks up with that female vampire? I think it was the same season Giovanni Ribisi and Jack Black had a guest appearance on one episode.

Was this an episode where Agent Scully was missing? It sounds like Season 2, episode 7 called '3'.

Brief synopsis. Whilst Agent Scully is still missing, Agent Mulder embarks upon an investigation involving vampires in Los Angeles, subsequently becoming involved with a sultry female vampire who yearns to escape her lifestyle.

Yes, that's the one I mean. I remember the show going off the rails shortly after that episode.

Used to love this show ... then the fan-wank in-jokey self-indulgent stuff started at around the same time as the BBC began to move it around various 'graveyard' timeslots, and so I didn't see (and still don't have any interest in seeing) the last few seasons.

No way did the "off the rails" moment occur for THE X-FILES so early in its lifespan. Things progressively get worse, but for the most part, the show hangs together alright until late in the game. It's towards the end that things nosedive.

Arkadin wrote:

No way did the "off the rails" moment occur for THE X-FILES so early in its lifespan. Things progressively get worse, but for the most part, the show hangs together alright until late in the game. It's towards the end that things nosedive.

I respectfully disagree, though this is a largely subjective discussion to begin with, unless you assume we liked the show for exactly the same reasons. ;)

Made it to "Anasazi". Damn. :D

Usually the quality death-knell for any show is when the main character leaves.

Salomé wrote:

Mrs Aural Sects wrote:

Salomé wrote:

The first few seasons were pretty good. It all went South after Gillian Anderson's return from pregnancy.

Dog Bond, which season was the one where Mulder hooks up with that female vampire? I think it was the same season Giovanni Ribisi and Jack Black had a guest appearance on one episode.

Was this an episode where Agent Scully was missing? It sounds like Season 2, episode 7 called '3'.

Brief synopsis. Whilst Agent Scully is still missing, Agent Mulder embarks upon an investigation involving vampires in Los Angeles, subsequently becoming involved with a sultry female vampire who yearns to escape her lifestyle.

Yes, that's the one I mean. I remember the show going off the rails shortly after that episode.

They were in a Season 3 episode, I think. "3" was awful, but the rest of Season 2 is good.

Years ago I started watching it but for whatever reason stopped. I was only in the first season so I decided to start again with the pilot and continue with an episode each day.

I have all the series sets now, and am about halfway through series six. I never saw most of the last two series when they were broadcast, so I am looking forward to catching up with the adventures of Scully & T1000.

I for one enjoy the "fan-wank in-jokey self-indulgent stuff," such as the episode where Garry Shandling and Tea (Mrs. Duchovny) Leoni are to play Mulder & Scully in a Hollywood movie. I'm looking forward to seeing that one again!

once Mulder left, the show sucked!!

even the T-1000 couldn't save it from its own demise!!

The Peter Boyle and C. Nelson Reilly eps from season 3 were brilliant -- you actually have to watch the Reilly one a few times to figure out what is real, what is hypnosis and what is what (has Alex Trebek and Jesse Ventura as Men In Black too, as I recall.) The 2parter where Annette O'Toole's hubby body-switches into Mulder and starts hitting on Scully is pretty good too (I had a soft spot for the comedy shows, don't know why.)

.I think the show was really gold from season2 through 4, but once they started trying to work around the movie, it got a little overwrought. I was actually exhausted watching season 6 or 7, when they had the black FBI guy jumping down their throats for every possible thing ... when Duchovny left, so did I (easy call, since it was on against THE SOPRANOS at that point.)

I've seen the finale, and have to say it was a steaming pile, squandered what little goodwill remained. Every time I think about rewatching the series, I think, at what point do I stop? so I wind up just rewatching select good ones instead of doing a run.

trevanian wrote:

I've seen the finale, and have to say it was a steaming pile, squandered what little goodwill remained. Every time I think about rewatching the series, I think, at what point do I stop? so I wind up just rewatching select good ones instead of doing a run.

I have the same thing, to a lesser degree, with nuBSG. I don't think "Daybreak" was a steaming pile, but it sorta tainted the whole franchise for me.

First Person Shooter is still one of my favorite and a Classic

trevanian wrote:

I've seen the finale, and have to say it was a steaming pile, squandered what little goodwill remained. Every time I think about rewatching the series, I think, at what point do I stop? so I wind up just rewatching select good ones instead of doing a run.

This being 2012, and 2012 being so pivotal to the final episode, it might be interesting to see a third film that actually dealt with the colonisation plans and tie up all the unanswered questions.

I didn't even watch the 2nd theatrical film.

By the time it was made and released in 2008, 10 years after the first film and 6 years after the tv series went off the air,

most of us including me have stopped caring!!

she just looks so different with Blonde hair

http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/co4gb1iqikb8ng7fflt2gc31bkgfa7kz/

I recently purchased the third season of The X Files second-hand and I was wondering if there were any fans of the TV supernatural show here on AJB? (It's not something I'm normally drawn to, but I've also recently purchased the X Files novelisation of the episode Squeeze and I remember seeing it on TV. I had a best friend who was a big fan of the series.)

I see how the show may have influenced or at the very least complimented some of John Gardner's later James Bond continuation novel work, especially Never Send Flowers (1993), which features a serial killer character called David March who is a serial beheader of blonde women and who keeps their heads floating in solution in his refrigator, offering them up as sacrifices to the Egyptian God Osiris. David Dragonpol is also a rather twisted serial killer in the novel, being the main villain of the piece.

If there are any fans here, which of these X Files series/episodes would you recommend and what do you think of my theory that The X Files has links back/forward to the James Bond phenomenon?

As always, I'd really love to hear from you on all of these points raised here.

SILHOUETTE MAN wrote:

I see how the show may have influenced or at the very least complimented some of John Gardner's later James Bond continuation novel work, especially Never Send Flowers (1993), which features a serial killer character called David March who is a serial beheader of blonde women and who keeps their heads floating in solution in his refrigator, offering them up as sacrifices to the Egyptian God Osiris. David Dragonpol is also a rather twisted serial killer in the novel, being the main villain of the piece.

I think it would have been very difficult for "Squeeze" to have influenced Never Send Flowers, considering that Never Send Flowers was published in July 1993, whilst "Sqeeze" was not broadcast until September of that year.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

SILHOUETTE MAN wrote:

I see how the show may have influenced or at the very least complimented some of John Gardner's later James Bond continuation novel work, especially Never Send Flowers (1993), which features a serial killer character called David March who is a serial beheader of blonde women and who keeps their heads floating in solution in his refrigator, offering them up as sacrifices to the Egyptian God Osiris. David Dragonpol is also a rather twisted serial killer in the novel, being the main villain of the piece.

I think it would have been very difficult for "Squeeze" to have influenced Never Send Flowers, considering that Never Send Flowers was published in July 1993, whilst "Sqeeze" was not broadcast until September of that year.

Yes, sorry. That's not really what I meant to say - I meant to say there was a sort of sci-fi/horror/serial killer vibe in the early 1990s that may have influenced John Gardner in Never Send Flowers. I was aware of the dates.

Could someone please give me a run-down on the best episodes of The X Files?

I'm particularly interested in Seasons 1-3. I have Season 3 on DVD.

SILHOUETTE MAN wrote:

Could someone please give me a run-down on the best episodes of The X Files?

I'm particularly interested in Seasons 1-3. I have Season 3 on DVD.

I liked Season 2 the best, which featured Steven Williams as Mr.X. He replaced Deep Throat from Season 1 as the informant, leaking information to FBI Special Agents Mulder and Scully to aid their investigation of paranormal cases. Meets a tragic ending too.

But as far as episodes go, anything featuring The Smoking Man is a must see. Including the much reviled last couple of seasons.