The X-Files: Reviews

369 reviews

The X-Files: This (11x02)
Pike September 25, 2024, 12:09 ET

Starts great, the rest is very bad

The episode starts with a good old scene of violence on an upbeat soundtrack, one of the Â«Â marque de fabriqueÂ Â» from The X-Files.

Unfortunately, nothing works. Mulder and Scully act like bad characters from lame Hollywood films, having fun and making jokes while their life is at stake. Is this a cheap Bruce Willis movie? Where is the seriousness tone of the original series?

As for the story itself, the core story of a digitized human could have been interesting, but unfortunately never... materialize. How ironic.

VERDICT
I give this episode 1 out of 5. Very bad.

The X-Files: Squeeze (1x03)
lilly September 16, 2024, 12:09 ET

Squeeze me, Eugene!

In Squeeze, we get our first taste of the X-Files’ favorite thing: creepy, supernatural serial killers. This time, it's Eugene Victor Tooms—a guy with the unique ability to squeeze through impossibly tight spaces. That’s right, this dude could crawl through your air vent and steal your snacks (or, you know, your liver) before you even knew what happened. How’s that for a houseguest?

The episode opens with Scully trying her best to live a normal FBI life, working on some boring old case, but nooo, here comes Mulder, excited as ever, dragging her into his latest freak show. He explains the case in his usual this-totally-makes-sense tone, and Scully listens patiently, probably thinking, “Please let this be a regular murderer. Just once.”

But nope! This guy’s been killing people and stealing their livers for decades, going into hibernation between murder sprees like some kind of evil, stretchy bear. Mulder is thrilled, of course, because nothing says I told you so like a liver-eating mutant, while Scully’s left wondering if maybe there was a better job opening somewhere.

Tooms is one creepy villain. With his deadpan stare and ability to fit into your chimney (Santa, but make it horrifying), he spends the episode popping out of walls and grates like he’s auditioning for a really twisted Cirque du Soleil act. At one point, he literally stretches through a tiny vent to break into a guy’s office, and Mulder’s reaction? Classic deadpan Mulder: "He came through the air duct." Yeah, because that’s totally normal.

The highlight has to be Mulder's growing excitement over how freakish the case is. He brings up Tooms' fingerprints, which are stretched out like Play-Doh, and Scully—ever the realist—starts off with, "That could be a glitch," only to eventually be like, “Okay, maybe this guy really is part human slinky.”

And let's not forget the moment where Scully ends up as Tooms’ next target. Cue the tension, where she realizes, "Great, now I’m in a horror movie.” Thankfully, Mulder saves the day, showing up just in time to stop Tooms before he can turn Scully into his next liver snack.

The episode ends with Tooms locked away in a padded cell, but Mulder’s not convinced it's over. He’s all like, “He’s gonna escape. Mark my words.” And Scully? She’s probably thinking, “Well, this is my life now.”

In short, Squeeze is the first episode that really dives into the weirdness that makes The X-Files iconic: Mulder hunting monsters with childlike glee, while Scully rolls with it like she’s not completely regretting every career choice that led her to this moment. It’s spooky, it's ridiculous, and it sets the bar for every mutant, stretchy, liver-loving villain to come.

The X-Files: Pilot (1x01)
lilly September 16, 2024, 12:09 ET

Aliens, Forests, and Mulder’s Obsession: The Birth of Scully’s Perpetual Eye Roll

In the X-Files pilot, we’re introduced to Fox Mulder—FBI’s most conspiracy-obsessed agent—and Dana Scully, who’s just been assigned the dubious task of babysitting him while he chases aliens like a 12-year-old chasing Bigfoot in his backyard.

From the get-go, Mulder is all in. He’s the kind of guy who keeps a drawer full of UFO clippings, probably talks to his cereal about government cover-ups, and definitely doesn't know how to use an "off" switch. Enter Scully, the skeptical doctor, sent by the higher-ups to keep him from going full tinfoil hat.

The episode wastes no time sending the duo into the woods where strange stuff is happening. Classic X-Files move: if something weird’s going down, it’s happening in the middle of a creepy forest with a fog machine working overtime. Mulder’s enthusiasm is off the charts, excitedly declaring, “This is it! This is where the aliens are!” while Scully’s face screams, “This guy cannot be serious.”

Naturally, things get bizarre. There’s a mysterious light in the sky (which for Mulder is basically a confirmation of everything he’s ever believed), kids with suspicious nosebleeds, and random time loss that Mulder treats like it's just another day at the office. At one point, the car mysteriously shuts down, and while most people would be freaked out, Mulder is grinning like he just found out he won a free trip to Roswell.

The best part? Mulder's utter joy when they lose nine minutes of time—like, who celebrates that? Scully looks like she’s reconsidering her entire career as Mulder yells, "Scully! This is real!" Meanwhile, Scully is probably thinking, “I signed up for forensic pathology, not alien scavenger hunts.”

Scully's big character-defining moment comes when she panics over some mysterious marks on her back, thinking they’re alien implants, only to discover... mosquito bites. Mulder, of course, doesn’t bat an eye, because for him, it’s not a proper case unless aliens or government agents are involved.

By the end of the episode, they find an exhumed body that’s definitely not human, but all the physical evidence they collect mysteriously disappears, which leads to Scully doing her classic "are we seriously doing this?" sigh while Mulder shrugs like, “Yep, that’s how it works around here.”

Overall, the pilot sets the perfect tone: Mulder is the enthusiastic believer who’s always one step away from full-on alien fanboy, and Scully is the straight-laced scientist whose life just got a lot weirder. It’s a wild ride into UFO madness, with just enough fog, flashlights, and unexplainable phenomena to make you wonder: how does Scully not quit after episode one?

The X-Files: Deep Throat (1x02)
lilly September 16, 2024, 12:09 ET

Yes, this one is called Deep Throat...

In Deep Throat, the second episode of The X-Files, we’re introduced to the world of government conspiracies, UFOs, and Mulder’s complete inability to follow good advice. Seriously, when a mysterious man named Deep Throat—whose name alone screams "trustworthy"—tells Mulder to back off, Mulder’s immediate reaction is, "Let's dig deeper!" Classic Mulder.

The episode kicks off with Mulder and Scully investigating the disappearance of an Air Force pilot involved in some shady UFO shenanigans. Mulder is, naturally, 110% convinced this is an alien conspiracy, while Scully continues to be the skeptical voice of reason, which—spoiler alert—will become her full-time job for the next nine seasons.

The real fun comes when Mulder breaks into a high-security military base (because that always goes well) and ends up chased by dudes in black with guns. And where’s Scully? Chillin’ outside in a car, possibly wondering why she ever agreed to work with this guy.

The highlight of the episode? Mulder getting caught by the military and memory-wiped, which somehow doesn’t phase him at all. He’s like, “Oh, I got abducted and lost time again? Just another Tuesday.”

Meanwhile, Deep Throat is lurking in the shadows, dropping cryptic warnings like he’s auditioning for a noir film, and Scully spends most of the episode side-eyeing Mulder’s terrible life choices. At one point, she even has to pull a gun on some guy to get their evidence back—because we all know Scully’s the real action hero here.

In conclusion, Deep Throat sets the tone for the rest of the series: Mulder runs headfirst into danger, Scully shakes her head, and we’re all left wondering why the U.S. government is so bad at keeping alien secrets. It’s a wild ride into the world of paranoid alien-hunting, and it’ll leave you asking, “How does Mulder still have a job after this?”

The X-Files: Field Trip (6x21)
RMuldrake December 12, 2007, 12:12 ET

Cleverly plotted

This unusual episode demonstrates Mulder and Scully's evolving relationsihp. It also provides some of the most shocking moments and surprises of the entire series.

By the end of season six, Mulder and Scully had moved past whatever differences between them created the conflict that came to a head at the end of the fifth season. Scully is now just as dedicated to Mulder as he is to finding the truth. But Mulder is beginning to question what his quest now entails. Mulder does not question his relationship with Scully but questions her outward attitudes toward his work. He understands her devotion but is clearly beginning to wonder what purpose her strict rationalism serves. They discuss this in the beginning very matter of factly. As the episode moves on, we are given the shock of the discovery of the Schiffs, Mulder abducting an alien, Mulder's death, etc. Yet each of these moments represents a fantastic hallucination manufactured by the character having it. Mulder wonders if finding an alien and definitively proving Scully wrong would be truly fulfilling. Scully wonders what it might cost for her to be right. Scully also removes the obstacle Mulder himself presents to her rationalism in her hallucination. And this is the point when the episode truly demonstrates her evolution as a character. Scully questions the coroner, Skinner and the lone gunmen when they present the theory that she, herself, advocate to Mulder when they began the case.

The ending does not disappoint and leaves the characters in a state that they can appreciate. They understand they need each other to continue. This episode also sets the show up nicely for the finale by pushing the limits of what might be revealed. In a way, it tests what the audience craves by presenting these fantasies. But all is not lost when the fantasies fade away. Mulder and Scully are left with a better understanding of their relationship and their mission. This episode was so ingenious on its first viewing. Yet some of what gives it its initial edge, keeps it from being an all-time favorite.

Entertainment 2/2; Writing 2/2; Directing1/2; Acting 2/2; Character 2/2: 5/5

The X-Files: Three of a Kind (6x20)
RMuldrake December 11, 2007, 12:12 ET

Above average

As a follow-up to last season's "Unusual Suspects," this episode provides a worthy conclusion.

For the second episode in a row we get an episode without the usual Mulder/Scully format. This was a good point in the series to develop supporting characters and their ongoing role. Interestingly enough, neither this episode nor "The Unnatural" accomplished that, but they were both still quality entertainment. "3 of a Kind" tells a story largely separate from the x-files. It incorporates a glossed over government conspiracy but this is not the strength of this episode. J.F. Byers takes center stage and reveals his dreams. He is haunted by his meeting with Suzanne Modeski in 1990 at a DefCon. He is nearly as concerned about her fate as he is the fate of his country. But in the end he chooses the unfortunate fate of most heroes and resists the comforts of a family with Suzanne in order to continue his quest with Langley and Frohike. That plot was a little weak and I would have been interested in the role of X after Modeski's disappearance.

The characterizations of the individual gunmen are intersting. Frohike seems more perceptive to Byers' internal conflict and Langley seems, especially in comparison, like a jerk. This is fairly consistent with their meetings in 1990 and their role on the x-files since.

Scully's appearance is clearly meant as comic relief and it works to an extent. But I wonder why she is the only one affected by the "suggestibility" injection the way she is. It is probably because she was not accounted for by Timmy (was that his name?) in the first place and he is just trying to get her out of the way. The episode is a good conclusion the the lone gunmen's separate adventures as we know of them. It might be a little out of place in the course of the season but I'm not sure where it might have worked better. Maybe soon after Two Fathers/One Son? In the end, the episode suffered a little by the absence of Mulder entirely and any real "X-File" case.

Entertainment 1/2Writing 1/2 Directing 2/2 Acting 1/2 Character 2/2: 7/10

The X-Files: The Unnatural (6x19)
RMuldrake December 11, 2007, 12:12 ET

Cleverly plotted

This episode veers more off course from the series format than any other, which allows it to tell a very original and a very charming story that no one expects from the x-files. This episode is closest to "Post Modern Prometheus" in its tragic and poignant story-telling and it's upbeat ending.

There is little interaction between Mulder and Scully in this episode. But what little there is, demonstrates their reactions to the in-depth exposition from "Milagro." M&S; are becoming comfortable around each other personally but some professional barriers will still present obstacles to their relationship in the coming episodes. Obviously their faiths remain separate at this point but their respect for one another has definitely evolved.

The X-Files: Milagro (6x18)
RMuldrake December 9, 2007, 12:12 ET

Revealing

A horiffying tale of how the love in your heart might be literally stolen away serves as a backdrop for a much needed exposition of Scully's current psyche.

”Milagro” was like a Spotnizified classic Morgan & Wong script, this episode presented a horrifying case that served only as a backdrop for an intense study of Mulder & Scully’s relationship. The post-“One Son” relationship was not so clearly developed. “One Son” ended with Scully appropriately pissed at Mulder for essentially abandoning her and his quest for Agent Fowley. “Agua Mala” addressed this only with a brief final scene in which Arthur Dales encourages Mulder to show more appreciation for his partner. “Arcadia” ignored it nearly entirely through an albeit entertaining diversion (though Scully did seem annoyed in many of those scenes). “Monday” was also entertaining but was constrained in any character development by its format. “Alpha” actually demonstrated the most animosity by Scully towards Mulder (in the form of jealousy, yet again). But here we finally get the opportunity required for the necessary exposition to deal with Scully’s current psyche. Through a tortured writer’s prose (profiling?) we get a very revealing glimpse at Scully’s heart and fears.

Agent Scully began her work on the X-Files as a fiercely independent and strictly rational scientist. She worried she was a disappointment to her father (“Beyond the Sea” “One Breath” “The Blessing Way”). At times she stood firmly up against Mulder’s crazy ideas with her science (“Deep Throat” “731” “Field Where I Died” “Never Again”). Yet more often than not she was left clinging to disparate scientific theories when Mulder’s explanations were more satisfying. Since “The Red and the Black” and “Fight the Future” she has been more willing to hear out Mulder’s point of view. But she’s not ready to believe in him. Only fairly recently was she fully re-acquainted with her own personal beliefs and faith in the Church. When the series began she had drifted from these beliefs, partly due to her scientific mind and partly due to her estrangement from her father. Yet in “Redux II” and “All Souls” she seems very firmly rooted in her faith, a characteristic that Mr. Padgett only glosses over here.

Scully’s journey on the show seems to be nearly complete. She has rediscovered her own beliefs and has dealt with the more overt mysteries surrounding her abduction, the chip in her neck, etc. Yet this does not address a central aspect of her life. Why has she chosen to remain alone? Why does she still stand by Mulder? Just as Padgett says he must know a character more completely than she knows herself, he also possesses the answers to these questions before Scully will learn them. Bringing us to Mr. Padgett. He understands that Scully seeks validation. He comes to understand that Scully is fully in love with Mulder. His novel addresses these themes by bringing in the Brazilian to symbolize “man’s only true power” over what he might possess in his own heart. This power is what Padgett believes to be in his own heart – hate, evil and destruction. His final act is an offer of proof that he might possess more. His final act is an offer of proof that he might possess more. He also managed to frighten Scully to an extent not seen since “Irresistible” when she was being abducted every other week. This marks the first legitimate “breakdown” she has in front of Mulder.

The crimes themselves are crucial but very horrifying and distracting to the story. The Brazilian himself offers a chilling observation in the following dialogue: “[Scully] is a doctor, she would be horrified by what you do” “I’m horrified!” This and the fact that some of Padgett’s prose sounds more like Chris Carter’s overwrought dialogue are really the only flaws to the episode. “Milagro” serves a much needed purpose at this point in the 6th season and sets up Scully’s frame of mind nicely for what may come next.
5/5

The X-Files: Alpha (6x16)
RMuldrake December 8, 2007, 12:12 ET

Average

"Alpha" attempts at some analysis of Mulder and Scully's relationship that was mostly repetitive but still interesting. It also has one of the highest body counts of the series, which becomes extremely distracting to a decent but average episode.
Here, Scully is given yet another opportunity to show how jealous she can become. With Diana Fowley temporarily out of the picture due to their recent re-assignments, Scully manages to focus her jealousy on Mulder's internet friend, the dog lady. On a deeper level, this shows her waning commitment to Mulder's quest, which has been an issue for her since "The End" and came to a head in "Fight the Future" and "One Son." From that standpoint, it provides an interesting segue between "One Son" and "Milagro." Again, the deaths were ultra-violent and ultra-distracting. The plot was average and felt like it had been done before. Detweiler's personality was never fully explored and Mulder's revelation came fairly late in the story and without much explanation as to how he arrived there. Most fans remember this episode for the return of the "I Want ot Believe" poster to Mulder's office. Mulder hangs it after Scully leaves and I imagine he is thinking what many fans and viewers were - Why does this give the appearance that everything has finally returned to the pre-FTF status quo when the truth has seemingly come and gone? Where do we go from here? What does Mulder now want to believe in? Surely he now has a firm belief that his sister was abducted by alien colonists as part of a conspiracy with the syndicate. I can only attempt to answer the question by stating that maybe Karin Berquist's death led him to question his larger role in life. He has accomplished more than he could have hoped for with regards to the alien conspiracy. Yet he is still seeking an explanation for evil in the world and why sacrifices are demanded of the innocent. Yes, this is a stretch but the episode provides little else to discuss. Scary dog, lots of bloody biting and ripping of flesh are not the reasons I watch the show.

The X-Files: Monday (6x14)
RMuldrake December 7, 2007, 12:12 ET

Highly entertaining and fairly intellectual in the philosophical subtexts

Regarded by many as a "series classic," "Monday" stands out as a memorable addition that manages to fit in the recent continuity only by a clever but entertaining plot. Yet the episode could easily be viewed by a casual fan or a seasoned viewer at any time.

The ordering of the 4 episodes after the "Two Fathers"/"One Son" arc seemed to be confused from the beginning. Technically, "Arcadia" was filmed first, which makes sense because it is Mulder and Scully's first official x-file since "The End." But on air and on the DVD sets it is ordered third, behind "Agua Mala" and "Monday." I prefer to think of "Agua Mala" as a side trip while offscreen reassignments were taking place (Diana Fowley, Mulder & Scully) and the x-files office was being prepared for Mulder's return. "Arcadia" then makes sense to be the next episode and then "Monday" representing the agents' official return to the office sans "I Want to Believe" poster, which had burned to a crisp with most of Mulder's other personal items. This episode fits nicely here because careful viewing illustrates the growth in Mulder and Scully. Since "One Son," Scully is more in a position to buy into Mulder's theories and leave an administrative meeting without a second thought. More dramatically, in Act 4, she follows his directions to bring a stranger off the street under a belief that she is the key to stopping a bank robbery (not intuitive outside the context of the first 3 acts of which only Mulder has a hazy memory).

The final scene in "Agua Mala" not only contained the only notable dialogue from that episode, but also gave Scully a foundation for her belief in her partner that she demonstrates here. Yet these minor character developments are lost to the grander device at work in the episode. This is the reason casual fans appreciate this episode so much. It has no elements of the mythology and the character development from the 5th and first half of the 6th season is eclipsed by the plot. The plot does have holes and the ending, Mulder "remembering" does seem like a cop-out. But it also seems like writers Vince Gilligan and John Shiban were not lazy. They likely had alternative endings in mind, some of which were attempted and ultimately proven to be failures in the episode itself (e.g., Scully entering the bank first). In addition, the reason the "loop" began is never fully explained. The implication is that the woman was fated to die and the day must repeat until she did. Other interpretations: The "Dreamland" theory - Mulder's waterbed set in motion the series of events that led to his confrontation with Bernard and the subsequent explosion. Since this waterbed was left behind by the time loop in "Dreamland" its presence interfered with the natural course of events. Scully theory - As per "Clyde Bruckman" and "Tithonus" Scully is fated to live and the woman's death is a casualty that could have been assumed by anyone to prevent Scully's death. In the end, this is more of an episode of the Twilight Zone, only with major recurring characters as the leads. However, it proves to be highly entertaining and fairly intellectual in the philosophical subtexts.

Entertainment 2/2 Writing 1/2 Directing 2/2 Acting 2/2 Character 2/2: 9/10

The X-Files: Biogenesis (6x22)
RMuldrake December 14, 2007, 12:12 ET

Pivotal

Biogenesis is a turning point in the show's mythology and for most of the show's characters. It also incorporates all the elements that make the show great.

Biogenesis combines all the essential x-files themes: science, faith and the pursuit of the truth. But unlike other episodes, it propels Scully's character into the forefront of the quest for extraterrestrial life and forces her to question her disbelief and her scientific and biblical understanding of life.

Biogenesis is capable of combining the two elements Scully once thought impossible, the bible and extraterrestrial life. The two are literally intertwined in the opening scene on the Cote d'Ivoire when the artifact spins itself into the Bible precisely marking Genesis. Perhaps, such an explicit collision illustrates the degree of force required to overcome Scully's extremely rigid scientific rationalism and belief that she and Mulder have already uncovered "the truth" by exposing the syndicate.

The beginning of the episode is dominated by Mulder and his "decline" in reaction to the artifact. This is all set up for the beginning of season 7 and onward. The religious overtones are brought forth hard and heavy in this first installment of the "new" mythology. They would continue to dominate much of the show to its conclusion. This episode also begins to set Mulder up as the "king" or "god," a necessary element to the telling of these new stories.

The remainder of the episode and the inevitable discovery in the final scene is left only for Scully to discover. Why is it Scully and not Smoking Man or Mulder who discovers the UFO? The DVD title to the last scene is telling - "The Big Picture." It has been so easy for Scully to write off Mulder's theories one by one in the past, but when she is forced to step back and look at the "big picture," she cannot avoid the magnitude of the implications arising from her discovery. Moreover, Scully has no one to turn to with the discovery. Apparently Mulder is insane. She knows she cannot trust Fowley or Skinner. Ironically, she has taken on the attributes of the "early Mulder" who quickly learned he could trust no one (but now seems to act like an idiot anytime he is around Fowley). But this plays into the seduction of the "king" or "god" angle of the overarching storyline. Fowley is brought to Mulder (likely by Krycek) when he is weak and suffering from the effects of the initial exposure to the alien radiation.

It is fitting that when Scully begins to learn of this truth, she is witnessing the Navajo "blessing way chant" that once restored life to Mulder. Albert Hosteen always represented a form of spirituality. Scully has too, to an extent, especially in contrast to Mulder. But here, she tells Dr. Santoz that she does not "share in their faith." Despite the obvious differences between Catholicism and the Navajo faith, had it not been for recent events, Scully would have undoubtedly had faith and not used that as an excuse not to participate. After her discovery, Scully will be able to more freely entertain ideas that once seemed ludicrous to her. Just as Scully has managed to reconcile her faith and her science, her discovery might force her or allow her to merge a third extraterrestrial element into this belief.

Solid 5/5

The X-Files: The Sixth Extinction (7x01)
RMuldrake December 17, 2007, 12:12 ET

Character development

An interesting deviation from ordinary mythology format but an interesting combination of the plotlines developed in the season 6 finale and a character study all on its own.

The teaser is a nice segue to "Biogenesis" in that it really reflects Scully's state of mind after the events of that episode. She tells herself she does not believe in what she is doing. But she presses on out of devotion to her partner and her determination to find a cure for his illness, something she has always been able to do. This has always been her strength as an investigator – applying strict rationalism and scientific principles to matters that are designated as "unexplained" because previous attempts to do so have failed. The entirely supernatural "signs" and "warnings" that she receives while on the Cote d'Ivoire, are so clearly inexplicable that all Scully can do is ignore them and continue with what she does know. These happenings all continue to push her in the direction she was headed at the end of "Biogeneis" – to finally "believe." The scene between her and Skinner echoes nicely the final scene of "The Beginning." But this time, Scully does not state extraterrestrial life as a mere theory, she states it rather definitively and bases the rest of her argument around it. More interestingly, Skinner, for the first time, announces his willingness to believe. Undoubtedly Skinner's involvement with Michael Kritchgau was the catalyst for this belief, but the seeds had been planted over years of work with the x-files, albeit not in the field. Michael Kritchgau returns as a man clearly vengeful of what the government did to him and his son. He is obsessed in finding proof, and it makes it easier to compromise any morals since the potential sacrifice for this proof is Mulder, the man who effectively ruined him.

The resolution is definitely not satisfying, even though it was the middle chapter. The climax and "to be continued" moment was lacking (literally) compared to "Biogenesis." Scully's second voice over needed more emphasis on her character, more like the one beginning this episode or the one beginning the final act of "Biogenesis." However, "The Sixth Extinction" lays a foundation for what is to come on the series, especially in season 7. It puts more emphasis on character than most mythology episodes have in a while.

Entertainment 1/2;Writing 1/2 Directing 2/2 Acting 2/2 Character 2/2: 8/10

The X-Files: The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati (7x02)
RMuldrake December 20, 2007, 12:12 ET

Pivotal

So many levels, so much character development, and actually a lot of answers and plot developments. Sets the stage for a great but unique season.

"Amor Fati" departure from the subject matter of the previous two episodes is made apparent from the beginning. At first you assume we are right back on Cote d'Ivoire where "The Sixth Extinction" left off. Instead, we are in Fox Mulder's dream – maybe even a dream within a dream – at the higher level of cognition that we witnessed being demonstrated for Skinner and Kritchgau. This episode really requires some unpacking so bear with me.

The themes from the previous two episodes carry over but the plots do not so much. Mulder's headaches are quickly explained as a biological reaction of his altered body chemistry from exposure to purity/black oil in "Tunguska" to the cosmic galactic radiation from the rubbing. Ok. So this has made him an alien-human hybrid now with the necessary genes to survive an alien invasion/infection of earth/humans. Ok. CSM wants this DNA. It was original plan to accomplish this through the syndicate and their hybridization program, but this plan changed somewhere along the lines of when: (1) he learned of Mulder's infection and "cure" in "Tunguska"/"Terma"; (2) he realized the role Mulder could play and thus began manipulating him much more than before "Redux" and; (3) when he became aware of the alien colonists "Patient X" – "The End." Ok. Oh, and CSM is Mulder's father. I thought we were already assuming this? Ok. So Mulder is the savior of humanity but CSM is going to take that ability so he is assured that he will be "saved" from the coming plague of purity/black oil. Well we don't really get an explanation of whether or not Mulder retained this ability or whether CSM really acquired it. But this plays nicely into the initial secution that began by Fowley in "Biogenesis" the next natural plot progression is the usurpation of Mulder's role by CSM. Now Fowley's alliances come into play. She is allied to CSM for her own survival and to be part of the project, and in a minor way, the X-files. She still loves Mulder in some weird way. But what saves Mulder in part is that Fowley retained some humanity. She saw what Mulder was being put through and the selfish ends it would serve, which led her to risk her own life to save his. Guilt probably played into this decision as well but notice that despite Fowley's initial steps toward redemption, it is Scully that find Mulder, saves him and essentially creates in him a re-awakening symbolized by the "resurrection" on the operating table.

Kritchgau's character is really the only one that doesn't make sense here. He's all of a sudden a believer in aliens? And he's attempting to have this data analyzed by someone within the government, so he's gone back to those who cast him aside so easily? Well this kind of looks like a plot device until in steps the ultimate plot device. Krycek cleans up the Kritchgau story in a very dissatisfying and unfulfilling way. Not a good way to handle the end to a very interesting character. Krycek, on the other hand, does have an important role to play. He leaves Kritchgau's apartment with the data that Scully and Dr. Barnes collected on the beach and whatever else Kritchgau was able to obtain from his government people. This is a wealth of knowledge, which might include vital information on the hybridization process that Mulder and CSM were involved in, that might even be able to put Krycek on the same footing as CSM. But this isn't resolved until later in the season.

This trilogy of episodes has really been more about Scully than about anything else. By the end of "The Sixth Extinction," Scully is ready to believe in aliens but not yet sure how to reconcile that with the rest of her beliefs and values. Now, Albert Hosteen leads her to that answer. Scully's strength as an investigator is surely her science and rational nature. But her strength in her relationship with Mulder also comes from her faith and spirituality. Albert helps her realize that this has guided her all along. When she was fatally ill, it was her return to faith, just as much as it was alien technology that cured her. She now has to embrace this in order to continue with Mulder. For all the times this episode alluded to Mulder being the savior of humanity, in this episode, it is Scully who realizes how she might save Mulder (not just from CSM). She will not begin to take steps toward this for at least a few more episodes but it is foreshadowed nicely in the dream sequences.

On a different level, this episode really tests the audience's tolerance to change. Much more of this is to come. In addition, it establishes a theme and a direction for the show here on out. The theme for the first two episodes of season 7 is faith and fate. Both of these themes will be explored constantly throughout the season. Scully's character as established here will be important to this exploration, and Mulder's development in relation to these themes will also be important. These episodes also take the show in a direction more towards exploring the main characters and resolving their issues. At this point in the show, a lot of the big-picture plotlines have been resolved but there are still big-picture issues for both Mulder and Scully that have, until now, created a barrier between them. This is where that slowly begins to erode away. Scully is now at least willing to see things from Mulder's perspective. She also knows her role to play in their relationship. Mulder has at least a foundation for a newfound optimism. His rebuilding the spaceship with the boy symbolize more than just his re-investment in his quest to find his sister, but a never before seen optimism that it is not all for not, despite facts that indicate otherwise. Good starting point for another creative season.

Entertainment 2/2 Writing 1/2 Directing 2/2 Acting 2/2 Character 2/2: 9/10

The X-Files: Millennium (7x04)
RMuldrake February 8, 2008, 12:02 ET

Above average

Decent episode of the X-files but an unfulfilling conclusion to Millennium.
"Millennium" is an awkward episode on a couple of levels but it does fit nicely at this point in season 7. We have Scully confront a real (un)live zombie. All of the zombie stuff was just over the top and on the verge of unintentionally comical. The incorporation of Frank Black and the Millennium Group failed miserably as an episode, much less a conclusion, to the series Millennium.

The fact that I did not like season 3 of Millennium might have something to do with this. I enjoyed Frank's "profiling" but missed his "flashes." Since the episode was more from Mulder and Scully's point of view, I guess this is acceptable. I was glad to have the religious overtone present but it seemed downplayed by the fact that the case involved only 4 members of the group who spurred off onto their own mission. This is necessary, though, because the group was not just a weird shamanistic cult about zombies. That is as far as I go with the Millennium aspect.

This episode was an X-file and it presented all of the challenges of a typical X-file and really forced Scully to confront some hair-raising stuff for the second time this season (see "Sixth Extinction"). It also forced her, again, to consider her faith but this aspect could have been given much more attention. We only get a brief theological discussion between her and Frank, which never really scratched the surface. There was so much potential in that discussion alone. The scene in the basement was kind of retro-horror scary but as I previously mentioned, it was also a bit over the top. Mulder and Scully kiss for the first time and it is spawned not by deep longing and affection as it nearly was in "Amor Fati" but by New Year's Eve. Still, their facial expressions afterwards spoke volumes more than much of the episode managed to accomplish.

This was pretty standard as far as an X-file goes with no major flaws (although Frank's profile was so good it was almost a plot device) but the fact that it fits so nicely thematically with where the show is going is what gives it style. Scully is not quick to dismiss anything and although it is still her rational and methodical detective skills that save Mulder and Frank, she still embraces her faith.
Note, as a Millennium episode:
Entertainment 0/2 Writing 0/2 Directing 1/2 Acting 2/2 Character 1/2: 4/10.
As an X-file:
Entertainment 2/2 Writing 0/2 Directing 1/2 Acting 2/2 Character 2/2: 7/10

The X-Files: The Goldberg Variation (7x06)
RMuldrake January 25, 2008, 12:01 ET

Maybe he can't see his way to the door.

Keeping with one of the themes of the season, fate, the agents become vaguely aware of their role in the life of a very lucky janitor and a dying boy.

"The Sixth Extinction" and "Amor Fati" set up this season nicely. Faith and Fate predominate season 7 thematically. GBV deals with fate nicely. Each and every action taken by Mulder and Scully in this episode is part of a larger scheme. That scheme may or may not be the central character's "luck" and the reverse effect on those around him. In fact, Henry Weems is the unfortunate victim of bad luck on several occasions in this episode, seemingly beginning when Scully (the immortal) draws the Ace. But as it turns out, Henry's luck is not as important as fate's overarching plans. Maybe this is just fate's way of dealing Richie a cure. Henry Weems becomes fate's tool. It uses his "luck" to affect those around him to cause all events to fall into place so that Richie is able to survive and be healed. Why does fate want this to happen? Of course we'll never know but it is encouraging. Mulder and Scully are left to play a more minor role in this episode and some of what intitially seems forced humor ends up serving a larger purpose. Mulder's bad plumbing skills, for instance, put the agents in contact with Henry. This is definitely not Henry’s luck.

Anyway, at this point in the series, it is important to note that both Mulder and Scully both readily accept the broad sweeping notion of fate. Fate will continue to play a role in this season as both characters march towards the inevitable in their own separate ways. More importantly, faith will also be addressed soon and will serve an equal if not greater role in their lives.

At times it seems as though the actors are winging it in these early episodes of season 7. Maybe the style of the episode is a little different than what they're used to. It's not clear how Fox wanted to market this episode from its preview and maybe the actors and directors were not sure how to handle the material. There is some quality entertainment and there are some nice character moments, one of my favorites being when Scully cracks a "Mulder" joke - "Maybe he can't see his way to the door."

Entertainment 2/2 Writing 2/2 Directing 1/2 Acting 1/2 Character 2/2: 4/5

The X-Files: 731 (3x10)
DuaneB September 4, 2019, 12:09 ET

Explosive

This second part is at least as exciting as the first.
Although hindsight forces me to point out some redundancies about the second world war, the fact that the series faces the history by incorporating it skilfully its mythology testifies of its intelligence, as well as of its inventiveness.

The fiery and fearless Mulder of the train reminds us with happiness that of Skyland moutain. Paranoia and constant danger make this episode breathless and, to say the least, explosive.

The other big positive point is that Scully is finally confronted with the consortium, which has the effect of shaking up his beliefs and reinforcing his personal involvement as a victim of abduction.
The train scenes are great, as are the leprosy scenes. The sets are realistic and always soaked with the Vancouver's aura. For having been on the site of the explosion of the train, I can say that little has changed, but especially that this series was also and especially the result of talented workers. The locations team knew how to give space and colors to the inventiveness of Cris Carter. If only mythology could have remained of this quality ...

Special mention also for Mark Snow, always in great shape.

10/10!

The X-Files: E.B.E. (1x17)
DuaneB May 17, 2019, 12:05 ET

Mulder's real Father

Absolute fan of this episode. Everything is perfect, until the magnificent frustration of not seeing the so called E.T. This frustration side works very well. The seduction revived by two small sentences with the famous Frohike's "she's hot", subtly confirmed by Mulder in the office after. The car chase in the city center. Even the interrogation scene is subtle.All these ellements make this episode a great one. The very first appearance of the LGM with the Byers tirade of paranoia... The spinning truck, Mulder's humor with the hot dog, and the final scene in the military zone with Deept Throat moving away in the dark.

DEEP THROAT OR THE BETRAYAL OF THE FATHER

And of course, we can not forget to highlight the beautiful scenes, the careful writing and - I dare say - philosophical character Deep Throat.The real disapointment felt by Mulder could perfectly be understood as a first time you discover your father lied to you, of course to protect you. This betrayal is all the stronger because it is double. First, with regard to the object itself of betrayal, namely the faked photo. But especially the psychological betrayal, the rampage of the only confidence that mulder placed in him. It is in this that one can speak of the betrayal of the father. Mulder had to intuitively know that Deept Throat was an extension of the intimate in the work. The usurpation of the absent father by a present informant. The slightest misstep of this figure is therefore felt like a knife in the back.

To me, this episode is to rank alongside Fallen Angel and Deep Throat, not only for the obvious to be mythologic, but especially for their continuous quality. Not a minute is to be thrown away. The thing is confirmed with the final The Erlenmeyer's flask. The mytho episodes of this first season are brilliant.
I believe that the writing offers a true quiet evolution of the characters whith an incredible paranoÃ¯a, which gives us a real satisfaction. It's smart and rythmic. It hurts when you go back to watch the revival after that...

10/10!

The X-Files: First Person Shooter (7x13)
DuaneB April 13, 2019, 12:04 ET

BOF!

Like we say in french when we do not really like something: bof. It means here that this episode is not the worst, but clearly not the best.

Why?
With time, it's like I could see more in details all the defaults, the weakness of the writing, the storytelling. And the less we can say is that Chris Carter signed here a confusing clichÃ© about the man position about video games. But in the other hand, I know that he was right too. Come on men! Who never played for hours and hours. Everyone knows that the fighting games are more popular with masculine customer than the feminine one. So this okay for this finding.

But the behavior CC gives to men in this episode is more of stupidity, manly puerility, than real virility.

The LGM and feminism:
Back to teenagers, the LGM fall in the same trap as Mulder. The degree of stupidity due on the one hand to the game with multiple realities, and on the other hand this Maitreya takes hostage the intelligence of the male characters. Which gives women the position of big winners by deduction.
Second argument, Maitreay is the glamour bitch who absorbes the teststerone to turn it into strengh to kill guilty men. They have been too supid, too vulgar, too macho. So by Maitreya, I find a vigilante figure who rebalances the relations between men and women.
The only interesting moment, like a more realistic and endurable feminism, is when Scully falls in the same trap as men do, it gives a fight betwen the crazy side of the video game, and Scully's wisdom who has to kill Maitreya.
But the result is that our gentle LGM are completly unusefull. There are more like spectators fo their own stupid world. And if there was an intention to threat about AI, it is absorbed by latent sexuality. Just remember how Mulder looked at Maitreya, how stupid were the LGM.

Scully
As a female character she wins. She is the double winner. She first win over Mulder and men, and she wins over Maitreya (means over the machine, the banality of men's fantaisies).

Conclusion:
Apart from some work on the realization, this episodde falls too easily into a small basic morality but still contemporary and anticipatory: the woman is the tomorrow man. This conclusion didn't worth taking a real x files episode as hostage.

The X-Files: 4-D (9x04)
Gruic February 12, 2019, 12:02 ET

Tribute to Agent Reyes

Long time ago, I liked the episode but on the same time I was sad that's that was not Scully and Mulder during the last scene. Today, after season 10 and 11, I'm very glad that Reyes and Doggett could have that very special moment together.

Skinner on the field is amazing, that's sad they had to cut 2 scenes of him.

Lukesh is a good character. Slaughterer, giving tongues to his mother... he is like a preadator we could find on a MillenniuM episode.

The music is amazing. The theme song "Pulling the Plug" by, of course, Mark Snow, is one of my favourite of the whole series.

A very good episode.

The X-Files: Paper Hearts (4x10)
DuaneB January 4, 2019, 12:01 ET

x files heart

After all, and because I think I have been enough the one who cares about underestimated episodes, I would like to come back to this wonderfull episode.

The musician I am is more seduce thant the fan I still am. I mean that the first thing that kept me even for the first time was the music of Snow. This element is the main thing, the heart of the episodes, wich gives the perfect tone, rythme and poetry that belongs of the show from the early pilote episode.

The story is a good idea, even if In a certain way I allways had an impression of fan service about bringing back Samantha. Samantha Mulder had become a mantra-like, the spirit you call to give more concistance to Mulder.

However, the episode is a masterpiece anyway. For two main reasons:
The first one is that it shows Mulder's real psychologic injury. And this is at the same time his power, his vibrant and caracteristic obsession wich is the origine and energy of the show from the very beginning.
The second one is the MSR. There is in this episode a tremendous not shown seduction operating by Mulder on Scully that grows togather with the dramatic circonstances, and that gives a real tension and mesmerizes us throughout the episode. In fact, this tension could define the show itself.

From Roche's point of view, it turns much more interesting, since we have a perfect use of Mulder's injury. John Lee Roche is very carismatic as well, but in th bad sence. His psychological ascendancy on Mulder is perfectly held and reversed at the end, and the so delicious motel scene is the key.

Of course I didn't speak about the poetry references, the perfect tempo the episode shows. Scully, is both a mother, a partner and probably a hidden lover, but this is my UST side who speaks, doesn't it? The reality is that, like most of the episodes of this season, everyone is in its perfect and totaly assumed role. Scully skeptic but never a brake. Skinner with his hierarchical autority togather with a certin admirtion for Mulder's abilities and cleverness. And Mulder the believer but blinded.

Many scenes are pleasant. My favorites are when Mulder cut the bench in the car. Another with the examination in jail with Roche. Love when he asks to Teana if they'd bought any vacuum "Electrovac" Duchesse. The last one is the motel one, when Mulder gets Roche.

Outstanding.

The X-Files: Home Again (10x04)
Vivi September 17, 2018, 12:09 ET

RIP Margaret

This episode is for me one of the best of the season 10.

First I like the idea behind the main theme which is so topical. All big towns try to hide its homeless persons because it gives a bad image. But no one really ask them what they want and what they think or what they need. They have lost their right to ask and to be heard when they have lost their home. No solution to help them to change their situation is really seeked. They are just moved (far away....) because if we don't see them, we think the problem is solved.

Second I like the conclusion of the character of Margaret Scully. This is the end for her and her last words are for the 2 people she doesn't see anymore : her son Charlie and her grandson William. Obviously two big regrets that she has cared until her death. Scully has to face many questions about her mother whose she will never have answers. I think this is true because when one of our parent or relative dies, we always have interrogations or worst: regrets.

Finally the last scene between Scully and Mulder is very harrowing and right. Scully is questionning herself because of the death of her own mother and her regrets about her son Charlie. She is worried that william would think that his mother has abandoned him because she doesn't care of him.

In conclusion, this episode has touched me for the veracity of every single theme it tackles.

The X-Files: Kill Switch (5x11)
DuaneB September 9, 2018, 12:09 ET

Ghoticnet

I'm not a real fan of AI, but I have to say that this episode took me from the first time.
I think I was seduced by the idea to upload your own life, your mind in a virtual world.

This episode is a perfect compromise between the seriousness of the introduction and the comic due to the very sliced â€‹â€‹deviation between Scully and Esther Nairn. This raises an interesting contrast between two intelligent women who repel each other like magnets.
The episode therefore includes many qualities.
The first is to print a mysterious and rhythmic context from the pre-generic scene.
The second is to introduce us into a crazy world where technology makes possible the fantasy of man to be able to surpass death. at least find an alternative. In a way, this episode anticipates our era enormously.
Finally, the episode features the classic believer-skeptical opposition game that works more than ever, with a Scully forced to believe the incredible by the facts.
Visually, the episode offers a show worthy of the big screen. We can only assume all the work that such an episode requires.
The scene with the LGM is very representative of x filian humor, without the episode pouring into the grotesque comedy. It is in my opinion perfectly found and dosed.
Some could see, pushing things a little further, a touch of underlying feminism since we are shown a Mulder in another dimension, which would be impregnated of the four members, and who would be miraculously saved by a Scully master of kung fu.

The music fits so well with this episode. Snow's alternation between a kind of echoing murmur and the little narrative music on the piano works very well and gives the episode, as in this season in general, a touch of mystery and enchantment that I have always loved.The open conclusion with a new motorhome valid here again a beautiful explosive episode.
It's always a pleasure to watch this episode, and

The X-Files: The Rain King (6x08)
danascully09 September 9, 2018, 12:09 ET

I'm always moved

Really it is an underrated episode, I'm amazed how the writers could have dealt with this subject matter in the series and wow it worked. Humor, fluff, but a real investigation. Every detail needs a look, and there are a lot of epic quotes. I always laugh when M & S arrived by plane and there is a young cheerleader behind her father!
The characters are well played, the cast is good for everyone. DD and GA are so funny. Really it's an episode which brings balm for the heart!

"when I've got they used to call the blues...Nothing is really wrong..."

The X-Files: How the Ghosts Stole Christmas (6x06)
danascully09 September 9, 2018, 12:09 ET

merry christmas

I love everything in this episode, from the beginning to the end. 2 loneliness forever melted.
10/10 for the music Mark Snow rocks.
the old house is really beautiful, reminds me of a 90's movie for children called Casper which I liked because of the house too and its bookshelves :)

The X-Files: Triangle (6x03)
danascully09 September 9, 2018, 12:09 ET

Amazing and original

Always a pleasure to watch this amazing episode with this brilliant direction.
I put a 10/10 BUT: I watched it this week and: why is there not a 1939 Mulder on the boat, dealing with the 1999 one?

The X-Files: Drive (6x02)
danascully09 September 9, 2018, 12:09 ET

experiments again

I love when the episodes are about gouvernment experiments on american innocent citizens. This one is really well played and moving with Bryan Cranston. There's humor, paranoia, lies, disobbeyence, and a good investigation. The end is unbelievable and sad. We hate Kersh with pleasure!

The X-Files: The Beginning (6x01)
danascully09 September 9, 2018, 12:09 ET

new age

Happy to have them back, but it's hard in the beginning to accept the skeptic Scully, I want to support the stuborness of Mulder.
The new storyline with birth of violent aliens is thrilling. Love the desert too, the Homer character too ;)
No reason to hate Fowley in this ep I'm disappointed lol.
Scully and Gibson made a good duo I love their relationship she is so kind to him. Hard to believe she could not have protected him in the hospital...
Love the last scene when we contemplate the wordless communication between Gibson and the grey.

The X-Files: The End (5x20)
danascully09 September 9, 2018, 12:09 ET

moving last scene

The reason of this episode is really the last scene, WOW the emotion is overwhelming, I can barely watch.
I love Gibson, I really think the entire show would have dealt with him much. The way we figure out the link between CSM and Jeffrey is really cool with this little mailboy in the snow.
First meeting with Diana and we HATE her already. We want to hold Scully and tell her to not give up the trust and the friendship it's just a matter of time.
There is something wrong with the scene of the video where Mulder finds the threat was over Gibson, too simple even a 5 yo boy could have found it.
Wonderful music as ever

The X-Files: Folie à Deux (5x19)
danascully09 September 9, 2018, 12:09 ET

love that monster

I love the monster, I love the ambiance, I love the zombies, everything makes sense in the crazy world of open spaces, and I really enjoy the scene where Mulder has to defend Skinner and is finally felt like a sick person.
And last but not least, the folie Ã deux happens on Scully too!

The X-Files: The Pine Bluff Variant (5x18)
danascully09 September 9, 2018, 12:09 ET

manipulation forever

Although it is hard to understand why Scully was unaware of Mulder's undercover operation, putting them in difficult positions, even in danger, the rest of the episode is great. I'm always shivering when Mulder's is about to being shot in the head, DD is amazing in that scene.
However I watched it again some days ago and I didn't understand why the toxin is immediately lethal and not afterwards... and how it can stay a long time on the money?

The X-Files: All Souls (5x17)
danascully09 September 9, 2018, 12:09 ET

Hard to understand the religious matters

The good reason of this episode is Scully and her need to grieve. I love when she's in doubt and when Mulder has to become the skeptic one. The episode is good except for the last scene I hardly undertand, why the devil stands at the door frame and does not find the last girl himself?

The X-Files: Kitsunegari (5x08)
danascully09 September 9, 2018, 12:09 ET

can't bu pusher but good sequel

I think it is a good idea to introduce the character of linda in this sequel, and it's a pleasure to find back RP Modell, well played as before. The only scene I regret is when Mulder goes alone to meet modell in the building because he is really aware of the risks and it's a big mistake. Same thing with Skinner talking alone with Modell...
Love the scene where the kine dies

The X-Files: The Post-Modern Prometheus (5x05)
danascully09 September 9, 2018, 12:09 ET

PERFECT

Huge pleasure to watch this episode with amazing characters in countryside America, well-played humor, moving philophy and wonderful music from Mark Snow and Cher, what a duo lol
CC did it perfectly, the direction is really good.

The X-Files: Je Souhaite (7x21)
DuaneB September 6, 2018, 12:09 ET

Funny but clever

Finally a comical episode that is really funny, but at the same time that raises a little level. There is really a hug job and it feels! 1, It is a wonderful idea to take up the legend of Aladdin and exploit the paranormal phenomena that derive from, and 2 to exploit the misery of man when to his selfishness or false altruism. This episode is VERY philosophical. In my opinion much more than the 11x04. Here, Gilligan does not need to sink into the headache to give us reflexions, it's all very clear. No need for big cynical blums and clichÃ©s. The genius is simply monstrous lucidity.
I think that x files was absolutly not a funny show. However, if it's well done, build, with a real message clearly translated despite the characters, it works very well.
Every time I watch this episode it is a hug pleasure. An amazing work wich slat from the others humoristics ones of this season. The best quality being hte fact that Gilligan succeded in holding our tow main character while cleverly introducing the so funny Genie.
I give it a 10/10!

The X-Files: The Red and the Black (5x14)
danascully09 August 30, 2018, 12:08 ET

cult scenes

Scully's alive it's a relief. Cassandra's abducted... Again.
The hypnosis scene is awesome but Scully needs Mulder's trust and he remains skeptic.
We understand that there are conflicts inside of the consortium, and the poor Marita who wanted to be freed pays with her body during more and more tests.
Nobody really knows which side to choose after all. Krycek leads Mulder to find what's going on in an airforce base and he will witness aliens war and could find back the strenght to believe and carry on their quest. Scully is totally lost with her memories and the balance is back (but in an easy scenaristic way I think).
And of course last but not least our CSM is back and we know the links with Cassandra and Jeffrey and we want to know more about them!

The X-Files: Patient X (5x13)
danascully09 August 30, 2018, 12:08 ET

WTF?

It was interested for me to watch this episode again long time after my teenage years. Now I understand what's going on very well.
We meet some new interesting characters: Jeffrey and Cassandra Spender, and are happy to find back Krycek and Marita.
Mulder believes in a government conspiracy and deny his memories of Samantha's abduction by aliens. He seems completely lost. Scully is linked with Cassandra by her chip and needs to follow the stars.
Star wars begins between aliens and rebels and lots of innocent abductees die in fire. We fear for Scully's life on that bridge

The X-Files: Kill Switch (5x11)
danascully09 August 30, 2018, 12:08 ET

exciting

I'm never bored watching this episode, that treated about AI in a good way for me although I am not a professional about it. I need a lot of recatches to understand!
The character of Invisigoth is attractive and the way she interacts with people makes me think and laugh. I love the gunmen in this episode, specially their bedroom, worse than Mulder's.
The explosions scenes are impressive and the humor is really good, I enjoy it like an action movie with popcorn.

The X-Files: Unruhe (4x04)
Gabriella van Berk August 29, 2018, 12:08 ET

One of my favorite episodes

I love this episode, it's one of my favorite episodes.

It's just so good from the beginning till the end.

The X-Files: Emily (5x07)
danascully09 August 29, 2018, 12:08 ET

not the end I hoped

May-linn (13): This episode was really moving, but it is not the end I hoped for, because of Emily's death.
I've never thought about the death of a child in the series.
I enjoyed Mr potatoe head by Mulder.

DS09: I prefer the prequel but it is a great mytho episode for me, with the discovery of the experiments on children, women and aged people at the same time, the clones, and the field work by Mulder while Scully is helping with a little bit of science, and dealing with so much feelings.
The end is so sad but we feel the horror of the conspiracy

The X-Files: Pilot (1x01)
MrsThompson June 30, 2018, 12:06 ET

Fantastic

The Pilot is the quintessence of the show. Mulder and Scully battling and flirting openly for the first time in their basement, the conspiracy to hide the truth, abductions in the forest, Scully performing an autopsy, Mulder in his arrogant self eating sunflower seeds, the rain scene and the mosquito bites moment... all of this makes this episode so unique and represents why the XF became such a phenomenon in the 90s that remains till these days

The X-Files: Herrenvolk (4x01)
danascully09 June 29, 2018, 12:06 ET

oh Samantha!

1st sequence so excellent with the introduction of the bees
After a good cliffhanger, Scully tries to threaten the ABH with her gun knowing it's useless, then she's stroken and left as an old socket (do we use this in english LOL?)

All the trip with Mulder and Jeremiah is like a dream, we enter a future universe, without understanding what is really going on but there's hope to find out what Samantha became.

Then superb scenes: Mulder in the phone cab nearly crashed by ABH, and the hollywood death of Mr X (my daughter told him: go to hell LOL) and the first encounter with marita, whom we already like.

Scully learns important informations in the continuity of paper clip and the strughold mines, the inventory via the smallpox virus. I like when she works with Pendrell :)

And finally CSM saves Teena Mulder and we understands she has or had feelings for her because he holds her hand. But who is healing her? ABH or Jeremiah? I am still confused.

The X-Files: Talitha Cumi (3x24)
danascully09 June 29, 2018, 12:06 ET

clones

good episode which lead us in the past of the Mulder family with surprises and questions.
I thought it was difficult to understand who is who between the humans, the clones, the killers, the bads and the goods. It remains very confused but the well-directed scenes bring our minds.
My daughter who watch with me was nearly crying with DD while the hospital scenes, it's quite rare to be moved by him crying because sometimes it doesn't look so real, but here congrats DD you are amazing.
I think that the role of Scully could have been better written, here she obeys to Mulder whose faith made him selfish. I usually love his behavior but not here.
I love the fight scene in the parking garage between M and MrX wonderful.

The X-Files: Young at Heart (1x16)
DuaneB June 29, 2018, 12:06 ET

Perfect loner

To continue on the list of underrated episodes, let's me assume my weird tastes.
I never see this episode in fan's top ten. Perhaps many of them should rewatch it once again. Like I did for episodes I don't like.

Okay. Here we just have a good story, an imaginative story, with many subjects in one:
-How to stay in the rule in front of a criminel
-The progeria vs eternal youth
-The early first years of Mulder's work in violent crimes section
-The revenge theme
-Probably more, but I must summarize...

I do not coumpt the perfect construction of the episode, which opens in the past and concludes opening to the future, like the best episodes.

Scully is here a fine support to Mulder, and we apreciate her patience in front of Mulder's frustration.
The idea of Barnett character is a huge occasion to push Mulder in its own limits, since it is the first time we see him shuting a man at close range.
In general, I think it fits well when Mulder can shows his profiler talent...

The Scully scene, when she hears some noise in her appartment, and then immediatly takes her gun, while the music rythm all is an effective moment.

The ambiance is still dark, like we love it. The concert hall scene where Scully plays the target offers wonderfull and delicate signs of complicity. I could add that is still interesting to know more about Mulder's past. Reggie Purdue is a good character. So much more linkde to the story and less stupid than the season eleven's Reggie, just awfull and unreal...

I give this episode a 10 ou of 10.

The X-Files: Agua Mala (6x13)
DuaneB June 29, 2018, 12:06 ET

x files mala

This episode makes part of those I almost never watch. If it happens, since I considare having quite an open mind, there is some reasons...

First, the monnster is not as creepy as it could be for such an occasion. That brings me to the main sensation of missed occasion I have.

As I said on Travelers review, to focus on a character not really exploited, even in part like it is happening in this episode, loses our attention. At least mine... It create a disagreable feeling of putting our agents in the background. If it would offer to the viewer a strong and attractive characters as it is in the HTGSC episode it would be nice. But here it does not, it does not works.

I don't like when an episode is taken to offers such clichÃ©s:
Here you can find the basic american guy with his gun, of course he must be completly stupid.
We continue with the latino couple with pregnant women, obviously dominant and castrating, and funny of course.
Let's play with it with Scully to create a feminin solidarity.
Then you have the sheriff, not really clever too...

The openings scene is finaly the most serious, and the cat looking to Mulder in the wall is my favourite scene.
The Artur Dales conclusion sounds a bit moralist, even if he is right. But this episode lacks a certain subtlety.

I give it a 2 out of 10.

The X-Files: Pusher (3x17)
danascully09 June 29, 2018, 12:06 ET

perfect

eveyrthing is perfect in this episode, the ideas, the investigation, the characters, the way the actors play, the directing, the music, and the emotional climax at the russian roulette table... It's a top 10 episode for me, I'll never forget how I feel everytime, so much pleased to watch it again and again.
The last time (2 days ago), I was wondering why the opening scene shows us a green cabbage and I thought it must be because of the nutritional contents of this vegetable, which melt vitamins and immunity nutriments.
There is a bemol: the scene where Bosch dies while phoning Modell: the policemen should have been more reactive to understand he was dying I think.
But I can't help myself rating with 10

The X-Files: Jose Chung's From Outer Space (3x20)
danascully09 June 29, 2018, 12:06 ET

lots of laugh

I like this episode because of its fine humor and the way it wakes up our critical mind. It's a mythological episode. Brilliant speeches, great acting, interesting characters such as Jose Chung and the amazing teenage geek, they are so funny. I also like the old barman, the policeman... what a cast!
Really paranormal universe. The smoke screen autopsy WOW.
I can just regret we need so much watches to really understand the entire episode

The X-Files: Wetwired (3x23)
danascully09 June 29, 2018, 12:06 ET

No words

I LOVE THIS EPISODE SO MUCH! everything is perfect, we see all good characters in, the story is completely plausible and we feel so much the lack of justice and the manipulation of innocents to serve secret projects. What an ambiance, with music, directing and acting!
Lots of exceptional scenes:
Scully believing that Mulder and CSM meet in the car at night, laughing.
The moment when Mulder's got phone call to recognize a dead body which might me Scully, we are so moved with him until he opens this curtain... (although I find his reaction after too painless)
and Of course THE SCENE at Margaret Scully's home with a lost Dana... AMAZING! in VO or VF it's great.
"you abducted me! you put that thing in my neck! you killed my sister!"
I could listen and watch this everyday of my life!

The X-Files: The Pine Bluff Variant (5x18)
DuaneB June 28, 2018, 12:06 ET

Broken fingers

Well. Pine Bluff Variant is an amazing episode.
There is almost nothing paranormal here. But, the paranoia is in everyone's mind.

The story is linked to some realist governments suspicions that had always been a good element for an X files episode.

Mulder and Scully:
The fact Mulder has been chosen to investigate and secretly enter this terrorist group is a real pleasur, because it keeps Scully at bay. And when Scully is spying just offers great scenes and tenseness.

Skinner:
As we start to be used, Skinner is one more time between the lie and the truth. He would like to help Mulder but his help could have such dramatic consequences.

The story has really something terrific if considare our nowday threat.

Why I can't give it a 10: the music is so much repetitive that we're quickly done. Just is the same during 43 minutes. Just boring.
Second bad point, there is also some lenghts which slows down the rythme installed from the beginning.
So I give it a 8 out of 10.

The X-Files: Miracle Man (1x18)
DuaneB June 28, 2018, 12:06 ET

Hilary Clinton?

There is some good scenes in here.
Mulder and Scully have good interactions, the writing is good as well.
But, the episode in general fall in slow rythme, however the guy who lays Samuel is good actor.
This episode misses a strong and definite flavor to mke part of something biger.
The introductive scene is really good an angur a classical x files stand alone episode.
Though there is a good story, good ideas, the way to bring it is not as the same level as we already were used to see.

Some good moments:
The tribunal scene and Mulder and Scully on the top of the building. There is a wonderfull light there.
The pub scene with Samuel and Mulder and Scully.
And Scully's jocke when Mulder believes he sees his sister.

Others are just boring.
So it is not a bad episode to me, but an average you must know it exists, but once you've watched it one or two times you're done. But maybe is there a phile to show me some details I forgot.
Meanwhile, I give it a 4 out of 10.

The X-Files: 2Shy (3x06)
danascully09 June 27, 2018, 12:06 ET

disgusting salivating monster

Although this episode reminds us other monsters (Tooms, Donnie Pfaster)I've always find it scary, well-played and with unforgettable scenes like the one with the blind little Jesse who smells her mother's fragrance in Incanto's house.
I like the investigation, the sexist policeman and the way his admits Scully because he feel her sense of work.
and the principal actor's performance and the global ambiance, and the emergence of the internet and its dangers.

The X-Files: Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose (3x04)
danascully09 June 27, 2018, 12:06 ET

what a script!

Humor and original ideas are melted to create un marvellous moving episode, here again the guest star peter boyle is really a fantastic actor, and the scenes between M, S and him are so interesting.
The killer doesn't look like a usual suspect and I would have known him better.
The end is sad but expected, and we are about to share a short life with Queequeg.
As often, thank you Darin Morgan to extend the lines of our series till new horizons.

The X-Files: D.P.O. (3x03)
danascully09 June 27, 2018, 12:06 ET

electric!

This episode has really all good elements for a stand-alone, and the most outstanding is the actor giovanni ribisi. So talented, we guess all the misery of his life in his eyes and speech.
The script is so good with science and power melted, just as an x files ep might have.
The directing is superb, as the special effects of the flashes.
And of course the rocky music going on, we are sticked with M and S all the time in rural america.

The X-Files: Kitten (11x06)
DuaneB June 27, 2018, 12:06 ET

Skinner is back

I do not quite understand the pout more or less limp that I observe. As a Skinner lover, I was delighted and did not get bored for a second.

The story:
I liked the principle of showing us young Skinner. The contamination with this gas, however, puzzles me as to its retroactive effects. This is one of the weak points. Skinner would lose his teeth 40 years or more after? It's not very credible.
Likewise, it seemed to me to have fallen impaled by a branch or wooden stake through the belly, into this hole. Normally it should have already been the end, but then he pulls it out, fidgets, then it's better. He goes back, he is treated as if it had been a small cut ... Not very credible anyway.
So obviously we can not help but think about the good episode 2x03 Blood. The spray sequence is almost a self-quote ... Apart from these inconsistencies in detail, I find the story quite plausible. Basically it's a kind of revenge big fat who wants to avenge his father ...

Vietnam:
We remember with a certain pleasure Skinner's scene in One breath. One of Skinner's rare confessions to Mulder. Here we see the importance of this period for Skinner. His link to the paranormal, and what makes him understand our two former young agents. Having been unable to speak by submission to the military authority, Skinner supported himself with his spokespersons Mulder and Scully during all these years.

The recomposed trio:
There is something that bothers me. It comes to wonder if Skinner is well aware of CGB and William. It's interesting to see how this case brings Skinner and Mulder closer as Skinner hides him a time bomb about William. It is assumed or hoped that this will be developed in the end. For the moment I do not hide that I had pleasure to regain the confidence momentarily reinstated between our two agents and Skinner. It's always nice and reminds the good old days.

Kirsh falls a bit from nowhere. I do not understand why we did not mention him in IWTB, nor in the whole season 10, nor in the first 5 episodes of this season. He returns as if by a miracle, in general indifference ... Good! Why not.

Most important:
Everyone was captivated by the scenery of Ghouli, and it was justified. But I find that here is at least as true. If there is one characteristic of X files, these are the scenes in forests. The forest scenery here is beautiful. Very in the mood for MillenniuM's episode Beware of the dog. I had a real great classic pleasure to find this generous and bushy nature, from the west, wooded, which embraces the beings who ventured there. The kind of house with cages, in these gray tones ... I would simply say that history itself was a pretext for:
1. propose a Skinner centric which is always a pleasure. A mid-season mytho without being.
2. Relate with real x files scenery and ambiances. The madman on the bench, the lights caught in the car scenes, in the same vein as Ghouli.

Pileggi is always so convincing, and its thickness and interiority have not lost anything of their superb. His carapace always leaves as much delight once breakthrough. I really appreciate this parenthesis with sumptuous sceneries.

I give a 6/10. I voluntarily go beyond the details.

The X-Files: Alone (8x19)
DuaneB June 27, 2018, 12:06 ET

Unusefull

I really like the beginiing scene between Doggett and Scully. It is a really respectfull and warm hug. Gillian offers her special smiles that are always going with some hidden sad part too. Robert Patrick is excellent too.

But Leyla Harrison is a really indelicate tribute to the serie. At first it was funny, but it becomes child's.

I just like when Mulder go to the creature's place, we find out the supicious Mulder we love. But the humain/creature is completly unrealistic. Yes! Flukeman was unrealistic too, but the monster had a particular history, a real story used as a context to give us an explanation. Here we don't have nothing.

The hospital ending scene at first, I was younger, pleased me. But with time it smells a family comedy at the diner time...

I give it a 3 ou of 10.

The X-Files: Space (1x09)
DuaneB June 27, 2018, 12:06 ET

Good for sleepless

This episode is the first that I think is bad.

The choice to reduce the outside shooting could have been better used, like they did in the episode Ice.

The Nasa scenes are too many. The music wich accompanies the space expedition flashbacks is well found but too much used so that it turn really boring.
Still in this feeling of boredom, the rythm so much slow, that in general is a good signature of an x files episode, is too much here, completly over the top.

As the character at the end, we feel relieved too, because it is the end. The only thing good I found was the shinning smile of GA who was already good actress, unlike to what I read sometimes.

There is no Mulder and Scully interaction to pay attention to. Exception with the beginning of the episode.
The kind of episoe I almost never watch... Just nothing special to say: Mulder is a big fan of the colonel. All happen at the Nasa place, Scully helps Michele, and Mulder helps Colonel Belt, who finaly throws himsel by the window. The operation is finaly okay, after a difficult return on earth, because of an alien Ghost? The same who felt Belt in an earlier expedition. How, why? We don't know...

I give it a 2 ou of 10.

The X-Files: Sleepless (2x04)
DuaneB June 25, 2018, 12:06 ET

Krycek on board!

This episode continues to immerse even more the series in darkness already thick built by the 1st season. Being the last stand alone before Duane Barry, I find it a dual function: that of closing a series of almost perfect episodes in a climate of paranoia post closure of x files; then that of being a pivotal episode that introduces us two key characters such as Krycek and X. Finally, this group shot of the first 4 episodes lead to the final scene in the dark office of the CSM, which speaks for the first time of Scully as a problem".

Mulder
The early season 2 Mulder, especially in episodes 2x01 to 2x08 is probably my favorite Mulder. And we must not see a blindness for his early youth, his passion. We must see a real admiration in believing so strongly in his convictions, maintain a course, a vision, certainties reinforced by past disappointments. Those disappointments are of course the death of Deep Throat and the closure of the x files.

Scully
The distance from Scully could have disappointed many fans, but from my point of view it's a good thing. Their distant relationship makes their exchanges very effective and respectful, showing us a Scully weirdly more receptive to the arguments of Mulder, and a Mulder more attentive to scientific advice and analysis provided by Scully. And by a post Erlenmeyer effect flasks, it's interesting to see a Scully herself develop a theory as far-fetched as Mulder would have done, and see Krycek frowning by almost taking her for a crazy one. Interesting this very slight shade of Scully.

Krycek
The appearance of this new agent, young and dynamic, brings a real virile energy that comes to give even more suspicion of Mulder already on edge. Lea is in a very fair game and gives the perfect image of the young pretentious at the bottom. The one we want to believe, and finally we will love to hate ...

X
Deep Throat's death was the father's death like. With X we have the replacement of the father by what I would call a grumpy old uncle. Choosing such a profile, as cold as Deep was warm creates a transition that makes us regret the old while giving us the impatience of the enigma created by the new.

Bowman
Bowman's camera movements are here a silent but very visual signature of the series. The realization, the movements of the ground to the sky and the sky to the ground are all processes that reinforce the feeling of realism so characteristic of X files. The backdrops of an old Harlem apartment, although filmed in Vancouver, are very credible.

The military
The subject of the eradication of sleep to make a sort of soldier foolproof, in a different register than in the episode Eve, already foreshadows the idea of â€‹â€‹super soldiers. Finally, this episode is part of "military" episodes as we will have in almost every season: we still are in a military context in 2x15 Fresh bones, 3x07 The walk, 4x16 Unrequieted, and there's of course a huge chapter about it in the two part 9x09 and 9x10 Provenance and Providance, and finaly with our late 11x06 Kitten . Except that here, the Vietnam War is an alibi, a kind of backdrop.

Mental projections
Anyway, the mental images projection is a wonderfull idea, so good that they reused this idea in the genius episode Pusher. But here the process is not exactly the same. And the last recall of it was in the Kitten episode, with the gas. What is a real tour de force in this second season beginning is that they've been able to reuse this idea, this halucinating and psychologic process in both Blood and Sleepless episodes without creating any bored, even any repetition, since the contexte was really different.

The flip side at the end of the episode only confirms the suspicions of Mulder as those of the spectator. In short this episode is much brighter than we think. Another one to put in the decidedly copious series of the underestimated episodes.

I give it a 9 out of 10.

The X-Files: Unusual Suspects (5x03)
DuaneB June 24, 2018, 12:06 ET

Too much Suzan

Some scenes really pleased me in this zode. The beginning particularly. But I find that the whole sin by the fact 'have put Mulder and Scully in the background. It is a difficult bet to bet on secondary characters finally very little developed during the first 4 seasons. So as it takes a start at all, it's a little alibi episode. I continue the same remark worse for the spin off they made that personally I found almost catastrophic. This was again proof that it is very difficult to make a series on secondary characters. Moreover the series stopped at the end of a season. It does not work.

Regarding the order, this episode is presented in almost every guide as the first episode of the season, 5x01, and not the 3rd. We frequently gorget this detail...

Otherwise there are good ideas, like showing us how Mulder got to know these three guys. The paranoia quite pregnant during the episode is a good thing. But I think the episode turns too much around the crush of Byers for Suzane. We have the impression of a virgin who completely loses his means. Some lengths too. And I do not really like the humiliation sequence of the three aligned within the reach of X. But at the same time, this scene is also a good idea to link the episode to the mythology.

Mulder seems to completely fall from the clouds by learning these gas stories. I can not see him so naive, young, inexperienced agent. Langly and Frohike are superb. I love the totally geeky side of Langly; the caricature is so realistic in fact, that it makes me endearing, and especially funny. But here again, my laugh again reflects my much easier attachment to the Gilligan universe than Darin Morgan. And then the passion of Kim Maners remains one of the strengths of the series. This guy was a torrent of emotions.

I give a 7/10 because it's still a very good episode, which looks with pleasure beyond its weaknesses.

The X-Files: Brand X (7x18)
DuaneB June 23, 2018, 12:06 ET

Stop smoking!

Very different, this episode. And at the same time, I find that it reconnects wonderfully with the classic treatment of a very good stand alone.

Why? Because questioning the tobacco industry is an issue that really echoes a reality. In addition, it injects a dose of paranoia that we had a little lost because of previous fantasy episodes, (The masterpiece En ami except, of course.)
The presence of Skinner in a serious context and especially on the investigation, in the survey, is a pleasure to see. I like the complicity between Skinner and Mulder.

In addition, Mulder suspects the irreproachable doctor, himself a victim of awful blackmail, which revives his good habits. There are horrible scenes with inbsectes, the coleoptera of tobacco, which remind us of beautiful episodes such as War of the coprophages.

Scully is perfect in her role as protectress and mom ...

We do not avoid the big shot of the naughty smoker and nice non-smokers, but it's America!

I give it a 8 out of 10.

The X-Files: Rush (7x05)
DuaneB June 23, 2018, 12:06 ET

something missing

I can not say what, but this episode suffers from a cruel lack of atmosphere. Yet everything is there to make a very good episode.
But the focus is much more on the ascendancy between two teenagers. The son of the sheriff, the bad boy in all his brilliance, the other son of a standard family, without much problem, rather shy. With this dynamic, the episode focuses too much on adolescents and much less on Mulder and Scully, which - if the characters are not very strong and original - can become a mistake. Unfortunately, this episode is the reason for this loss.

We feel a team effort to do something original, both at the screenplay level and at the music level. But finally the effect falls into a classicism vis-Ã -vis the investigation and more atmospheric background music that rhythms the episode but does not offer harmonic impreignation.
Like this seventh season, this episode sometimes takes a bit of a rough ride that does not do any good to the quality of the series.

Just as the episode shows the violence of a rebellious teenager, the scene of the murder of the teacher in the cafeteria is totally gratuitous and gratuitously horrible. The horrible is not a problem in x files, no. It is the way to bring it, to film it, to incorporate it into a context.

In this episode I have a permanent feeling of unease that only leaves me when the episode ends. One could argue that the discomfort in x files may be a desired thing, I would reply at this moment that the discomfort for discomfort does not please. On the other hand, the discomfort that arises because the episode is the echo of a deep fear whose plot can be real, as for example in Irresistible, or Home, there is something else. This confers a particular resonance.
Here, there is a flavor of pre-modernity that unconsciously announces the pitfalls of the revival. It is obviously in the light of the 11 seasons that I write these reviews. Having a global and precise vision that embraces everything is very important. This is obviously an interesting point of comparison because it allows us to see retrospectively the evolution of the series.

So of course it is not a completly bad episode at all, but it misses an x files signature and an awfull lost darkness of the early series.

I give it a 3 out of 10.

The X-Files: Fallen Angel (1x10)
DuaneB June 20, 2018, 12:06 ET

Deep Throat 2

All in strength and power, and with what nostalgia I watched this episode again.

Deep Throat:
The presence of Deep Throat is always a guarantor of an episode of quality, that's what I'm addicted (ghost in the machine apart, although I do not find it so bad at all). The offbeat story that uses flashback or frward, is a process that hampers us right from the start. With his warning to Mulder to hurry, we are propelled into a race against the clock at night.

Mulder:
Mulder has found here his same indomitable passion that we love to see. It reminds us of the Pilot, Deep Throat and Conduit Epsiodes. His position as outsider and rider suel strengthens our empathy towards him. The scenes in the forest, the spying sequence of the crash site are typically the kind of situation that makes me love this series. Why do I say this obvious? Because it invariably involves a photograph as well as an impressive dramatic side; as if we were watching a movie in its own right.

Scully:
Very much in her role, there is a crescendo progression in the episode, as a kind of accumulation of details that push her to doubt. It is always this dynamic of skepticism more and more contradicted by the facts that G. A. magnificently interprets. His stiffness and righteousness are just as pleasant to see as they give Mulder the perfect counterpoint. They are complementary, opposed, then finally welded despite everything.

Mark Snow:
Gorgeous music, as always. Mainly because he reuses the Deep Throat soundtrack, I mean in part. That is also this music motive wich comes back in loop and make me think this episode is just the following of Deep Throat. If not why would Snow reuses the same music? We could think it was the Deep Throat theme, and it could be right, but the theme does not come back in future episodes with Deep Throat, even in EBE...

FBI:
It seems that finaly the rigor of those bosses are as strong as when it will be Skinner's. It works so good. The milatary aspect is also a clue in the mythologie; remember how it is important in Redux, or even before in Little green men, or with the genious trilogy Duane Barry. The paranoia is really an x files signature, that comes from Watergate of course, but also anticipate the complotism of our time, but in someway poetic world.

When I watch those kind of episodes, I know that never again in tv show history we will see that quality, this ambiance. And at the same time, it makes part of our richness to had the chance to grow up at this last wonderfull time, the 90's. Of course, it is my opinion... That's why we can do a review, doesn't it?

A wonderfull and outstanding episode! I give it a 10/10!!

The X-Files: Sunshine Days (9x18)
DuaneB June 20, 2018, 12:06 ET

An end taste

Ok for Dogget / Reyes. I admit to having loved them, by persuasion, with time ... But the episode is too light for my taste. And the alibi for finally holding a proof and give legitimacy to the X files happens a little too late. These are not the opportunities that have been missed in the past of the series. The spirit of X files is no longer really there; and it's even more frustrating that we were really starting to focus on the Reyes / Dogget couple. Special effects level, on the other hand, nice work. Go a 5/10!

The X-Files: Redux (5x01)
DuaneB June 18, 2018, 12:06 ET

History lesson

God!! This trilogy is a perfect one. And it seems that the mythology as never been so important thant here.
We continue where Gathseman finished. All the Mulder off are superb, it gives a rythme, an intensity, a narrative trajectory that pushes even further the reflection of the series, but without losing us.

Michael Kritshgau
This character is for me amblematic of the psychological flaw of Mulder. This guy, who looks like a banal businessman, has managed to overthrow the entire Mulderian ediffice with his enigmatic sentences that support where it hurts. The deception of the alien Youkon is the climax that rings the death knell of the Mulder's certainty on a E.T life ...

Mulder and Kritshgau
But where this episode is really great is that it not only meticulously repeats the thread of the previous, but enriches it with Kritschgau's tirades. This Kritshgau does not just ruin Mulder's beliefs and certainties, but will also provide answers, and even valuable help for Scully and his cancer. Flashes with historical archive images are a perfect example of the Cold War context that is a key to post Roswell mythology in the series. This trilogy, and the scenes of the Pentagon are the starting point of Mulder's skepticism of Patient X and The Red and the Black that some fans did not understand, or rejected.

Scully
This breakthrough made by this trilogy shows us the scientific Scully, the one I love most. Then in Redux II the Catholic Scully that I love too. What's even more interesting is to see his reaction to Mulder makes him understand that they may have been fooled from the beginning. His anger and his entry into the lie, for a character as straight and irreproachable, also come to spice up the facets of his psychology. Especially with Skinner in whom she had placed a great confidence painfully acquired (Avatar, Piper maru ...).

It's also in this episode that we hear the Roush society for the first time, thanks to Mulder who killed Scott Osteloff. The paranoia is here the most powerfull aspect this trilogy, pushing every character in there own limits. Redux II will show us that it is true with one my favorites scene between CGB and Mulder. But lets develop it at Redux II.

Of course I give it a 10!

The X-Files: Hell Money (3x19)
DuaneB June 17, 2018, 12:06 ET

Lucy Liu

One of top ten worst episode.
The idea could be good, but we fall in a clichÃ© about comunitarianism that finish to be boring.

Nevertheless, the atmosphere is there, the scenery too, but it lacks a rhythm, an alchemy. Instead we have a duet rather withdrawn, in favor of scenes between the father and his daughter.
The ghosts that are not only add to the lines of a macabre farce whose cruelty is real. The game scene is very resitute but much too long. The slowness that I have so often experienced as a basic element and guarantee of the quality of our series ends up turning against her. Enough is enough.
2/10.

The X-Files: Release (9x17)
DuaneB June 17, 2018, 12:06 ET

The last Doggett centric

Let me believe than they knwe they'll never use Doggett character after this episode.
This episode proves that even at the end of tne ninth season, the team was still able to do a great episode.

after two years with Doggett, we can not say that the character did not bring a new wind of Cartesianism in the middle of this festival of improbability that became the series. In the end, the risky introduction of the beginning of the season 8, namely to integrate a dramatic loss into a character to replace the void created by the resolution of the samantha affair, was successful.

Luke Doggett:
The story of the kidnapping and death of John Doggett's son is mentioned for the first time in the superb episode Evocation 8x05. It was already clear what was the point of making Scully try to solve his problem in Mulder's search. It should not be seen as a blind subordination to Kersh, but a way to compensate or heal the wound that left him the death of his son in 1993. The fact of having taken this plot in the episode Empedocles 8x17 or still in John Doe 9x07 necessarily called for a resolution. So that's what this episode offers us.

In addition, it is interesting to see Doggett's ex-wife, Barbara; even if it arrives late. I like Scully's involvement with Dogget that this story entails. For Reyes, the implication was a bit more obviously since it was with her that they had worked on the disappearance of Luke at the time.

Scully who teaches Quantico is always a pleasure, especially when she is faces with what looks like a gifted student. This little genius promised a magnificent career was neither more nor less than an accomplice of Rigali, himself an accomplice of Brad Follmer.

The paranoia is at its height when one realizes that the so clean on him Follmer is involved in this story. There is certain pleasure in deconstructing a figure of authority and in giving a semblance of justice.
This episode has its strength of making us forget the weaknesses of others. The division in titled section of the episode refers to the beautiful episode Triangle, although it had no titles, but it could.

Decorations as vector of feelings:
The sets are varied, the play of lights in the interior scenes of the apartment of Hayes give a sensation of end, of madness too. As for the scenes at Barbara Dogget, or the scenes of flashback the lights are in the perfect tone to highlight Doggett's emotions. The final scene only confirms it. There is in this episode a filmic side wich gives us a real pleasure to watch.

Music:
Who did not notice the perfect score of Mark Snow here? IT just fits so well with the dramatic colour of the episode. Besides, it is a specific desire from Snow. The process of a short melody, which remains easily in the lead, with a rather minor and nostalgic tone had already been used in the Evocation episode. So there is no hazard. This compositional process is a will to musicalise the narration; to rhythm it too, and especially to print it in the ear of the viewer who will remember it and who will assimilate this music to a pleasant memory, so to a pleasant episode by extension.

There is a palapble tension between Regali and Doggett, then between Follmer and Reyes, then between Follmer and Doggett wich creates a real waltz of feeling, all combined and shackled in 44 minutes, and for once in the series leading to a real conclusion. An underestimated jewelry that raises the level of this season and the feeling of hardship that accompanies it, not to mention the flavor of end that we already feel...

9/10

The X-Files: The Beginning (6x01)
DuaneB June 15, 2018, 12:06 ET

Alien

What a pleasure we have to see things where the film left them. After this marvel that has been FTF, we find the same, in a situation of forced renewal.
The fire that ravaged the office of Mulder and Scully fortunately did not destroy everything. Mulder's speech reinplicates the decor and the situation.

The opening scene, pre credits, gives us the tone of what the series will be from now on. Change of city requires, this move from Vancouver to L.A was not as harmful as feared the fans. Best of all, the series has been a darling of daring, daring artistic prowess while keeping in mind the essence of the show.
The monster that mutates, then comes out of the bowels of his host is a new deal in the series. And the least we can say is that Fight the future upset the mythological deal in its own way. Because this ferocious alien slice radically with the ET that we glimpsed in the old seasons (Duane Barry, Anasazi, Paper clip or Gathsemane ... etc). This allows you to switch to a new deal while keeping the old one. So there is an evolution, a mutation after contagion by black oil, as FTF explains.
It's also in this opening scene that we can see the Roush society, wich we'll hear about it again later.

as for the MSR, I like that episode reimplement a kind of frustration in comparison to the quasi kiss exchanged in FTF. It revives a kind of desire returned that will only boil in everyone. We thus find the grips, the looks, the usual psycho-affective codes. Where it is very interesting in this register is the rivalry between Fowley and Scully, as well as between Spender and Mulder. On the difference that emotionally, Spender did not leave with Scully, while Fowley with Mulder .........

The X files are now in Spender and Fowley hands, making a palpable tension throughout the episode. There is vis-Ã -vis the film a feeling of back to school in an atmosphere of combat and paranoia that is quite enjoyable to see. All of course being crowned by the arrival of Kersh.

Finally, Gibson still remains in his ET genius kidbook, playing on the delicate chord of Scully's maternal fiber.

And what a pleasure to find our good old union in their beautiful office smoker on 46th Street ...

Last, but not least, positive element of this episode, but which also sets the tone for the season is Snow's music. The composer here takes extracts from his soundtrack of FTF for our greatest pleasure. This gives a spectacular side to the episode. Note also that Snow reuses the FTF soundtrack in the genious episode SR819.

Clearly a 9/10!

The X-Files: F. Emasculata (2x22)
danascully09 June 15, 2018, 12:06 ET

we can't trust bigpharma anymore!

Everything is so well directed in this episode, the investigation, the spreading virus, the paranoid ambiance, the CSM in the dark, and the disgusting pustules and bugs, the fear for Scully's health, the run, the music, the script...

And the feeling we can be a victim of bigpharma everytime everywhere. Maybe why I fear Monsanto!

The X-Files: Excelsis Dei (2x11)
danascully09 June 15, 2018, 12:06 ET

what are we doing with our old generation?

I don't know if I love this episode because it's in my favourite season, that I watched so many times, that I know by heart, but when I watched it again this afternoon, I see nothing bad, nothing I don't like. And as a nurse myself I know the hospital ambiance and the bad way we often take care of the old and disabled people.
Here there's ghosts, psychiatry, fantastic pensionaries, philosophy, humor etc... in an old mansion of inhumanity, automn leaves ouside... WOW

I can find a bad scene, that remains impressive however: Mulder and the nurse in the water of the bathroom.

The X-Files: Deep Throat (1x02)
DuaneB June 15, 2018, 12:06 ET

Deep x files

Deep Throat is the first episode of this colossal series that is X-Files. It is sometimes forgotten, but it is also the first time we can see the credits, everyone knows it.
Just like in the pilot, it was here again, to set the scene a little more, accentuating the personality of Mulder and Scully; so that the septic / believing relationship is established once and for all.

Let's start with the post-generic scene in Washington at the bar. In addition to the surprise of Scully's new haircut, her concentrated, classy, â€‹â€‹beautiful femininity from another era, what must be noticed is the much more relaxed character between them. An intense friendship is guessed more and more installed.

The scene continues with Mulder's deep-throated shot of Mulder ... From the first words spoken by the latter, we are charmed by this mysterious and strangely paternal character.
My personal analysis will not be limited to a vulgar summary of this episode. Needless. I will simply state a point of view when the appreciation of the episode. To unravel the different aspects.
Not having seen it in first broadcast, I must admit to have been totally charmed by discovering it. This episode is for me full of lightness, as strange as it laziness. Whether it's the appearance of the young couple (seth Green, who will come back later in Buffy), or because of the relationship Mulder / Scully, still in the discovery of the other, with a Scully admiring passion of his colleague, all in perfect rationalism that it is, but not refusing a certain dose of humor, this episode seduces for its history, its rich palette of light, while degraded, superb appearances of UFO .. UFOs that I find more convincing here, than in other future episodes. Paranoia is a primordial element here, (and throughout the rest of the series). In this episode, in this case, paranoia is among other things the behavior of Mulder, but also the character of Deep Throat himself, as well as young people.
Scully's skepticism is here at its height, but she does not refuse to follow Mulder. The opposition of the two agents excites. Psychologically first, but visually too. Their youth. Through this game of seduction and affirmation of the personality, each trying to convince the other, the episode takes shape as and when the epicenter of a playground or run young agents, a couple of teenagers, prostrate pilots, mysterious UFOs, and a man who seems to know a lot about Mulder and his work.
The pace, which may seem slow in the first half, is largely offset later; and by some scenes become cult, now. Mulder and Scully observing UFOs at the top of a hill, overlooking the military base; Mulder under the light beam of the UFO, and the conversation of Mulder and Deep Throat, in the stadium. With this fabulous sentence of Deep Throat: "Mr. Mulder, they have been with us since the beginning of time."
With complex dialogues, chases, talk scenes with Mrs. Budahas, all punctuated by the sounds of F15 Eagle military planes, the delicious scene in the bar with the young or Scully lets sketch a radiant smile, this episode opens the series in big. From then on, everything is already there, if only in gestation: secret military experiments, UFO, confrontation of opinion, action, reflection, and a "je ne sais quoi" peculiar to the 90's.

With Deep Throat, the X-files machine is engaged, the wheel begins to spin, and an authentic friendship is born. In addition, the episode introduces a key character and essential to the quest of our two agents. A climate that sometimes words are not enough to describe, as everyone has already made his idea, and so talk about all this may seem redundant. But X-files is so complete and complex, so intense and divinely timeless, that talking about it is also the only thing we have left.
Dont ask me why, but I've the same feeling with this episode thant with Little Green men wich opens the 2nd season. They're both paranoiac, they both deal with aliens and UFOs, and they both content a passionate Mulder leaving in all iraationality, and they both finish with a Scully-Mulder affectionate scene, and finaly they both have an huge scenery and wonderfull music by Snow.

A mandatory 10/10!

The X-Files: El Mundo Gira (4x11)
DuaneB June 15, 2018, 12:06 ET

Elaaadio!!

Elaaadio! Elaaadio! Eladio Buente!
For someone who -like I'm doing- is watching Breacking bad with the horrible and foul Tuco, we can see Where Gilligan has been influenced.

Anyway, this episode is not the worst of the show, of course not. But could be the worst of the season.
Despite a good photography, in particular the opening scene, the story s too much difficult to connect. If we consider the urban legend of the chupacabra on one side, it's difficult to connect it with ET on the other side. And how could explain us the yellow rain, is that an alien piss?? Of course not; it is just the chupacabra sweat falling from the sky. Must be proud to be a fan, isn't it?
And yet, the aliens from this episode have often been in derivated products, calendar etc...
So that's why I say the photography could summary on itself the entire episode.

The other thing that sounds exaggerated to me is Mark Snow's bias. Only guitare, with the typical hiberical mood turning arround is not just clichÃ© but get me tired. I could say the same for the immigration subject barely hidden.

One more clchÃ© with the so exhausting love triangle.

I give it a 4/10

The X-Files: The End (5x20)
Vivi June 14, 2018, 12:06 ET

A masterpiece

This episode is really amazing. It introduces 2 very important characters, that is to say Gibson Prise and Diana Fowley. It is the come back of the smoking man. We discover the link between him and Spender. The music is one of the best of the serie. And for me, it's the moment when Scully understands she loves Mulder. In my opinion this is a masterpiece.

The X-Files: This (11x02)
DuaneB June 14, 2018, 12:06 ET

This is x files

It is therefore by reconnecting with an old tradition of the great era that opens this episode: close-up and then dive on the car. This pre-generic scene with a nocturnal ambience on a background of music and quiet purring of the countryside lets us predict a new opus in a distant but updated flavor. Glen Morgan is one of those who counted for X-files and who still counts; a job Chris Carter - we suppose - could only silently kiss his colleague...

The fan-service is no more obsessive than in other episodes since we are immediately caught in the story that no longer leaves us. This whirlwind mid mythological mi loner has something to seduce. The fan of mythology (which I am) is not left out since we propose the reappearance of this woman Erika Price who had been confined to a very secondary role in My struggle III. The opportunity is therefore taken to give fans a thick character to a fallen from nowhere. However, I still struggle to see very clearly in his positions. But how could I do it if Mulder himself does not succeed? The positions of this new mythology post My struggle 1, post season 10, post William are struggling to make their way as the opacity of its history and frustration have taken precedence in the spirit of the fan of the first hour ...

But if there is any doubt about the understanding of the story, I would say that a hot impression is sometimes better than a thought and analysis. Because instinct in matters of seduction does not deceive. Glen Morgan has seduced against all odds, and in a context to the least tense against the intransigence of the fans.
Cleverly, leaving aside for almost an hour his reason aside, Morgan brilliantly resurrects the Lone Gunmen hacker Richard Langly. Hi-Tech artillery is ultimately less demonstrative than one might expect. Apart from the scene in the building under high surveillance.

Exactly:
At the level of references and self-quotes: Kill switch for the principle of the virtual soul, so an artificial life, more archaically evoked in Ghost in the machine ...
The scene where Mulder returns to the room where he spoke with Price but is no longer there: I immediately thought of The Erlenmeyerflask where Mulder returns to the great room where there were basins with humans in the water and he wants to show all this to Scully but too late: nothing!
Of course big reference to Home for the pre-generic; but we could enlarge this list at will ...
The scene of the cemetery is very beautiful. The decorations nourish the pleasure of the eyes, the intrigue evolving in treasure hunt comes to awaken the child who sleeps in us. We are embarked despite ourselves. The rhythm is sustained, panting all along and offers us action without falling into the free waterfall or technical ease. Note in passing the youthfulness of our couple in mature maturity. Their maturity is more a place of vivacity, of adolescence found again. The bar scene is pure pleasure. Precisely because it is not shipper but tightens a complicity largely crumbled in season 10.
Which brings me to the psychological register of Mulder and Scully. Rarely I saw our duo so much in phase. It's all right if one does not finish the other's sentence. Surely, water has flowed under the bridges between the skeptical opposition - believing the first seasons; but where certain episodes made me regret this time while sailing painfully on their couple, there one assumes all, the feeling is consumed, behind oneself. Place to the complicity, the lightness ... If the humor is the spontaneity of Mulder were a thing heard, never again I had seen a Scully so primal, playful, relaxed, recovery in hand, out of his whining still close . To see again our daring duo and in such a valiantness does not cease to convince me making me capsize. My nostalgic edge is conquered by the argument of the same who survives in time. The survival of the great markers of our series is as immediate a pleasure as that of the story itself. Morgan knew how to cut without cutting, to continue without repeating; to look like without stuttering ...

Finally! I find a Mark Snow who stands out his old muscles. The music being at x files what sails are to a boat, we can only rejoice to see this ingredient come back. Personally I had already found a difference in MS3 for the musical side, much more salient than in season 10 according to me.

A winning concentration therefore. Take a bit of Cold War zest, Russophoby, bursts of AI, NSA, the well-measured fan-service, Deep Throat pronounced by Scully !, a fair tone for the MSR that assumes their separate couple situation then found, inseparable, not draped in sentimentalism ...

Of course, you always have to know that this anthousiasme is in comparison to others episodes of hte revival. The same 8 I gave in a original serie episode gives us a totaly different result. But to me, the revival is not realy the same as its origins...

I give it 8/10.

The X-Files: Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man (4x07)
DuaneB June 14, 2018, 12:06 ET

CGB writer?

I love that CGB had the inclination to be a writer. It gives him an obscure personality and parallel to that of the cold and ruthless man. I love the scene where he distributes his Christmas presents: "Merry Christmas gentlemen". After, the stories interspersed, the assassination of JFK, I found some lengths.
His speech on the chocolate box is superb. I like it when he says we can come across a praline and he describes how to chew and everything ... It's weird to see Gump here. But the problem of this episode is that he suffers from his isolation. In fact we finally have very little episode on CGB.

The positive, on the other hand, and it is not so easy thing in x files, is that there is a great coherence with respect to the characters' comments in the previous episodes. The "I saw dying presidents" sent to Mulder in one breath takes all its meaning here. It was also a good idea to show us that he spied on Mulder from the beginning. Re-hearing Mulder and Scully's meeting with CGB is a great idea.
This episode is pleasant for its atmosphere of cigarette and typewriter. It smells of pencil and tie. It smells of loneliness and encounters.
But oddly, it's an episode I watch very rarely. I think that some scenes, like that of MLK, seem to me long, and end up giving me a feeling of fragmentation of the story; and since we no longer have Mulder and Scully to distract us from their opositions, we really need a faultless next door. That being the case, this episode is the successful version of Travelers who did not win me at all.

An 8/10!

The X-Files: Home (4x02)
DuaneB June 13, 2018, 12:06 ET

Untouchable masterpiece

Believe it or not, but I only half love this episode. I recognize its construction, its history, its realization ... In fact everything is perfect. Even the MSR is well exploited. So why not put him 10?
Well, at the risk of putting some fans back, I must admit that we can be a fan of Xfiles, and not be fans of horror movies. That's my case.
It is a trend that season 4 is taking seriously and that it will never be my favorite. To return to this cult episode, untouchable, whose pefection frieze porcelain, I think it counts among the most glaucous that the series has created.
What do we say in this episode? That a very special family, established since the war of secession, wants to defend its property, its haven of horror, its way of life. Namely the insest in all its splendor.
The episode ticks all the boxes of the perfect horror movie: the burial of the living baby, the killing of the sheriff and his wife, the scene more than allusive mom ready to be rammed by his sons.
In mirror, Scully's desire for maternity evoked in the episode, in this magnificent scene on the bench, gives us a striking contrast. The horrific incest in the dark, the night, then Scully's biological counter and his dreams,under a blue sky ... For all that, I prefer the kind of episode like Irresistible, just as unhealthy, but whose fear lies in the fact of not seeing. Here, it is the ode to horror, as in Sanguinarium. But better of course.

The X-Files: Aubrey (2x12)
DuaneB June 12, 2018, 12:06 ET

very good story

This episode still offers us a wonderful story in a lost state. The decorations are sumptuous. Mulder and Suclly offer us a nice complementarity that punctuates this unpretentious episode. And it is precisely this side "unpretentious" that ends up filling all the boxes of a good classic episode.
This completely crazy story of reincarnation of a killer in this woman is finally well found. The end gives credit to flashback a little too present, as Jack says. But this slight defeat does not manage to entangle the pleasure that I have to watch this episode. In addition, I also like the seriousness with which Scully invests. We feel all the more concerned that it is a woman; but -the advantage of the 90's- we did not fall into the trap of feminism.
It is all in skill that BJ is treated, and that by Scully reflection acts. The scene in the park where BJ tells his dream is very successful. The gray and autumnal weather adds to the gloomy atmosphere that suffocates us. A good classic without pretension but who can pretend. And what fan would remain insensitive to this old isolated house in the bottom of the campaign?
A beautiful 8/10!

The X-Files: Humbug (2x20)
danascully09 June 12, 2018, 12:06 ET

what a circus

Everything is so well treated in this episode, with always a thinking about how society can't adapt itself to human beings in all their singularity, here weirdness.
I love to discover every character, the stages sets. I love the dialogues, the sense of humor of the actors, every scene is cult it seems.
We feel every emotion, alternately: fear, shame, joy, sadness... It's wonderful to spend a moment watching TV feeling this.
I love the scene of the potatoe, of course, but I can't choose a favourite scene in this ep. Congratulations to the cast and crew

The X-Files: Død Kalm (2x19)
danascully09 June 12, 2018, 12:06 ET

ok now it has aged

I remember when I asked you Jack to tell me about your disenchantment about this episode, which I've always liked. So I watched it again this week. And yes, I am agree that the make up is the worst of TV history LOL
BUT: the travel in Norway, behind closed doors on this ghost ship, with story's of government behind, I can't resist, I love it.
Mulder and Scully seem so passionates searching for the truth, even when they realized they're dying.
OK the realism is not here, because they heal finally with a perfect skin in the forward episodes LOL
I love the work on the noises in the ship, and the directing, I feel loneliness and fear all over the episode.
There's a question however: how can scully realize blood analysis with no materials???

The X-Files: Fearful Symmetry (2x18)
danascully09 June 12, 2018, 12:06 ET

aliens save the species

Interesting subjects, disturbing behavior of humans on animals, and even aliens have a better idea of the animal survival that we have.
The theme of eco-terrorism was better treated in darkness falls of course but the characters are persuasive.
I'm always moved by the sadness of the animals in this episode.
The writing is goodlike the acting, and the scene of the autopsy of Ganesha is remarkable.

The X-Files: Firewalker (2x09)
danascully09 June 12, 2018, 12:06 ET

volcano's secrets

I've always loved this episode like the others behind close doors and when our agents leave the comfort of the city to put them in situation. Scully is back to work, under mulder's compassionate watch.
This episode is realistic, we learn from science about chemistry, Mulder and Scully are investigating with their sensitivity and they are complementary like we love them. The other characters are interesting, especially Jesse and Trebkos.
Favourite scene when the mushroom explodes in jesse's throat putting scully in danger.

The X-Files: Signs and Wonders (7x09)
DuaneB June 12, 2018, 12:06 ET

Sssssssss

This episode could have been a good one, but quickly falls into a kind of religio-sectarian play with an evangelist sauce that makes everything very heavy. The scenes of collective trans are really too long and make more than scary, especially boring this episode. Snakes are a good idea; but as for the story of the episode in general, the default and be at maximum in all levels. All the levers are red and eventually produce the opposite effect of the desired one. At least that's my feeling. Mulder and Scully seem to be more than extras as their roles are under-exploited. It's a shame, because the atmosphere of old remote countryside, even with these Calforinian dry decorations, promised the best. That's why the sets are not enough, you must also have a writing script that hold.
I give a 3/10.

The X-Files: Oubliette (3x08)
DuaneB June 12, 2018, 12:06 ET

Tragic and true!

Beautiful episode. Everything is perfect: history, photography, acting and especially music.
Here again, we always appreciate when the series takes over the actulity of the moment. Like in our town ...
This episode shows a Duchovny ever more intense and epxressive, which finally gives him the latitude to extend this emotional register, usually more visible in Scully.
The story of links shared between the two victims is very relevant, even if improbable. The realism of the scenes of captivity is cold in the back, and are surely very close, or even below reality.
We feel in the dark atmosphere of this episode the contemporaneity of MillenniuM. The decorations in the forest and the river are sumptuous and add to the dramatism of history.

The X-Files: The Host (2x02)
DuaneB June 11, 2018, 12:06 ET

Cult episode!

This episode, this loner, is one of my favorites. The reasons are multiple.
The original story echoes a real phenomenon such as Chernobyl. The monster of course is a creature necessarily exaggerated, but the idea of â€‹â€‹the monster big of what could have been true in small is a great idea.
In addition, we feel that there has been a lot of work to restore the reality of the sewer and evacuation system in urban areas.

The relationship Mulder Scully reached at the beginning of the season a complicity that is nice to see. The feeling is there somewhere, but in no way can there be any question of love. Their friendship and respect are the cornerstone that radiates during these first three seasons, and the second is its culminating point.

Skinner is right in his boots, always with this paternalism suprise.
Duchovny is at the top of the game in terms of level of play. Anderson is also beautiful, delicate and charming, with that grain of prudery that was so strong.
The investigation, which was to be another chore for Mulder, finally serves him a superb paranormal phenomenon on a plateau. His open conclusion with the creature in the water concludes the episode in classicism that shines knows and appreciated.
This episode is part of the cults. Fans often prefer Tooms, but I find this much more plosible creature, at least in concept.A 10/10!

The X-Files: End Game (2x17)
danascully09 May 31, 2018, 12:05 ET

congratulations to the cast and crew

I adore this episode, too much things to say: Samantha's back, Mulder deals with his entire family, but can't take the risk to lose Scully, he exchanges her with his sister, and in the end he declares he hates when Scully risks her life. But hopefully she think the same things. We learn a lot of new informations about the gregors, the ABH, mr X and his ability to erase things. I love Skinner in the 2 eps, he's brilliant. And of course the scene in alaska with the submarine wow I remember my first watch of the ep it looks like I was cold like Mulder. This episode is a movie.

The X-Files: Colony (2x16)
danascully09 May 31, 2018, 12:05 ET

green toxic bloody ep!

I love the entire ambiance of this episode, the way it is directed, the appearance of the gregors, and the breathless end, I watched it today with my children and they said out loud "noooooo" when they read "to be continued". THAT is really a mythological episode full of action and paranoia, and surprises. Scully is nearly more passionate than Mulder, she takes risks in the investigation, she's so brave!

The X-Files: One Breath (2x08)
danascully09 May 31, 2018, 12:05 ET

Can't breathe...

... Until she wakes up!

Perfect episode, every scene is a pleasure of good writing and makes sense. Margaret Scully and Melissa are doing their best, I like them so much in this episode, just like Mulder, DD is playing so right! Usually, sorrow is not his best emotion, but here it's perfect.
I smile thinking about dizzy GA with her heavy breast shooting this episode with a crying baby on the set.
This would have been the only blessed pregnancy for the show LOL.

The X-Files: Home Again (10x04)
Gruic May 31, 2018, 12:05 ET

Legacy

A great Scully centric episode about responsability and legacy.

Margaret's death brings out all the guilt of Scully, serving as a storytelling engine to revive the quest of William that will, ultimately, clear up all the remorse. The episode Ghouli, in season 11, will bring a magnificent conclusion to this mythological arc by finally releasing Scully of all that.

The music "More Remorse" by Mark Snow is beautiful. One of his best and most successful work.

As a conclusion, I would like to approach the character of Trashman, a compulsive artist living in a basement, surrounded by his creations awkwardly taking life and chaotically roaming the corridors.
This is probably the strongest idea of the whole season.

The X-Files: Ascension (2x06)
danascully09 May 30, 2018, 12:05 ET

AMAZING

Can DD be more persuasive than in that episode??
What can I say?? Every scene is amazing, Scully's rapt, Mulder's sorrow, and rage, and run, and search...
Krycek is a bad ass yeah! CSM knows everything about Scully's abduction, Skinner opens up the XFiles, Duane Barry succeeds his plan... WOW we can't breathe until the end, (just a little when Mulder reaches the top of the mountain without dying)
Moving scenes with Margaret Scully, whose trust in Mulder is entire.
But oh my god: when will our Scully come back??? Alive!

The X-Files: Duane Barry (2x05)
danascully09 May 30, 2018, 12:05 ET

aliens, insanity, and wonderful DD

everything is amazing in this episode, but the actor's playing is the most important thing. The writing too.
I really love when the 2 opposite sides of the problem can explain the problem: here we can be sure that Barry's abduction was real because of the passionate interpretation of Mulder, but after Scully's arrival and the reading of the medical file of Barry, we are not sure anymore.
Krycek is still a cute kind agent... Not for long time
And of course, the scene of Scully in the grocery shop is unbelievable, and the great final dangerous scene always lets me speechless. Hopefully this was not a final season cliffhanger!

The X-Files: Blood (2x03)
danascully09 May 30, 2018, 12:05 ET

Government involvement

Can't be more paranoid effects that believing government is lying and killing people. Good episode, but it has aged. Because of the old technologies. I like to see the lone gunmen again, and we'll never know if Mulder gives Scully's phone number to Frohike :))

I like when x files is based on real facts from archives, and when it is about effects on health.
Love the open final scene too, eve if the bye bye is too much.

The X-Files: The Host (2x02)
danascully09 May 30, 2018, 12:05 ET

tchernobyl the shame

Shameful subjet that the creation of such a monster, from humans.
Always fascinated by this creature and the intense investigation led by this episode. Mulder on the run, Scully on the brain.
Good disgusting scenes, good speeches, good actors, and fear through the music, and the darkness of canalisations.
This Tchernobyl subject has always had a real effect on me.

The scene under the shower is the best!

The X-Files: Little Green Men (2x01)
danascully09 May 30, 2018, 12:05 ET

oh my god!

I love this wonderful first season 2 episode, because we found back our characters so deeply annoyed by their situation, but always with strength to carry on. Here we see how Scully holds his partner and tells him not to give up. And then his obsession for the truth comes back. I love the way Scully is always there, I love the paranoid ambiance in the airport, I love the tension.
The episode is full of handsome scenes we'll never forget like Samantha's abduction, or the amazing car poursuite against the UFO army in the end (Impossible to watch a car race from MS IV without crying after that!).
What an unforgettable beginning of our 2nd season show, thank you the showrunner

The X-Files: Beyond the Sea (1x13)
Vivi May 30, 2018, 12:05 ET

My favourite episode

I just love this episode. I think this is one of those I've the most seen and I could see it thousands of times. Gillian Anderson is just wonderful. She shows how talented she is and how she controls her character.

The X-Files: Paper Hearts (4x10)
Vivi May 30, 2018, 12:05 ET

Just a wonderful episode

This episode is perfect. I love the music, the story, the directing, the photography, the characters... everything ! For me it represents the series. Just watch and enjoy.

The X-Files: Lazarus (1x15)
danascully09 May 24, 2018, 12:05 ET

convincing

Even if we find out what's going on in the beginning of the episode, the actors play very well, and like in the episode Fire, we learn about Scully's past lover, and when she's kept in the house like a dog it's very oppressive.
Mulder does his best to find her, he is disturbed:
"MULDER: And for those of you ---who donâ€™t know already (voice unsteady) this oneâ€™s important to me. So, uh, letâ€™s do it right. Thanks."

A good one, again

The X-Files: Fire (1x12)
danascully09 May 24, 2018, 12:05 ET

Attractive fire

I've always liked this episode because we learn about Mulder's english past, his hate and fear of fire (in love and in life!).
I hate Phoebe of course, but I'm pretty sure I am more jealous than Scully! I want to protect Mulder from her! Scully is wiser, investigating on her own, protecting with distance, always an eye, always there when she has to be.
And the man responsible for the fire is really convincing with his freaky eyes. I love his sens of humor too.
The scene when the corridor turns on fire is impressive even if we know it's impossible to keep walking in real life, because of the lethal smokes. Mulder's the hero! Like for some of the first season episode, it has a real investigation, with interrogatories, and expert advices.

The X-Files: Fallen Angel (1x10)
danascully09 May 24, 2018, 12:05 ET

paranoid

First meeting with Max and his trailer, and we love him. He could have been a lone gunman.
An episode close to the 1x02 deep throat and EBE I think.
We discover a new kind of alien entity and learn that the army has more knowledge about it.
the flying max scene is thrilling. Scully is rescuing Mulder from jail, and think that Max is just ill. As often.

The X-Files: Shadows (1x06)
danascully09 May 24, 2018, 12:05 ET

a real classic

Although this episode aged a lot (my god the old flowery dress of Lauren Kyte!) it offers a real investigation and a paranormal and moving subject (psychokinesis with a loving parent). Well played by the actress.
Scary in some scenes (the crushed throat and the last with fly papers in the closed office).
A real opposition between M & S. A classic ep

The X-Files: Conduit (1x04)
danascully09 May 24, 2018, 12:05 ET

Meeting with abductees

Great episode with superb scenes of abductions or what it might be. Ruby's brother is convincing and mysterious. I love when Scully discovers the shape of Ruby in the numbers. And always the local police working against the FBI. A real investigation in woods with a lot of signs in a lot of directions. And great actors

The X-Files: Squeeze (1x03)
danascully09 May 24, 2018, 12:05 ET

what a mutant!

When I was a teenager, I was afraid of EV Tooms and his way of life and kill. Now when I watch this episode I am not so shaken. It is outdated. Mostly because of the directing I think.
But I like the way Scully is already an ally for Mulder, defending his reputation, on his side.
And of course the final scene, where Mulder understands that Scully will be the future victim.

The X-Files: Deep Throat (1x02)
danascully09 May 24, 2018, 12:05 ET

UFO power

beginning of the season one and we are witnesses of ufo flies in american sky! great episode with army secrets, crazy soldiers, urban legends, rocky music, and a passionate Mulder which Scully has to save for the first time, knowing many more will follow, and that she'll be a consolatory mum for this teenager.
Meeting Deep throat makes us paranoid and curious.
I love to see how simple and humoristic is the M&S relationship already. It always make me think that Scully was less serious than after. Even in the way she is dressed. She is not the cold woman she'll become later in the show, and I don't know why

The X-Files: Pilot (1x01)
danascully09 May 24, 2018, 12:05 ET

we are not alone

what a bomb in TV landscape
Always a pleasure to watch this episode, to tell every word learnt by heart, to try to find something we had never seen last times... I love the characters, their smiles, their persuasion, their beliefs, their passion, and also their pleasure to spend time together because they're so curious to discover each other.
And the story so mysterious and the other characters so paranoids (the CSM in the pentagon!).
We learn that the story is told from real facts and it's so scary!
A classic and superb episode I LOVE

The X-Files: Tooms (1x21)
danascully09 May 17, 2018, 12:05 ET

not bad

I will also prefer the first ep of Tooms, but this one has inside some good scenes too, like in Skinner's office, or between Scully and Mulder, with an apogee of their trust.
I would have like more action scenes woth Tooms, but he's still disgusting and freaking even in the daily life. This episode is more to show the relevance of Mulder, we will learn he is always right.
I like the investigation, sometimes simple (intuition?), sometimes with science help (bones knowledge). The last scene with the escalator would have deserved to be longer, and I regret the death of Tooms because we'll never see him 30 years later (2023 would have been possible, with Mulder in a wheelchair LOL)

And, I want to mention the appearance of CSM, mysterious as ever, with whispered words through his smoke... ART

The X-Files: Ice (1x08)
danascully09 May 16, 2018, 12:05 ET

everything I love

Great one from season 1

- Mulder and Scully investigates far from Washington behing closed doors with perfect strangers (a selfish pilot, a gentle mac gyver scientist and a couple of doctors that know everything better than no one else)

- Their trust in each other is new but sincere, and as often Mulder is more confident than Scully

- I love the way the characters died one after the other like in an Agatha Christie's book! Who is the next? who can we trust?? When Scully enters her room and the surveillance mode my heart is beating fast!

- the special effetcs are not the best with the worms battle in the fridge but we forgive!

best scene: Scully and Mulder are about to shoot each other with their guns!

- the end when we learn that no evidence will belong because the site was destroyed.

The X-Files: The Jersey Devil (1x05)
danascully09 May 16, 2018, 12:05 ET

urban legend

I like this episode for many reasons:

- the urban legend Tarzan like (maybe simple but I like when the show deals with these things people believe and fear everywhere in the world)

- the real hard investigation

- We deeply feel Mulder's commitment for his work, he's passionate, sleeping as a homeless, dealing with unfair local police, documented himself with archives (and in Maryland university), always in sense quest ...
He will be blessed with a wonderful but so short and hurting meeting with the creature at the end.

- the try then the renunciation of Scully of having a private life. she's dating a man (we learn that she finds Mulder cute but too obsessed with his job) but she will be bored during the diner!

- the real opened end with jersey devil child in the woods

The X-Files: Beyond the Sea (1x13)
danascully09 May 16, 2018, 12:05 ET

emotional

What a moving episode,

First we discover the privacy of Dana Scully, inviting her parents for diner in her apartment, accomplice with her mother, and distant with her father, the distance is from him we guess when he ask about dana's job just before leaving in a hurry.

Then the suddent death (crap we've just met with William Sr!) and our dana talking with a ghost (wow).
She's at work as the strong character she is, and she discovers her partner's support (Mulder is very soft and gentle, there are a lot of touch) that will give her strength to carry on.

The character of LL Boggs is very well played, on the verge of madness, and even if we learn about his crimes, we feel humanity, when he wants to help Scully, when he enters her mind. She wants to believe him but also remains aware of Mulder's thoughts about him and it's a big deal to manage with her feelings.

Best scene: "if he dies because of what you've done... Son of a bitch!!!!!"

At the end she prefers not coming to Boggs death but joins Mulder on his recovery bed. Her feet on the ground, her mind with her father's memory.

The X-Files: Lord of the Flies (9x05)
DuaneB May 16, 2018, 12:05 ET

Stupid

This episode is an history of teenager and hormones... But the writing quality is unfortunatly bellow all. The phenomen seems completely exaggerated. Scully who is flirting and Dogget who judges himself these weak teenagers are the only things I save from the episode.
We're far from the firts magnificent seasons. But it was ignoring the horros coming in the revival...

2/10!

The X-Files: The Unnatural (6x19)
DuaneB May 12, 2018, 12:05 ET

Too much baseball

This episode, which claims to be a mythological mixed with a loner, does not succeed in seducing either of the two paintings. From this episode, I really like the early scene in the office with Scully and her ice cream. Their complicity and lightness is a pleasure to see. It is the same for the final scene, with a little nuance that it is very shiper, a forced scene like to make scream or rosy girls.
I also like the beginning with old Arthur. But if not all this baseball, and this reconstitution ends up boring me more than seducing me.

Scully is absent, and we have very little Mulder. The thickness given to Arthur Dales was not worked enough to fit me on almost an entire episode. It's a bit the same flaw I blamed for the Travelers episode.

For me a 4/10. Not bad, but not great either.

The X-Files: Invocation (8x05)
DuaneB May 12, 2018, 12:05 ET

An old recipe

This episode perfectly illustrates this magnificent alchemy of respect and repulsion that rages between Dogget and Scully.
The story of the rapture echoes some of the best episodes in the series:
-Conduit
-The Calusari
-Oubliette

Above all, this episode echoes Samantha's kidnapping. The emotional alibi is very simple: in order to better love Dogget, the writers wanted to create a story about the disappearance of a loved one -in this case his son- to make a kind of continuity of a missing Mulder. Emotional continuity in the mind of a skeptic.

The Dogget Scully relationship is at its peak of arguments, opposing opinions, and it is with a certain enjoyment that we appreciate this new relationship. Scully's masculinity makes her shine as a woman; and Mulder's femininity at times too much in emotion is replaced by a doggetian virility that plays with Scully's electric batteries. This magnificent repulsion, in addition to a successful story and a very x-files photograph, as Gruic rightly says, gives us a superb survey. In addition, Dogget's frustration and Scully's response sum up perfectly the spirit of the show.

The secondary characters are very well played. The lost leader and the follower-victim also lost are perfect in their records. The good woman and her trailer give a popular side that contrasts very well with the American family and classic residential. We have the social side that X files often picks up; sometimes more adroitly than others. But this is very well found.

I give a 9/10 for all these reasons.

The X-Files: Unruhe (4x04)
DuaneB May 12, 2018, 12:05 ET

Crazy

Everything is perfect in this episode. The story is scary, just like the character. Mulder and Scully's relationship is interesting because they do not feel the same way. The game of DD, as every time Scully is in danger, is at its best. The mental delirium translated by psychic photo is a great idea, even if it seems unlikely for real ... But it's x files! And what a suspense !! For me the best loner of season 4.

This is an episode cleverly built, crescendo.
And the special atmosphere of this episode is very different from the others. The many sunny scenes do not hinder the darkness of the subject. The crazy is really great. The scene in the camping car with atrocious sadism is superb. That's how I like x files: being afraid, having a completely paranormal phenomenon 9 psycho photos) without pouring into the gore ...

Our duo is breathtaking! Gilligan! ... This guy is a real creator. And then Scully who speaks German, sexier you die!

As for Mulder, his dismay is palpable and very well played by DD, we feel at the end, ready for anything. I also love the old dentist's office of Gery's father ... And then the survey is built in a super classic scheme and it's a real treat. There is a beginning, a development with its summit (the Scully kidnapping again!) And an end.

a 10/10 deserved.

The X-Files: Three of a Kind (6x20)
Gruic May 10, 2018, 12:05 ET

Good and fun

Second episode featuring the Lone Gunmen as main characters, I like how it concludes a part of the back story as well as it serves as a begining for the upcoming spin off The Lone Gunmen. We can feel the potential, and Bryan Spicer is a good director.

It is always interesting to have stories using others characters than Mulder and Scully.

A good one.

The X-Files: Schizogeny (5x09)
DuaneB May 5, 2018, 12:05 ET

Not so bad!!

Coats Grove, Michigan. 16-year-old Bobby Rich is reprimanded by his father-in-law, Phil, who is returning from work. Their argument, in front of which the mother remains impotent, results in the escape of Bobby in the woods surrounding the house. The handsome father runs after Bobby and falls to the ground. It's like sucking in the mud, while Bobby is desperately trying to help him.

So, here are our two agents in the Michigan State Nordic who came to investigate the death of Phil Rich, who apparently had swallowed too much mud, which would be the cause of his death.
In this episode, we see with pleasure a Mulder that I like; the one who finds himself facing teenagers, the worst unclassified cases. It is often on these occasions that he can show the extent of his psychological ease and show his talent to understand teens. The episode as a whole is pleasant to watch. The pre-generic scene is fascinating, there is the darkness "recipe" of our series, characters finally of great intensity, and a death for the least atypical. And that's where the episode can disappoint. Because it is indeed quite complex. At first, one could like Scully suspect Bobby. (But it would be the fact of those who would not have watched carefully the opening scene). It is actually the first interview of our two agents with Karin Mathews that we suspect that it is she who could be at the origin of everything. Then, advancing in the episode, the old arborist who rode in the orchards shows Mulder and Scully a disease that affects the trees (hazel trees precisely) called "the blister". That would be 20 years ago, when Karin's father died. How to connect all these data to agree an explanation? Killer trees that would have passed power to Karin? avenging trees of the victims of parental abuse, which would have killed Karin's father for the alleged ill-treatment he inflicted on her?
It's a bit of all that and nothing of that ...
Anyway, this episode, besides the controversies of which it was victim, deals with a finally realistic subject: the crisis of adolescence, the rebellion which often accompanies it, and the impotence of the parents. The character of Karin Mathews is quite interesting. At first, he appears as the great judge of parent-child litigation; she is the one who understands them, the psychiatrist of the corner ... But it is not without reasons. Because she gives herself justice of her own childhood by living that of Bobby or Lisa by proxy. Mulder's speech in voiceover at the end of the episode explains it well.
"The anger that has been repressed for too long is finding its own voice" So, we must believe that Karin's power to control nature is the voice of her anger and her thirst for revenge for a past she could not overcome. So the link between the trees and their disease would be Karin. Why? How? Do not ask me. The weird arborist tells us, "it's the fault of a bad man." Let's just note that the common point between Bobby's father and Lisa's and Karin's is to have worked with this arborist.
A bonus story aboard quite complicated, but which finds an explanation, even far-fetched. Moreover, the title of the episode pretty much summarizes the schizophrenia suffered by Karin. The multiple personality to change of voice reminds me of "The field where i died". However, this is no exception in X-Files, ending up at the end of the episode with a somewhat frustrating explanation, when there is one. Add to this that it is not so bad in the sense that it meets the basic criteria of the very essence of X-Files: divergent point of view Mulder / Scully (albeit somewhat diminished; of Scully oblige), endearing and atypical characters, a certain dose of paranoia hidden in the psychology of Karin (and even Bobby), a dark atmosphere, a worrying musical motif, scenes in the woods, a paranormal power implemented, and the theme of adolescents (already used in: "The hand of hell"; "damned souls"; "DPO") ... That the way all this has been treated please less, I can understand it, but me to say it's a bad episode, no. Voila in terms of qualities. Now, from a more objective point of view, some defects may be attributable to it: a certain slowness (although it is not blatant either), a plot that goes a little in all directions, and an explanation little credible.
Unless you are totally allergic to the 5th season, this is an episode that we look with pleasure and that fits perfectly in the spirit of the series. If it is not in the best episodes, in my opinion, it is not in the worst, as I read on other forums.
Since this is my review, I give myself a little parenrhese to explain otherwise justify why I like it.
It turns out that when it first aired, I saw it by completely identifying with Bobby Rich. Not that I was a victim of abuse, far from it. No. I was exactly 16 years old like Bobby, and I found myself in the midst of a teenage crisis. I do not think I was the only one in this case. My identification with the character of Bobby was more about the revolt of the latter, the refusal to obey, the refusal to let go in high school (or college), this kind of excitement to have this age mixed with a frustration of do not be older At that time, it is obvious that I could not see it otherwise than with those eyes. And I would say that in retrospect, it always appears to me the same way, hindsight more, that's all. And then, it's also personal, but I like the episodes quite psychological and that deal with the family. I always find it interesting to see how the scriptwriters handle the thing. Therefore, this episode is in the middle of the season, is for me quite representative of an intimate side that would qualify the season as a whole. I also think of Christmas Carol, Emily, PMP, Redux 1 and 2, Mind's eye, Patient X ... etc. I mean it responds to the general climate of season 5. It is indeed a season well apart, there is no doubt. Emotion has a larger place. Whether in loners like Schizogeny or the mythological ones like Redux and Emily.

To return to the episode, there is one element that I think is important to point out is that more and more, we feel that Scully adheres more easily than before to Mulder's theories, even if it is not yet completely the case. It is also in this that the episode must disappoint the purists of the first hours, it is on. But what to say then of the following seasons?
Finally, of course, I take into account the heated debate that this episode is originally, but fully assumes my opinions: Schizogeny is not a bad episode. To persuade the most tenacious, at this time, I advise you to watch Doubles and then the one ...... I already see the bad language tell me: "they are both void!".
For me, the choice is quickly made. This episode still has a certain intensity, a story that can be complicated but interesting and very original. A woman who would have the power to control nature to avenge her abused childhood through the teens she cares for. It's original. It's not the monster of the week, but good. And then the sets are quite pure X-Files: rainy sky, countryside and woodland decor, small scene in a cemetery, at night ... Not to mention the scene where Mulder climbs the tree and Scully finds himself alone in front of the arborist a little disturbing!
Here is.
I give 6 of 10

The X-Files: En Ami (7x15)
DuaneB May 5, 2018, 12:05 ET

WBD's script

Goochland, Virginia. A boy named Jason is suffering from cancer. But for religious reasons, parents refuse to hospitalize their child. One night, mysterious men whom he will call "angels" would have come into a ball of light to heal him. Scully is immediately informed of the case by the man with the cigarette, which takes advantage of the occasion to make him dazzle a remedy for all the existing diseases, provided that it deigns to accompany it in a long journeys through the United States...

Interlaced in the middle of a series of loners all more offbeat and delirious as each other, As a friend takes over an atmosphere of a distant X-files for the least tossed by the changes she had undergone. The man with the cigarette gives the story of the chip on the carpet, decided to win by all means Scully's confidence. "Mulder is too stubborn," he tells us. The truth is that he feels a sort of remorse and admiration for Scully, that he offers himself here an ultimate chance of redemption. He takes out his last card before the end of the game.
The plot itself is pretty well done, in that it stays true to the character of CSM. By pretending to be Scully by e-mail, C.G.B. Spender contact a so-called cobra who would hold the information on a CD-ROM, this in order to make meet Scully and not him, to be supposed to "transmit" his knowledge before dying. We can imagine that this is also a great opportunity to spend time with her. Especially since in the end, what was to be a gift, a capital transmission, turned out to be a ruse, a lure, a breach of trust. Our brave agent Scully was too seduced by apparent remorse so well suggested by CGB. Scully finds himself, at the end of the episode, ridiculed by this man, when we know the effort she had agreed to make to give him confidence. It is also that our man knows very well how to support or it hurts: cancer, miracle cure, pseudo statement of admiration, he knows how to talk to women ... Which brings us to the main interest of this episode.
It is, as everyone knows, at the express request of William B. Davis (who himself participated in his writing) that this episode was born. And it was not a luxury for the show's credibility to confront two iconic characters. Scully and CSM had only had very short scenes together, and then there was Mulder. The real first scene took place at Scully in Closure and lasted only two minutes. This is why this episode fascinates, because for one as for the other, it forces them to play on another relational register. From minute to minute, we are witnessing the evolution of a premium Scully aboard refractory (as often!) And which gradually drop the guard for the pleasure of CSM (and its fans, like me! ). Similarly, we also see how by taking the time to listen to this man, he can confide. The excuse of the end of life, of the disease due to its operation, is used here only for the purpose of softening Scully and it works perfectly. Of course, knowing Scully difficult to convince, it was necessary to prepare all the pageantry. That is to say that this episode is really to consider (watch) as a game of tracks. In addition to his personality, he needed all the arguments to convince her:
-First argument: the scar at the base of Jason's shot and his story.
-Second: the paper left on the armchair with its coordinates marked on it.
-Third: the big office in the building of DARPA, with the eternal chorus / blackmail: "Here, people would kill me if they knew what I am telling you, they would kill you in the minute following"
-Fourth: the dramatic twist of the presentation to "Margorie Butters, 118 years old, gardening champion", always with the scar at the base of the neck.
Fifth: the purchase of a superb evening dress and the interrupted dinner. Great twist to make Scully want to feel sorry for herself, and leave just after to leave it in the last good impression ...
-Sixth: the meeting with Cobra, his assassination, and the escape in extremis (de Scully).
-Septem: the fake gift of the CD-rom exchanged for a virgin. "Here, it's for you".

The return to Mulder with the LGM shows us a septic Mulder and a credulous Scully.
But the trio and their computer spoke: "There is nothing above it!" Scully was fooled as ever, put his trust in the hands of this man back to his heart, and all that to end up at the conclusion of Mulder, who is also mine: "He made you see everything that it was necessary for you to believe in it ". But I remain just as Scully persuaded that: "there was something else in his look" ...
Since the time we waited for a face to face with the man to the cigarette, for those who waited for it, we are not disappointed. It is difficult indeed to note a negative note of this episode. If, only one then: the shot of scully who wakes up in pajamas ... A little huge. He is supposed to have drugged him, but how? Nothing is shown. He could not have undressed her without awaking! Short.
Apart from this detail, I try to see what may have disappointed. Scully lowered, ridiculed? CSM twisted and hypocritical (is this a surprise given the character?), Mulder too absent (for once!), The incoherence of the scenario (why he will not just take the cobra CD and the bute after?) at this moment the episode no longer exists, nor the confrontation with Scully!). One could say a lot for the bureaucrats of the detail, the ant on the lookout for the imperfection, the bad fanatics not understanding that X-files is not X-files without CSM, even in this way.
The conclusion is frustrating, of course. But then you have to focus on everything else. Personally I had a great pleasure to see CSM for a long time trying to become "nice", and to see Scully try to accept his offer. On the other hand, the writing of this episode is not so bad. When CSM tells Scully that she is attracted to men of power but fears their power, it can not be denied. Add to that a good realization, a pre-generic rainy scene, and a paranoid atmosphere whether for Mulder kept apart, or for Scully very suspicious. The scene in the toilets of the gas station is uplifting.
Finally, more personally, I take this review to give my point of view on the psychology of CGB Spender. Although I know that everyone already has their idea on the subject and that I will not contribute anything by doing so, it is also the purpose of a personal analysis; everyone does not see things the same way, does not it?
For me it is a man who can only live in extreme loneliness, as evidenced by Musing of the cigarette smoking man. He does not hesitate to kill, certainly, but his murders are always acts necessary to protect his Great Project. He is whole, false, inveterate liar, murderer is sadistic. These are defects that I like to see in the character of a "villain". And the most interesting in the background, is to see its evolution throughout the seasons and see little by little what is his life; understand why he does what he does. A character from the shadows, who can only live in the shadows (especially since he committed the assassination of JFK!) And then, dare I say, I think he kills with a great class . Yes, it's his class that I actually like. Well aware that it's a bastard first, I like to put in his place. Because of its place, we can see M & S struggling in their lives from another height, the height of the one who holds the reins. We share, in a way, his power. That's why when he becomes emotional or shows a more human aspect of his personality, it's even more touching. His heart had hitherto untapped riches, and shows us a facet of a fallen father (by his fault of course), a leader of the consortium over, a man aware of the evil he has done, and falling the mask in front of him a woman he almost killed, it's huge for him to have done that. Even if it was only comedy, one also knows that it lays in him a great depth and an almost philosophical reflection of the life. We must listen to his tirade on the chocolate box in the episode "Musing of the CSM": great! although already used in Forest Gump ... Another example of his honesty in cruelty, in the One sound episode. The conversation with Mulder at Diana Fowley's. Very emotional.
All I want to raise is that when a "bad guy" comes to good person, or "nice", it's even more touching because it's not his role. and it is this ambiguity which makes the character so interesting and which, in my case, justifies me putting myself in his place from time to time.

In short, it's an episode that uses mythology as a pretext, to finally show us CSM under its best and worst day at a time. Music is always part of the game. The sets are beautiful. We travel almost with them. And morality, although frustrating, restores the character in his just nature. I leave the good care of the critics, pointing finger of the defects to those who did not like it. But as far as I'm concerned, fortunately this episode exists because it comes to raise the level sometimes a little fair of this 7th season.

The X-Files: Jump the Shark (9x15)
DuaneB May 5, 2018, 12:05 ET

Uncredible end for TLGM

An episode that sins by all sides.
The return of characters from the derivative series The Lone Gunmen can not live harmoniously with the series. Worse: the series was already at a stage where it was hard to be itself. So the addition of this series in the series does not work at all. The characters are as blatant as a slice of ham at the neighborhood's worst grocer ...
On the other hand, it was already difficult to consider a Scully in the background, but when Dogget and Reyes themselves are in the background, it is completely losing the interest of the series.
Of course I had fun to find our crazy trio , but their death remains sloppy pretext, easy solution that stinks of the end of the series. I think they deserved something else like spell. They believed that to make "good seve" it was necessary to sacrifice important personages. Except that all the art of this string lies in its subtlety, in its manner, in its art. There it is big and vulgar; like the introductory scene where we can not believe that we are watching an episode of X files: in the case this blonde completely cacked and mad with this wanker Fletcher.
In my top ten worst.
1/10!

The X-Files: Die Hand Die Verletzt (2x14)
DuaneB May 5, 2018, 12:05 ET

Die hand die x files

Milford Haven, New Hampshire - Around a table meet the principal, his deputy, a gym teacher and the high school psychologist. Apparently it would only be a meeting of teachers taking stock of the problems of the week. But soon after, they light a candle and practice a satanic rite together. Not far from there, in a forest, a group of four teenagers tries to practice a rite of black magic on a tree stump. Unexpectedly an explosion occurs, scared high school students run away. One of them is strangled by one hand. We will find his body atrociously mutilated the next day ...

Well here it is! More gore. We are projected for the first time in the series in the satanic ritual murder, in the tone that this theme deserves, and in the atmosphere that this episode focuses. The first scene between Mulder and Scully in the forest suggests the best: the gullible / skeptical opposition. Scully does not even have time to say that there is nothing strange in this forest that it's raining toads. Ridiculed, his role - throughout the episode - remains no less important.
The victim (Jerry Steven) is one of the two boys who - in fact - wanted one thing: indulge in libertinage with the two girls; the ceremony being only an excuse to reunite our two very innocent girls. At the first interrogation, I must confess my jubilation when to find Mulder face adolescents. A theme that will be the breadcrumb of several other episodes (DPO, Schizogeny, Rush and so on.) And another pleasure: that of finding Scully at the controls; it is she who asks the questions, and in a serious that we have pleasure to watch because it accentuates the unparalleled realism in this season. She reads in her eyes that, despite her unbelief, she does not disregard the violence of the crime and the fear of Dave Duran; nor the disgust of our two young girls. On the other side of the window of the room where the young people are questioned, stands the group of teachers that we had seen in pre-generic scene. According to them, Jerry Steven was killed according to Asrael's ritual. Thus begin the suspicions, each lowering the eyes not to be suspected ... Continuing in the enumeration of the great appointments, or - as I said in other reviews - great ingredients of the quality "X files". It's good - about paranoia here at its height. The collective hysteria of which Scully speaks, another great theme. An evil force holding the city in its clutches ... But who is behind all this?
In the following scene, the plausibility of a teacher's interest in young teens, Mrs. Paddock's empathy and female connivance towards girls is as likely to be kind as in the next minute, this same Mrs. Paddock naturally puts copies on the heart and the bloody eyes of Jerry Steven. A horrible scene from a perspective of the realistic context that I keep talking about. Then the cult scene of the dissection of the pig ...
More personally, every time I see poor Shanon's story, I can not help but feel sorry for myself, even thinking that everything is not true. This is one of the most serious episodes, and I would say even more dramatic ones. As a loner, he has the power to captivate us as much as certain mythos; it's rare. Every scene of Mrs. Paddock's ritual murder is a real horror. The way it's filmed, the perfectly fair game of each actor ... Everything is there to make this story oppressive. We will also remember the replica of Scully, very rare at this stage of the series: "Even I would almost believe it".
Finally, from a practice level point of view, the proficiency level of the teacher group, including Jim Ausburry, is only a small beer compared to Paddock. What a horrible face!
But where does Mrs. Paddock come from? Who invoked it? Since no teacher remembers the day of his arrival? We know that his arrival coincides with a very rare disease that would have contracted the teacher she replaces ... Funny coincidence! The episode fought over the growing suspicion around Mrs. Paddock, which is why, in order to protect herself, she "sacrifices" each person posing a threat. The final scene is based on the same question as at the beginning, in that it disappears as strangely as it appeared. But why did you save Mulder and Scully? Obviously for the obvious reason that the series could continue, but if not what interest did it have to that?
I think it appeared then following the invocation of Dave, in the pre-generic scene.
Which explains on the one hand that nobody remembers its arrival, and on the other hand that it is the bad incarnate, on the side of which our group of teacher appear of beginners ... One will note the attention to the detail of Morgan and Wong in the way of blowing out the candles. Indeed, in black magic you do not blow a candle without putting your hand in front, it brings bad luck. It can even translate as an insult to Satan. Thus, to properly extinguish the laziness, one blows a blow with a hand behind the flame.
The striking characters:
From the first time I was seized by Shanon. So by the game of Heather McComb. Here is one who knows how to cry! His story is appalling but still awaits me with compassion. He yes I'm as mean and sentimental as the society that gave me birth ...
Otherwise Jim Ausbury, his father. For the cellar scene. Very creepy recess.
Then simply our usual tandem. Scully very professional, Mulder always suspicious and fair, with its eternal paranoia: the interrogation with the psychologist ...

Sacred loner still that The hand of hell. And the evocative title turns out to be almost below the reality of the episode. This is one of the most horrific episodes of the season, with the other two guessing ... For being septic at first, I get to appreciate it better today.

The X-Files: Travelers (5x15)
DuaneB April 30, 2018, 12:04 ET

Wonderfull west of time

It's unfortunate that one of my favorite seasons is paradoxically tainted by this bad episode. A fake bad episode, actually. Because his intention of departure was very good. We show the context of the creation of the X files in the 1950s. We are introduced to the famous Arthur Dales that we will see again in season 6. Unfortunately, the story focuses too much on the trigger file of the x files, too much on Dales ; so that beyond the absence of Scully, it is the false presence of Mulder that makes the episode boring.
The monster that goes out by the mouth, does a little big string, from my point of view. In short a lot of good elements but the whole did not find a signature that makes me the episode atractive. We have this unpleasant sensation of getting out of trouble to better explain it to us, but in the end we remain disappointed, on the edge of the road, like a lonely traveler. The real traveler is the fan; the one who fights all the bad weather and the scenic marvels at the same time ... And so many lengths. 3/10!

The X-Files: S.R. 819 (6x09)
DuaneB April 27, 2018, 12:04 ET

Best skinner centric

Washington Hospital, Walter Skinner is in a sorry state. Sounds blood system is plagued with an unknown harm. This man is going to die ...

This is the other big surprise of this wonderful sixth season. SR 819 revives the whole concept of X FILES, the true, the pure, the elusive and inimitable paranoid climate, dotted with poetry and action. This is the second major episode dedicated to Skinner; this man finally always so introverted and secretive, of which we had not learned much finally in Avatar, except that he was married and that he is also a great seducer. But here, although playing the role of pretext for the return of our "friend" Krycek, the episode is based on the past -24 hours earlier- to explain the pre-generic scene. The opening speech in voiceover is a kind of introspection of the character of a true depth (which could also apply in everyday life, out of context ... parenthesis!). Discourse on almost political if not ethical aspects, confirming Skinner's righteousness, which he is sure never failed. This episode is therefore essential for fans of Skinner as for "non-fans" since it also shows us in his private life, boxing fan in this case. First place where this bearded and shaggy stranger appears to him; in a very "Millennium" visual effect.

The scene in Skinner's office secretary's office at the FBI with the famous Skinner's day report is also a success. This has several reasons:
-First by the effect of slow motion images of the story, by the attention to detail of the handshake, and suddenly by the return of a real paranoid episode.
-Secondly, the introduction of the mysterious Professor Orgel, detected by Scully during the analysis of video surveillance, adds interest to the plot. Suspense.
-Finally, it reinforces the links between our three characters. Unilateral friendship.
To continue in the series of good surprises, it's the return of Krycek, determined to play with Skinner's life to silence him. Ingenious blackmail, psychological by a last technical means: nanotechnology.
The other big return, very unexpected it must be said, is our old Senator Mateson, we find with great pleasure, because it brings us back to the old seasons whose quality is no longer to prove ...
But let's go back to the episode itself, which makes it successful. I think another big reason for the success of this episode is that there are hardly any outdoor scenes; so it allows us to forget the sun of L.A. in favor of dark, underground parts ... Great scene of pursuit in the residence of Pr Orgel, which perfectly punctuates the rhythm of the episode. Because it is by its rhythm that it is distinguished.
On the other hand, we can not talk about SR 819 without talking about music. Essential element of this episode since it takes up some great orchestral themes of the B.O of Fight the Future. Cult! Especially since this addition, or insertion with the rest of the original music of the episode is married perfectly. The recurrence of the theme sounds a little more each time as a reminder of a past glory, the sensation of great spectacle and travel that provided FTF. And it is a concentrate of all that we savor to the vision of the episode.
Regarding Mulder and Scully, all the same, they are not at all left over. Everyone plays his role: Mulder on the field. Scully on his field, with beautiful scenes in scientific jargon (with Dr. Plant). This medical aspect with many scenes in hospital also gives an "emergency" rating. We also note that the hospital is the place otherwise no other very good episodes of the show. We think of One breath, or Memento mori to name a few ...

Each character is in full swing, with a very active and always passionate Mulder, obsessed, and a Scully scientist and kindergarten, too. The emotional aspect, the very respectful and admiring relationship Scully / Skinner perpetuates their relationship of yesteryear; as in Piper maru and Apocrypha. A kind of reverential friendship ...
Nothing is left out. Action, disturbing characters, suspense, humor with the famous joke about boxing, science and science fiction together, music ... always her. Great musical inspiration from beginning to end.

Reflecting the high expectations of fans, this season was an unexpected paradise, given the recent move of the team. The change - as everyone knows - had worked wonders, probably surging through the big screen.
But Countdown is a great episode, which can be defined as a synthesis of the characteristics of the season from which it is extracted: brilliant scenario, frenzied rhythm and music at its peak. Like the rest of this 6th season. We had already had a glimpse of the talents of Mark Snow in How the ghosts stole christmas; and well it is to note that the muse was still at the rendering.
Sumptuous, paranoid and profound, desperately x files, against all odds.
10/10!

The X-Files: Irresistible (2x13)
DuaneB April 26, 2018, 12:04 ET

best loner ever!

Mineapolis, Minesota ... A dangerous murderer sows panic among the women. Indeed, the killer, Donald Addie Pfaster, only attacks women. He collects the hair and nails of the dead, and just kills for this unique pleasure. Exceeded by these profanities of burials, the Moe agent of the local police calls our two agents to the rescue.

The fetishist, or Irresistible, is simply one of my favorite episodes. At least he is in my top ten.
Everything is perfect in this episode. It's a unique theme in the series. And it is tackled here with a shattering realism that still gives a lot of trouble today to the current series. This episode is the most perfect representation of what I like to see in a good loner: a brilliant scenario, a breathtaking achievement, actors at the top, a heavy and dark atmosphere (even gloomy), and a frame -well that a little slow - which is constantly rebounding. The music could not be other than this one for an episode of this temper. The big violins of season 2, me, I want more!
This is the first case where Mulder realizes what is hard to bear for a woman in their profession, so masculine generally. The episode, quite classic bill, is borrowed from ingenuity unprecedented in treatment. We begin the investigation first on a profanation of burial whose corpse is a girl whose hairs and nails have been cut. But no concrete evidence allowing possible arrest. Then, as Pfaster's instincts and impulses gain ground, he begins to kill to satisfy his needs. The atmosphere of the crime scenes is exactly CC's signature; for the horror effect given by the suggestion. Nothing is shown, but the insistence on the before and the after, the slowness and precision of the actor, makes us imagine the scene in the worst possible horror.
A few words also about the exceptional acting of the actor, who stayed long in my memory as the trophy of a season above all suspicions.
The opening scene, longer than normal, is of interest to the viewer on Pfaster. Everything is done slowly, willing and indispensable to translate reality.
A reality in the realization and atmosphere of the episode that adds its stone to the building of terror. It is in this that it imposes itself: by its credibility. No supernatural power, no paranormal phenomenon. Just a psychopath with a fierce hatred of women, a maniac, a fetishist. A beautiful killer and endearing by his complexity of social man, looking for a job, resuming studies, having a religious feeling, but whose life only makes sense by collecting the hair and nails and even the fingers of beautiful women .
In other words, we really feel that CC has written a masterpiece with a deep and constructed character, having a real identity, and therefore a real story. All this in a crescendo from the beginning to the end of the episode.
On the other hand, Mulder is here at the height of his element, it is enjoyable to see him paint a portrait so accurately and intelligently. It is the profiling Mulder shining here. And a Scully doing an autopsy in solemnity and repressed compassion, with an explanation of her work step by step in voiceover. I love.
Of course, the main interest of this episode, besides the character of Pfaster so fascinating, is especially the psychological aspect of Scully. It is indeed very rare, finally, that one looks at the difficulties of their work and how that can test the morale of the troops. Scully's session with the Employee Assistance Psychologist tells us a lot about Scully's personality, about her vision of the world, about being a woman out of her nature as an FBI agent. Gillian's moving game, the best in this kind of scenes (to my taste), adds an intense emotional dimension to this episode. We understand all the better how she lives her relationship with Mulder. She wants to protect him from the fact that he has to protect her ... this is another way of describing their deep friendship (which unconsciously for both of them was already a dormant love). This opinion is of course personal. Notwithstanding, the end of the episode is reminiscent of the episode One breath / Coma. Given the scenario and profile of Pfaster, the Scully kidnapping was inevitable. Simple question of logic and credibility.
When I say that this episode is reminiscent of One breath, I'm talking about the impact on Mulder of the new Scully kidnapping. Except that this time, the threat is not extraterrestrial, but just as dangerous, even more, considering how long Pfaster is killing its victims ...
Really in the great tradition of the most beautiful loner I count in this series. They are of course many, but it is distinguished by a "flavor"special. Very dark, with very realistic situations and quite plausible. I think for example of his intrusion as a delivery man for Ficcicello in this family; with mom making cookies, it smells of deep America, a charming mother, who does not know she's getting a monster. This kind of process is indeed quite common in many horror films, except that here, in the intelligence of always, the most important is not so much the murders in themselves but the apprehension of the victims (from Pfaster). I love the scene in the bathroom, when he digs in the trash and breathes, or sniffs a tuft of hair! Pfaster fascinates me because he holds a completely animal aspect, but coated with a great apparent delicacy, to put in confidence, while always having this air a little sadistic.
Finally, the scene in the big house of his mother, is really what one would call in theater "the point". The height of the classic suspense is very effective. On the other hand, this aggression forces Scully to admit that she needs help. Even to have a shoulder on which to cry. Obviously, I do not forget the "detaillistes" that I hear already say to me: "yes, and of course Mulder arrives just when he was going to kill her!" ... Yes.
Here is. Irresistible, I think, is aptly named. When I see him, he is my favorite.
Besides, it is a bit like the season that brought her: when I see her, it's my favorite.
No, really, at the risk of repeating myself - it's not a big deal - it's remarkable to have such a climate and character in such a short time. From where perhaps the Orison episode that, for a season seven episode, I had a lot of appreciation too. But objectively I liked it because it meant the big comeback of my favorite villain / monster. Finally, the fact that the team wanted to do a sequel, is the proof of the success of this episode. A jewel! I give it 10 of course!

The X-Files: Dæmonicus (9x03)
DuaneB April 26, 2018, 12:04 ET

Need to rewatch it

I would like to do justice to this 9th season, which has suffered from a little too much criticism for my taste. Even if it also disappointed me it is true, some episodes remain for me quite respectable. Daemonicus is a perfect example. Back to the sources of the dark and mysterious climates which made the glory of the beginning of the show. Finally, already used to seeing Doggett in the field, this episode is the first to highlight the qualities of investigator Reyes, more original, innovative, for the tone of the series. Where others have seen the series go down to hell, for purists (quite respectable in passing), I saw a breath of fresh air, an endearing character, and especially a complicated but well-crafted story. Take for example, the scene from the beginning where the two come out of the car, the way of filming takes us back to the atmosphere of the first episodes, and it is practically successful. Although the absence of Mulder remains unbearable, and that we could not return to the duality Scully-Doggett, who had passed the pill for the 8th season, Reyes quickly becomes a female substitute Mulder. And somewhere, the balance is finally maintained. Obviously, it does not have the capacity of the latter, but brings a new freshness that is not necessarily harmful to the series. Finally, the positive side of the episode about the character of Scully is to place himself in the master position quite justified vis-Ã -vis his experience and vis-Ã -vis that of our new recruits. Scarring the pairings of Scully makes us desire it; which makes each of his interventions more profound and thoughtful. On the other hand the investigation based on the name of the episode, as on a checkerboard, is really well found. Finally, the comparison of Mulder and Doggett made by Kobold to crack the latter is enjoyable to watch; Although one wonders where all his information falls ... Surely as John Lee Roch on the net ... Anyway, I will not do a summary of the episode, everyone has seen, more or less.
But if all the episodes had been of this scale, the season might have been better received. I also think of Clairvoyance, and others ... disappointing but not rotten as I have read sometimes.
This episode deserves to be seen again, with the hindsight that we have now, and without comparing it to the loners of the first seasons. A real atmosphere has been recreated here, with new visual effects; the series had to adapt to its time. Agent Reyes is funny and deep at the same time.

We had already noticed it during the previous season. As for Doggett, he remains faithful to his usual skepticism, whole, unwavering and hardworking. Scully being relegated to the background, which has of course disappointed many fans, his help can be valuable so far, and his experience, his vision now open, is reminiscent of-with a little nostalgia- the magic early times.

I want to clarify that we may have been disappointed by the whole of this season 9, but to remain objective and accept the path. There are good episodes too.

The X-Files: Fresh Bones (2x15)
DuaneB April 26, 2018, 12:04 ET

classic one!

Folkstone - North Carolina ... A soldier belonging to the navy, leaves violently from home. At the wheel of his car, the visions of horror he had on getting up continue, it destabilizes him and makes him go straight into a tree. An inscription of voodoo origin is painted on the trunk of the tree. The army will claim suicide, but the Navy woman thinks that her husband was a voodoo curse. By wanting to autopsy the body, the agent Scully will discover the corpse of a dog in his place ...

X-Files here it is! If only the pre-generic scene, the most breathtaking I've seen, this episode fascinates me. Once again, the series shows us its best aspect: that of darkness. This is a pretty scary episode, heavy, very dark, and deliciously creepy. Well in the image of this second season. In this loner, Howard Gordon invites us to plunge into the harsh reality of the army and that of an immigrant camp. It should be noted that Rob Bowman's excellent accomplishment makes the social landscape really realistic, which has the effect of absorbing a little more. This is what I call a good classic, in the kind episode that we see with pleasure and we do not get tired.

It all starts with the alleged suicide of Private John McAlpin, who is the second in a week. Both soldiers were working on the surveillance of a refugee camp and immigrants. Some 12000 people. Most of these immigrants in transit come mainly from New Orleans, where superstition is commonplace. It is the person in charge of the last riot, Pierre Bauvais, who will teach Mulder the mysterious meaning of the graffiti that we always find on the scene of suicides. This is actually a "mirror Loco".

intersection, crossing between the two worlds, where each man is confronted with his inner self, according to Bauvais and the Spirit Loa. For a bit, you'd almost believe it, as realism is maintained, and the elements are perfectly connected to one another. And above all, by the explanation of this hypnotising Bauvais, eaten away by hatred, and tempered by his beliefs. As for Colonel Wharton, his apparent authority, which could still be understood, will ultimately prove to be a facet, that of form. We know that the bottom is different. What a flaw, the cast was perfect, in the typical facies of a camp leader, violent colonel, would miss more than the camera on the shoulder to believe in a documentary on social life in a refugee camp waiting for their blessing.
And then there is this 10-year-old boy, who died months ago, Chester Bonaparte, Scully's little protector, at the very beginning of the episode. Great intervention, small dose of lightness in this episode heavy, it's the shot of the chef's sauce to the main course! No, really, the introduction of Chester brings the right pinch of humanity and apparent lightness, which in fact was only symbol, since he was already dead. But that's the point of the episode.
And then the interest of voodoo, in this episode, serves only to explain - with plausible arguments and research - zombification, the power to bring back the dead. Seeing reappearing on the road McAlpin alive again goes in this direction. As a result, since one reappears, why not the other, since there have been two suicides. For the first. it was the soldier Manuel Guttierez. And the, a wet cemetery scene,

with the disturbing dog, one of my favorites! All the ingredients are there. It is true that I always speak in terms of "ingredients" to sell the qualities of a good episode of X files. but we must believe that the comparison is correct. Because a good soup is only successful if you do not put good ingredients. X-files is a soup, but high-end!
To return to the episode, the story intensifies as and when. With the story of Private Duham, frightened and under pressure ... All this confers a climate of anxiety and violence that reflects the situation. Not to mention the music inspired by the friend Snow who offers us each appearance of the voodoo symbol, a combination of sounds, terrible and essential dissonances.
In fact. if there is one thing to remember, which is the scully theory, it is that everything - especially voodoo - is based on fear. Fear sells corpses, frogs ... Voodoo is the imperturbable trade of these disturbed populations. And the episode shows us the reasons: overpopulation in a confined space, affront between refugees and the army, beatings ... etc. What's great about this series is that even in an episode dealing with a specific subject, we feel that writers have documented a minimum on the issue. And above all, it is one of the hallmarks of X-files, it is to make important the social context, the secondary characters. But finally, as the investigation progresses, we better understand this famous Wharton, and better understand that Guttierez and McAlpin did not commit suicide, but were killed by wharton himself, so that they do not testify bad treatment suffered. Same for Bauvais. Every warnings against Mulder and Scully are to be interpreted as symbols. Then we come to the final scene, with Scully and her horror vision (the hand coming out of her hand at her). Then the nightmare ends when Wharton is killed, and Scully catches the lucky charm sold by ... How to say? Chester Bonaparte or a black cat? Voodoo mystery!

An episode of good craftsmanship, an attractive story, endearing and scary characters, a horrible dog corpse ... We could rant hours on the qualities of this episode. Like many others in this season, they have a clean intensity, they are effective loners and radically glaucous. This does not prevent sketches of smile and other delights of small rare moments. But the cocktail was good, and we will see that little recomposed totally thereafter.

The X-Files: Conduit (1x04)
DuaneB April 24, 2018, 12:04 ET

A forgotten masterpiece

I have just seen it again. In fact he is much more cult than we think.

A density, a photograph, and a construction:

I understand why it's a shock to review the first episodes. It's like when you open a family album, you see yourself and your loved ones so young, that we remember some moments, happy and unhappy. These episodes were the opposite of those of the revival for all these reasons. The slowness that is boring is also the same captive; we can not, therefore, decently complain of one who loves the other.

The photography at the level of sublime scenery as actors is absolutely beautiful. Each plan could almost be a photo. An artist could easily make a photo exhibition based on the series; but more particularly on the first 3 seasons, and more particularly on the first, and more particularly on the first episodes including this one. I could take any example from the most sublime to the most unspecified, the photo would still be interesting, strong, sensual visual. It is said that the game of GA has improved a lot since the beginning of the sia 1 until the end (it was Kim Manners who said that), but in fact, to look at it more closely, she plays already prodigiously well, using his discreet sensuality, his subtle and infinite range of looks, playing discreet calm mimicry ...

The construction is in fact very related of course to the story but also to the photo, the plans. One would have almost an arch-Kubrick narrative construction, with a beginning, a summit, and a conclusive fallout. The beginning being the emotional abduction-alibi for Fox, the top confrontation with Darlene and the return of Ruby, and the conclusive fallout to the church. The same goes for the night photo at the lake, and the photo in the meadow, at night, with the big light of the bikers we love.
This construction was not the only fact Conduit but the series in general, at least for the best episodes. It is precisely because the revival has broken this rhythm, no longer taking the time to tell a real story, that nostalgic and other fans of the early hours adhere little to the 10th and 11th season.

The MSR:
That gave the tone since the pilot. There was in this episode a withdrawal, a kind of professional distance from Scully, because of his position as a spy, caught between two fires, one institutional and the other emotional because of Mulder's story. and his sister. This gentle balancing balance on both of these aspects simultaneously offered a true respectful colleague relationship and a dose of deep but prude affection. There was in this season, and in this episode as a grain of religiosity underlying which gave all the emotional corset of our duet. The compassion of one serving as a counterpoint to the painful passion of the other. The skepticism of one clashing with the phenomena crediting the other. We can continue like this for hours.

Situations of contrasts
Whether it is the youth of Tessa very rock face the youth of Scully very serious and "grandes Ã©coles"
Whether it is the contrast Mulder passionate face a cautious Scully.
The little boy facing the man. The young female officer faces the protective and angry mother.
The local police department and its sheriff face Mulder
The very strict outfit of Scully parachuted into this bar of bikers. His sensuality and restraint in front of the heavy but true remarks of the guys from the bar, in the background ...
Again, when x files brought together such situations, we offered contrasts on these levels, the series held us, caught us.

The music:
Like the original series, Mark Snow accompanies us this episode of real small micro-melodies that punctuate the scenes. I think for example of the first scene at Darlene where Mulder looks at the family photos on the shelves. And this music emphasizes in half hue these little notes with nostalgic harmonies so frequent in this first season. This intense moment when Scully is watching Mulder looking at these pictures. Tell me in which episode of the revival we see that? I've never found that for 2 years. The speed of the revival having as distant echo that slowness where one could spend 5 seconds on a look, without any word. No need for words and action when inaction and heavy silence do the work. And then we can already see how good Scully, a good girl of wise and catholic families, ticks the boxes with his musical culture, recognizing Bach's Brandenburg Concerto.

But what an episode. And this scene where the elements come together like a beautiful puzzle, the drawings of the small forming-such pixels of 1 and 0- the face of his sister Ruby. The scene of the lake and the forest with the wolves ...

Too much candy. I'm nauseated.

The X-Files: The Field Where I Died (4x05)
Gruic April 14, 2018, 12:04 ET

The power of feelings

Another outstanding episode from the duo Glen Morgan and James Wong. A poetic segment about the power of time and space, about places and nostalgia. The story takes the time required to exist. To be.

Very powerful.

The X-Files: Release (9x17)
Gruic April 14, 2018, 12:04 ET

Relevant

With this episode, we feel like everyone, cast or crew, is working hard to do a good episode and offering a nice conclusion to the Doggett story arc. The result is a very powerful episode with a true ambience, serving by great musics.

Robert Patrick is, again, stunning. One of the best actor of the show, for sure.

Loved it and still loving it.

The X-Files: Redrum (8x06)
Gruic April 14, 2018, 12:04 ET

Good character

After tons of episodes focusing on main characters, I'm very happy with that episode, focusing on the character of the week. I like the atmosphere, I like the photography, the colors...

A good one.

The X-Files: Nothing Lasts Forever (11x09)
DuaneB April 5, 2018, 12:04 ET

An end flavor and blood for nothing

The title is better than its content.

This episode is built almost exclusively on frequent quotes, but gives us an investigation that is difficult to understand.

The realization is the positive point of the episode. But otherwise it's disgusting for nothing. A mix of snaguinarium, 3, All Souls and IWTB. The result seems more disappointing than enjoyable, despite here and there beautiful pictures and environments x filiennes.

The theme of vampirism and the refusal to grow old sounds a bit like the rehash of things already seen and heard.

The MSR is finally the best aspect I try to hang on to. But even there, this over-full of Mulder's church, Scully indulging on his faith now rather than on so many other occasions .. I remain perplexed. But their conversation in the form of a balance sheet is a little pleasure in that it confirms that we have followed well, that despite these meanders of stories, the thread of their lives is the one we believe.

In sum, I find a bitter sweet end flavor in this episode. A sense of end of anticipation that almost apologizes for having cannibal vampires coexist with our duet in the midst of an existential crisis.

Little more for Snow, again. The timid bias since the revival is surely a decision that comes from higher than him, but this episode is reviving certain atmospheres of old episodes, such as HTGSC ...

If this flavor of end is so pregnant it is surely that I project a real desire to finish with x files. I think there is a moment when you have to know when to stop. Seeing this series struggling to offer us some very good episodes and to have so much ease to propose means even bad, I think the bell rang. CC will make his season 12, but we all know that the old series is dead.

A 4/10.

The X-Files: My Struggle IV (11x10)
Syldana March 24, 2018, 12:03 ET

11X10 My struggle IV

Review 11X10

Unlike many fans, I have lived the chapters My struggle with a lot of enthusiasm. The first represented the great return of X-Files in form again of series, whereas its creator left more on a crusade carried by films. Idea to which he clings again. The 2nd will have finally brought me a very visionary scenario of the great Invasion and provided by a still brand new character who was a real nice meeting, when we left him at a "boring" stage of his life and who did not bring much to this stage of its development. Apart from big problems to his mother.
The 3 is a great snub and finally puts on stage an important link William / Dana with these visions both futuristic and apocalyptic. I liked this snatch of first meeting with William, it starts strong and immediately plunges us into the fact that it has reached a stage of its development out of norm where this character can finally on his own integrate a very chapter long awaited of Mythology. The first stage of a "new generation" struggle against the End is no longer a hypothesis but an "inevitable" future.

My Struggle IV will be the episode of William. Obvious choice since these episodes focused on the most important actors of this Mythology: Mulder, Scully, the CSM and because I sense as obvious that with the departure of a large part of the cast first generation, William will be the next have to resume the quest.

For that, it was of course something other than a banal kid. To face this three-headed monster, William had to be exceptional, but how to realize it with a vision of the future and 2 or 3 flashes. We lost more than 15 years of his life, and wanting to skip the steps would have made us tolerate such a big leap leaving the viewer in the shadows over everything else and would never have allowed us to build a relationship with him or make to be born in us an affection, a particular attachment with him. Ghouli and the attached site will have done a great job.
The kid did not just wake up one morning with all this, his gifts, like a new Clark Kent preparing for his life to become the great Superman, came little by little in a completely disoriented, lacking landmarks and a real mentor to guide him to what awaits him, and the important choice he will one day make. The big X-Men school does not exist in the X-Files, this kid will be satisfied with a panel of incompetent psychiatrists, strange encounters with men coming surely from any Consortium, and obviously he has long been watched.
William is special but he is double too. A duality long fueled between use quite charming of his gift: take other appearances, hatching an egg, defend the oppressed of a kid from his school quite violent and also adopt behaviors inherently dangerous where he can knowingly kill through of a lightning telekinesis or put the man in a mortal situation for his life (the crash of cars). What should we conclude?

William can be the good or the bad, and since the dawn of time, to possess such power has always put the being who is the holder in the face of a crucial choice: to become the Savior, or to be the Destroyer. Will he then be Superman or Lex Luthor? And above all, where does this duality come from? In his genes?

My Struggle III put the viewer in the face of a horrific revelation. The CSM created this being. Why ? After failing to rally his two sons on his side, the Evil apparently not being so attractive to everyone and the genetic inheritance not doing all the work, the CSM will surely have wanted to model a small Pinocchio to control and who would represent a first idea, a witnessing experience of what could be the Man of tomorrow: both man and Alien. But what will we fight against? If the Aliens have disappeared from the new Mythology, it may be wise choice from Carter, since we do not throw like that more than 50 years of a double-game alliance that gave rise to a whole book: Purity control, hybrids, tests on humans, kidnapped and pregnant women, Bounty Hunter ... what we keep in the end, beyond the Spartan virus invasion (idea already germinated with the demonstration of the damage of the Black Oil, the bees carriers of a virus ...), it is the idea that a woman, Scully in this case and following a crowd of events, proved to be the Elue to carry and to give birth to this first hybrid prototype.

During the first few seasons we had first glimpses of these variety crossings, but the science was still at a very early stage and many of the gestations were trials, failures, or undergoing eradication.

What makes me angry however, is that this simple episode too short (but everything was too short from the start, episodes, length of the season ...) flies over a lot of things, questions more than he responds and loses the opportunity to finally evoke what we great experts of this epic had raised off-screen.
To begin with, why Scully? The CSM had chosen her to be and alongside Mulder: judicious but not for the CSM since she protected and endorsed Mulder in her choices, and to be the Mother of this future little Jesus. Why she ? What did the CSM perceive in her so much apart in her personality, in what she would become, in her future choices, in the relationship she had with Mulder ...
The CSM is eminently strategist, assessing all the shots in advance, we can wonder if he had planned everything or if the individual choices of his son and his future companion have at some point hurt or if everything went as planned.
Then there is the maternity of Scully, it has long been thought that this baby was the addition of Mulder and Scully: assumption that I still remain under the elbow because certainly the CSM is the creator but how far? We are talking about mixing, but we are not told which ones, he used his own seed as the ultimate attempt to finally create the son he dreamed of, at no time the CSM can be explained in the details, we drop a bomb but we are left in the dark. Sorry but it's not enough for me to make "a father", at best a creator in the lab but with what exactly will know, the biological father could as well be the neighbor.
Then we have the big-walled slaughter of explosions or shots of the characters,, Monica will not have revealed his real motivations, also very ambiguous in his actions, also thin for Barbara whose character will not finally been exploited long enough and will never have provided all its true potential, when to others their level of utility amounts to a true minimum vital. Let's also talk about Scully's reaction to Skinner's revelation. No time for a speech, we do not have the necessary airtime and Skinner's voice drowns.

So certainly, she is already aware of her new motherhood, but where is the rage, the anger, the feeling to be taken again in the figure that she was used, that this son both cried and regretted as well as by Mulder (Although for a long time his torment was more interior than anything else) was still an experience, that all this suffering, all his efforts to protect this little one, his long speeches to finally find one day the pardon of William proved vain, and that this scene of a brilliant reunion between Mulder finally squeezing this son in his arms, finally exchanging with him and telling him everything he had long held in him is "all that for that? ".
There I have trouble, honestly. After Dana lost Emily tragically, had a son adopted and lived like a heartbreak, she had the right to a second chance, the chance to raise and see the fruits of her love grow with Fox who as for him deserved to have HIS child and to be FINALLY a real father for someone (including education, transmission of an inheritance ...). But...

If these two have basted so much that injustice endlessly endless and that it was time, in my opinion, that this wrong be repaired, it could only happen at the end of an era. we were clearly not going to see them in a typical mom and dad season. But the announcement of a late pregnancy does not plaster any more! Not facing such a mess of lost time for a young man that they lose in every sense of the word.

To come back to this pregnancy, I understand that many describe it but honestly it was for a long time obvious that Carter was going to play this card. I hear of course, that the Bible has always been the other side of the mirror of this series. Scully has always been the "religious" part of this saga while Mulder carried on his shoulders all the irrational part, the "beyond the possibilities".
And here we are, this Genesis long evoked in this series and which finds here its culminating point. Mulder becomes the new Abraham, Scully will be Sarah and she plays an important role again in the final scene since instead of making William the new Samantha (as I read elsewhere and I adhere to the idea that will follow ...) in Mulder's life, letting him believe in a possible return of this son, to see him go on a new long search, she keeps the truth for her. She knows of course that this child is not really dead, knowledge that it owes to its link with him. The visions will continue. But she keeps it for herself to preserve her man and focuses on his future role as a father.

I love Mulder's reaction in the final scene. Although I find it questionable the new behavior of this character in Jack Bauer mode that sacking everything in its path, cuts the floor to two Consortiums of several balls as soon as they are finally ready to make important revelations, I admit that Mulder is finally here to show his long-held emotions.
His mind collapses for William, for the fact that this long-hated father was able to shoot at him (umm and Jeffrey you had already forgotten), to have lost a father's "suddenly" fundamental title while this character had always had a spirit entirely focused on his quest to the point of sacrificing a large part of his life ... In short he acts finally as a human, and this is rewarded for a brief moment, it is now: a father .

Carter is doubly enraged by giving the impression of doing the cleaning in this episode where everything is going too fast, even (Ghouli.net gave the sensation of giving answers a little way all in one block) and to bring conclusions too hasty to the living while the dead are euthanized, but can we trust what we see?

The resolution of the image was not great, but the ball did it really crossed the head of Monica, 1 cm near it can be content to touch the skull like Mulder in Fight the future, Skinner is maybe just stuck under the car, I found his fall rather strategic in the mode I anticipate, I lie down so that it slides just above him and he stays there waiting for the moment to come out, when at the CSM he did it to us three times, it's an immortal now, it's the death of the actor who will sound the knell of this character. As for William, if he feels so alone, he is not so much that. Kyle and Molly are still on the run (never thought what a mess) and with them three, a new team could form in time even though I think William at this stage no longer needs a grown man in his life, a guide and especially a role that I would see quite play Mulder in his life. Organic or not, Mulder may one day be a father to him, because the other choice that will be offered to William will be the CSM and after what he saw it do, clearly this alliance is already damn. The CSM will definitely fail eternally in this role.

In conclusion, this episode is no longer a chapter, an advance in the Mythological field since it does not contain a real conclusion. The end does not take place but it is coming and William has not really embraced his destiny here. Many doors finally open here to a sequel, Mulder and Scully are moving towards a new life, the dead are they really and William has not yet at this stage acted to upset the future of the world. He thinks for a moment of killing himself, as a logical choice to protect the world, but that is not his destiny. For now, he's just a kid with powers, he'll be either the Savior of the world or his Destroyer and he still has a lot to learn about him.
As for his connections with Mulder and Scully, they are still in the evolution phase, because in the final genetic or not the two agents will have a role to come in the life of this boy (it would be a little easy to just turn the page on him while they all have a future role that remains to play). When at the CSM, it clearly can not just be content to leave "like that" while there is still work to do.
It is thought that the episode serves here to eradicate everything and everyone who gravitates around and is not Mulder and Scully, and ... that's all? Without real purpose? I do not foresee the future, I do not decide it, I can only note that we have a gestation ending there, with new questions, other perspectives, a staging that forces the door to a sequel, because nothing here ends in the end. And it is not the nostalgia that expresses itself, or the refusal that it ends, but rather an objective point of view on the extent of the scenes which are restricted too much on the surface since the case is too short and would have deserved a triptych and not a single episode, damn it !!!

The X-Files: My Struggle IV (11x10)
Pike March 22, 2018, 12:03 ET

1995

1995. I'm talking about a time that the under-twenty can not know. Nobody had an Internet connection. You had to go to the library when you had a question on a specific topic. The doctors held the ultimate knowledge and no one had a cell phone in my village. My parents were too poor to get the phone. We wrote letters to my family. And when there was an emergency, it was from the neighbors that my family called to join us. We did not have an iPad, no iPhone, no MacBook and no smartwatch. Still, life was beautiful because simpler. People would meet at bars and sometimes in the evening we would listen to the radio while reading a book.

I was a young child of 11 years old and suddenly, one night, by chance, on a television as heavy as stone, the young child that I was then discovered at the Frontiers of the Real, a series that would literally change my life. Because I became a teenager with the series, buying The Secret File as we find the Holy Grail, literally. Actually.

Back in the future. We are in 2018 and it's time to say goodbye to this fetish series that disappeared during this journey. Because X-Files is gone. My Struggle IV is the end of a screenwriter who has lost the most valuable good. I do not mean money or celebrity. I'm talking about his ability to be an artist. The man whose name I do not mention can not write anymore. And I am so in the afterlife that I will not, for once, use vulgarities to describe my thinking.

The episode is bad. So what ? What is the point of analyzing it? Kersh announces that he closes the office of unclassified affairs, between the pear and the dessert. Okay, if he wants to. It does not matter. I could talk about Mulder killing two people in such a distressing and surprising way. He kills the first person without even knowing who she is. And the second holds the key to an enigma. I could. I could talk about the fact that Scully suddenly, months after his vision, feels a sense of urgency for no reason and jumps on his phone to call Tad O'Malley. I could say all that, but that does not interest me. That does not interest me anymore.
I could mention that the resolution of the episode is one of the worst moments in the history of television. I could explain that the Man with the cigarette, this famous personage which I like to the madness is not more. Because he is now the pen of the screenwriter. The screenwriter no longer listens to the Man with the cigarette. So he killed him, first on paper, then really. We had all understood the ploy, from the trailer and from the pregeneric. So it falls flat. And we do not care.
When Mulder murders the Man with the cigarette, I received a small discharge in the belly. Because I think back to my television love affair and I am the witness of a television rape. This is where I'm still this young child of 11 years, the cassette of the Secret File in the hands, looking forward to the third season of the series.

It was obviously an ultimate affront before stopping this series, namely the fact that the future-former FBI agent Dana Katherine Scully announced to be pregnant at 54 years. The worst thing the creator had done was to finish the seventh season on that same ad. Seventeen years later, he dares to do the same, in a final baroud of honor, of which he alone can explain the reason. In the evening, when he seeks sleep. Because he has no doubt his reasons. Do the crazy people think they are crazy? That's why I'm not going to attack this character, who will have until his death, and mine, my eternal respect for his original creation. But I can not follow him anymore. He lost me as a viewer, but it does not matter, because there will always be other people to love what he proposes. And this is very well so.
If twelfth season there is, it will be in an exact configuration in seasons 8 and 9. Namely a missing character (Scully) while remaining the engine of the series. The creator does not learn from his mistakes and redoes the same choices. Is.

SCULLY'S JOURNEY
Scully's journey, as learned from the 11th season can be summarized that way: she was medically raped by the CSM and then abandons her love for her child in about five minutes and then is pregnant at 54. This is the worst storyline I have ever seen in my entire life. This is beyond stupidity and amateurism.

NOT THE END
The series will come back. I promise you that. I have enough experience to confirm it. Again, the only unknown is time. In two years, twelve years, twenty years. But she will come back.

The X-Files: Rm9sbg93zxjz (11x07)
Syldana March 18, 2018, 12:03 ET

11X07 Rm9sbG93ZXJz

Serious even the title is boring ...

Review 11X07

It's a shame because the original idea provided a really interesting plot base. The virtual face starting the episode and proclaiming his speech was really great and plunged me back into the work of Isaac Asimov: I, Robot. This scene reminds me so much of the VIKI entity that the author staged with its "indisputable" logic, declaring that after having nourished for a long time the intellect and the human behaviors, she had ended up developing her own moral which consisted in re-reducing us to the state of dependent child which we had to re-educate at all costs. In this episode, it is inspired by a little when the technologies behave like real idiots towards the two humans: we learn from you, we become like you with our unstable behavior, our attitudes of morons and our decision-making is frankly questionable. But the treatment here is so vulgar, tedious and uninspired. Frankly, an uprising of machines that boils down to being pursued by drones (well, I shudder right there!) And ridiculous equipment that bugs, with what we have access to today, it's a joke. If the goal was to inspire me with fear, I'll go back "The Best New World" of Aldous Huxley, George Orwell : 1984, or even a good HG Wells ... These writers knew how to create a futuristic and dystopian world. The purpose of this episode: I do not like "that" and I will prove to you by my simplistic A + B why and how much it broke the communication between humans (well, I get a little bit, when I see the the devastating effect of IPhone between two people sitting at the same restaurant table). It may come out with a hint of awareness, but the rest it missed his shot, rather than being stoic face images that could have made it chilling, we laugh there, we feel not put on guard.

On the other hand, I really appreciated the big nod to Edward Hooper's "Nighthawks".

The X-Files: Kitten (11x06)
Syldana March 18, 2018, 12:03 ET

11X06 Kitten

Review 11X06

I was expecting this episode with some enthusiasm because the Skinner centric episodes are usually incredible. I still remember the floods of emotions with Avatar and SR 819 to name a few, but others have also marked other minds.
Kitten ultimately turns out to be simplistic and serves mainly as an excuse to: provide new elements that will certainly be reused later, give news of Kersh and take stock of the mythical relationship Skinner / Scully / Mulder. In my previous Review, I wondered if Skinner had finally plunged into the hell he built and I still have some doubts.

At the beginning of the episode, when the yellow cloud falls on the military in a scene worthy of Platoon, I wondered if among the hallucinations we would see again the Succubus of Skinner, too bad. I thought that the power of this product might have created this entity in Skinner's life. Here, the only glimpses of the monster take on the appearance of a creature straight out of an Indian legend: the animal skull, the fur ... Well, but here it was not the subject so ...
Here, we reinstate the universe of the episode Blood 2X03, where a government sprinkles a substance (a little type LSD) our agricultural products to take control of our minds. That tests were performed on soldiers is now a fact already well denounced. I imagine that the contribution of this subject should prepare us for something and feed a little more Mytho. Now, I wonder how much. We have virus contamination, the Crossroads project, and now this toxic product. This association must highlight a link, a conspiracy but I am still in limbo and Skinner meanwhile begins to feel the effects. Little exposed at the time, he now begins to suffer the side effects with the loss of this tooth. I'm afraid for him, will it be that he also sinks into paranoia? I would not be surprised, the Conspiracy has already brutalized: the CSM and his blackmail, Krycek and his remote control ...

But today, what should we expect?

We can assume that Skinner does not seem to have accepted a deal with the CSM since he seems to be exposed to an evil, but on the other hand his association with this psychopath can take on other forms today. He may seem to work with the CSM in appearance and to a certain extent: he holds a real bomb about William, wants to protect Scully at all costs, keeps secrets, provides information to Mulder (11X05) during secret rendezvous. while acting in the shadows in anticipation of what will happen. Since the beginning of this season, practically every episode distils something, prepares us afterwards and anxiety wins me because I have the feeling that there will be losses, scars, a lot of suffering ...
The final discussion between the three (M / S and Skinner) raises the question of this strange loyalty that Skinner has to the Duo and finally explains it openly. The source of all this was long before he met Mulder and Scully. He wanted to act for his country and the government betrayed him, since he acts according to his own morality and the appearance of Mulder in his life as well as his quest, his tenacity to brave everything to defend and denounce the enemy lurking in the shadow will certainly have stimulated Skinner. He saw in the Duo the perfect team to rally with and it is up to them and only to them that he offers his most precious good: his loyalty. It was understood, but at least now it is said and this is what offers this season for a moment, it fills the last gaps: the identity of Deep Throat, the new existence of Langly, to meet finally William ...
Regarding his career, but of course there have been consequences, he has always helped the two incorruptible, Kersh is not careful to throw in the face of the two agents and this addresses a question long expressed by the fans: why Skinner does not evolve in his career? To answer you Guigui, here is how Scully reacts. Suddenly she wonders: is it because of us? I'm always amazed to see that such a smart woman is naked in the face of the obvious, but you would stick the truth in the face with a headlight beam directed she would seek anyway an explanation supposed to elsewhere .

Skinner retains his status as a great loner, his life is a mirror without a complexion dedicated to observing others progress in their lives and I realize today how much his life is similar to that of Mulder (that of the first times). No children, no woman, a fixed career, an apartment that shows nothing except that his life revolves entirely around work ... but Mulder had him Scully and I tend to see that Skinner envy him a lot and would rather want it for him.

This apparently innocuous episode, with an investigation that is in fact quite classic, highlights the psychology of the characters.

The investigation itself is useless. The yellow cloud gives an aspect X Files to the plot and we evoke very quickly the subject of the terrifying side effects, but here we mainly meet the road of a killer that we would see in many detective series. Haley J. Osment, whom I had not seen for a while, remains an excellent actor. It gives off something in the eyes, a particular expression that always throws a cold in close-ups. Moreover, his game catches quite a lot of the ordinary character of his character: the clichÃ© of the only child that has been traumatized and becomes a killer. The investigation is quickly sloppy, we take the viewer for a fool with a wounded Skinner who jumps out of the hole where he was a prisoner to emerge miraculously near the Duo, just in time, to kill in the right way the son of his friend, we specify at the beginning of the episode that the big guy with glasses: rhooooo is Skinner !!! and the voice-over during the last scene, and I join you all on it, well it's not useful, thank you we understood, the pictures speak perfectly of themselves.
As for Kersh, the disappearance of Skinner we reintegrated for a moment and it's really nice to see him again and as I imagined. Of course he climbed the ladder (and without having to pay for Mulder's escape years ago), keeps a sleek and stern image just right, but as I said before, he certainly pulled out Mulder from his prison in The Truth, but he never had the guts to believe and see behind the curtain to get caught in the face that there is a lot of shit in the fan and that at the moment he will be part of Collateral damage as he has not used the last decades to prepare for the "End". Faced with Mulder and Scully, we keep the usual and appreciable spikes that keep them credible in their relationship, but there is a return to calm, they remain courteous, the verbal violence that we attended the office are now behind.

As for Mitch he keeps his head up and delivers a masterful interpretation even if the support is frankly poor compared to other episodes centered on him. But here we are offered some really interesting tracks for the future, but above all, something to worry about him, and we take the opportunity to restore the confidence that Mulder and Scully had lost to him. I hope for good reasons, we will see ...

The X-Files: Ghouli (11x05)
Syldana March 15, 2018, 12:03 ET

11X05 Ghouli

Review 5X11

Before the start of season 11, many wondered about the frequency of episodes called Mythological. Ghouli is clearly presented as a Mytho episode built in mid-season. The episode will be neither double nor triple, a total of 10 episodes do not allow to extend the plot in a long format, we can in any case rejoice to see that we return to the old seasonal schedules.

Ghouli starts very strong, we finally leave the eternal car parks which for my part tired me seriously (the corridors of the FBI I miss, the forests too, Vancouver ... there is something else to exploit, no?), For this superb ship the anxiety that would suddenly return me to the Piper Maru that Mulder had explored in season 3. What is a big plus with this boat is that it is two-way. During the day, it is an old carcass abandoned that rotten time (and a refuge for young people broke during the holidays), but when the night covers the city, the ship is transformed into a monstrous entity, it comes alive, serves Horror-themed decor ... It's also Vancouver's peculiarity, offering filming tools undeniable to make us shudder and for a long time the Seymour Forest, Butzen Lake and even the Britannia Mine Museum have held this particular role.

But does Ghouli serve here as a central plot, monster of the week?

The answer is no, Ghouli is an intro, a pretext for introducing new characters and continuing the writing of the original mythological Bible. We finally discover here the face, after a heavy and incredibly long chaotic journey, crowned with scenes sometimes dripping with pathos, the supreme weapon: William.
This character, I had to imagine it in thousands of ways, the pace he would have, his abilities (or otherwise, he could also be just a normal kid), and his role in "The End" . Well ... how to say ... they have once again been able to surprise me. For starters, the actor does not look like anyone, it is insulting to think that fans have no memory and go beyond the fact that a blue-eyed redhead can suddenly be brown with brown eyes. But either, "eyes rolling".
This aside, damn kid! So if we skip the fact that to make a teenager a bit anyway normal, sir plays on several tables with girls. Looking at the circus that is already his life, was it really necessary writer friends to play the cliche card of the stupid teenager who wants to do experiments? Apart from that, whouaou, it's what I hoped, tracked first by a foul government, I never thought that adoption idiocy would suddenly hide it from all eyes and of all the dramas, it is clear that with CE William, it has been a long time since the Devil keeps an eye on him.
The idea of â€‹â€‹the diary and Ghouli.net was GE-NI-AL. First of all because 15 years is a long time to catch up for a spectator and that synthesize the life of this young man on 42 mins so forget, there is too much to know and MERCI ZEROSUM (see his long post that explain all about LVEI) because this kid's course is worth his weight in gold. The paper and digital media serve as a logbook, where we learn step by step the thread of his life and the brutal changes that took place in him to become the extraordinary being he is today.

Spender's gesture in 2002 was laudable, but was of course useless, because when we embrace an extraordinary destiny, a disruptive element will immediately restore equilibrium and put us back on the exact path that we should have never had before. to leave.

In the case of William, poor of me, an animal with 8 legs (will understand those who have taken the time to read the report posted by ZEROSUM) will have begun to take care of it. William he looks a little like I must say (his part of course human), he is arachnophobic, writes for hours, dreams that he interprets, fills his shelves of collections, hangs posters of his idols, has a book put in a corner ... I really hooked to this owl kid who is fully aware that he is apart for a reason (do not know which, but suddenly he does not take his medicine to stop it), but his mind and his life are a masterly confusion ... like his parents. We already had a prototype of extraordinary kid with Gibson Praise, who resounded like an adult, William raises us to a higher degree in terms of prodigies. Baby, he moved the objects, the young adult he has become enabled us to play with the mind and the visual of the people, creates scenarios, he prophesies the future, his dreams (following a myth well known) are gradually answering future questions ... These gifts will make him either a formidable weapon or the answer to how to survive what is looming. William feels that the "End" is near, he wants to discover this world before everything is shaved while dragging behind him a baggage mentally disturbing: a past child who could never be one, a maturation too fast Due to a constantly evolving brain chemistry, the scientific entourage, end up being the experience of a project: welcome to Crossroad which gives rise to the return of a scene so well known by the fans, CSM ass screwed into the chairs of Skinner's office.

In short our William is lost, he gets a lot of things, his spirit "in fire" leads him in all directions, we kill his family, we track down and of course the people that would have been needed to guide him are not not at his side.

Honestly I believed in the big reunion, but in this episode, Scully pays the heavy sentence of his decision. William, ironically, is hunted even by his own parents. We are progressing here very gradually in the meeting William / Scully. First telepathic transmissions in My Struggle III, then the physical meeting which unfortunately starts on a drama. Yes Scully sees him but lying on a floor at the morgue ... we could not do worse for a mother. Fate tackles it, makes him pay dearly for abandonment.
You want to see it, Ok, but the task will be difficult and it will be on the worst possible ground. The speech she sits at her bedside is beautiful, expected, the words were carefully chosen and ultimately quite logical. But Scully clears a chouie she was mostly a little loose at the time. I tended to think that if Mulder had stayed with her at the time, she might have had a different choice. But either, we will not remake the past at this stage ... Anyway we see that William does not completely try to escape in this episode, he has already heard his speech made at the morgue while he played the role of the dead, he transmitted images, already knew the face of the one he calls Ginger (Zerosum post) and appears to him from time to time "masked" to exchange with her some sentences carrying symbolic messages , just to see what it's worth to be human. It's normal, he feels the ground, is suspicious ... but I remain hopeful that the real discussion long pushed between him / him, he / Mulder will finally happen, this kid clearly needs answers on future choices that he will have to undertake and it would be better if the first person to guide him is not the CSM. Even if I feel it at Km.

The other question in this episode is Skinner's role.

We are left unresolved since My Struggle III on the decision he made and the role he will play in the chessboard. The fact that he has not yet confessed to Mulder but he still gives himself the trouble of revealing an info or two in small clandestine RDV leaves doubt. I have always seen Skinner as a protector, I would prefer that it does not change, who is able to put away the assistant director's costume to put on the cape of the hero during some rather major moments. His past as a soldier will have imposed on him certain patterns of behavior, a mental strength, a form of loyalty, knowing how to recognize the good of the bad in the war zone and we will soon complete, I think for good because we are clearly heading towards the end of history, our last shortcomings on him. But in the end, Skinner has always been a little bit double between his public speeches and his suddenly changing attitude as soon as there are no more witnesses. One cultivates a constant ambiguity with him.

We will be left as usual with unsettled things, people fleeing, and a flood of questions. The final stage gives hope, it stings our emotion, but finally think that William pulls us just like that his reverence, no question. We are not finished with everyone and William still has a lot of things to share with us and I trust him because he gives himself the means to stand out for the right reasons. However, I do not have the naÃ¯vetÃ© to believe that everything will be concluded in the smallest details in a single final episode, must not dream, too many things are carefully installed, we are suddenly released a project, it is not 42 mins that will fix everything. We are far from finished with them.

The X-Files: The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat (11x04)
Syldana March 15, 2018, 12:03 ET

11X04 The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat

Review 11X04

Difficult to develop an opinion on this episode as the first viewing gives us the impression of being totally immersed in a bottomless pit of psychedelic images. I still have the impression with Darin to have swallowed a pill of ecta â€‹â€‹just before the viewing of his works and that my world has rocked for 42 mins. But that's what we savor with him, and we love deep down.
Here no monster of the week, no chilling encounter with a mutant or a nice watch (no it's not heaven ...), this episode is a pretext, a playground where Darin reveals his philosophy of the week , takes us by the hand and embarks us again aboard the ship "bullshit" where the meanders of his mind divide.
So this effect Mandela, expression in any case, I did not know, thank you Darin to refine my culture but without remembering precisely I had to have my own experiences. In any case, during this episode I would have lived one with this revisit of scenes from key extracts of previous episodes handpicked where the character (which will become emblematic now as a Clyde Bruckman) of Reggie integrates with the credits, with scenes ... An unaware or even a beta fan would be almost tempted to replay the selected episodes questioning: "I missed something? He was there?" Of course, no, but there is doubt. Would my memories have been so affected as to obscure the presence of this type?
That's what I love with Darin, he takes out of his hat a convoluted idea and almost a challenge of memory.
After, I admit that all this flood of Blah blah is a bit sleepy, we must recognize that in the universe of X-Files we keep awake a fan with shocks revelations, images gores, a little MSR ... Here none of that, but the intro referencing the Twilight Zone series, what a frank pleasure. No Rod Serling, but we find the black and white, the intro effect that immediately switches the viewer into the parallel universe of the Twilight Zone. I watched this series, I had my first TV nightmares with her, especially when the episode ended on a shattering dive, we rocking into horror. I would never forget the 3X33 The puppet haunted me years ...
"Jerry Etherson is an alcoholic ventriloquist who believes Willie, his wooden puppet, is alive and naughty, then tries to change puppet, but his inexhaustible accomplice proves tougher than expected: he mocks him, harasses him Jerry's agent leaves him, thinking he's crazy Jerry realizes that his puppet is really alive and endowed with evil power, and later Jerry relaunches his career a new number, but he became the puppet, while the puppet managed to take his place. "
Ultimately The Lost Art really does an in-depth analysis of the quality of our memories and its dangers, the truth, the objective reality and the people of course ready for all the abuses to reach us via that.

The X-Files: Plus One (11x03)
Syldana March 15, 2018, 12:03 ET

11X03 Plus one

Review 11X03:

The plot at the center of this episode is really not very original. The subject had already been treated before, but it is clearly in the heart of Chris Carter. The Doubles or otherwise called doppelgÃ¤ngers had already been discussed in Fight club and with the same result in terms of scenes of castagne, blues and accidents. That said, we are now staggering that they cause murders and staring at you with inflammatory glances: so we evolve a little. I admit I had a little trouble understanding this episode. Just because the characters throw pell-mell too brief explanations on what intervenes, it intersects the famous "I believe," "I do not believe" (and which we do not believe any more from Scully, because let's be honest, we can not strive to be so clogged after all that it has gone through), and we end up catching flying that there is something really not catholic in the atmosphere of this city .

And here we say, yes, but of course, they were also inspired by Syzygy and Die Hand Die Verletzt.

And yes, it stinks of the negative wave everywhere, it breeds horror and it plunges us back into everything we liked before, the cursed city, a group of humans who return the brains of everyone, the cleaning black sheep, the investigation that quietly takes its time and the couple of investigators who knows more where to give the head, because impossible to know who will be the next target.

Which leads us to the beautiful nugget of this episode: Little Judy.

I was so happy to know the presence of Karin Konoval, actress who does not have the success that she deserves so much her game is phenomenal. Here, new rope to his bow, it is a true chameleon. It took me, I confess, a few seconds to realize that she does not play two roles but three: Judy stack and face and the twin Chuck. The hairstyle, the make-up, her disarming ease to be reborn as Chuck with all the panoply of contractions of her face, the gestures ... I was bluffed. Having to prepare just one of these roles already required a lot of preparation work when you know that Judy can go from being an angel to a real demon in minutes. Here, the scenario gave him no respite with the addition of the character of the brother who is also worth its weight. And these two twins make a lot of damage since they agree to play the game of the slayer.

Syzygy staged some form of twinning (two teens at the same date of birth) used as a trigger for a series of massacres.

Here, we come back and the mobile has not changed so much. Two beings convinced of the respectability of their act, the victims are spotted within neither the school environment but this time professional of the brother and forget the incantations: the fate is thrown by means of a childish game the Hangman . This element bothered me because previously the scenario used much less coarse son. In the area of â€‹â€‹the paranormal between the use of the Tulpa, the rituals and the incantations, there was enough to dig to create a real phenomenon that is anchored in our own reality and making the whole really frightening. Especially since the night of time between legends and ancestral myths, there is much to be inspired to give birth to scary scenarios. Here, Chuck makes names guessing to his sister ... The double begotten originates, but from ... what ... in the end nothing concrete except a sheet, a pencil and some traces. Nothing concrete in the end, these demons are created from wind, nothing, abstract and a little telepathy. Me did not convince me.

But fortunately the doppelgÃ¤ngers give rise to some scenes a little gores and this episode allows a new introspection in our Duo.

And yes, it will not escape me that through this tender scene of bed, Mulder and Scully (projecting our memories at the time of Requiem) leave again in their existential interrogations. The problem with this scene is that it is totally out of sync with the rest of the episode. For the first time the whole plot does not lead to this conversation, it will have enough of a hurtful remark of Judy with respect to Scully for it to love in the arms of Mulder and close on them a protective bubble. The barrier once closed, they launch on a series of questions related to age, their liabilities, what will happen to them ... It ends up on average every 10 years the assessment of damage and to be afraid of what awaits us, why not them ? Finally it's quite legitimate, they are aware of what is above their heads, they are two solitaries who have long boasted of being the greatest independent that is, they realize all too often they are lying to themselves and instantly bond against each other as soon as the anxiety rises. This scene legitimizes them so much in the role of the human, that which we are and no longer in that of the eternal Madonna of Titian dripping with Christianity. Scully, it had been for a long time the preserve of the chaste and the sacred, happy to see her finally let go and see these two to offer themselves a moment of passion in the shelter of judgments. There is no cause in the beginning, they finally do something for them and not because circumstances lead them there.

The X-Files: Nothing Lasts Forever (11x09)
Pike March 15, 2018, 12:03 ET

Average

NOT AFRAID
The screenwriter, Karen Nielsen was not afraid. She fully went with her story, and I would say this: good for her. One can only respect her courage in telling such far-fetched story. Because thatâ€™s the main concern of the episode. While it works well at times (excellent opening scene), we cannot stop thinking throughout the episode that the story is too much. We donâ€™t really believe in it.

JAMES WONG, EXCELLENT
James Wong did an excellent job in this episode. He was, to me, the best director of seasons 10 and 11, and by far. He has a clear vision and offers very vivid imagery.

A = B = C
The â€œABC talkâ€ (I am proud to have coined that one) between Mulder and Scully is far better than I anticipated when seeing glimpses of it in the final trailer. And most importantly, it feels so damn good to have them talking about reality. I felt so frustrated about the all chebang of Mulder and Scully returning at the FBI at their age, not talking about the real issues, that I felt like this was really an insensere revival. Therefore, I really liked when Mulder tells her that he wishes that she would have left the x-files office sooner.
And the big question left is what does Scully whisper to Mulder... And I like riddles, so Iâ€™m all for it!

I WANT TO BELIEVE IN REMAKE
This episode, in lots of ways, is a remake of I Want to Believe. Sure, it takes a different form, but many elements from the movie can be seen here - once again a proof that there wasnâ€™t any need to produce more episodes.

SUMMARY
An unbelievable concept but very well produced. I give it a bit 4 out of 10. Average.

The X-Files: This (11x02)
Syldana March 13, 2018, 12:03 ET

11X02 This

Review 11X02

During this episode, Glen Morgan seeks to re-seduce the fan of the first hour, flirting with the past, plunging the viewer, distilled keys everywhere, into his own nostalgia.
Here, back to the style of yesteryear to a certain extent and it's no worse, as Mulder pointed out it was "better before". And yet, the current is very far from being discarded since the very trunk of history has meanwhile a leap forward and this to the detriment of the main Duo.

I was expecting, at this stage of the season, that we attend the first Loner of season 11 and yet in my opinion it is clearly not the case. This episode is neither Loner nor semi-Mythological, but rather an extension of the previous episode. This episode is in charge of providing a deepening of a data thrown at the figure of Mulder during his first meeting with Consortium 2.

From the first scene, the dramatic event that is about to happen before our eyes lights the little light bulb in our head. That of our memories. It is night, we are in the middle of a vast campaign, a single house stands before our eyes and a car with on board three killers who are preparing for the assault. Unfortunately, the couple in the house do not suspect anything, anesthetized in their little daily life or doing here (knowing their identity) a well deserved nap after taking a lot of blows, both physical and moral, during the case last week. So, of course, we think of the episode Home and its similar scene with its musical background from the known records, the fate of Sheriff Andy Taylor and his wife, we also think of Home again and the horrible fate of Nancy Huff ... But, I would say that here Mulder and Scully are a little too the spectator who rests revelations he has just taken in the face and leaving him dazed on the side of the road. Glen Morgan likes to bring out his old registers and gives the impression of constantly repeating this scene, with the view in plunge then hop close-up on the faces. Here, however, the novelty will be in the bidding, since once cleared of the first three killers, the Duo is caught in the second following: the Russians, just that.
So yes, they have a lot of enemies and that gives us double cascade, but honestly was it necessary? Only one team, with a killer that we would have detached to follow them and basta, no? And all this for what ? A phone...

The Revival had already projected Mulder and Scully into modernity with their IPhone. But here we go further, it allows access to a world, and especially the re-opens dialogue with a very old friend: Langly.

So, instead of making the Lone Gunmen Trio complete, Langly may finally have "his" episode here.
In the past, the good old friends of the two agents had had more than once an episode of their own (and that was used as an introduction to Spin-off that was turned around them). These episodes had both deepened the depths of the individuals, introduced the team's formation, their encounter with Mulder, and left them a little in the control room. These episodes were very nice, dynamic, it was they who asked for help to the two agents and not the opposite for once, but the three were never separated. As if the Lone Gunmen formed a single entity.
Here, we break the group, Langly leads the dance alone and seeks to join Mulder so that he accomplishes for him a project of destruction.

Following the Trailer, we had all wondered about this image appearing on the screen of the laptop. Langly is alive, is he a ghost ... in short everything seemed possible, but Glen Morgan re-installs this communication not through the paranormal (a ghost), but through the kiss of High Technology (the existence certainly but as a virtual being).

The Duo being asleep at the time of the first communication with Langly, I first thought of a dream. The fourth face appearing on the framed Lone Gunmen promo picture referred to the urban legend This Man, a being supposedly appeared in the dreams of thousands of people and sometimes interpreted as a religious apparition. I also wondered about the reality of this episode. Because a very singular element could be raised here: the relationship between Mulder and Scully.
For two people supposed to be separated, they are more fusional than ever. I am not at all surprised that they are more complicit than ever, one almost finishing the sentence or the thought of the other, that they are so complementary in the cascades (age has not no control over them, the solid training of the FBI supports them step by step) or that in the action everyone knows what he has to do and allows the other to go to the end of his mission successfully, but on the other hand, they live together again, it's again "our home" and not Mulder's hut, they sleep side by side, watch the TV, Mulder talks about a future joint purchase of new furniture at IKEA (even if it's jokingly) and, above all, they go back together at the end. Scully does not return to her apartment anymore.
It is no longer MS II that one clears the equation for the blow but a whole season 10.

This episode gives the impression of being a kind of vast collective illusion, where the real world enters into talks with the virtual world. Which brings us to the highlight of Langly, our computer genius, around which everything gravitates. As it is a little episode, the screenwriter seems to have felt obliged to apply to the episode references referring to the character's own.

The concert on the TV showing the group Ramones, that the Duo does not even listen (the TV is in MUTE mode), besides fact strange, where is the interest, except that it is is the favorite band of all time Lone Gunmen precisely, this same MUTE replaced by the background sound of the episode that begins with a piece of Ramones and finally Langly's CV is expanded by two things: a cybernetic element with this logical personal project (for a computer junkie) of a life after death in virtual mode and, we get out of je-ne-sais where, a girlfriend. So certainly Langly could possibly have a part of private life, but where and when is the question! He was constantly with his friends, where does she suddenly come out? I will add that this new element added to the life of Langly and fully convenient and refers to another episode Kill Switch, which already there was a time spoke of a second life, eternal, in cybernetic mode and referred by one elements of another couple: Invisigoth or Esther Nairn of his real name. The title of the episode is besides proclaimed loud and clear in case it would have escaped us again, sometimes ^^.

The romantic project, in the beginning will finally turn out to be quickly the workhorse of a larger program, that of Consortium II and this does not please everyone because the project of Langly is quickly defiled by the dark designs of the Conspiracy in place. It is time to instruct the destruction phase of the project.

Langly does not appear by chance, of course, he wants to call his own team to destroy the hell he built. Obviously, instead of a dream life his companion is not at his side, but continues his life on his side (the condition sine qua non of the project and we are at first glance dead to live this other life) , he rubs shoulders with the greatest minds Steve Jobs, Michael Crichton ... but Consortium II could not help but seize the case to make them work on the construction of the program (parallel and opposing that of the CSM), a life in space after the eradication of life on Earth. This episode is clearly Mythological shot for me, it deepens the description of the project for the viewer and competes with the program of Consortium I, Erica Price is back, we try to convince the merits of the project, we rallied to the cause ... This episode fits the thread and allows Erica, who until then remained in a corner for the benefit of Mr Y, to finally speak and displayed the full extent of his Machiavellianism.
So much the better, I find it more convincing to hold this role than the other, with his evil smile and his icy gaze.
So be careful, I hear some already screaming yes but we do not hear about the CSM or William! Why Mytho blow? And that's the impression I had, too bad for William and grandpa but: we do not start with a mutant or a trivial case at first sight, type Red Museum, we start under the radar to want to eliminate Duo, because they know and "they" know warns Langly from the start. One quickly refers to Deep Throat, without a dead time, a central and important individual of the Mytho, the virtual life is not presented as an independent element, the original plot of a Loner (it is no longer because vastly evoked during other episodes: Ghost in the machine, Kill switch), it merges with Mytho directly with Langly's speech denouncing their slavery on behalf of a larger project ... And we can continue as long as it...

But let's go back to the facts, because on the background of virtual life, this episode is also in the information. An aspect that I love in X-Files that always applies to feed my education, my knowledge in areas that are still a little complex and that addresses a very current topic and fits into a real and dangerous news.

After the Duo has learned with dismay that the X-Files secrets have all been dematerialized (long live the modern world!), Are available to everyone including private companies who can take it all away and all this from the mouth of a Skinner more and more ambivalent, Mulder and Scully are sent by Langly to New York, home to Titanpointe: spy skyscraper of the famous NSA.
Thanks to the whistleblower Edward Snowden, we know a lot more about this building today.
Titanpointe is home to not only one of the largest telecommunications centers in the United States, but is also one of NSA's major spies:

"According to The Intercept, the NSA would have installed alongside the facilities of the American operator equipment to collect a lot of sensitive information from past communications around the world: "Who calls who, when and how long". ..]
"If the" partnership "between AT & T and the NSA is already known, few details have so far emerged, the Intercept points out.With Snowden's papers," we now know how the NSA sucks all the data from the operator ", adds the American media, detailing his remarks by several drawings and plans of the building."

Source: https://lexpansion.lexpress.fr/high-tec ... 51436.html

This building would have been designed to withstand the blast of a nuclear explosion, while one explains to me how naturally and without embarrassment Mulder and Scully reach it thanks to the tunnel connecting the local building of the FBI to that of Titanpointe. Wanting to give a light and humorous aspect to the episode with remarks, a wink, a finger in the mouth should have had these limits anyway. Ok we find there our Mulder and Scully decouples (also loses its skepticism since the beginning of this season, we climb the ladder after 25 years of partnership). But, that we remain a little realistic by adding an oppressive tension justified by the price of the head of the two agents. There it does not feel anymore and makes me regret a distant past where Paper clip, Piper Maru or Apocrypha provided us with this kind of moment: the flight, the underground researches, to act in spite of the radars ...
Nevertheless, the treasure hunt in the cemetery, the evocation of Deep Throat, the visit of the tombs, the discovery of this electronic element behind the cross ... remind us of excellent memories of previous episodes. Added to this, according to the old habits, the case is once again unsolved, Mulder and Scully fail in their mission, the evidence has gone, and there is no one to stop.

Glen Morgan follows Chris Carter in the unveiling: after the name of the CSM, it is the identity of Deep Throat which is revealed, the season 11 is placed under the seal "one fills the whites before the End".

The X-Files: My Struggle III (11x01)
Syldana March 12, 2018, 12:03 ET

My Strugle III 11X01

Review 11X11:

Well after watching FINALLY this damn episode, I finally continue my journey and move to the next stage in this obstacle course, obscure, confused, complicated, incomprehensible, bypassed, in a word convoluted and reflection of the functioning of the spirit of its appointed creator.

25 years old that I'm doing this trip and Chris Carter is still trying to surprise me, but even better to smoke me. Good choice of word since here the Smoker will be the instigator of what made me lose my head for good until the arrival of the Loners does a little storage.

Let it be clear, for 9 years this series was based on a Bible very inspired and particularly effective both in its originality and in its ability to bring into me the anxieties that have haunted my dreams Geeks for decades, a mythology that stuck with the atmosphere and fascination of the world in the 90s for the occult, the mysterious and the paranormal. Carter, wanting to stay in the game, has had a lot of fun since season 10 to change direction every month, and he's going through the head with a speech "but we had that in mind from the beginning". During the first series, I was confident in this speech as the guideline was logical and the new revelations in perfect continuation with the data we already had, today it is no longer the case when I see it betray the past to build the future.

So certainly, the arrival of some elements is interesting. We had been prepared for a long time to a form of contagion, a spread: the black oil (Purity), the bees ... I was very proud to see in season 10 that we were led to the implementation not a final and deadly Invasion for Humanity, but rather an eradication by a virus, Spartan in addition: recall that in season 5 episode The Pine Bluff Variant was precisely staged murders of bacteriological mass by aerosol. My struggle III also practices a small update by inserting into history, and through a very interesting introduction proclaimed by the CSM, our new fears, more modern terrors, current: war, pandemic and planet in decline under politicians improbable and dangerous, even destructive. These fatalistic speeches were often practiced in the past through the offsprings of Mulder and Scully and in connection with episodes that addressed the gradual destruction of our world, the arrival of the End ... But this speech is all the more interesting that it comes out of the mouth of the one who knows EVERYTHING, has all the cards and confirms once and for all that he is from the beginning the puppeteer of all that we possess, the great advances, the various implementations in power and that he educated, directed and above all possessed the whole of humanity. We knew this man extremely dangerous since his episode of season 4 epi 7, but Carter completes here a little CV and attributes to his character an egocentric speech possible, sick of power, possessing an instinct of extreme survival (even warheads). are not right about him), quietly declaring that he gave his sons all the means to climb the ladder and be ready for the inevitable (good a son Borderline and one who has been hiding for years in the shadows after was disfigured to the extreme but finally looks human) ... But apparently that was not enough, it was also necessary that he had the hand on Scully and his offspring and that's when the unthinkable is declared.

However, do not skip the steps and analyze the new direction set up.

Mythology evolves. For a long time, this was defined by adding new elements to what we already had but Carter decides once again, since the start of the Revival, to change his tune. The Consortium is dead, long live the Consortium. Since here it is not one that we have and composed of the CSM and his new Diana, but two: a mysterious man who also smokes (reminder of a distant time when the cigarette was commonplace, calmed the stress, where smoking everywhere, lack of anti-smoking campaigns and giving a sexy image in old movies) and a woman just as singular. The old tradition of the Consortium was that the members kept a relatively anonymous or semi-anonymous identity: CSM, the man with manicured hands ... but My Struggle III breaks the secrets, reveals names and intentions, we touch fingertips the big revelations and the identities are revealed little by little starting with that of the Smoker. It took another episode centered to find out: Carl Gerhard Bush. Well I admit, I laughed at the sight of that, facing such a charisma is better than the last name of the most ridiculous president of the USA. But there is a Germanic sounding that will perhaps send us back to the Second World War, to Nazism, to Hitler's Utopia that wanted to recreate Men as a superior race. Since here the horror is to learn that certainly we try to destroy us (well that we knew it thank you ^^^) but that those who possess the weapon of our destruction are not only ET, it is a human , humans, who will make the decision of who should live or die, who will be the sacrificed and the elected ... and that this decision is currently in the hands of a mental patient who has his favorites and wants to completely erase the slate to make us return to the state of the Natural Man, a new beginning, we eradicate those who have made the brothel to keep a handful of human beings who will return to fundamentals. Being the father of Fox and Jeffrey, we would think that everything will be done mainly in family except once again the Madonna Scully is replaced (ENCORE !!!!!) in the center of the History.

The CSM wants to protect it and he wants it all, why? Good question ?

My struggle III allows the SCM to have a voice, so we explore more his entourage ... composed of Monica LOL And yes when we are a swelling first we are not surrounded by his family but those who tolerate that you like hear you speak and especially who believe you. The Smoker is a free electron from the beginning, the Flashback proves it by the way, it is HIM who decides, point. When Monica's role he shares the audience, some are collapsed that it is switched to the dark side, question, but why a woman so adorable today displays such a bad and determined expression. Me this turnaround I find it great, simply because smooth characters have no place in the X Files. In the face of the coming horror, we have to adapt in one form or another to be able to cope with it. Moreover, all the characters climb an additional level: Scully takes the place of Cassandra Spender and prophesies the future through visions of dead, pandemics, apocalypse to come erasing at the same time all My struggle II which was not that the product of his prophecy and, it seems, she shares her visions with her son (perhaps it is also the author at a distance) that we finally see in brief touches here and there; Mulder seems to be developing new cold combat techniques, just like the CIA agent (no one can deny ...), Monica is the new Diana, and Skinner may be on his way to becoming a traitor to the balance of the CSM ... to see. When the Smoker, well he is the man to kill, he who had so brilliantly hidden all his secrets discovers that Consortium 2 wants to set up His program, knows everything, wants to seize everything and starting with the: Messiah . It took a reason to reintroduce William, why not repeat then the old story repeated a thousand times during season 9, he is tam tam tam Special !!!!!!!!!! And his mom is very important in the equation. So what annoys me at this point is that at the beginning it was Mulder's quest, him the cornerstone, and now according to the words of the Smoker one just has to be content to get it down so that Dana Virgin Mary Scully is the queen of the world that her son becomes Jesus son of God who will soon take a radical role in what is happening fast, how and why, we are left in limbo once again with only one element: Dana and her son have a unique bond, this child is a superman and ... tam tam tam

Horror and damnation, we learn in an excellent new face to face Skinner / CSM that William is the pure product of an experience started since the episode In friend and especially His work.

As much to tell you that the screen has rocked in the void, we have been walking for 17 years, that Carter lost his mind and that there I am but not at all agree with that.

William was not only a link between Mulder and Scully, it was the offspring of Fox, the one to whom we were going to convey the good, the worthy leader of the Resistance and the healthy product (but a bit magical anyway) of his parents. I am angry that they are the son of Satan here because this new direction is interesting. I can say My ass ?? So I say it !!!!!!!!! What stupidity, Carter had drunk or what ??? The story of this family, which started with the CSM and Bill Mulder, was interesting because it was followed precisely in a logical generational order. We started with the grandparents who set up a plan for an upcoming Invasion, which set up the beginnings of a conspiracy spanning 50 years, then the sons, the girls: either sacrificed (Samantha, his abduction, his death, the clones of them used or used to thwart ...), either victims (Jeffrey disfigured by the Truth, deaf to the words of his mother), or at the head of a quest, a search sown of pitfalls, giving birth to a lonely hero, at first humiliated but whose role is to reveal the unthinkable to the face of the World who laughs at him (Mulder, then comes his companion and partner Scully). William was predestined to Grand (to be the Savior of all, the offensive) certainly, but as a third generation Bordel !!!!!!!!!, the one that does better than the previous one. Instead of that we have the right to a vulgar Greek tragedy: where the son wants to kill the father, the son is no longer the son but the half-brother and Scully, my Scully is found "raped" by science and sacrificed on the Altar of Teena and Cassandra. It's foul, but is it true? I want to lie said the intro phrase, Ok, but how much? How far has it been to be able to go such an abominable being (then it's up to the answer to the question that?), I think it's ready for anything, the truth is elsewhere but the lies too ... Carter built and built, resumes, chiseled, and I end up with a monumental skull ache because of him and this interminable building that keeps changing its appearance. After 25 years I too am old to use the words of the Smoker and I feel tired to follow the meanders of a spirit as contorted as that of the Creator. I have admitted a lot of things, and if the CSM wants to play God with pleasure, I can not wait to see him being crushed by his children, he wants to protect Scully and make her concubine but that I can not wait for her to spit in his face, especially since we have information that they do not have and if it turns out to be true, it will demolish the little moral rampart that they remained to them. To be continued...

The X-Files: Duane Barry (2x05)
DuaneB March 12, 2018, 12:03 ET

The perfection

This episode is obligatorily in my top ten. The reasons are very simple:
The game of Steve Railsback is admirable. Duchovny gives himself thoroughly. The quality of writing is the rallying point of this progressive tension...
This is probably the episode I watched the most; I know him by heart and I am still not tired of it. I am to a degree of such amorous blindness that I can not see defects. Maybe slowness, but even then it's a slow slowness to install each character.
The scenes with ET technologies are beautiful and creepy. The photograph, although playing very little external scenery, puts the characters well in values. The play of light and darkness are precious allies to immerse ourselves in this inimitable atmosphere.
Krycek as a young inexperienced and Scully who comes to break the house with the true profile of Duane Barry. The denouement ... etc.
Not only this episode is superb, but it spreads its superb on the following and even in One breath which is for me the high point ... 10/10!!

The X-Files: Familiar (11x08)
Syldana March 11, 2018, 12:03 ET

Familiar 11X08

Review 11X08

Familiar a title consciously or unconsciously chosen for the fan of the beginnings when I see the emotions that I crossed during my viewing.

From the first scene, I felt familiar ground. It was crazy, I found an atmosphere so clean at first, we start with a playground that does not inspire tenderness in front of innocence and its games since from this minute the staging leads us to something and it is felt that the danger step by step approaches. The silence, only broken by the song of the child, the mist, the icy texture of the image, this huge arched known forest which one wonders if it will engulf the little boy and if the terror will come from her. I love it when this forest becomes the playground of horror because its always so threatening appearance is so adapted to that. First introduced entity: Mr. Chuckle Teeth.

For a long time, I had the impression that this forest functioned a little like a factory which created and let on the Men its own bestiary: the Pilot, The Jersey Devil, Fallen angel, Darkness Falls, Die Hand Die Verletzt, Quagmire. ..

This forest is sheltered, or creates its own monsters and awaits the right moment to throw them on us. Here sad report, the forest also becomes the tomb of children. Mr Chuckle Teeth, without being the only center of intrigue, did not inspire me since the Trailer. No doubt because it brings me back to a very famous clown character in the world of Stephen King. Thinking back to "It", Mr. Chuckle Teeth and the four "Teletubbies" with the black ink of the episode, I find myself wondering about the reasons that make a child feel so spellbound by a televised or literary incarnation and which displays a look as unhealthy. The authors will have understood how to play and create incredible intrigues in the world of horror, Mr Chuckle Teeth and "It" have in common this totally psychopathic smile and their crazy eyes, but I admit that it is especially the four Teletubbies and especially the appearance of one of them in front of the glass door of little Emily who sent me back to my childhood terrors. My heart literally came up during this scene. I want to say how one can quietly follow a show where the characters (supposed to be totally stupid in order to be adapted to the young audience) have a look like this: black and demonic, almost an abyss alone. Honestly, I congratulate to the writers for having made this tour de force, although ...

So far, the episodes are constantly sending us back to others. The sources of inspiration for these last two seasons are clearly at the stage of exhaustion if each time I say to myself: it reminds me of this other Loner. This is the problem in these episodes, we do not concretely create the original new.

And this episode, although great in its realization, finally brings us back to what? At the classical, we are delighted to finally return to what we have seen a thousand times, back to the origins, the first, the Vancouver before, the first series ... even the characters are affected with the return of the usual debate Mulder unpacking all his incredible culture on the paranormal and Scully opposing with its rationality.
Besides, I would point out that here these two stand in the place of analysts and witnesses throughout the episode, but in the end they act in no way. At no time do they succeed in preventing anything, including injustice: the death of children, the witch hunt, the death of the man accused of pedophilia (accusation that proves questionable it seems to me elsewhere), they do not finish the episode by killing the monster, the investigation ends itself by the death by the fire of an improvised witch and they finalize by fleeing a city always under the yoke of the demon ( the device that turns alone at the end). They illuminate more than they act and their absence would have given rise to an identical episode in all the sequences of events. You said very well skinner, the jewel of this episode is the climate and scenery, propitious grounds for an effective and horrifying episode as we like it.

Beyond that I really liked the idea, the terror plays two effective cards and touches us in the heart: the victims are chosen from the most innocent and the baits that lead to this horror are the characters of the childhood and who are here metamorphosed and made unhealthy as possible even if their basic pace was already in my eyes distressing. These are the famous classics of the genre: "It" was a clown, Chucky a simple doll, and Chinga, Michael Myers kills at the age of six years ... The banal and harmless are assigned to the image of the of the series "Goosebumps" where all the sets and objects of everyday life fell, fell under the devil or became a carnivorous plant. I recognize that this style speaks to me, I am a fan of horror movies, I agree for more than one reason only the fact that we come back to the real X Files.

The X-Files: Chinga (5x10)
DuaneB March 11, 2018, 12:03 ET

I want to play!

Really good one! Scully centric but not only. This episode made me discover the music of Johan Nepomuk Hummel, with his piano concerto no 3 in b minor. This the music you hear in the openning scene and also during Scully's bath scene.

The child is kinda creepy, but finaly swelling as well.
I apreciated Scully's journey, or rather ascape from her FBI routine. But the story in this Main small town don't let her tranquil at all. I like the relation she has with the sherrif, as if it was an infidelity to Mulder. Finaly, The scene of the mother hammer is horribly deranging.

I give a 9 of 10.

The X-Files: Little Green Men (2x01)
DuaneB March 11, 2018, 12:03 ET

How depression fits good to Mulder

Even on the forums, we never really talk about this episode. It's like a kind of mythological episode. At least that is what we feel the silence of some fans. Scandal! This episode sets the tone for this wonderful second season. The drama takes place, the dismay of Mulder, Scully's compassion, their friendship so strong and respectful. Their "noromo" relationship is at its crystallization stage, like a fragile and magnificent porcelain. It should never be touched.
totally agree with Jack. Duchovny's game really takes off in this episode; and in the season in general. His visions of Samantha's disappearance, the FBI scene where he ignores Scully, the beautiful music that accompanies everything. And then we can see the profoundly musical reach of our series with Bach's Brandenburg Concerto. We had already had a mention for another Brandenburg Concerto in the no less awesome "conduit". What series. What episode!
10/10 without hesitation.

The X-Files: Fearful Symmetry (2x18)
DuaneB March 11, 2018, 12:03 ET

Good story

Contrary to what I read, this episode proposes a true extraterrestrial phenomenon, in connection with animals. It works well and has a small effect. The elephant scene on the road is a classic. The music takes some formulas already heard, but not only. There is a whole atmosphere created by Mark Snow. The idea of â€‹â€‹communicating with a gorilla via sign language is a good idea. I find the story even touching. Scully upset after one of the members of the "Party of the return to nature" I like well. I like the atmosphere of this episode; it feels like being with them in the zoo, the sound atmosphere would almost make us guess the animal smells ...
The scene of the autopsy of the elephant is the negative point of the episode. But not enough to get him down to this point. The small final speech in voiceover of Mulder works well. Formula very second season (Red museum, Irresistible ...)
For me a 7/10.

The X-Files: Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster (10x03)
DuaneB March 10, 2018, 12:03 ET

Where is X-files please?

Decidedly, this revival is a delirious boulevard made in Morgan (Darin of course!). Vulgarity and deception are probably the words that best reflect my disappointing impression of this episode we are told to love ...

Vulgarity of a Mulder in red slip slowly lying on his bed legs apart. If it's a tribute to the red slip of Duane Barry, as I say that I prefer the original copy. Vulgarity again for the fantasy scene of Guy fucking with Scully. I have no desire to see Scully in this state. It is to take the beautiful subtlety of the beginnings and turn it into a total fair to disfigure a character of this kind!
Finally vulgarity of Scully's joke with his question slip or boxer. Pity!

The character guy is not at all endearing. Worse: he inflates me. His point, that of Darin in fact, seems to me seen and corrected: the man is the worst monster. It is a repetition of "man is a wolf for man" version twenty-first century. We have the style that our time deserves you tell me ...

Finally, the forced comic aspect is the best way not to make me laugh. But it's personal of course. But I find that everything is forced. And I'm not talking about fan service more than outrageous, but in the wrong way.

Only the scene of the cemetery, as boring as it is, pulls out of the game thanks to the tribute to Kim Manners.

The X-Files: Død Kalm (2x19)
DuaneB March 10, 2018, 12:03 ET

A good classic episode.

Very dark, this is an episode that our administrator hate wrongly. The purpose is yet very exotic. The story is unprecedented in the series. This big rusty cargo ship on all sides does its little bit. The fact that our agents find themselves in Norway gives it a very Nordic and legendary atmosphere.
The flaws: some lengths, the dialogues in Norwegian are too long for not much.
The end is superb and puts in scene the true complicity that they have from the beginning; the very one that some would call love ...

A 7/10 because the scenery, the atmosphere and history have embedded me; and this despite a retrospective childish side.

The X-Files: Familiar (11x08)
DuaneB March 10, 2018, 12:03 ET

Familiar is familiar to us

I thought that the clown would be the main hook. Nothing at all. Like what too much to watch the spoilers I let myself have.
In this episode we find a real classic of the genre. For a bit, we would feel parachuted in season 2, in our beautiful years 1994-95. For more than allusions, they are true quotes from old episodes.

Self-citations:
Die hand die vertletzt, Our town or Syzygy for the appearance of a city under evil influences. Fresh bones is perhaps (for my greatest pleasure) the most obvious for the final scene with candles ... In terms of shorter shots like the scene of the ceremony at church we think of Irresistible (for our greatest pleasure yet!). As for the pursuit of cop cars, I immediately thought of The Erlenmyers flask and its pre-generic scene.
But the palm of the quotes is the superb Chinga! The song, close-ups on the pale faces of children.
Suffice to say that it's a sweet memories of this episode. The story is well done. The cruelty and the collective barbarity being the relay of the justice ... All these elements confer a health of the series which slices radically with the previous episode, which told us with a great new novelty the dangers of the technologies and our world modern (Wow we did not know!); that and Scully's strawberry vibrator and Mulder's nose hairs ... How can we go from such a thing to this episode?

The other actors:
Another positive element of this episode is the game of secondary actors. We believe in. We are on board for a moment. Expressions in emotional nuances really echo the violence of the plot. Because let's not forget that the whole of a good episode is about details. We remember the magnificent performance of Heather McComb in Die hand die verletzt. The kids are very convincing to tell the truth.

The duo:
Regarding M and S, I do not hide my pleasure to find a little seriousness and lightened confrontation in their approach. Their unity is solid, but some nuances of inquiry apprehend us with their deep, intrinsic nature. He, invoking evil magical forces, she invoking the law and the rationality of the facts. For a bit, I almost saw Dogget in Scully. I find Scully still a little jaded, especially when the dead girl happens to be named Emily. We all know that Scully has hard leather, but what a big gap the weather has made between that and the whining of season 9 ...

The story:
The story itself is not of a crazy originality, it must be agreed. This is his main fault; not as to its construction or impeccable realization, but just to its nature, its purpose. I have neither seen nor read That, but it seems to me that the allusion is more than pregnant ... The scenery and the climate are more than all the main vector of reconciliation with the old seasons.

Conclusion:
This horrifying episode revives the good old, well-thought-out and simmering loners of our decidedly inspiring old seasons. This is a double statement that says a lot about our time, which praises the heritage on the one hand, but brandishes it as a reactionary totem on the other. However, the least fan will see there a work that revisits its own origins. This episode is in the wake of his predecessors. So there is a desire to inherit. I note in this regard that apart from the cop who seeks the profile of the suspect on his computer (and the scene lasts a minute), apart from also the wall screen on which the kid looks at his stuff, current technologies are for so say absent. This observation is all the stronger because it facilitates this return to the foundations; it facilitates this trip in the 90's offered by the episode.
A mixed impression emerges from me. A season sawtooth that keeps trying to reconnect with a past by definition, and at the same time surfing on the triviality of our time, even on the laziness of our society assisted. The example of Ghouli.net to give substance to an episode that has not taken enough time to do so is evocative (episode super elsewhere).
More simply, let's say that when an episode revives his classics, he walks, he seduces the fans. The proof with the previous comments and this one. In other words: no need to go looking for things convoluted and ultra-modern, to sleep with Black mirror to please. Rm9 is the emptiness that is taken for full, while here it is the good old old-fashioned dictation. The rectifier-wrong implacable. The consciousness of the original juice found, the rusticity in close-up. The febrile nerve of the pissing and gobbling little people ... Sort of a small town without fiber optics, but reconnecting with the primary instincts of man: revenge, deception, sick solidarity, compact madness, brutal deviance ...

The X-Files: Ghouli (11x05)
Gruic March 9, 2018, 12:03 ET

James Wong knows his job

A very good Ã©pisode, probably the best mythological episode related for the Revival.

And the end is perfect.

Good job James Wong. Mulder and Scully does not work for you, you work for them, that's why you're a great writer.

The X-Files: Familiar (11x08)
Gruic March 9, 2018, 12:03 ET

A classic X-Files, feels good

Familiar is a great title for this solid loner episode.

Too bad we had to wait so long in this revival to have an episode like that.

Feels X-Files, feels good.

The X-Files: The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat (11x04)
Gruic March 9, 2018, 12:03 ET

A Great Darin episode

Another master piece from Darin Morgan. The discussion near the statues feels very brillant.

A classic one already.

The X-Files: Familiar (11x08)
Pike March 8, 2018, 12:03 ET

A true excellent classic loner

PREDICTION TOPICS
There are themes that rarely work and that offer an extremely low quality ratio. For example, episodes and movies based on technology often age very poorly and are rarely realistic in their treatment. Rm9 is the most recent and calamitous example.
Conversely, there are themes like Familiar, which often work. Because it's enough to scare you. Because, if I remind you, if X-Files was a movie, it would be a horror movie. Back a quarter of a century back, our revered, adored, venerable and adorable Chris Carter was inspired by Kolchak and wanted to scare spectators every week.
Before talking about black oil or even extraterrestrial colonization, the first and best season of X-Files remains that of Squeeze, Ice, Beyond the Sea, Darkness Falls and Tooms. Mutants, serial killers, killer insects.

I WOULD WELL REPEAT A TOUR OF THE COAST OF THE FRONTIERES OF REAL
X-Files is a series of horror. Familiar proposes us a precisely familiar theme and returns us right in the second season. Because this episode would easily have had its place between Die Hand Die Verletzt and Irresistible.
From the pregeneric, we are sent back to our first love. As Darin Morgan and James Wong did a few weeks ago, the screenwriter Benjamin Van Allen and the director Holly Dale make us redo a tour of Aux FrontiÃ¨res Du RÃ©el, see our first televised love, who made us an appointment on the M6 â€‹â€‹channel and let yourself be watched in a loop. We would not want to go backwards, but yet we would pay dearly to relive for one moment the time of happiness and that's what happened last night.

A RECIPE
Yes, I loved this episode of X-Files. Nothing but the sentence itself seemed impossible after last week's rant. Mulder and Scully had literally disappeared in favor of an immeasurable and definitive void.
As I'm just repeating since the beginning of this revival, we need an investigation, a forest, rain, mist, Mulder and Scully seriously (and not David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson kidding), a slow realization and asked, a dark subject. These are elements that we as purist fans know by heart. Because yes, even if the art at this part beautiful magic, it remains no less than we all know the recipe for a good episode of X-Files, to have seen precisely 215. And if the we count the views in loop, we have probably seen several thousand episodes.
And as Jacques Weber quoted, it takes time not to be stupid. We have collectively grown through the series. Some of us learned English through the series, some got into science, some even became FBI agents. Many women on social networks mention that the character of Dana Scully is a force for them. Because X-Files is all that at once. An art, but also a strength and a source of culture.
And the television and art culture that is ours makes us say that to make a good episode of X-Files, it's better to deal with a story of murdering little children in a Vancouver forest than filming Mulder and Scully smiling. silly broad shot without dialogue and without history.
A good episode of X-Files is:
- A tablespoon of investigation.
- A ladle of Mulder and Scully exchanging divergent theories.
- A forest.
- A rotten weather (rain, wind and steam coming out of the mouth, failing to find a term for this effect).
- A hint of mystery (we do not discover the plot until the end of the episode).
- A terrifying character (the character in the mask).
- Real second credible characters.

THE CHARACTER
The character with the smiling mask is sublime. Perfect. Iconic. I love it. The pregeneric immediately sent me back to the first seasons of the series and is simply perfect. I found myself fully and for the first time since this revival in the series. Because it's very ironic, but in this revival, it's the only classic episode. By that I mean that Founder's Mutation happens in full sun, Home Again is happening in town and Ghouli is mythological. Familiar is therefore the one and only classic loner in my opinion. And it's a huge waste, when you think of the brevity of this revival (18 episodes only).

ALL I KNOW IS THAT I DO NOT KNOW
Those who find me peremptory (translate: dumbbell (translate: a big bastard (translate: strongly in two weeks that he closes his mouth))) will appreciate these next words. This episode proves to me by A + B that it is quite possible to produce an excellent episode of X-Files with Mulder and Scully. Magic can still operate. Thismagic seems almost elusive and the more time passes, the more it becomes impossible to grasp it. But when she's here, it's a feast for the eyes and the soul. I discover the episode in my hotel room and suddenly I feel sent back in my childhood, during the second season. It's a total happiness.
Note once again that we already knew how to do that. Have you seen Mulder's and Scully's clothes? The difference is glaring with the clothes they wear in some previous episodes. Here, the tones are dark and the clothes do not take over the rest. It sounds basic, but it was a big mistake in some other episodes. The devil is in the details. Does Colombo wear Armani suits? No. I extrapolate, but you understand me.
Mulder and Scully are serious. It's so rare in this revival that it's a deep relief. They do not look at each other with the mischievous look. They are two FBI agents (do I have to remind you?) Who are doing an investigation. Point.
Also, Mulder finally has a utility. Ditto for Scully. They complement each other perfectly. She proceeds to an autoposy, he questions a child. The duo works perfectly.

X-FILES FOREVER
I will go even further. I think Chris Carter was not wrong at all. I tended to openly mock him when he said that X-Files can go on endlessly. Seeing this episode, I think that indeed, the very concept of the series is larger than Mulder and Scully and can, indeed, continue.
On the other hand, it will obviously require to cut the cord, that it is with the main actors, the mythology and, yes, its creator and all his team.

PRODUCTION
And I really have to write a whole paragraph about Holly Dale's perfect realization. I had the chance to exchange some characters with her on Twitter and I will go immediately thank her for this great job.
After the horrors of Chris Carter and Glen Morgan, it's a real pleasure to have a real director. It's really a total relief. God it feels good to see a good "movie". I think that as fans of the series, we all have a soft spot for horror episodes. Well, she does it wonderfully. And we see that nothing is due to chance. It is clear that she did her job.

FAULTS
Certainly, the episode to his faults, let's be frank. Mulder sometimes has an awkward bodylanguage. The dialogues on McCarthyism work badly. And the conclusion is a bit B series.
But no matter, because the episode works and is fun to see. And at the point where we are, that's all we ask for the series.
Oh, and Scully's cup is really awful. To say that Gillian Anderson has beautiful hair and is disfigured in this way overwhelms me, but I do not want to spend time talking about each other's cuts.

ABSTRACT
To summarize, Familiar is an excellent episode, a loner in its most classic form. And even if it has some flaws, it is nonetheless very appreciable. I give it a nice 7 out of 10.

The X-Files: The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat (11x04)
DuaneB March 8, 2018, 12:03 ET

Is this a classic x files?

Of course it isn't. The title is parhaps the only thing right; I mena the first part of the title: The Lost Aart, wich I could complete like "of the X files". Probably the worst with babylon, to me. It didn't made me laugh at all, and the way GA and DD play sounds wrong, according to a normal episode. Even if we considere the past amazing work of Darin Morgan, I lose every x fies signature in it.

The X-Files: Plus One (11x03)
Caroline R. Poole March 6, 2018, 12:03 ET

Classic X Files with an outstanding performance by Karin Konoval.

Karin Konoval is outstanding with her portrayal of both Chucky and Judy Pondstone. It was good to see such a talented actress back from the earlier run of the show. Telepathic hangman, a local punk band rendition of "Unsaid, Undone" from David Duchovny's album "Hell or High Water" and an all round classic X Files episode. 10/10!

The X-Files: Christmas Carol (5x06)
DuaneB March 6, 2018, 12:03 ET

Just pay attention to music in this episode

Love this one. For once we have a full immersion into the Scully familly. The investigation witch brings Scully to Emilly is well conducted. This episode is also a big occasion to show more than any other the complete wide of Gillian's playing. Finaly, this is one of the most touching concerning the music. One of my favourite... 9/10

The X-Files: Anasazi (2x25)
DuaneB March 4, 2018, 12:03 ET

The first trilogy cliffhanger

What an amazing episode to close this wonderfull second season. Everything is perfect. It is mostly about the MSR that it is interesting. Their tension grows up while the serie delevopes a really dramatic turn. This crescendo is so brillantly builded as a perfect mixing of the mythology and the Navajos legend as well as the M and S psychology... 5 of course!

The X-Files: Babylon (10x05)
DuaneB March 3, 2018, 12:03 ET

The most shitty episode ever

The islamist terrorism has nothing to do with x files, and no one in our time wpuld like to see an episode dealing with such painfull subject. When I wath x files I want to travel, to enter into an unknown and fantastic world... I wanna see my favourites characters evouating as well, but I can't stend what was this disgusting epiosde. Of course you could add Scully's attitude almost defending the terrorist, like if it where him the victim.. Please!!

The X-Files: Rm9sbg93zxjz (11x07)
Pike March 1, 2018, 12:03 ET

Chris Carter should feel ashamed

WE CAN ALWAYS GO LOWER
If The X-Files taught us something, it is that we can always go lower in terms of artistic quality. We learned it with the fifth season, becoming clearly not as good as the first four. We learned it with the seventh season. We learned it with the eight season. We learned it with the ninth season. We learned it with the series finale. We learned it with the movie I Want to Believe. We learned it with the 10th season. We learned it with Babylon. We learned it with the season 10 finale. We learned it with season 11.
Here, this episode shows us the worst ever.

EMPTY AND WITH NO POINT
The episode is totally pointless and has no point whatsoever. There is no subject, no emotion, no dialogue, nothing. Zip. Glitch.
I would have definitely been up for a special type episode, I actually would have loved that. But there are no rules and nothing makes sense. If Mulder and Scully are supposed to not talk, then why do they suddenly start talking? Either you speak or you don't. You have to follow the rules and there aren't any.

TECHNOLOGY
The episode is tackling our era of technology. The X-Files was always great when it dealt with strange phenomenons in dark forests. But when it came to technology, the show was mostly not even bad but excruciatingly bad. The problem is that this is the ultimate and final example of the worst episode about technology. Because there is no story, no dialogue, nothing whatsoever. There is not even a glimpse of a concept.
The episode could have had a concept, whatever it was. And make the episode at least watchable. But there is none. Mulder and Scully are eating in a restaurant and not talking. They receive notifications for about forty-three minutes. And that's it.

SOME FANS LOVED IT
And some fans loved this episode. This is no wonder. Because fan comes from the word fanatics. And there will always be X-Files fanatics that would love anything with the X stamp on it. I used to say back in 2008, during the release of the bad film The X-Files: I Want to Believe, that some fans would love anything, as long as there is David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. I even remember telling that you could simply film Duchovny and Anderson not talking for forty minutes and some fans would find it outstanding. I never even imagined that it would actually be the case one day. And this is the summary of this episode. Some fanatics watch this ersatz of an episode and applaud it.

CHRIS CARTER...
Chris Carter should feel ashamed. How could he be the showrunner of such things? This seems unrealistic that someone who directed Duane Barry and wrote Deep Throat and Anasazi could produce such thing.

SUMMARY
One of the worst "thing" I have ever seen in my life. 1/5 without any doubt.

The X-Files: Kitten (11x06)
Pike February 11, 2018, 12:02 ET

Not awful, but not even average

The episode could have been average, but the first half with Mulder and Scully doing their pseudo investigation is so useless and boring that I cannot give the episode a 4 out of 10.
The second part is more interesting, but still pretty low.
The only great thing about the episode is the final scene with Walter Skinner. Mitch Pileggi is really a great actor and gives here an excellent performance.
The rest is forgettable, but not as awful as the first episodes of this new season.

SUMMARY
I give the episode a 3 out of 10.

The X-Files: Plus One (11x03)
Pike February 2, 2018, 12:02 ET

Chris Carter cannot write anymore

WRITING
X-Files creator Chris Carter, once again, wrote an utterly bad script, which is actually the norm since 2002. This is a shame to see the creator of the series not being able to write a single decent script.

NO RULES
The worst moment is when Mulder and Scully talk about babies in bed. There are no rules anymore. Back in 1993, Chris Carter explained that The X-Files would never see Mulder and Scully doing an investigation and suddenly having a scene in bed together. Well, this is it, boys. The end of the road.

DIRECTING
Meanwhile, it feels good to finally have a real director directing an episode. The directing is classic and working fine.

SUMMARY
I give the episode 1 out of 10. Beyond bad.

The X-Files: The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat (11x04)
Pike February 1, 2018, 12:02 ET

In Search Of Lost Time, A Review

NOTHINGNESS
The episodes S1101, 2 and 3 disgusted me to the point that I thought I was done with the series. But, as Al Pacino partially said in The Godfather, Part III, "Every time I thought I was out, they pull me back in." So I obviously could not help but see this new episode, written and directed by Darin Morgan. As a fan of his work since 1994, I could not miss it.

A SECOND
And it only took a second to convince me. A single second. Less than that. A picture. Only one. A black and white. And the trick was played, I was conquered. As you will hear from all publishers, you do not have to eat all the beef to know that it is bad (or in this case to know if it is good). All the big episodes of X-Files are good from the beginning. And all the bad ones are bad from the beginning. No fuss.
So it only takes a second to return to the originality of the series. I'm in my chair, in 2018, and I find myself with the same excitement as in 1995, when I discovered crazy episodes of the first three seasons. I feel my heart beat and I do not know what will happen. I have no idea where we are, who the characters are and what will happen. I am seeing The X-Files. I am taken to an incredible world that I believe in.

A SUBJECT ?
After "My Struggle III" empty of everything, "This" and his subject exceeded, "Plus One" and his part of hanged for only subject, "The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat" offers us a real subject. The Mandela effect. But the episode goes much further, like a thesis, it revolves around the subject, starts there, goes back and finally, in just forty-three minutes, we propose an intelligent work that goes well beyond his own subject. It sweeps out a quarter century of a magical series that will have surprised us to the end, whether we like it or not. The candle comes back for probably one last time. And after being in the dark for so long, finding the flame to illuminate our universe with its light is like an arid river full of water. And we recognize the sound of flowing water.

BUILD A WALL!
One of the strengths of the original series was not to get involved in the present. Think about it. The conspiracies were developed based on the greatness of the great (sic!) Era of the 50s, 60s and 70s. We started at Roswell and we stopped with the Watergate. And that was fine. Apart from the benevolent portrait of William Clinton, the series lived in an era in itself. But the times have changed. This is the whole subject of this episode, which goes, again, well beyond the simple gimmick effect Mandela. Darin Morgan dares everything and proves by A + B what we were talking about here last week including Zerosum. The series can not work anymore, for the simple reason that the time does not lend itself to unclassified business (I hope I have the right not to have to call these cases "X-Files"). The era became X-Files. As proof of this, the discussion between Fox Mulder and the character in this superb Vancouver setting - the first time since season 10 that we are being offered an interesting and local venue. We live in an information age, an ultra-connected era where this information is transmitted, or rather spreads, at the speed of light. How can we believe for a moment that monsters live among us, when every citizen has become a witness, with his camera connected? Darin Morgan demonstrated it perfectly in his cult episode of season 10. I take this opportunity to mention that of course, "Scully and Mulder Meet the Were-Monster" is a classic episode of the series, just like any classic of the first seasons.
We live in 2018 and we have already crossed the border of reality. Darin Morgan wanted to write an episode about Donald Trump, let's be very clear. The effect Mandela was found in a second time. Let's not go around the bush, the current US President, whether we like him or not, does not care about the truth. It is the most total symbol of the reality of this post-conspiracy world, where truth no longer matters. The 2016 US campaign was the most blatant example. No matter who is telling the truth, it does not matter anymore. False news is sent to Facebook? It becomes the truth. Before him, George W. Bush was well elected on a lie. But everything is going faster today. Everything is more exacerbated. And the episode deals perfectly with this new era in which we live. I'm sure you'll all understand the reference to the Mendela effect when you see the images of Trump's inauguration. For the first subject of the President of the greatest power in the world was to take offense at the media coverage of the number of spectators at the inauguration. His truth was not that of the media. It was totally crazy. It is to wonder if we can go even further. But history and evolution only prove to us that this is the case. We will take this topic back in 2028 and we will say "you remember in 2018, what was better, not like today!".
Back to the episode, the subject is for me devilishly well treated, be it the truth, Donald Trump, Mandela effect, time passing, nostalgia. The difference between Chris Carter and Darin Morgan speaking of their time is diametrically opposed. Both went there thoroughly, we can not blame them that. But Chris Carter offers a gloubi-boulga without spine (My Struggle I-II-III), bunch of nonsense without any control or vision. Meanwhile, Darin Morgan goes even more thoroughly, but in a way always subtle, despite artifices and grotesque references.
There is so much to say about this episode that I would need much more time to devote to a real review.

PASSING TIME
Rather than forcing the characters into forbidden crosses (Mulder and Scully join the FBI soon at 60), Darin Morgan does not try to fit a sphere into a cube. It shows us all aspects of the sphere and the cube and makes it an episode that I just loved.
Meanwhile, as mentioned Number 6 (or No6), the format of 43 minutes is very ... difficult (I dare not transcribe his original words). Everything goes too fast and we have no time to deepen anything. But why did it work so well in the first three seasons? The answer is simple. She holds in one word. Mastery. The mastery of his art. Take time. When the alien gets off his ship towards the end of the episode, we take the time, and it's a good thing. This totally exacerbates the feeling of the scene and therefore reaches its target right in the mile. This format worked very well in the 90s and works very well today. The difference with "My Struggle III" is blatant. In the first, we see the characters running for forty-three minutes. In this one, we take the time. What is even more crazy is to go even further and mention that the episodes at full speed are ultimately quite boring. While a slower and more controlled episode seems faster. Again, as at the time of the series, I saw myself several times display the counter, counting minutes. More than 20 minutes before the end. 10 minutes. 5. 2. It's already over.
And that's ironically the whole subject too. Passing time. Darin Morgan leaves in search of lost time. He dares everything and plunges us back into scenes from the best episodes of the series. Pilot, Squeeze, Clyde Bruckman's Final Rest, etc. He even dares, in a dantesque scene, to offer us his own death. It's terrifyingly original!

A TERRIFIANT RATIO
Darin Morgan did what no one before him had done. A completely crazy and incredible ratio of 100% good episodes.
- The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat (2018) ... (written by)
- Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster (2016) ... (written by)
- Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space' (1996) ... (written by)
- War of the Coprophages (1996) ... (written by)
- Clyde Bruckman's Final Rest (1995) ... (written by)
- Humbug (1995) ... (written by)
- Blood (1994) ... (story by)
Beyond the television universe, who can boast of a perfect filmography? Not even Stanley Kubrick. Even less Steven Spielberg. Admittedly, the comparison is only tiny, because Darin Morgan is primarily a screenwriter, but we can not deny his qualities as a director. I put it at the same level as a Christopher Nolan, just running through the pearls. I do not know other writers or directors with a ratio of 100%. We are in the most total exception. To paraphrase Chris Carter, "Darin Morgan is so talented that it's terrifying."
And as a picture is worth all the explanations of the world, here is a graphic as terrifying as the darkest monsters in the series:
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7Chso73zrgwrbC-Vx5PBlNvrBPk=/1200x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/10091379/Graph.png

CULTE SCENES
Meanwhile, The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat can boast not one, not two, but five cult scenes! It had not happened since ... "Mulder & Scully Meet The Were-Monster", last episode written and directed by Darin Morgan.
- The opening scene. Perfect from the first to the last second.
- Mulder child discovering for the first time Twilight Zone. "It's not about the episode, Scully, it's about my memory of my first Twilight Zone.It has changed me, you have not forgotten that.I was 12 years old (...)". Coincidentally, I was just 12 years old when I first discovered X-Files.
Note that the place makes me think of the summer residence of Mulder, discovered in the sublime Talitha Cumi.
- The sequence where we revisit the series, starting with its credits.
- All Mulder's sequence discussing with Dr. They in the park. A jewel. A fantastic game. Perfect dialogues. The X-Files will always be recognized as a series where his biggest actors will have been old men.
- All the sequence where the trio Mulder, Scully and Reggie drive and discover an alien. While the references are grotesque, even in the last "bing bong", reminiscent of Trump's famous video talking to truckers, but the scene is fantastic in every sense of the word.

A PERFECT SERIES FINALE?
A little crazy idea
I will go even further. I discovered an article that gave me a great idea. "TLAoFS" could have been a perfect final series. Obviously, this may surprise at first. But think about it for a moment. As in many series final, these episodes revisit the entire series by trying to give him some morality, even if I do not like the term - a certain finality in his words, a final statement.
Because we know it well, Mulder and Scully have never elucidated anything. One of the hallmarks of the series was that the rarely-discovered evidence was always stolen a few seconds before the end credits - often by the cigarette man and his henchmen.

Â«Â I want to remember how it was.Â Â»
In fact, what good was spent all this time? What was the purpose of all these adventures? These corpses. These tests.
And Scully summed it up fantastically at the end of the episode. She would not trade this course for anything in the world. Because "I want to remember how it was, I want to remember how it was." And that's the moral of our story. It's totally that. And that's even the morality of everything. Because nothing matters. We will all die in the end. Your friends, your children, your parents will die. Your memory will evaporate and many of us will end up in a retirement home, in a total and final decrepitude. So, all that matters is the course.
This is the reason why so many of us are still here, after so many years, to dissect a series that has become totally mediocre and insignificant.
It's devilishly smarter and basically simpler than Chris Carter's failed essay in "The Truth", which wanted us to believe, once again, on an imposed subject, that did not stick with anything else. The dead speak to us. Good. So "Squeeze", "Ascension", "Anasazi", "Home", they are not part of the equation? It was laughable. Admittedly, it stuck a little, but the membership did not hold, or rather, the transplantation. Did one of you identify with this morality of "The Truth"? Me, ghosts, I have never seen. One of the few final series that marked me was the "Quantum Leap". In this superb final episode, we learned that the character had no need to continue his adventure. "You will only have this long as you want to. (...) The catch is that you have to accept that you control your own destiny". It was also a morality to which one could identify.

The Truth
"TLAoFS" also offers the finality of Fox Mulder's quest for truth. What is simpler and more logical than the truth offered by the extraterrestrials? It may be grotesque, it is already more believable than the man with the cigarette in shaman, revealing a date at random (which will prove false) at the bottom of a cave.
In this wonderful episode of Darin Morgan, Mulder finally really discovers the truth and realizes that she does not interest him. The quest for truth was more important than the truth itself. This is also a morality to which each spectator can identify.

Reinforcing the series
Finally, even if humorous, this episode also offers us a rewrite of the series, through this funny sequence of flashbacks. This in the purest tradition of the final series.

Mein Kampf, IV
So certainly, it would have been a crazy bet, but raised hands down. Instead, we are going to have a most horrible story in "Mein Kampf IV" ("My Struggle IV" in vo). Get ready for forty-three minutes punchy false revelations about the fatherhood of William and dialogues as stupid and useless as the few cryptic and cynical comments of the character of Matt Damon in Space.

CONCLUSION
I would like to tell you more about this episode for entire pages, but I have already sublimated it. I already forget it.
I beg you to forgive me for this infective review, without real structure and passing through many topics.
Finally, I do not rate this episode epic, because I do not know. Only time will give me my truth.

The X-Files: My Struggle III (11x01)
Pike January 4, 2018, 12:01 ET

The X-Files is dead

The X-Files is dead. I truly believe that Fox (now Disney) should simply fire Chris Carter (or never call him again) and replace him with someone younger, with an original vision, or even anyone who can write a decent script.
My Struggle III sucks, big time. It is beyond bad. Everything is bad, disgusting, abject. Chris Carter doesn't know how to write anymore, this is now clear as water. There is no denying and it pains me to say as I adored his initial vision, but he lost the plot, entirely, with no coming back.

TASTELESS LOOK
The series now has the same look as all those stupid hyped tv series such as CSI or Hawaii Five O. Visually, it's horrible. It is clinically horrendous. I have rarely seen something as soul-less, if that's even a word.

EDITING
The editing is, here again, horrible. There are countless fast zooms, shortcuts to no end.

MUSTANG CAR CHASE
The car chasing scenes are grotesque, it looks like an ad for Mustang - and a very bad one.

PAINFULL DIALOGUE
The dialogue is so stupid. I wouldn't even know where to start.

CSM
The CSM, this character that we loved so much and that was perfect during the entire series, is named Bush. Is that supposed to be funny? It's so bold that it is beyond childish.

MYTHO-NO-LOGIC
Mythologically speaking, it is Dallas. The CSM raped Scully. Monica Reyes even says that Bush is in love with Scully. My eyes and ears are bleeding. No comment.

MORSE CODE IN BRAIN SCANS
Skinner sees morse code into the brain scans of Scully.

WORSE THAN FANFICS
The story is having the same level as a child one. It is a mix of stupid alien invasion, virus, plan to go to another planet. Seriously speaking, we don't give a shit anymore. This doesn't matter anymore. I am laughing thinking that some will try to think about it all and connect it with the rest of the show. My dear friends, it has been a very long time since Carter is having fun and write without knowing where he goes, all of that on an ocean of US dollars.

FAKE
Everything looks fake. That's the worse. Of course, there are actors, dialogue, music, scenes, but there is no symphony. It doesn't work.

I probably forget some, but Chris Carter should really take his retirement. He has totally become George Lucas. That's really fascinating. How could someone as talented as him in the 90's could produce such horrendous episodes? This poor man tries to work with the past, but all has become too complex. The X-Files is way past the time of the end.

The next episodes are better, but life isn't so easy. We cannot just remove this episode out of the equation. The mythology of The X-Files is the core of the series. So, I tell you this, to me, The X-Files has become the worst tv series that I know of.

My rating: 1/5.

The X-Files: Redux II (5x02)
Caroline R. Poole November 20, 2017, 12:11 ET

Brilliant

One of my favourites!

The X-Files: Redux (5x01)
Caroline R. Poole November 20, 2017, 12:11 ET

Brilliant

One of my favourites!

The X-Files: Agua Mala (6x13)
queequeg0925 October 14, 2017, 12:10 ET

Agua Mala - underrated gem

Contrary to what the previous reviewer says, I think Agua Mala doesn't deserve the terrible press. It's a great base-under-siege (apartment under siege?) episode that features a darkly lit atmosphere not unlike the earlier X-Files episodes of the Vancouver years with a creepy monster that yet, remains throughout, to be in touch with the feelgood vibes most episodes in season 6 carry. The only thing I'm not a fan of is some of the supporting cast, Gillian and David are amazing as always as is the actor who portrays Arthur Dales. But the characters we meet stuck inside the apartment building aren't as bright in my opinion. Overall it's a really fun watch; definitely in my top 5 sixth season episodes for sure.

The X-Files: Babylon (10x05)
DanaScully October 14, 2017, 12:10 ET

Not the Best from Chris Carter

I really hate to say this but.... Chris Carter really sucked at trying to write, I guess he was running low of ideas and plus the acting of the so called clones of our sweet Mulder and Scully was so bad that I can't even watch this one without getting mad at how the season was being ran. so glad Season 11 is coming out soon I hope it goes back to its roots a little bit. and Bring back the magic we all know and Love from the show. #TheTruthIsOutThere!!!

The X-Files: Babylon (10x05)
syzygy620 October 13, 2017, 12:10 ET

The worst episode of the entire series

Terrible writing, stilted dialogue, awful use of the worst country music has to offer, and introduces 2 painfully obvious M/S caricatures. Makes "Fight Club" look genius.

The X-Files: Pilot (1x01)
syzygy620 October 13, 2017, 12:10 ET

A solid start to the series!

"Pilot" is a very strong episode and introduces many recurring themes picked up in the series. You get a real feel for the direction of the series, introduced early to cases which don't often have clear-cut endings and characters whose motives may always remain mysterious.

The X-Files: Invocation (8x05)
Gruic October 13, 2017, 12:10 ET

A nice one for David Amann

I'm not a big fan of Amann work, but this one is, if not a solid episode, an interesting one.

Robert Patrick is a great actor, playing Doggett at 200% and the plot gives him the possibility to run and scream and I love when Robert do that.

I also like the photography of this episode.

The X-Files: 731 (3x10)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Great conclusion

4/10

The X-Files: Avatar (3x21)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Very good

Very good

MUSIC
After so many episodes made almost entirely with the same synthesiser music, Mark Snow is providing here a very subtle and elegant soundtrack, going back to the basics: the piano.

The X-Files: Quagmire (3x22)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Superb

Superb

The X-Files: Sanguinarium (4x06)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Gore

Gore but boring

The X-Files: Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man (4x07)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Real emotions

OUTER LIMITS
Finally. Finally an episode of The X-Files moves out of the weekly investigation and goes out to reach a new high by opening its possibilities.

HISTORY
This episode is anchored within History with a capital H. JFK, MLK

ON WRITING
I loved the scenes in which CSM is seen highly vulnerable. Passionate about writing, he is trying to get his book published and only receives refusal letters.

The X-Files: Tunguska (4x08)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Outstanding episode

CLIFFHANGER
The cliffhanger is simply per-fect. It is one of the scariest scene of the entire series.

The X-Files: Terma (4x09)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Superb

Superb

The X-Files: Memento Mori (4x14)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Superb

Superb 4/5

The X-Files: Tempus Fugit (4x17)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Very good

Very good

The X-Files: Max (4x18)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

3

The X-Files: Small Potatoes (4x20)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Superb fan fest

Superb fan fest

The X-Files: Gethsemane (4x24)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Energetic season finale

Energetic season finale

The X-Files: Redux (5x01)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Excellent

Excellent

The X-Files: Redux II (5x02)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Superb

Superb

The X-Files: Detour (5x04)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Average

Average

The X-Files: Christmas Carol (5x06)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Weak

Weak

The X-Files: Emily (5x07)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Weak

Weak

The X-Files: Kill Switch (5x11)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Bad

Bad

The X-Files: The Red and the Black (5x14)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Good

Good

The X-Files: Mind's Eye (5x16)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

3

The X-Files: The Pine Bluff Variant (5x18)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Energetic

Good

The X-Files: Folie à Deux (5x19)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Bad

Bad

The X-Files: Dreamland II (6x05)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Okay

Okay

The X-Files: Two Fathers (6x11)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Good

Good

The X-Files: One Son (6x12)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Good

Good

The X-Files: Arcadia (6x15)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Good

Good

The X-Files: Alpha (6x16)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Very bad

Very bad

The X-Files: The Unnatural (6x19)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Good

Good

The X-Files: Three of a Kind (6x20)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Bad

Bad

The X-Files: Biogenesis (6x22)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Good

Good

The X-Files: Rush (7x05)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Average

Average

The X-Files: The Goldberg Variation (7x06)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Watchable

Watchable

The X-Files: Sunshine Days (9x18)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Allegory of a beloved tv series ending

While I deeply appreciate the idea of Vince Gilligan, utilizing one of the most well-known family tv series as a metaphore for the end of The X-Files, the execution fails to materialize. But it is not because of the script of the directing. Vince Gilligan has to deal with all the bad material from this season, namely Reyes and Doggett.

SUMMARY
An average penultimate episode. It is time to end it. I give it 2 out of 5. Average.

The X-Files: Release (9x17)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Good

Good

The X-Files: Jump the Shark (9x15)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Good riddance, The Lone Gunmen, you won't be missed

STEREOTYPES
I was never a fan of The Lone Gunmen. To me, they represented the average television type characters: unbelievable stereotypes with lame and cheap jokes.
Sure, they were fun when they appeared from time to time as secondary characters, but my view is that they took too much importance, so much that someone had the crazy idea to create a spin-off series out of them. We all know how that went.
Therefore, I was actually pleased that the series would finally kill off these characters, which should have already died years ago – and before their spin-off.
Imagine killing off Deep Throat, this magnificent character from the early days, but keeping these guys for the entire run of the show.

The X-Files: Scary Monsters (9x14)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Very bad fan-service

By trying to please the fans, the show eats itself and becomes really bad.

The X-Files: Audrey Pauley (9x11)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Boring as hell

Boring

The X-Files: Lord of the Flies (9x05)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Bad

Bad

The X-Files: 4-D (9x04)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Bad

Bad

The X-Files: Dæmonicus (9x03)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Bad

Bad

The X-Files: Nothing Important Happened Today II (9x02)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

2

The X-Files: Existence (8x21)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Worst season finale (so far)

The X-Files: Essence (8x20)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Bad

Bad

The X-Files: Alone (8x19)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Stupid fan service

Stupid

The X-Files: Vienen (8x18)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Great location

Great location

The X-Files: Fight Club (7x20)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Horrible

Horrible

The X-Files: Chimera (7x16)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

2

The X-Files: En Ami (7x15)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Good

Good

The X-Files: X-Cops (7x12)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Superb

Superb and original

The X-Files: Sein und Zeit (7x10)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Interesting

Interesting

The X-Files: Signs and Wonders (7x09)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Very bad

Very bad

The X-Files: Orison (7x07)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Interesting sequel

Interesting sequel

The X-Files: Nisei (3x09)
Pike October 1, 2017, 12:10 ET

Outstanding

Outstanding episode.

CLIFFHANGER
After Mulder on a skyride in "Ascension", this time, Mulder jumps on a train. This is one of the best cliffhanger of the entire series.

SUMMARY
An excellent mythology episode, continuing on the vein from the previous ones. I give the episode 5 out of 5.

The X-Files: Dreamland (6x04)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

Funny ha-ha

Funny but not delicate.

The X-Files: Unusual Suspects (5x03)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

2

The X-Files: Teliko (4x03)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

Boring as hell

BORING
Teliko is extremely boring. The pace of the episode is excruciatingly slow.

SQUEEZE
The worst aspect of the episode is without a doubt the moment where the monster of the week is squeezing in the exact same way as famous Eugene Victor Tooms from the first season. It is very unimaginative.

DECEIVE, INVEIGLE AND OBFUSCATE
The tagline of the episode, used not only in the opening credits, but also multiple time during the episode is simply stupid. This doesn't feel natural at all. "Everything dies" worked well in "Herrenvolk", but here, the tagline, when said by Mulder and Scully, feels totally unnatural.

The X-Files: Jose Chung's From Outer Space (3x20)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

5

The X-Files: Revelations (3x11)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

2

The X-Files: The Walk (3x07)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

Average

GREAT "KILLINGS"
The best feature of the episode is without any doubt the way the killings (and suicides) are performed. The introduction scene is definitely one of the scariest scenes of the season - the military getting into a bath of boiling water.
Also, the female military getting sucked into the swimming pool is also a visually stunning scene.
Finally, the kid being trapped under the sand is intense.

The X-Files: Red Museum (2x10)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

A mythology episode

STANDALONE MYTHOLOGY
"Red Museum" is a very odd episode. The reason is that Chris Carter tried to mix a standalone episode with a mythology one. The mix doesn't take. It simply falls flat on its small but real ambitions.
We also fail with a great opportunity to meet again the person who killed Deep Throat in "The Erlenmeyer Flask".

CULT & BEEF & PEEP-HOLE
The main reason I find it very bad is the story of the cult. It doesn't work and feels stupid from the very first moment. Each shot of the group is very bad.
Also, the mix of the beef story is just too much. The story is way too complex and is just unappealing.
Finally, the story of the peep-hole is again way too much.
Either do a great story about a cult, the beef or a peep-hole. But don't try to do all at once. This misses the point entirely.

HE IS ONE
There is one aspect that I found magnificent though. It was the scenes of the young people waking up almost naked in the forest. This has a strong visual and reminds me of the best moments from "Twin Peaks" or the Pilot episode.

SUMMARY
A very bad episode with red hats. 2 out of 10.

The X-Files: Excelsis Dei (2x11)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

Not horrible

"Excelsis Dei" is a bad episode, but is definitely not as bad as its two predecessors ("Firewalker" and "Red Museum").
The pace is terribly slow, but it is still somewhat enjoyable to watch, as the story is much simpler than the one from "Red Museum".

CREEPY
Also, some of the images are quite scary. Especially the scene in which the nurse is being physically abused by a ghost.

SUMMARY
Bad but not very bad. 2 out of 5.

The X-Files: Aubrey (2x12)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

Bad one

After "Firewalker", "Red Museum" and "Excelsis Dei", "Aubrey" is yet another unmemorable episode.
The pace is very slow and the flashbacks are not working so well.

SUMMARY
I give the episode 3 out of 5.

The X-Files: Die Hand Die Verletzt (2x14)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

Messy, pop and excitingly fun to watch

Die Hand Die Verletzt is an interesting X-Files episode. It slightly aims to push the boundaries, by introducing more humor and, whilst being a clear horror story, going for the “pop” of pop culture. It feels like an X-Files episode with a lime twist that gives it a unique flavor that’s not quite distinguishable, but the taste is clearly there.

HUMOR
As mentioned, the episode is filled with humor. Mulder lists rock bands, toads fall from the sky, the Sheriff is quite dumb to say the least, etc.

IMAGERY
But most importantly, on top of toads falling from the sky, this episode always stayed imprinted in my retina for its dark imagery, such as the pig being dissected, the water going down counterclockwise, the great scene of the young girl telling her dark (but fake) secret, the strained breathing of Mrs. Paddock, the giant snake… and the regurgitated skeleton.

THE (FAKE) REVELATIONS SCENE
Going back to that scene of the female teenager telling her dark secret. I remember this scene vividly, years later, and I found it fascinating. I wonder how much time the actress had to prepare and how they were able to let her very emotional yet true performance shine. On top of it, the cold and real weather makes it even more interesting, with the condensation when she talks. And obviously the way Mulder and Scully say nothing. It makes the scene extremely powerful. The tension keeps growing and growing, yet we only use our imagination. The power of an excellent script, an outstanding actress, great partners and a wonderful directing. Moviemaking at its best.

THEME
What is also interesting is how the episode hints on a topic that will slowly become an integral part of the 90’s: is pop culture responsible for violence in children and teenagers? This is hinted by one of the professors saying: “They reach into our children, in music, television, books.”

Ultimately, the episode is perhaps a bit of a mess, but it is exciting to experience (and re-experience). I give it a 4 out of 5. Goodbye, Glen Morgan & James Wong. See you in two years.

The X-Files: Fearful Symmetry (2x18)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

Aliens abducting elephants... should have abducted writers instead!

Fearful Symmetry is bad. Very bad.

ANIMALS
There is one constant in The X-Files. All the episodes about animals are extremely bad. Whether it is Shapes, Fearful Symmetry, Teso Dos Bichos, Alpha or Signs & Wonders.

ALIENS ABDUCTING ANIMALS
Not only the episode is extremely bad, but it goes even beyond by trying to magically connect the story of the animals with alien abduction. This is beyond repair.
And the conclusion of Mulder opening the possibility of aliens trying to preserve animal species is simply stupid.

SCULLY
In every episode rated 1, there are a few stupid scenes. "Fearful Symmetry" is no exception. In it, Dana Scully is doing an autopsy of... an elephant. No additional comments needed.

BORING
The episode only lasts 44 minutes, but it feels like it lasts for three full hours. It is one of the most boring episodes of the entire series. Nothing is interesting or worth caring for.
At least the previous MOTW, Fresh Bones, had a couple of interesting scenes. Here, there’s simply nothing to save the episode from itself.

MARK SNOW
Like everybody else, Mark Snow is also doing a poor job. He’s basically playing his soundtrack from The Jersey Devil and Shapes and uses and reuses to infinity the same music cue to such an extent that he is really abusing. Also, at 25 minutes into the episode, he uses a music sound so stupid that it feels totally odd and misplaced.

SUMMARY
I give the episode 1 out of 5. Very bad. Aliens abducting elephants... should have abducted the writers instead!

The X-Files: Soft Light (2x23)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

Excellent first episode of Vince Gilligan

VINCE GILLIGAN
"Soft Light" marks the first episode ever written by Vince Gilligan. Even though not perfect, this is a an excellent episode nonetheless.
The story is fun and interesting.

DIRECTING
The directing is also interesting, although a bit dull in a few rare moments. I'm pretty sure Rob Bowman or Kim Manners would have make the episode a bit more energetic.

SUMMARY
An excellent episode. 7 out of 10.

The X-Files: Død Kalm (2x19)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

As bad as the makeup

FAILED EXECUTION
Død Kalm is yet another interesting idea which didn’t materialized. On paper, it might have been fascinating to imagine Mulder and Scully mysteriously aging on a Bermuda triangle type location. But, unfortunately, for the first time in the series, the execution will massively fail.
Looking back at the 42 previous episodes, The X-Files crew was always able to deliver, whether it was using a contortionist in Squeeze and Tooms, showing a worm moving inside someone’s neck (Ice), or even showing a transformation of a person into a kind of werewolf (okay, a manitou!) in Shapes.
Unfortunately, Død Kalm is the first instance where the crew did not deliver. Not only that, they actually massively failed. Let me demonstrate why.
The entire plot of the episode is around people aging very rapidly. That’s the whole shebang. And right from the teaser, what do we see? A rescue boat filled with people that look like lepers. They don’t look old at all. I don’t know any aged person that looks like that. If you take a good look at them or pause the image, you’ll see that only seven of the men are young men wearing makeup. The rest, behind them, are actual old people.
Not only that, but some of these supposed-to-be-old-people badly mimic seniors by shaking their head or hands. David Duchovny does it as well and it clearly feels overly fake.
Also, you can clearly see that they don’t wear lenses and feature young eyes and also don’t seem to lose hair. Scully actually mentions this hair absence of a problem, which seems to be forced onto her so that the makeup department doesn’t have to deal with it.
But you cannot have it both ways. Either you should go fully at it or not at all.
I think the show would have been much more interesting if the old characters would have been played… by old people. Simple as this. But, obviously, could there have been old versions of Mulder and Scully to cast, somewhere in LA or Vancouver? Probably not.
For such a risk, I think testing the idea before committing to the script would have been a far better decision.

DEUS EX MACHINA
Also, the ending of the episode is really uninspiring. Mulder and Scully simply suffers from the elements. Sure, they get to understand what is happening, but they have absolutely no say in the story and just get saved at the end. End of story.

SUMMARY
A complete miss and one of the most ridiculous episodes of the series. I easily give it 1 out of 5.

The X-Files: 3 (2x07)
Pike September 30, 2017, 12:09 ET

3 gets a 1

NO SCULLY EQUALS SEXY
This is the first and only episode from the first two seasons where we don't see Dana Scully - Gillian Anderson being pregnant and giving birth to her first child Piper.
Ironically, as soon as Scully is out of the picture, Mulder is falling for another woman. This is actually the only reason to watch the episode, watching Mulder getting some action with Perrey Reeves, the current date of David Duchovny at the time.

UNORIGINAL STORY
As for the story itself, it is quite unoriginal. The reason is simple. This is a story about vampire. "3" is the "Shapes" of season 2 - "Shapes" was an episode about werewolves.

MUSIC
The score from this episode is great. I think I vaguely remember that the theme was actually from some previous work from Mark Snow, outside of The X-Files.

SUMMARY
After six straight great episodes this season, it was normal to finally get a bad one. I rate "3"... a 1 out of 5. Awful.

The X-Files: John Doe (9x07)
Pike September 15, 2017, 12:09 ET

3

The X-Files: Elegy (4x22)
Pike September 11, 2017, 12:09 ET

1

The X-Files: Kaddish (4x15)
Pike September 11, 2017, 12:09 ET

2

The X-Files: El Mundo Gira (4x11)
Pike September 11, 2017, 12:09 ET

Eladio Buente!

The X-Files: The Field Where I Died (4x05)
Pike September 11, 2017, 12:09 ET

Sublime opening scene, the rest is awful

Sublime opening scene, the rest is awful

The X-Files: Je Souhaite (7x21)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

4

The X-Files: The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati (7x02)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Very interesting

Very interesting.

The X-Files: The Sixth Extinction (7x01)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

It works

It works well.

The X-Files: Hungry (7x03)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

4

The X-Files: End Game (2x17)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Faith to keep looking

THRILLER
"End Game" is to me superior than "Colony" in every single way. First, the pace is much faster and the episode is definitely thrilling.

X VS SKINNER
The fight scene between Skinner and X is thrilling as well! What a scene!

SUBMARINE
For a tv series with a low budget at the time, the scene of the submarine going back underwater is really a tour de force. And it is visually stunning and the highlight of the episode.

MULDER'S QUEST
Finally, we get to see a beautiful scene in which Mulder is being thrown away by the Alien Bounty Hunter. And Mulder to keep going. "Where is she?". This is one of the reasons we love Mulder. For his obsession into his quest.

ENDING
The ending of Mulder being in a hospital bed, while Scully is watching for him is outstanding. The lines, the beautiful music from Mark Snow, the outstanding acting, the way Gillian Anderson is looking at David Duchovny, just brilliant.

FRANK SPOTNITZ
Frank Spotnitz had a superb beginning in the series. His episode is simply perfect.
And instead of talking to much, I will simply let his lines talk for themselves:
Dana Scully: "Did you find what you were looking for?"
Fox Mulder: "No, no. But I found something I thought I'd lost... Faith to keep looking."

SUMMARY
I give the episode 4 out of 5.

The X-Files: Colony (2x16)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Very good but missed opportunity

I was never a fan of "Colony". This may feels surprising, for someone who loves the earliest seasons so much. But the episode doesn't really work for me.

SAMANTHA
First, it is definitely the perfect moment to start finally introducing a mythology episode about Mulder's sister Samantha.
But the problem lays in the fact that we actually get a resolution, even if it is a lie. The all point was for us to wait for Mulder to find Samantha. And in "Colony", we suddenly see Skinner saying to Mulder that there is a family emergency. And then Mulder arrives at his father's place and meet Samantha. There is no emotion. No tears. Nothing. Samantha is back. That's it. Thanks for watching. Move along.

BAD CASTING
Second, the casting of Samantha is, to me, incredibly bad. I cannot understand how the producers came to cast Megan Leitch. She is definitely not a bad actress. But she doesnâ€™t look the part. We all remember the picture of Samantha at the swimming pool from the episode Â«Â ConduitÂ Â». This adult Samantha looks nothing like that. She feels too normal. I think that Samantha deserved a better casting.

ENDING
While I didn't like the episode too much, I find the last 10 minutes very entertaining.

SUMMARY
I give the episode 3 out of 5.

The X-Files: Irresistible (2x13)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Oustanding and dark

GILLIAN ANDERSON
After "Beyond the Sea", this is the first time where Gillian Anderson is having the chance to bring an interesting performance.
The result is outstanding. Her performance is more than brilliant. There are two particular scenes. The first, when she is back at the FBI in D.C. and talking about her own feelings. The dialogue are so powerful and realistic that she can and did bring something extraordinary out of it. In the first seasons, the series is produced in such a realistic and humbled way that you can only feel endless gratitude watching it. This is so far away from the fanfics-like dialogue from the latest seasons.
The second scene is where Scully is being rescued and breaks down crying in Mulder's arms. The scene is so delicate, so beautiful. Also, Mulder doesn't kiss her in her hair or try to confort her. He just stands there, no knowing what to do. You can also feel so many different things in his attitude.

DAVID NUTTER
Once again, this is a brilliant and dark directing from David Nutter.

DARK TONE
Yes, the tone is dark. So dark that this looks like a "MillenniuM" episode.

VIOLENT CRIME
In this episode, there is no paranormal phenomenon, and that feels like a huge relieve. We can simply enjoy a scary story. This is what The X-Files would have looked if we would have seen Mulder and Scully working at the violent crimes section. This is a show I would have watched for sure.

MUSIC
The soundtrack from Mark Snow is very original and different from his previous work on the series.

SUMMARY
I give the episode 5 out of 5. One of the best episodes of the entire series.

The X-Files: One Breath (2x08)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

The resolution of the best act

NEW AGE
Unlike most X-Philes, I am not finding "One Breath" one of the best episodes of the series. My concern is the new age aspect of the episode.
For instance, I do not like the opening scene at all. I find it cheesy and unrealistic. Also, the all story of Nurse Owens and Scully being on her boat to death doesn't appeal to me.

CANCER MAN
The scene of the confrontation between Fox Mulder and the Cigarette Smoking Man is one of the best scenes of the entire series. Both David Duchovny and William B. Davis are superb in that scene. The dialogues are also outstanding. The result is truly a joy to watch.

THE END OF IT ALL
The best scene to me is by far the moment when Fox Mulder comes back home after maybe seeing Scully for the last time. He slowly walks into his devastated apartment. The camera takes its time. And then he breaks. Mulder is broken. And here will be the most intense and emotional scene of this character throughout the entire series.

The X-Files: Little Green Men (2x01)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Outstanding season premiere

And here. We. Go.

After watching "The Erlenmeyer Flask" and the end of the closure of the x-files section, we finally get to see what happens to Mulder and Scully.
The result is simply outstanding.

DEPRESSED / OBSESSED / PARANOID MULDER
The second season starts with Mulder being reassigned to unimportant surveillance work. There is a clear, drastic, logical and evolutive change in the character. As seen at the end of "The Erlenmeyer Flask", Mulder is depressed by what has been happening, while being utterly paranoid and still obsessed with his quest to find the truth.
David Duchvony deserves all our admiration, as he will never be as good as an actor as in the second season. There is a clear evolution in the character, as he faced the death of his father-figure Deep Throat, and then the closure of the x-files section. Later on, in "Duane Barry", he will even go further down when faced with the abduction of his working partner and close friend Dana Scully.
You can physically see everything that it happening to the character in his pupils.
One tiny mention, the fact that he has his hair down is a good idea to further show his depression.

SENATOR MATHESON
After the death of Deep Throat, it was highly intelligent to try to provide some assistance to Mulder, but this time in a very different way. The scene in Senator Richard Matheson is simply perfect. "I live for Bach."

FLASHBACK / DREAM SEQUENCE
The flashback - or dream sequence - of the abduction of Mulder's sister Samantha is beautiful shot. David Nutter did a wonderful job with this scene, which must have been quite difficult to shoot.

FIRST 15 MINUTES
The first 15 minutes are simply su-blime. After that we get to see Mulder going to Puerto Rico (in Vancouver!) and playing with UFO lights and Jorge ("No, Jorge, don't touch that red button. Noho on the Roho.").
For the first time, Scully will need to look for Mulder. This will happen many (many) times in the series ("Colony", "The Blessing Way", half of season 8, part of season 9). But since this is the very first time, we truly believe in it and, as an audience, are totally invested in this quest.

The X-Files: The Host (2x02)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Creepily beautiful

I love being scared at the movies. "The Host" is exactly that. You don't want to see the gory scenes, but you actually love those.

As often with The X-Files, either an episode is very good or very bad. Looking at the story, I think it would have been very easy to make it a very bad one.
But Toby Lindala and the all crew made it one of the most memorable monster episodes of all time. Fluke is definitely one of the top 10 best monsters of the series.

INTRODUCTION SCENE
The episode is having one of the most creepy introduction scene. Just imagine having to open this door and go through it. This is just marvellous.

WALTER SKINNER IS A ROCK STAR
Mitch Pileggi is going 200% at it. His performance is not subtle at all, but it actually works splendidly. He is truly playing like a rock star.

GILLIAN ANDERSON IS A GODDESS
Contrary to the last seasons, where Gillian Anderson is playing Scully in a very mature and almost masculine way, in this episode, as in most of the first seasons, she plays Scully in a very subtle and delicate way. She is a strong character, but she still is a delicate woman caring about his working partner and close friend Fox Mulder. This is especially visible in the scenes where she tries to cheers up Mulder.

DAVID DUCHVONY IS INSANE!
David Duchovny is once again playing beautifully this first half of the second season. He IS Fox Mulder. There is despair (he wants to leave the Bureau), obsession, sadness and more.

SUMMARY
One of the best episodes from the show. I give it 5 out of 5.

The X-Files: The Post-Modern Prometheus (5x05)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Oustanding

5/5

The X-Files: Bad Blood (5x12)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Excellent but overrated

4/10

The X-Files: The End (5x20)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Average ending of an era and a missed opportunity

GIBSON PRAISE
The introduction of the new character of Gibson Praise is excellent. The idea of having him as a master of chess is very original. This also makes for a very visual opening scene.

VANCOUVER
Since this is the last episode of the series to have been shot in Vancouver, it makes perfect sense to have it with Vancouver as its location.

R.W. GOODWIN
This episode marks the last episode directed by the always excellent R.W. Goodwin. While he does an excellent job with this episode, the problem lays solely in its scenario.

SERIES FINALE, I
At the time of writing the episode, The End was supposed to be a series finale - the future of the series would have taken place in the form of feature films.
As a series finale, the episode is clearly a bit too light, spending most of the time inside.
This will only be the first attempt of many to end the series, before "The Truth" (second attempt) and "My Struggle IV" (third and final attempt).
"Gethsemane" had by far much more of a series finale feeling to it. This episode almost proved the existence of extraterrestrial life. In "The End", there is a kid who can read mind, which is supposed to be the key to all X-File cases and paranormal phenomenons.

LOCATIONS
Except for the first scene in the arena, the locations are definitely not interesting. Most of the episode is spent inside.

THE LONE GUNMEN
The scene of Scully visiting the Lone Gunmen and all of them are wearing bathrobes is really immature.

DIANA FOWLEY / JEALOUSY
Meanwhile, the introduction of Diana Fowley as a female attraction for Mulder is totally stupid. The scenes in which Scully is jealous are part of the standard and immature writing from Chris Carter, who never was able to write about real and social life.
At one point, Mark Snow adds a very sad music to Scully feeling jealous, which is totally exaggerated and futile.

LAST SCENE
Overall, the episode starts and end beautifully. The last scene, in which we see the X-Files office burning down, and Mulder and Scully arriving on the scene, is beautiful.

SUMMARY
I give the episode a 4 out of 10. Average. A missed opportunity.

The X-Files: Leonard Betts (4x12)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Creepy perfect

Creepy perfect

The X-Files: Paper Hearts (4x10)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

5

The X-Files: Home (4x02)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Classic

5/5.

The X-Files: Ascension (2x06)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Ascending to the stars

Ascension is one of my favorite episodes. Gillian Andersonâ€™s pregnancy really was a gift to the series. Instead of suffering by it, the writers came up with a three-episode story-arc that will shape the entire series. Not only we get a two-part episode for the very first time, but the stakes are extremely high. Obviously, Scully and Mulder will get kidnapped or abducted many times in the series, but it will never be as wildly exciting as in this episode.

SKYLAND MOUNTAIN
The episode aired on October 21, 1994. At that time, I was just a kid and The X-Files was a big part of my life. 25 years later, on August 27, 2019, I finally travelled to Vancouver and had the privilege to take the gondola up to the stars â€“Â or actually up to Grouse Mountain. This was a very emotional trip and seeing Vancouver from above was just breath-taking.

ENDING
The last scene with Mulder looking at the sky in the middle of the night is beyond sublime. It is a highly emotional scene with a profoundly beautiful music from Mark Snow. This was the real beautiful X-Files.

SUMMARY
Ascension is without any doubt one of the top ten episodes of the entire series. I love this episode immensely, up to its beautiful ending. Ten out of ten.

The X-Files: Roland (1x23)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Underrated

AWESOME INTRODUCTION SCENE
The introduction scene from "Roland" is classic. I simply love watching this scientist

ORIGINAL KILLINGS
Not only the first killing is extremely original and fun to watch, the second killing is brilliant as well. You can see that Roland is not wanting to kill the scientist, but doing it anyway. And the fact that the head is put into hydrogen and then thrown on the floor, exploding, is really creepy.

MULDER AND SCULLY
Once again in the first season, the relationship between Mulder and Scully is perfect. When we first see them in the episode, Mulder is asking Scully about the wedding she attended. When asked if she did catch the bouquet, she simply answers "maybe" and directly asks questions about the case they are working on.

15626
For the first time in the series, Mulder or Scully (Mulder in this case) is going to randomly guess a password and find it almost instantly. Unfortunately, this will not be the only time in the series. This is really a stupid writing gimmick from another century.

ŽELIJKO IVANEK
The first time I watched "Roland", I thought that the actor playing the role was actually disabled. His performance is simply astonishing. He plays the role in a very subtle and even moving way.

MUSIC
Rarely enough, Mark Snow has composed a theme for the character of Roland. This is especially intelligent and original as well. Most composer would simply produce a dark and energetic soundtrack. Not Mark Snow - at least not in the first season of The X-Files. The soundtrack is very dark at times and also very moving at the same time.

SUMMARY
A great episode with a perfect performance from Željko Ivanek. I give it 4 out of 5.

The X-Files: Born Again (1x22)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Shadows 2, but much more boring

Let me start by saying that I think that "Born Again" is not a bad episode. Of course, it is definitely not great or even good for that matter. But it is very well produced and there aren't any stupid scenes, as there can be in bad episodes from The X-Files. Although the ending is quite uninteresting and unbelievable.

COPY FROM SHADOWS
The episode is extremely similar fo "Shadows". It has the same tone, the same unoriginal story and the same ending.

SHOW, DON'T TELL
Also, the episode makes the major mistake of telling a big backstory without showing anything. Therefore, we just see some men talking about some past crimes, making the episode extremely dull and boring.

SUMMARY
A bad and very boring and unambitious episode. I give it a 1 out of 5.

The X-Files: Tooms (1x21)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Not as great as Squeeze but superb nonetheless

WALTER SKINNER
"Tooms" marks the introduction of the character of Walter Skinner.

BACK TO REALITY
It had been a while since Mulder and Scully were reprimanded by the the FBI hierarchy. It feels really good to provide again a sense of reality.

UNREAL REALITY
Interestingly enough, when Section Chief Scott Blevins was approaching Scully, it felt very true.
Here, Skinner and the Cigarette Smoking Man feel definitely like the beginning of the pop culture phenomenom of Â«Â The X-FilesÂ Â».

SUMMARY
Not as great as "Squeeze" but excellent nonetheless. I give it 4 out of 5.

The X-Files: Darkness Falls (1x20)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

One of the top 10 episodes of the series

Â«Â Darkness FallsÂ Â» is one of the top 10 episodes of the entire series.

REMOTE EPISODE
After the sublime Â«Â IceÂ Â», Â«Â Darkness FallsÂ Â» is the second episode of the entire series that is taking place in a remote location. But the good aspect is that it actually doensâ€™t take place in a single location.

MULDER AND SCULLY
Mulder and Scully are both portrayed beautifuly in this episode.

SUSPENSE
The episode is filled with suspense. And the more the episode moves forward, the higher the suspense gets.

MUSIC
The score from Mark Snow is also sublime.

SUMMARY
A masterpiece. 10/10

The X-Files: Shapes (1x19)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Beyond bad

UNORIGINAL
First, the story of "Shapes" is one of the most unoriginal ones of the entire series. This is the story of a werewolf. That's it.

CLICHES
Second, "Shapes" is full of clichÃ©s about Indians. This is the exact opposite as the Indian treatment from the beautiful "Anasazi".

LAUGHABLE
The special effects (if we can call those that) are so bad they are laughable.

SUMMARY
To me, "Shapes" is one of the three worst episodes from the first season, along with "Space" and "Fire".
1/10

The X-Files: Miracle Man (1x18)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Very bad

BAD FROM THE START
The episode is very bad from the very first second. The scene of the boy resuscitating the dead man is pretty unbelievable.
I think the main problem of the episode is that from the very first second, we know that the boy is having paranormal abilities. Therefore, what's the point of having to go through the episode? It would have been much more interesting to play with the audience, trying to guess if the boy is a fraud or not.

BORING
By far, I think that "Miracle Man" is the most boring episode of the first season. It is just not entertaining at all.

SAMANTHA
The only aspect that is saving the episode from being a disaster is the theme of Samantha. It is a shame that the first real episode in which Mulder is looking for real truths about his abducted sister is by asking questions to this sacred boy, who has of course nothing to do with and has no way of knowing anything about it.

SUMMARY
A very bad episode. The first episode based on faith. I give it 1 out of 5.

The X-Files: Young at Heart (1x16)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Low-key but very good episode

Ironically, my review is exactly the same as for "Lazarus". Both episodes are exactly the same. They got this very dark look of the first season. And their theme, even if paranormal, is not entirely fantastic and actually anchored in a form of reality.
When I was a child, I found both episodes very annoying. With age and (I hope) a form of maturity, I actually like those a lot now.
Contrary to "Lazarus", Mulder is this time really interesting and, for once, the backstory written for one of the lead characters is really interesting (the opposite of "Fire"). Indeed, we jump back in the professional career of Fox Mulder, when he worked in the violent crime section.

MUSIC
For the very first time in the series (at the 16 minutes mark), Mark Snow utilises voices in his music, in a new musical facette of the series. This is a very powerful effect that brings us an atmosphere both interstellar and religious. Mark Snow literally brings us beyond the realm of reality. Simply put back the episode at the 16 minutes mark and let you guide by the music.

MOVING FORWARD
But I will be franc with you, I am really looking forward to finally get to episodes such as "E.B.E.", "Darkness Falls" et "The Erlenmeyer Flask", so that the story would move forward a bit.

FIRST SEASON
What is sure is that this season is a jewel. I admit that half the episodes are bad, but even though, this season is one of my favorites.

SUMMARY
I give it 6 out of 10. Very good.

The X-Files: Lazarus (1x15)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Average

ACTUALLY, A VERY GOOD EPISODE
At first, I remember that I didn't particularly enjoy this episode. It doesn't have much light in it. Indeed, it is a very dark episode.

DAVID NUTTER
The directing of David Nutter is similar to the one from "Ice". The tone of the episode is especially dark, which is always a positive thing in The X-Files.

REALISTIC STORY
What I enjoyed the most is that the story is very realistic, meaning that the paranormal phenomenon is not too far-fetch.

JACK WILLIS
Also, Christopher Allport (RIP) gave a very solid performance as Agent Jack Willis/killer.

ACQUAINTANCE
The first season is the one of the acquaintances. First, in "Squeeze", we get to meet Tom Colton, a friend from Scully. In "Ghost in the Machine", we get to meet a friend from Mulder. In "Fire", we get to meet Phoebe Green, an ex-girlfriend from Mulder. And now, in "Lazarus", we meet Jack Willis, an ex-boyfriend from Scully. This is a lot in just a few episodes.
But since this is only the first season, the screenwriters have the chance to do it as they please. Since we are discovering the characters of Mulder and Scully, we can only find this natural (for now).

ANNOYING MULDER
One thing that I didn't appreciate though, Mulder is especially annoying in this episode. From the very first minute, he knows everything right away. The most stupid moment is when he is at a crime scene and is sure that the victim was watching tv (because he has no books...) and then finds another fingerprint on the tv. Really? A print on a television?

SUMMARY
A low-key episode but I still find it very good. I give it a low 6 out of 10.

The X-Files: Gender Bender (1x14)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Very bad

INTERESTING BEGINNING
The beginning of the episode is definitely interesting, as well as the theme of the episode itself.

DINING
But as soon as Mulder and Scully are visiting the community, the episode becomes especially bad. Mulder and Scully are eating diner with the community, while asking questions.

2/10
Very bad.

The X-Files: Fire (1x12)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Very immature script and unimaginative story

CONCEPT
The concept of having someone being able to produce fire at will might have been interesting. It also provides a great way to show fire, which is a stupendous element to watch.

POOR SCREENPLAY
The screenplay is pretty bad. It is highly immature.

ENGLISH FEMALE
The character of Phoebe Green should have been dropped entirely. The screenplay of "Fire" is actually very sexist. Not by design, I wouldn't dare, but the way this female character is written is totally immature, as if a teenager had written it.
As soon as she arrives, she kisses Mulder on the lips, talks about previous sexual relationship, then kisses yet another man.

SUMMARY
"Fire" is one of the worse episodes of the first season, but it isn't beyond bad like "Space". I give it a 2 out of 10.

The X-Files: Eve (1x11)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Creepy

"Eve" is an excellent episode for various reasons.

First, the show does not have a huge budget, therefore, it feels extremely realistic. I believe that as The X-Files will become bigger, it will lose what used to make it great.

Second, the story of the two little girls is just both really interesting and frightening at the same time. It's something Steven King could have written.

And as it's the case in many episodes from season 1, Deep Throat is making always great appearances, even in episodes that are not part of the mythology.

VERDICT
I give it a 7 out of 10. Excellent.

The X-Files: Fallen Angel (1x10)
Pike September 10, 2017, 12:09 ET

Outstanding and nostalgic classic

ENERGETIC
The beginning of the episode is extremely energetic. This is the first X-Files episode with a thriller-like pace. From the very first second, we see an explosion, get to see some military general activating a secret operation. We then watch Fox Mulder running around on the premises in order to discover the truth. What a start of an episode! The show is quickly showing its feature film qualities.

SOUNDTRACK
With yet another apparition of Deep Throat, Mark Snow composes a soundtrack which is very similar to the one from "Deep Throat".

MAX FENIG
Once the pace goes down, we get the chance to meet a new character named Max Fenig. After the very bad performances from the actors playing Brad Wilcheck in "Ghost in the Machine", or Colonel Belt in "Space", it feels so great to watch a marvellous actor such as Scott Bellis, wonderfully playing the role of Max Fenis. The way he portrays the character is nostalgic, funny, wild and ultimately touching at the same time.

SCULLY
After serving virtually no purpose for a few episodes, Dana Scully is finally back and trying to get some sense out of Mulder, for breaching protocol. She is the reason we actually believe in this serious investigation. Through her, we understand the seriousness of the allegations against Mulder.

RESOLUTION ACT
The resolution act of the episode is also brilliant. Max Fenig is alone with Mulder in the depot, while military men are all around them.
We then get to see one of the most beautiful abduction scene from the all series. The special effects are outstanding. Just sublime.

OUTSTANDING CONCLUSION
The stakes were extremely high in this episode. And now, we get to understand why the x-files section is still opened. Deep Throat was protecting Mulder. But still, we get the understanding that both Mulder and Scully will need to fight for their section in order to keep being able to investigate and continue their quest for the truth.

SUMMARY
An outstanding episode. 9/10

The X-Files: My Struggle II (10x06)
Pike September 7, 2017, 12:09 ET

Bad conclusion of a bad start

This follow-up episode of My Struggle is as bad as its predecessor. Bad acting, lame dialogues, stupid plot.

STUPID MOMENTS
- For someone as paranoid as Fox Mulder, can you believe that he lets his computer running (without any password), as well as an app that lets anyone checks his cellphone position?
- The world is going to an end and we only see it through a low-key far-whatever-wing media. I guess CNN had better things to do than to report on the end of the world.
- At one point, Scully randomly talks sense to people in the street, asking them to stop freaking out and going to the nearest hospital. This includes a man apparently in the middle of breaking into a shop.
- The worst part is the end, when Scully, by simply looking at Mulder, states that he cannot be saved with the vaccine she created (she doesn't even try it on him). She suddenly says that he needs stem-cells from their son. And then a spaceship arrives. The end.

SUMMARY
This new season would have been much better without the involvement of Chris Carter. It reminds me of the awful Star Wars prequels. The new Star Wars films were much better while George Lucas wasn't involved anymore.
FOX should have created a new season without him. His three episodes are by far the worst of the six.
Overall, only two episodes were good, one bad and three totally awful.

I give it 1 star and if there was a way to remove that star as well, I would do it.

The X-Files: Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose (3x04)
Pike September 7, 2017, 12:09 ET

Touched by grace

DARIN MORGAN, AGAIN
After the brilliant episode Humbug, Darin Morgan wrote yet again another brilliant episode. More than this, the script from Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose is simply outstanding. It is highly intelligent, inventive, clever and even though very funny, it is not a comedy episode. The theme is extremely sad and even philosophical and metaphysical.

DAVID NUTTER
Also, after Humbug, Darin Morgan had the chance to have yet one of the best three directors from the series directing his second episode. After Kim Manners in Humbug, David Nutter has done a stupendous (pun intended) job in Clyde Bruckman.

LIGHT
The lights in this episodes are majestic. Whether in the forest (insanely beautiful) or in the hotel kitchen, this was a marvellous work.

MULDER VS SCULLY
Yet again, like in Humbug, Mulder is, even though not acting weird, on the side, while Dana Scully is much more connected to the investigation. She doesn't understand it better, she is truly connected to it.

SUMMARY
I give this episode 10 out of 10. A true timeless perfect masterpiece. One of the top 10 episodes for sure.

The X-Files: Babylon (10x05)
Pike September 7, 2017, 12:09 ET

Painfully bad

Everything is painfully bad in this episode.

DOPPELGANGERS
Mulder and Scully meet young doppelgï¿½ngers named Miller and Einstein. Is this a plain obvious way to try to milk more money out of The X-Files and create a young spin-off - you know, the kind of spineless spin-off that lasts for a season or two - three at best?
Also, Einstein? Really?...

MIXING TERRORISM AND MAGIC MUSHROOMS
Radical islam terrorism is a very difficult and dramatic topic. Who could have ever imagined of mixing terrorism with funny magic mushrooms mumbo-jumbo?
We go from so-called funny scenes to very dark imagery.
The plot makes no sense at all. Fox Mulder, this so-called serious profiler from the FBI, is asking to get some drugs in order to communicate with a terrorist.
The great thing about The X-Files was that it was part science and part fiction. In here, there is simply no science involved at all.

LAUREN AMBROSE
When I learned that Lauren Ambrose would join The X-Files, I was particularly happy about it, as we all remember her great performance from the brilliant series "Six Feet Under".
Here, unfortunately, her character is so bad that we don't even care for her at all.

CHRIS CARTER
Ironically, in the latest seasons of The X-Files, Chris Carter has become the worst screenwriters of the show.

SUMMARY
I give this episode one star. This reaches new lows.

The X-Files: Home Again (10x04)
Pike September 7, 2017, 12:09 ET

A decent attempt

Once again, this episode is going back to the roots of the show. Two FBI agents investigating gruesome murders perpetrated by a paranormal monster. It has all the elements to make a good X-File case.

But Glen Morgan went one step further and instead of making a standard episode, tried to link it with Scullyâ€™s backstory, by putting her mother into a hospital and letting her think about her own abandoned child.

Does it work? I want to say yes, even if the partition is not perfect. But it does the job and makes a decent episode.

I give this episode 5 stars. Does the job.

The X-Files: Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster (10x03)
Pike September 7, 2017, 12:09 ET

Darin Morgan did it again

Darin Morgan is a myth for any X-Files fan. He gave the series a brand new dimension when he wrote the famous episode "Humbug" from season 2. His episodes were funny, but always in a very profound and interesting ways.
I am very happy to say that he has done it again. "Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster" is an excellent episode.

STORY
The story itself is brilliant. The episode tells the story of a monster who becomes human. That alone is a very original idea.

THEME
The theme alone is also brilliant. By becoming a man, the monster starts to go through the purpose of life and this provides us a reflection on our own.

SUMMARY
I give this episode a 5 out of 5. Superb. After the very bad introduction to this new season ("My Struggle"), it feels damn good to see this one.

The X-Files: Founder's Mutation (10x02)
Pike September 6, 2017, 12:09 ET

Vast improvement over My Struggle

This episode is a vast improvement over "My Struggle", the first episode of season 10, which was a very bad start for this new season.
It is exactly the opposite of "My Struggle":
- There is a real investigation, where the characters do not simply jump to crazy conclusions about men taking over America after hearing a witness for three minutes.
- The tone is dark.
- There is a real intriguing mystery.
- There are some cool camera effects and imagery.
- It has some disturbing scenes, which is typically x-filesish. For instance, the scene where the young girl is in the swimming pool and turning back with a smile is typically a scene that we could have seen in the first three beloved seasons of the show.

WILLIAM
The story-arc of baby William in the latest episodes of The X-Files was the worst story-arc, along with the one on supersoldiers. We had to see two complete seasons based on the pregnancy and ultimately the mystery around baby William. This was a nightmare and it was impossible to close it.
Finally, in this episode, the story of William is paying off. Who would have thought?!
This episode is at times very moving. We can connect with both Mulder and Scully in the excellent dreamy sequences, which are so typical of X-Files.
The scenes with Mulder are particularly great, with him sharing his passion of the stars with his son, while watching the cult scene from "2001: A Space Odyssey" or from trying to fire a small rocket.

MUSIC
Mark Snow is again composing a very good score for this episode.

SUMMARY
I give this episode 6 stars. A very good episode.

The X-Files: My Struggle (10x01)
Pike September 6, 2017, 12:09 ET

Paranoia on steroid

INTRODUCTION
Time has a strange effect. Time fixes everything. But time also breaks and annihilates everything. Even this review will be disintegrated over and by time.
The X-Files was an outstanding series. More than this, The X-Files was a timeless masterpiece. More than this, The X-Files was more than a show. It had its own life, talked to people, inspired people, far beyond its limitations.
The first five years of The X-Files are classic. They tell the story of Fox Mulder, a young FBI agent, chasing paranormal phenomenon in the hope of finding his young sister, abducted when he was a child. This belief sustained him.
Shot in Vancouver, the show became bigger and bigger, into ultimately being transposed as a major multi-million dollars Hollywood feature film.
Chris Carter, the creator and executive producer of the show, stated during the earliest seasons that the series should end after five seasons. After that, it would be more for the money than the artistic values. And it is exactly what happened. The show went from the rainy forests of Vancouver to the sunny roads of Hollywood, California. Surely, the show still had a great artistic value, but, slowly, The X-Files faded into emptiness - fading so much that even its main character, namely Fox Mulder, was no longer on the show. Imagine watching The X-Files without Fox Mulder? That's what happened for about a season and a half, and the result was catastrophic. Hardcore fans continued to watch, and surely some new fans enjoyed the new investigations of John Doggett and Monica Reyes. But over time, the main qualities left the show at the same time of the audience. As Chris Carter explained, the audience left straight from the season opener from season 9, and it was impossible to get them back.
The show stopped, then a disturbing B-series movie was produced six years after, that strangely mixed homosexuality with pedophilia, and just missed its audience as well. The X-Files were apparently dead.
Years passed. And a little less than fourteen years after its boring series finale was released, The X-Files were suddenly back in the form of a six-episodes mini-series.
As always, expectations from the fans were very high - even too high to be able to live up to those. And finally, on Sunday, January 24, 2016, in the midst of the biggest snow storm in the East Coast, the 1st episode from the new mini-series was finally revealed on FOX.

NEW ENERGY
This new episode starts with the old, by simply stating the past in a very short but effective introduction. Then, the new series kicks in. From its first shot, the series feels totally new! Spaceships are flying in the sky in a way that is boldly stating: we are in for a show! The dialogues are fast and there is not a single moment to breath, as everything is happening so quickly.
While I come to appreciate this welcomed fresh energy (the last seasons were quite boring), the negative aspect is that we don't really have the time to feel any sort of emotions about any character, even about Mulder and Scully. Dialogues are quite bad and no ounce of emotion can be seen anywhere.

INVESTIGATION? NO, JUST PARANOIA ON STEROID
Not only the dialogues are terribly bad, but the level of paranoia goes through the roof. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully used to be those serious FBI agents that worked on complex investigations. Fox Mulder even was, as some said, the best profiler of the FBI...
Here, Fox Mulder see a very random testimony of a young woman, simply stating that she was abducted by men and not aliens, and suddenly Mulder jumps to crazy conclusions about some men wanting to take over America. There isn't a single proof on any of those theories, but he and Tad O'Malley decide to go on and tell the all world about it. By the way, did I mention that this new character is annoying as hell?
Also, when Sveta mentions that she has alien DNA, when being asked if she was tested, she says no, "but I'm sure." What a load of...

REDUX
Not only that, but the story is exactly the same as the trilogy "Gethsemane"-"Redux"-"Redux II" from seasons 4 and 5. But much worse. In those episodes, Mulder goes into depression, as he learns that Scully got cancer because of him, as well as that everything he believed in was wrong.
In this one, we are being told that Mulder is in a depression, but we actually never really see anything wrong with him. In "One Breath" (season 2), there is a marvellous scene in which Mulder is at the end of it all and is crying all alone in his apartment. This 30 seconds scene summarizes all of his depression in a single shot.
In "My Struggle", we are told about a struggle but we never come to actually experiencing it.

TECHNOLOGY
Unfortunately, this is the first time we see Mulder and Scully in the age of technology. The result is quite negative. Scully calls the Internet "the net" and does searches on a site named FinderSpyder... Smartphones with crazy interfaces can be seen anywhere (that it neither iOS nor Android for sure...). But we won't judge on those details.
The important thing is that it could have been a good idea to jump to the 21st century and anchor a storyline into the present. I remember that Chris Carter talked about this aspect, but didn''t expect him to go fully at it. And it doesn't work - at all. Of course, in 2016, Mulder would want to present the truth to the mass media. Snapchat has replaced instamatic. Live news shows have replaced newspapers. But we can also say that has instantity (a mix of insane and instant) has replaced substance.

ATMOSPHERE
Chris Carter mentioned that you got to stay true to the passage of time. You couldn't just continue the story as it was left, but at the same time, by changing radically the tone of the series, you bring something that is far from the original that everyone loved so much.
Even though the episode was filmed in Vancouver, there is no feeling at all of the real X-Files dark atmosphere.
After the snow of Pemberton in The X-Files: I Want to Believe, we go straight to the opposite with an extremely sunny Vancouver!
Meanwhile, it is quite evident that the show is now shot in digital instead of 35mm. This also removes a crucial element of mystery. I would like to believe, but all the elements have been taken away from us.

SMOKING DOESN'T KILL
The last scene is the return of the well-known Cigarette Smoking-Man (CSM for the intimates). He talks on the phone, then hangs it by pressing apparently on no button at all, and then explains that the X-Files have been reopened. This service has been closed and reopened so many times, that we simply don't care for it anymore.
Also, as much as it is fun to see a bad guy coming back, here, this is just too much. We could clearly see him burning alive of missile explosions in "The Truth", and suddenly he's back from the dead, for the countless time.

Now, onto the few positive elements...

CHEESY ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP
One good aspect though, finally, Mulder and Scully are no longer together as a couple, hence we do not have to go through a new round of cheesy romantic story.

OPENING CREDITS
After the badly refreshed opening credits from seasons 8 and 9, the opening credits are now back as they originally were. This is quite welcomed. Although Walter Skinner has been added as well, even though he doesn't appear a lot.

MUSIC
Mark Snow gives a totally new score, that is far from his boring soundtracks from the last seasons of the show. He is a big part in this sense of urgency.

ACTING
Finally, I think that both Annet Mahendru (Sveta) and Mitch Pileggi (Walter Skinner) gave good performances.

SUMMARY
Overall, I give this episode a 1 (Beyond bad). I would have much preferred a much simpler story of abduction going on for six episodes in the dark forests of Vancouver instead of having to go through this non-sense.

The X-Files: Empedocles (8x17)
Pike January 2, 2016, 12:01 ET

Very good episode

"Empedocles" is a good episode, that starts with a really scary opening sequence.
I give it 4 stars.

The X-Files: Underneath (9x12)
Pike January 2, 2016, 12:01 ET

Bad

As usual, bad episode from John Shiban. 1 out of 5.

The X-Files: Hellbound (9x08)
Pike January 2, 2016, 12:01 ET

Boring episode

Boring episode. 2 out of 5.

The X-Files: Three Words (8x16)
Pike January 2, 2016, 12:01 ET

The show is back!

Finally, Mulder is back, hence The X-Files series is back! There are action sequences, funny moments, the return of The Lone Gunmen. Everything about this episode is great. But that is the problem. The show cannot live without Mulder.
I give it 4 stars.

The X-Files: Deadalive (8x15)
Pike January 2, 2016, 12:01 ET

A pointless masquerade

In "This Is Not Happening", all the elements were here to save Mulder's life. Jeremiah Smith, an alien with the power of healing people, was back.
But the screenwriters decided to go even further, by actually putting Mulder six feet under. Are we supposed to believe that he was buried for months and can be brought back from the dead? Imagine watching the Pilot episode of the series, and then suddenly watching this one. How would you feel?
This episode is also the beginning of the worst mythology story-arc of the entire series. Supersoldiers.
Even though the directing is great, as usual, it's all about the writing. And the main problem is that the show has become so dense and has such as loaded past that the writers are forced to add new layers of complexity throughout the episodes.

JOHN DOGGETT
Also, I don't believe in John Doggett trying to save the X-Files division while not believing in any of it.

SKINNER KILLS MULDER...
In yet another fanfic attempt, Skinner has to choose between killing Scully's baby or killing Mulder. If that's not bad writing I don't know what is.

HOLLYWOOD CLICHE
Also, I just hated all the writing and therefore acting of the scenes within the FBI. Krycek wandering within the FBI office with his scary voice, Kersh and his utterly bad exacerbated acting. The all thing is really, really bad, compared to the once beautiful first seasons.

NICE FINAL SCENE
Sure, the final scene is nice. But it could have easily taken place in the previous episode. So I guess that does not count, as it only lasts for two minutes in a 44 minutes episode.

SUMMARY
I give it 1 star, very bad. The writing is extremely bad and looks more like an average fanfic than a real episode of The X-Files, once a beautiful series.

The X-Files: This Is Not Happening (8x14)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Perfect ending to the search for Mulder

The best endings are the ones where the audience is surprised, but at the same time when the audience, after thinking about it, knows that there was no other way to tell the story. "This Is Not Happening" is one of those rare cases in the later seasons of the series where everything is fitting perfectly.
While the series slowly started to fade away and slowly seeing the jump-the-shark line on the horizon, it still had some magic in it.
"This Is Not Happening" tells the story of how Doggett and Scully are finding Mulder. The all episode leads to the dramatic discover of Mulder, found dead somewhere in the countryside. This provides a beautiful way to end the search for Mulder. And there would have been no better way than to tell it this way. Would you really have imagined Mulder just arriving out of the blue? Of course not. Something important had to happen.
What most important thing than his death?
Problems will arrive later, when actually his resurrection will not be performed by Jeremiah Smith. It would have been the perfect way. But we will keep this for the next review of the following episode.

Meanwhile, the introduction of Agent Monica Reyes is done in a memorable way. She is not clearly a classic believer or a classic non-believer. She is an opened person. What a refreshing moment to finally see a change in the believer/skeptic dynamic.

I give the episode a low 5. This is the best episode of the eighth season.

The X-Files: Per Manum (8x13)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Finally some character development

Finally, after 12 episodes, "Per Manum" is the first episode of the eighth season where something is really happening to its main character, that moves their character's story, even if not by much.
Doggett finally learns about Scully's pregnancy while we finally understand why Scully hide this from the FBI - to make sure that they wouldn't use this against her to remove her from the X-Files, then not letting her pursue her search for Mulder.
The episode is not perfect, but at least there is character development.
And of course, the main fact is that, when Mulder and Scully are back on screen, they simply shine. It's magical. They have such a chemistry that this simply proves that the series cannot continue without them, as they ARE the series themselves.
I give the episode a 4: Very good.

The X-Files: Nothing Important Happened Today (9x01)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Worst season premiere

Without any doubt the most boring and worst season premiere of the series (edit: so far).
Also, why is everyone bare naked in this episode? Is that supposed to be a selling point? We don't have Duchovny, but we have topless actors? You wouldn't see this in the first season of the show.
I give it 2 out of 5.

The X-Files: Medusa (8x12)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Bad episode

The idea was good. A strange killing in a subway tunnel. It sounds creepy for a good X-Files loner episode. But the result is somehow completely different. The entire episode looks like a bad b-movie with Sylvester Stallone. But, in a Sylvester Stallone movie, you get to see some good action sequences. This is not the case in "Medusa". The episode is boring and the realisation not very good. Every few minutes, there's something new: "Agent Doggett, look out!" and then Scully, in the situation room, screaming "What happened, Agent Doggett?! Can you hear me?". In this room, there is also the manager of the subway, the bad guy saying all the time "We got to open the subway in a few hours!". It's so clichÃ© that it's painful to watch. And the manager is the same actor playing Dr. Kelso in "Scrubs". I couldn't watch him without laughin the entire time. I couldn't take him seriously, since he acts exactly like in "Scrubs". In the end, I give it a 1 out of 5. Really bad episode.

The X-Files: The Gift (8x11)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

A good story with Mulder

Mulder is back and even though it's only a few minutes or seconds here and there, it feels damn good. This is maybe unfortunate, but trying to replace Mulder by showing him after a hiatus is actually showing how much the character is embedded into the series. The X-Files without Fox Mulder is like a forest without trees, this simply cannot be.
But still, let's review this episode.
The episode is interesting and dark. We don't understand why Mulder killed the creature and seeing him brings a sense of joyful pleasure.
I give the episode a 4: Good.

The X-Files: Requiem (7x22)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Excellent conclusion which should have been the series finale

"Requiem" was pretty good. It would have been a marvelous ending to The X-Files. What best than to end the show with an opened ending? Even if the mythology is superficial, the result is great. I give it an 4 out of 5.

The X-Files: Hollywood A.D. (7x19)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Very bad episode

In an interview about "Hollywood A.D.", David Duchovny said that the hardest part of writing this episode was to find an X-File (or paranormal) story. Well, we can see that... The story is not well written and goes in every direction. Maybe it could have been better to find a paranormal story linked to the X-Files feature film shooting. By example, the movie could have been about a serial killer with special powers, and the actor could really have those powers!

SUMMARY
I give it 1 out of 5. Very bad.

The X-Files: Brand X (7x18)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Good episode

"Brand X" is a nice episode. Nothing huge, but not a bad one either. The acting of the bad guy is excellent and the over-drama music from Mark Snow also very good. And it's great to see a good Skinner episode with an original story about cigarettes. I give it a 3/5.

The X-Files: all things (7x17)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Delicate episode written and directed by Gillian Anderson

all things is an episode written and directed by co-lead star Gillian Anderson. Regular X-Files director Kim Manners helped her a lot and mentioned that Anderson had done her work. She was ready to shoot, had thought about everything. But of course, she did not just manage everything on her own.

In terms of the result, the episode is very delicate as, for once, a women wrote the script. We can obviously see that Gillian struggled to find a paranormal aspect inside the storytelling. It's always funny to see that Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny always tried to get away from the true X-Files. But it's obvious that they wanted to try something else after years of classic paranormal stories, usually with a killer having paranormal abilities. The directing also isn't classic and tries to be original. I liked it. And the acting between her and her ancient lover is really good. As I said, a very delicate episode. I give it a 3 out of 5.

The X-Files: Theef (7x14)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Bad and boring loner

Once again, a new boring loner in season 7. The ambition of the previous seasons seems to be gone at this point.

SUMMARY
I give it a 2 out of 5. Very bad.

The X-Files: First Person Shooter (7x13)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Awful episode

"First Person Shooter" is bad from the first second to the last one. As Carter said it himself "It really was an episode about how far you could go with technology." And there is nothing more here. Of course we could say that Carter tried to create an original episode and we can see that shooting this episode was really complicate. But the result is really bad and even sexist at some point. This episode is a huge stereotype, a hundredth times worst than the stereotype about magic in "The Amazing Maleeni". Season seven have a lot of bad loners, and this episode is the worst of them.

The X-Files: Closure (7x11)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Average conclusion to the Samantha story-arc

Very delicate episode finally ending Mulder's quest for his sister Samantha. 3 out of 5 for the dreamy sequence with Moby's song.

The X-Files: The Amazing Maleeni (7x08)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Average episode

The story came from Spotnitz's admiration of Rick Jay, an American magician. The storyline filled with mysteries was not a bad idea, but "The Amazing Maleeni" does not get better than an average episode of "Murder, She Wrote". We have to wait 40 minutes in order to see the resolution of the story, but this *complicate* mystery isn't that good... We see from the beginning that the "bad guy" is set up. So, the resolution has no element of big surprise at all, just the "how" elements. That's a first shame.

The second one is that the magic elements are really bad. This is a magic episode... so Gilligan, Spotnitz and Shiban thought that they had to make every character perform tricks... Every time we are introduce to a new character, he performs (bad) magic, over and over again. And of course in the end, Mulder and Scully perform their tricks too. Mulder and Scully looks like clichés of themselves (once more) and the way the magic is shown is really a huge cliché too. Nothing original. This episode make you wonder what happened to this great dark show that was The X-Files...
So, in the end, even if it's not an awful episode, "The Amazing Maleeni" is bad.
Oh and I almost forget: the CGI special effects are really bad too.

The X-Files: Millennium (7x04)
Pike November 23, 2007, 12:11 ET

Very bad crossover with MillenniuM

MillenniuM was a great show, especially the first dark crime episodes. But the show was canceled and Frank Black never saw the second millennium coming. Well, that would have been better that way, because this crossover is simply bad.
So, this episode is a crossover between two great TV series from Chris Carter, which are The X-Files and MillenniuM. Mulder and Scully are asking Frank Black to help them on a case, a few days before January 1st, 2000.
Of course, a lot of X-Files and MillenniuM fans were waiting for this episode for a long time. Like myself, they were fantasising about this episode, as they would fantasise about The X-Files series finale. Both result would be bad and boring and that is really a shame.

Already faced with a very bad series ending, Frank Black came out of the woodwork to take it down one last time, this time through an episode of X-Files. Frank Spotnitz will do the job: “When we shot the last episode of Millennium, nobody really knew that it was the end of the series.It hadn't been officially shut down.So it wasn't a real conclusion.That's why I really wanted to bring Frank Black and Lance Henriksen back for a farewell.Everyone was excited about the idea, and I was faced with the very great difficulty of finding a good way of doing it, of finding a good story.

I wanted Frank Black to return for the new millennium, which hadn't been possible because of the hiatus before the new year.And that proved extremely difficult because not only was Millennium's mythology completely different from that of the X-Files, but it had to showcase three heroes and on top of that it had to be an X-Files episode, because that was the show we were writing for, and its viewers we were addressing.”
The episode is a complete failure, never managing to handle the characters, but above all, offering us a most preposterous story.
The new millennium arrives, and we're faced with a team of half a dozen zombies.And that's it.Curtain.Thank you, good evening and happy new millennium.
Ah, and let's finish off the myth by ending the episode with a kiss between Mulder and Scully, to misrepresent once and for all what Millennium was all about.
But I'll leave the final word to Lance Henriksen: “I could have shot another season to see what happened next. But I think I had to... (he reflects) I had ideas for the rest of the series. But it's like talking about a relationship you had five years ago, and thinking about what you could have done to make it work. You've learned from it, but it's too late. I have no regrets. I'm very proud to have shot this series.”

Yeah, Millennium (the episode) is bad since the very first frame. The teaser is so bad that it is funny. This guy getting naked in front of a coffin and putting a cellphone in the hand of a dead body... Then the scene where the dead body resuscitate and use the cellphone... Really not dark at all, simply painful to watch.
Then, when Mulder and Scully meet Frank Black, there is no magic at all, it's boring and all we want is Mulder and Scully to get away in order to stay with Frank Black, which is still so charismatic and dark.
And there is the last scene, where Mulder is (I cannot believe I'm writing this) shooting some zombies in a cave... and when Frank Black comes to help him, they don't get away, they stay inside the cave in order to shoot more zombies.
And the worst thing at all, is that the very last scene of this episode is a kiss between Mulder and Scully. How could they make them kissing each other just after a bad zombie scene?! They were so much passionate moments during the show, where the writers could have make Mulder and Scully kiss each other, but no, it was in the end of that very bad episode. Okay, the new millennium thing was a legitimate reason, and is a good idea itself. Because, once more, they kiss without really kissing each other, the new millennium is their new bee if you know what I mean.
So I'm now hesitating of giving Millennium (still talking about the episode and not the tv series) a 1 or a 2. I will put a 2, just because of the kiss and the way Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny look at each other after it.
But in the end, this episode is really bad.

The X-Files: Field Trip (6x21)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Boring

The story of "Field Trip" is interesting, but the dreams could have been really better. The dream of Mulder having an alien in his bedroom is not bad, but Scully's dream is really weak. In the end, I'll give it a 2 out of 5 because most of it is simply boring.

The X-Files: Milagro (6x18)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Very good episode

"Milagro" is a very good episode. I found it very delicate and sensual and I loved the writing aspect of it. Scully is also very emotive in this one and very romantic. She's a woman after all. The realisation is also pretty good. I give it a 3 out of 5.

The X-Files: Trevor (6x17)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Good episode

I had not seen this episode since years, and forgot a bit about the storyline. I love to wait years before watching an episode and forgetting a lot about it. It's like watching new X-Files episodes! So, I watched it again and it struck me since the teaser: the coming of the tornado was very well done with the wind all over the place! Then, the story begins and we learn about Pinker Rawles's ability to go through stuff. At this point of the series, we've seen so many times the story of "the guy with the special ability". But even if the script isn't amazing, it's still enjoyable. And the direction was really good! Action, humour between Mulder and Scully ("Oh shut up Mulder", "Dear Diary, today my heart lept when agent Scully said 'spontanous human combustion'"), good muic, good acting (the Pinker Rawles character!, his crazy inmate in the teaser, his ex-girlfriend, etc.). So, in the end, I think this was a pretty good episode, with a lot of good things in it. That's why I give it a 3 out of 5.

The X-Files: Monday (6x14)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Good episode

In this episode, Mulder is living the same day all over again. A day in which he is killed in a bank explosion. The idea of seeing Mulder and Scully in an X-Files version of "A Groundhog Day" was really interesting, but the result is not really good. The major thing is that Mulder don't know that he is living the same day, so nothing is really exciting. We just see him in slightly different versions of the same day. Kim Manners did a good job in keeping every day interesting with different approaches. The resolution of the episode is really light. So this is the end? And I won't talk about the really bad phylosophical dialogues about time between Mulder and Scully. So I give it a 3 out of 5. It's strange, because I remember that when I first saw the episode I liked it better.

The X-Files: Agua Mala (6x13)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Awfully bad

"Agua Mala" is, for me, the worst episode of season 6. It's definitely worse than "Terms of Endearment". When not done properly, science-fiction can look very stupid on film. Try to do your own SF movie with your DV-camera (update: with your iPhone) and you'll get the point. And here, this is the case, this episode is very bad. The so-called monster is plain stupid, especially in the teaser sequence. I'd say to them, just leave the house and you'll be okay! "But there is a tornado!", so don't go to a room filled with water holes... Then, this episode feels like soundstage all over the place. The little plants here and there won't change a thing. It doesn't feel like we are in Florida, at all. When in a car with plenty of water and Mulder constantly looking at Scully while driving, it feels like a bad episode from a bad tv series from the 80's.

SUMMARY
So, I give it a 1 out of 5, it feels ridiculous and it's bad.

The X-Files: Tithonus (6x10)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Good episode

"Tithonus" starts with a memorable image, the one where the old guy is in the elevator and suddenly understand that everyone will die in it. It's classic Vince Gilligan! I really liked this episode for many reasons, but mainly for its delicate tone. After the very good teaser, the beginning of the episode is kind of low. The acting of the agent working with Scully goes too far. It's like saying over and over again "Hey, I'm a newbie agent wanting to do too much!". But when Scully starts to be alone with the photographer, the episode achives something great. As I said, the delicate tone of the episode is very good and has a lot to do with the acting of Gillian Anderson and the guy playing the old photographer. Good episode, I give it 3 out of 5.

The X-Files: S.R. 819 (6x09)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Good thriller

I was often disappointed by John Shiban's scripts, at least with the episodes he wrote by himself. This one is very good. I give it a 3/5.

The X-Files: The Rain King (6x08)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Cheesy average

Funny little episode, sometimes a bit weak.

SUMMARY
I give it 2 out of 5.

The X-Files: Terms of Endearment (6x07)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Very bad

"Terms of Endearment" is without any doubt one of the three worst episodes of the sixth season, along with "Agua Mala" and "Alpha". The story itself wasn't that bad, but no one seemed to be very inspired. The episode is very boring and sometimes ridiculous, like the "I breath you" sequences (better done in "The Green Mile" movie by Frank Darabont). The resolution idea wasn't bad either, but the way they shot it was painful to watch: the way Bruce Campbell tells "Don't you see?". And last thing, there is no interaction between Mulder and Scully. So, I give it a 1 out of 10. But, it's not completely unworthy to watch it. Indeed, the second wife of the "devil" has some amazing eyes! She is so gorgeous that you can watch this episode just for that ;)

The X-Files: How the Ghosts Stole Christmas (6x06)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Low-cost but very good

Chris Carter did a great job with this episode. It was written as a low-budget episode and so the only way to do it was to direct an original episode. The screenplay is really good and the two actors playing with Duchovny and Anderson were great. I really liked the dialogue between Mulder and the old man with the kind of New York accent. The all thing about loneliness was well-done. And the end is really funny and original (the look on Mulder's face when he shoots Scully!)

SUMMARY
I give it 3 out of 5.

The X-Files: Triangle (6x03)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Perfect ambitious episode

"Triangle" is a huge episode. Chris Carter had a great ambition for this one and that can easily be seen on-screen. The result is just amazing. I give it a 5 out of 5.

The X-Files: Drive (6x02)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Excellent thriller with Bryan Cranston

"Drive" is an excellent thriller! Season 6 is great because the writters tried to use all the new possibilities of the Los Angeles locations. This one would have been really different in Vancouver! Without any doubt, I give it a 4 out of 5.

The X-Files: The Beginning (6x01)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

The beginning of the end

There it is, the beginning of the end. The classic X-Files is no longer, and morphing into the second phase of the series, which is the Los Angeles era, which will last for four years, from seasons 6 to 9.

THE LOCATION IS A CHARACTER
Before anything, the most important thing is: the sun. The opening shot on the sun unapologetically tells the audience that things are never going to be the same. The X-Files is going to take place in Los Angeles and the crew is going to own it fully!
You can say or do whatever you want, a TV show filmed in Los Angeles in the 2000's will look like a TV show filmed in Los Angeles in the 2000's. Unless you have an immense budget, including the quality of time, you will look like most other series. And it's exactly what is happening here. Gone are the rainy forests from Vancouver and the rough and realistic yet magical images from the early 90's.
The location is and will forever remain one of the central characters, probably as important as the main characters.
Still, this isn't only negative, as the fifth and final season shot in Vancouver was by far the weakest of the seasons so far. Some episodes were starting to become quite boring and there was clearly a need to innovate and that probably meant moving away from the classic formula.
Therefore, The Beginning is actually a refreshing episode, taking place in the desert instead of rainy forests. It lets the writers suddenly tap into locations that they couldn't access before, unless it meant paining quarries in red to look like the desert in Canada.
This will prove very exciting and fun for some of the episodes from season 6, but the new formula will quickly fade away, once the novelty wore off. But let's first focus on this episode.

FIGHT THE FUTURE II
This is a very odd episode, as it takes place after the events from the first movie, Fight the Future. Since FTF was such a spectacle and had so much going on, it feels very odd to have Mulder and Scully on a normal investigation.

The episode being good, I give it a 4.

The X-Files: All Souls (5x17)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Boring episode

The episode isn't working and is mostly boring. 2 out of 5.

The X-Files: Travelers (5x15)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Boring episode

This episode is the classic boring X-Files episode. It starts good, but then it's getting just boring and nothing is interesting. The worst thing is the spider kind of creature, taken from a series that had previously copied the all concept of The X-Files (a man and a woman chasing conspiracies in the 50's). Because of the of few good moments, a nice teaser, and a good reconstitution of the fifties, I give it a 2 out of 5.

The X-Files: Patient X (5x13)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Good but not great mythology episode

After all he has seen, it's a bit disturbing to see Mulder not believing anymore... 3/5.

The X-Files: Chinga (5x10)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Good try but missed opportunity

"Chinga" is a missed opportunity. It is not bad, but the fact that Stephen King was writing an episode, most were waiting for something more. Carter had to rewrite most of the script, that was way too long.
But still, a good episode. The Main atmosphere is good and the story is quite enjoyable, with the memorable "I want to play!" moments along with the light music. I give it a 2 out of 5.

The X-Files: Schizogeny (5x09)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Average

"Schizogeny" isn't really bad, but it isn't really entertaining either. I find it a bit boring. Nothing really memorable happens in this episode. I give it a 2 out of 5.

The X-Files: Kitsunegari (5x08)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Good sequel to Pusher

"Kitsunegari" is a sequel to the "Pusher" episode from the third season. It isn't as good as "Pusher", but still, this is a very good episode. It is very similar to the first one. There is a manhunt, a game, and then a final dramatic sequence. Here, everything is a bit lower than in "Pusher". But, as I said, still a very good episode. I give it 3 out of 5.

The X-Files: Demons (4x23)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Very good episode

"Demons" is a very good episode. The flashbacks of Mulder as a child work great. I give it a 3/5.

The X-Files: Zero Sum (4x21)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Very good episode

"Zero Sum" is a very good episode. After "Avatar" in season 3, this is a new episode about Walter Skinner. One of the best scene is the one with Skinner and the Cigarette-Smoking Man, in the dark, inside the X-Files office. The mythology is also quite good. I give it a good 3 out of 5.

The X-Files: Synchrony (4x19)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Very bad

"Sychrony" is without any doubt the worst episode from season 4. The old guy's acting isn't very good, the story is bad and the direction isn't good either. It's always tricky to do an episodes with scientists without falling inside the clichÃ©s. And this episode use every clichÃ© with quotes such as "I am an admirer of your work", "You found the solution", etc. Some scenes are plain ridiculous. When they get the Asian man out of the tub and starts to get on fire, it's just ridiculous. And time travel is also a difficult theme. Scully: "You're seriously suggesting that this old man is back from the future?" So, this episode simply doesn't work, I give it a 1 out of 5.

The X-Files: Unrequited (4x16)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Boring episode

Boring episode with no memorable scenes in it. And we see every military clichés. I give it a 1 out of 5.

The X-Files: Never Again (4x13)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Outstanding

PERFECT CONCEPT
The concept of the episode is simply brilliant. It works perfectly from the very first second. We understand very early that the tattoo will be evil and this is just a wonderful idea.

SUMMARY
This is an outstanding episode. Rob Bowman did a great job. I give it a 5.

The X-Files: Unruhe (4x04)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Very good

Very good.

The X-Files: Herrenvolk (4x01)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Excellent with small oddities

Very good season premiere. The pictures and the light from "Herrenvolk" are beautiful. I give it a 7.

ODDITIES
The episode works, but at times, there are some oddities here and there. The chasing scenes mostly. All works, but not perfectly. But the pieces of the puzzle surely fit.

SUMMARY
Slightly less good than Talitha Cumi, but still a good episode. 7/10

The X-Files: Wetwired (3x23)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Superb

Superb, written by the special effects responsible, Matt Beck! The paranoia of Scully for Mulder is amazing! 4/5.

The X-Files: Hell Money (3x19)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Emotions, creepy and a bit boring

Emotions
I particularly loved the scenes between the father and her sick daughter. Finally some real emotions in the series. It had been a while.

Creepy
There are some scenes that are very creepy. Particularly the ones when the poor Asian guys are loosing in the lottery and loosing some body parts.

Summary
Overall, I give the episode a 2 out of 5. Not a bad episode, but not great either.

The X-Files: Piper Maru (3x15)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Excellent

Usually, the mythology episodes involves the personal stories of Mulder and Scully. This time, Scully tries to remember about her dead sister Melissa. The show is still true to itself.

VERDICT
I give it a 4 out of 5.

The X-Files: Syzygy (3x13)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Chris Carter tries a Darin Morgan episode

Chris Carter mixed a dark story with funny sequences. The result is average. It is not that easy to write a funny episode of The X-Files, to the contrary.

The X-Files: War of the Coprophages (3x12)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Brilliant

A brilliant episode from the brilliant Darin Morgan. There are plenty of cult scenes in this episode: "Her name is bambi?". Funny but intelligent at the same time. I give it a 9 out of 10.

The X-Files: 2Shy (3x06)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Typical loner

NOT AMBITIOUS...
"2Shy" is not an ambitious episode. It is a typical standalone episode with a classic monster killing to survive. It's the exact same thing as Tooms, but in less interesting. Scully even clearly states that this isn't a fresh story, but the story of "a fat-sucking vampire."
Even the end is quite similar to the "Squeeze" episode. Of course, the killer is trying to kill Scully, precisely like at the end of "Squeeze".

BUT WELL PRODUCED
But because this is season 3 and because David Nutter is an outstanding director, the episode is actually good. If this was shot in season one, the episode may not have been so great.

BLIND GIRL
Also, the set up of the script is pretty good. I simply loved the part of the blind girl interacting with the killer and facing the death of her mother.

SEXISM
One thing I really think was too much and didn't add anything to the story was the two minutes about sexism. The scene in which the inspector is surprised to see that Scully will perform the autopsy. This didn't really connect with the story itself.

INTERNET IN 1995
The episode is using the theme of Internet and social media long before social media even existed. In this case, the characters are using private chatrooms.

SOUNDTRACK
At the end of the episode, Mark Snow is trying to come up with original and creepy sounds. I don't think that the result was so great.

SUMMARY
Typical X-Files loner episode. I give it a 3 out of 5.

The X-Files: The Blessing Way (3x01)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Outstanding season premiere

SLOW PACE
After the thriller paced "Anasazi", "The Blessing Way" is definitely have a slow pace, and this is perfect like that.

SYNDICATE
The episode marks the beginning of the syndicate as well as the amazing Well-Manicured Man, portrayed by John Neville.

SUMMARY
Outstanding episode. I give it an 5 out of 5.

The X-Files: Our Town (2x24)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Awful

An awful episode.

The X-Files: F. Emasculata (2x22)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Excellent thriller with a fast pace

THE GORE INTRODUCTION
The introduction scene is perfect. Very gore!

MUSIC
Once again, Mark Snow has done a fantastic job in this one. This sounds like the soundtrack of a dark big feature film.

INVESTIGATION
"F. Emasculata" is one of the most thrilling investigation. While Scully is working on the medical and scientific aspect, Mulder is chasing the affected victims one by one, in an effort to stop the contamination.

SUMMARY
I love this episode. It's a beautiful action thriller! 4/5.

The X-Files: The Calusari (2x21)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Starts beautifully, the rest is horrendous

SUPERB INTRODUCTION SCENE
The introduction of "The Calusari" is brilliant. It is scary, it is dark, it is a real treat.

AND THEN...
And then, this is a horrible episode. Mulder wants to go to a family that just lost their child and tell them he may have been murdered... all because of a picture of a balloon? This is beyond stupid.

CLICHES
Then, the episode is getting filled with stupid clichés about devil, evil child and exorcism. Just awful.

SUMMARY
"The Calusari" is like a very bad version of "The Exorcist". While the atmosphere of the movie "The Exorcist" is extremely creepy, this episode is not. In fact, the teaser was pretty good, but then, the episode gets worse and worse until the very bad ending. I give it 1 out of 5.

The X-Files: Humbug (2x20)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Not a funny episode. Not a parody. A masterpiece.

NOT A PARODY
"Humbug" is the first time that an X-Files episode goes into a new direction: comedy! But the comedy isn't the "easy comedy" like "Dreamland" or "Bad Blood". It's not that difficult to write a funny screenplay with the X-Files. But it's much more hard to write an intelligent and funny story with a real X-File storyline. Here is the case. Darin Morgan's screenplays weren't "just funny", they were more than that. "Humbug" is a very scary episode too, and just for that, is a real X-File. I have said this many times and I will say it a few more times, but it's a shame that Darin Morgan wrote so few episodes... I simply love everything he has done, from his screenplays to his performance in "Small Potatoes".

SCULLY BETTER THAN MULDER!
Finally, Scully is taking the lead on this investigation, while Mulder is asking the wrong questions. That is a welcomed change.

MARK SNOW
Mark Snow composed a beautiful score in that episode. He didn't go with the same boring so-called funny sound cues from the latest so-called funny episodes.

The X-Files: Fresh Bones (2x15)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Boring as voodoo hell

BORING
Fresh Bones is exceptionally boring. The episode is really unappealing.

MILITARY
I particularly didn’t like the role of Colonel Wharton, nor its portrayal by Daniel Benzali. It reminisces of Colonel Belt from Space (1x09). This representation of a tough senior ranking member of the military is very cliché and not interesting.

LACK OF AMBITION
There is virtually nothing happening. We move from one scene to another, without caring about anything. Anything at all.

ROB BOWMAN
Rob Bowman can be applauded, as he really took a very poor script that could have turned into a stupid episode.

THEME
The theme is one of the weakest points of the episode. Voodoo. It is the same thing as with the werewolves theme from Shapes or the vampire theme from 3. There is nothing original about the treatment of those typical myths.

SUMMARY
Low screenplay with a good directing. Without Rob Bowman, Fresh Bones would have been a disaster. I still give it 1 out of 5. Boring as (voodoo) hell.

The X-Files: Firewalker (2x09)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Very bad remake of Ice

BAD REMAKE
"Firewalker" is a very bad remake of "Ice". Period. It is so similar to it that it becomes totally pointless. What is the point of trying to tell the exact same story?

SUMMARY
This is the worst episode from season 2. The creature is really ridiculous and makes me think of a... well... just watch the episode and you'll get the point. I give it a 2 out of 10.

The X-Files: Sleepless (2x04)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Excellent and evolutive

POWER OF SUGGESTION
Thinking of it, the episode is almost like a premise of "Pusher" from next season. Once again, The X-Files is so great when not going too far into the science-fiction.
I really enjoyed the theme of the episode.

ALEX KRYCEK
The introduction of Alex Krycek is simply perfect. The way Nicholas Lea is portraying him is marvellous. Often, in The X-Files, new characters will either be hated or loved from the very start. Like in a working interview, we only need a second to judge a new character. Thankfully for us, the new characters from the early seasons all work beautifully.

X
After the death of the perfect character Deep Throat, we now get to see Mulder's next informant, X (sometimes referred as Mr. X).
It was logical to have a character different from Deep Throat. It would have been clichÃ© to have a similar character.
X, portrayed by Steven Williams is and will be a totally different character from Deep Throat. He is reluctant to being here, he is agressive, he is everything but the father figure that was Deep Throat before him.

ROB BOWMAN
After directing just one episode from the first season, Rob Bowman is back with an episode very well directed. I'll mention three visual ideas that worked particularly well. For instance, at one moment, Mulder leaves a building and is met by Krycek angry at him. The introduction movement of this scene is superb. We start in the air and then arrive near the road. Most directors would have had a very simple introduction, not Rob Bowman.
Second, when in the medical prison, the scene starts with images from the ceiling and then the camera is quickly going back to the characters rapidly walking.
Third, the shots from the first meeting between Mulder and X are beautiful. And when Mulder leaves, the camera is slowly moving out.

MULDER AND SCULLY
In "Sleepless", we have a slight glimpse of Mulder and Scully relationship. There is a beautiful scene in which they talk on the phone and Scully refers to Mulder working with someone else. The way they talk to each others is very delicate and by not saying much, we actually understand more. This is not only working well, this is also very realistic.

EVOLUTION
Finally, The X-Files is continuing on its beautiful evolution of the series. After closing the FBI x-files section, we now understand that we should fear even more and that something even great will happen soon.
The final scene from "Sleepless" is hinting that Scully will be part of it...

SUMMARY
The episode's atmosphere is very dark, very realistic. Although it is not perfect, "Sleepless" is an excellent episode, marking the (second) debut of Rob Bowman as a full time director on The X-Files in this second season. The introductions of Alex Krycek and X are as good as the characters themselves.
And the paranoia and references to the mythology are just perfect, like the last scene.
Finally, the theme of the episode is very fun and is almost like a premise to the sublime "Pusher" from next season.
I give the episode 7 out of 10. Excellent.

The X-Files: Blood (2x03)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Excellent. All done. Bye bye.

"Blood" is an excellent episode. This is, for me, the true X-Files. The story isn't too much science-fiction and works perfectly as a great thriller! Everything is great in this episode, how can you forget the great directing of this episode and the amazing performance of the killer?

SUMMARY
An excellent episode. I give it 7 out of 10.

The X-Files: The Erlenmeyer Flask (1x24)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Outstanding season finale

R. W. GOODWIN IS GOOD
The pace of the first season of The X-Files is clearly slow. And I don't mean that as a criticism. I think this was one of the force of the beginning of the series.
So, coming after episodes such as the very slow "Born Again" and "Roland", the introduction scene from "The Erlenmeyer Flask" feels astonishingly fast and thrilling to watch! You can sense that there is something happening in the directing. And that something is R. W. Goodwin. This is the very first episode directed by him and I truly believe that he had a very profound effect on the series.
At the 27 minutes marking, there is an outstanding Dolly Zoom shot. This marks the moment when Fox Mulder finally witnesses

THE X-FILES BREAK ITS BOUNDARIES
For the very first time as well, the episode will move forward and break its own boundaries to become so much more. One of the visual clue is taking place in the opening credits, where the tagline "The Truth Is Out There" is replaced by "Trust No One". This is so obvious we can almost touch it. The show will start a brand new era that will forever change our lives and television itself.
"The Erlenmeyer Flask" is the beginning of the most beautiful chapter from The X-Files. "Little Green Men", "The Host", "Blood", "Duane Barry", "Ascension" and "One Breath" all take their roots into this beautiful season finale.

MULDER & SCULLY
The relationship between Mulder and Scully is great in that episode. After visiting Dr. Berube, Mulder wants to pursue with their investigation and Scully stops him. "No!".
This is the essence of the Scully character. Without her, we would simply watch Fox Mulder running around chasing aliens with a butterfly net. She is there to remind him and the audience about the reality of things.

SOUNDTRACK
Mark Snow is providing us with a great soundtrack that goes the next level. We sense that the stakes are extremely high and that nothing will be the same after the episode.

SUMMARY
Excellent season finale. The mythology starts to become really interesting. And the last sequence, similar to the very end of the pilot episode was a superb idea. (And let's forget about Gillian Anderson's haircut.) I give it a 5/5.

The X-Files: E.B.E. (1x17)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Paranoia: Superb even with a low budget

PARANOID
The episode is especially paranoid.

SECRET BASE
For the first time, we can see Fox Mulder running around in a secret military base. This is truly great to see.

DEEP THROAT
As usual, every single scene with Deep Throat is marvellous. I especially love the one in front of the sharks.

Also, in this episode we learn why Deep Throat is helping Mulder. Heâ€™s haunted since he was forced to kill an E. B. E. He wants to atone for his crime. Just a wonderful backstory that makes perfect sense.

This episode is good. You can see that the series had a very low budget at the time, but even with it, they did a pretty good episode. Jerry Hardin is, as usual, great and the Mulder's has still a realistic way. This episode is not superficial at all (like it was constantly the case since season 6). I give it a 8 out of 10.

The X-Files: Badlaa (8x10)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Distasteful: a murderer crawling into anuses

ANUS STORY
Let's be frank here. "Badlaa" tells the story of a murderer crawling into the victim's anus. How delightful... I don't think I need to tell more. But since this is a review, I will.
The opening sequence tells everything we need to know about the quality of the episode. It starts with a cheap rendering of an Indian airport. And then... the anus sequence. How lame.
My perspective is that it is an insult to a beautiful woman such as Gillian Anderson, to have to endure an episode so low and talk about gases.

Producer Paul Rabwin said it himself: "'Badlaa' was the one episode I did not like the most [...] I think if I had done it different, I would have had John Shiban change the method of transportation. I don't think it ever worked on any level for me. It was just weird and creepy, but I think the whole idea was distasteful to me."
This is easily one of the worst and stupidest episodes of the series. And surely the worst episode of the eighth season. Paul Rabwin would also say "it's the only episode that I kind of wish we hadn't done.".

ENDING
The only remotely interesting thing is the conclusion, when Scully shoots to the killer, hidden as a young boy. The rest is totally awful and tasteless.

AWFUL MUSIC
Finally, the soundtrack from Mark Snow is awful. The continuous oboe slash violin synthesiser is nerve-wracking.

SUMMARY
I give the episode 1 out of 10: horrible.

The X-Files: Talitha Cumi (3x24)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Excellent season finale

"Talitha Cumi" is a very good episode. I loved the atmosphere created by R.W. Goodwin. And all the sequences with CSM and Jeremiah Smith in the jail are wonderful. The dialogues (taken from The Karamazov Brothers) work great inside this story.
And then, the cliffhanger is quite good. And the lighting is also perfect.
I give it a 5/5.

The X-Files: Salvage (8x09)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Boring but still decent

For the first time since they are working together, the scenes between Doggett and Scully are boring. There is no real tension or drama. Things are very stoic.
As for the story, it is not uninteresting, but still, not a lot is happening. Compare the thrill of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" with this episode.
I give the episode 2 stars: Average.

The X-Files: Teso Dos Bichos (3x18)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Horrible episode

There is nothing much to say about this episode, except that it is known as to be one of the worst episodes of the entire show. The script is pretty bad and doesn't work at all. The worst thing of this episode is Scully having to fight cats. And even the shooting was a nightmare, because Gillian Anderson was allergic to cat.

Without any doubt, I give it a 1 out of 5. One of the worst episodes of the entire series. Beyond bad.

The X-Files: Surekill (8x08)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Good subject, low back-story

The first six minutes of the episodes are really great. The subject seems more than interesting, a killer being able to see through walls. When Scully is discovering that the bullet went from the roof, this brings some nice images.
But unfortunately, the back story with the exterminators is not that interesting and quite boring. It's still enjoyable to watch, but it would have been much better with a different story.
Still, I give the episode 2 stars: Average. Or as the killer would say, "average Joe".

The X-Files: Pusher (3x17)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Outstanding thriller

The screenplay of "Pusher" was intended as a movie one. But Vince Gilligan changed it into an X-Files episode. The result is outstanding and gives a chance to David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson to provide some terrific acting performances. It's like watching a movie thriller with Mulder and Scully.
The ending sequence is really disturbing but beautiful. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson did a terrific job.
I give it a 5 out of 5.

The X-Files: Apocrypha (3x16)
Pike December 31, 2015, 12:12 ET

Great conclusion

Good conclusion to this two part episode. The two final sequences are excellent:
- Mulder and Scully looking for the truth underground, then seeing Krycek puking his EBE on the spacecraft in a dark way,
- Mulder and Scully at Melissa's grave. When you watch the final scene of the series finale ("The Truth"), you cannot not think about this particular moment when Scully talks about dead people.
I give it a 4.

The X-Files: Grotesque (3x14)
Pike December 31, 2015, 12:12 ET

Dark episode

"Grotesque" is a remarkable episode for many reasons:
- The light. It is simply amazing. When you think of an episode with great lights, you think of this one. Beautiful blue and black.
- The music. Great music, so good that even one of the theme is on the only X-Files soundtrack, "The Truth and the Light". Mark Snow did a very good job on this episode, once again.
- The realisation. Kim Manners set a very dark tone. Even if on one or two frames, he goes too far (one disturbing quick zoom on a gargoyle), he did an excellent job.
- The acting. I always liked the dark Fox Mulder, the one obsessed and depressing, like in "Ascension" and like in this episode. David Duchovny is at his best when he keeps a very low and dark profile. He suddenly doesn't act like he is in real life, but goes to a complete higher level of acting.
- The sets. Amazing too. The dark pictures, the dark "appartment" of the killer.
- And of course, the story. "Grotesque" is one of Howard Gordon's best episodes. The paranormal aspect is very dark and not too science-fiction. Once more, The X-Files at his best!
So, the result of all those aspects was a great episode, that's why I give it a 5 out of 5.

The X-Files: Oubliette (3x08)
Pike December 31, 2015, 12:12 ET

Outstanding an dark episode

DISTURBING
"Oubliette" is a very dark and disturbing episode, so disturbing that it was actually banned from France for a few years, because of a well-known pedophile affair in Belgium.

DARK LIGHT
The beautiful dark light.

VANCOUVER
The Vancouver atmosphere (forests, fog).

ACTING
The acting of the bad guy.

DIRECTING
And of course, the very dark directing from Kim Manners.

DARK IMAGERY
There are a few shots in the basement of the bad guy that are really creepy! One strong image is when you see an opening and that suddenly we see the eyes of the kidnapper!

MULDER AND SCULLY
On another level, Mulder has a strong connection to the case and mostly to one of the kidnapper's previous victims. The dialogues between Mulder and Scully are just plain great. They argue in a very intelligent way.

MUSIC
The music from Mark Snow is perfect. So perfect that three themes are on the only soundtrack of the series, "The Truth and the Light".

SUMMARY
In a few words, this episode is a dark thriller beautifully done, I give it a big 9 out of 10.

The X-Files: The List (3x05)
Pike December 31, 2015, 12:12 ET

Very bad, boring and clostrophobic episode (oh, and it's green too!)

BORING AS A PRISON CAN BE
The main problem of that episode is that it is exceptionally boring. It is logical, as it is shot primarily in a prison. But of course, that was the challenge of the episode. Try to make a compelling episode out of a story taking place in a secluded environment. It worked brilliantly in "Ice" and "Darkness Falls", so why not in a prison?
Unfortunately, Chris Carter totally missed his own challenge. Still, we can appreciate that the man tried to take a risk.

GREENY GREENISH GREEN LIGHT
Also, I found that the light was a bit "too much". Actually, way too much.
We know this is a prison, you don't need to put all that green all the time. I prefer dark prisons like in "The Silence of the Lambs" movie, really creepy with the black lights.

interesting camera angles

SUMMARY
I give it 1 out of 5. It is still not beyond bad like episodes such as "Space", "Ghost in the Machine", "Fire" or "Babylon".

The X-Files: D.P.O. (3x03)
Pike December 31, 2015, 12:12 ET

Perfect loner

D.P.O. is a brilliant loner episode. Period.

TEASER
As I am re-watching D.P.O. during a thunderstorm, I highly enjoy the teaser, which is brilliantly made and as pop as the opening song. This is one of the classic deaths of the series presented over a catchy tune and it works marvellously and gives us an exhilarating sense of both enjoyment and chills at the same time.

KIM MANNERS
The music, the actors, everything is perfect, but most important: the directing from Kim Manners, which did a terrific job. The directing of the episode is magnificent.

SOUNDTRACK
The episode is one of the only episodes from the series that feature lots of songs not composed by Mark Snow. The result is outstanding.

CASTING
The casting of Giovanni Ribisi and Jack Black is brilliant.

SUMMARY
The third season is definitely the best of the entire series. This is the third excellent episode of the season. 100% perfect.
I give it 5 out of 5.

The X-Files: Paper Clip (3x02)
Pike December 31, 2015, 12:12 ET

The perfect end of the trilogy

SUMMARY
Paper Clip" is the end of the trilogy started with "Anasazi". It is too one of the best episodes of the show! Mulder and Scully running around in the Strughold Minings is a cult scene of the series.
I give it a 5/5.

The X-Files: Anasazi (2x25)
Pike December 31, 2015, 12:12 ET

Best episode ever. A fucking masterpiece!

MASTERPIECE
"Anasazi" is so fucking brilliant that I don't even know where to start and need to use strong language as no word describe how in love I am with that episode.

MY FAVORITE EPISODE
If I had to choose 5 episodes of the series, "Anasazi" would be along them. This is simply one of the best episodes of the show, if not THE best one. Everything is amazing in this episode: the story, the dialogues, the actors, the plot twists, the cliffhanger, the actors, the direction, the sets.

MUSIC
Mark Snow has composed a very thriller-like soundtrack. Just by the music of the episode, we know that the stakes are high.

THE BIGGEST STAKES
The stakes have never been so high in The X-Files. Mulder is finally having a full documented evidence of the entire government conspiracy.

CLIFFHANGER
The cliffhanger of "Anasazi" is the best cliffhanger of the all series, along with "The Erlenmeyer Flask".

SUMMARY
It looks like a huge movie. This is the golden age of The X-Files.
Without any hesitation, I give it a 10 out of 10. CULT EPISODE!

The X-Files: Via Negativa (8x07)
Pike December 31, 2015, 12:12 ET

Darkness atmosphere

Once more, a very dark episode of season 8. The episode starts with a very dramatic scene, with members of a cult all lying dead in their bed, their head cut opened by an axe.
The episode then continues on this dark path, culminating with the infamous scene where the head of the cult put his own head on a mechanical saw on wheel. What a dark moment!
The final part of the episode is the best out of it, where John Doggett starts to think he is in a bad dream and goes to Scully's room with some beautiful dark blue images.
Even though I would have preferred to see more Scully instead of The Lone Gunmen and Skinner, and even though the story is not that great, the atmosphere is simply perfect "X-Filesque". I give the episode a 4: Very good.

The X-Files: Redrum (8x06)
Pike December 31, 2015, 12:12 ET

Moderob

After a very strong start of the season (five very good episodes), it was logical that this great start would be stopped by a bad episode. "Redrum" is that episode.
The opening sequence is quite interesting. A prison inmate is getting killed, then suddenly time stops and run backwards. What a start!
But unfortunately, this backwards episode is very difficult to follow. This reminds me of the movie "Memento" by Christopher Nolan, with a similar storytelling. "Memento", even though is a great movie, is quite complex to follow as well and the pace is very slow. This is the exact same situation here. The pace is very slow and the main issue is that John Doggett and Dana Scully are almost never to be seen. Whatever the reason (contractual or not), the episode would have been much less boring if Doggett and Scully would have been more present.
There is also almost no outdoor scenes. It feels as oppressing as previous episodes happening in prison, such as The List, a similar boring episode taking place almost entirely in a prison.
I would have much preferred to see an episode where the time would spend backwards for one of the main characters, especially Doggett. Scully would have not believed him at first, but would slowly understand and help him. Doggett would have felt very vulnerable as well and it would have been interesting to see.
But the episode is not so bad, for instance, Mark Snow composed a nice light score that is far from the bad scores of the first four episodes of the season. Also, the resolution of the episode is very well done. The slow-motion scene is very good. But unfortunately, the episode should have ended there and not on the odd 30 seconds epilogue with the cheesy monologue of the inmate.
I give the episode a 1: Bad.

The X-Files: Invocation (8x05)
Pike December 31, 2015, 12:12 ET

Very good story about child abduction

The episode's opening sequence is quite good, even though it is very similar to the opening scene from The Calusari (S02E21). The soundtrack and direction are quite good.
Then, we follow Doggett and Scully in yet another new investigation without Mulder. Once more, this episode is a great addition to the excellent and strong beginning of season 8. The themes are quite dark and the episodes work extremely great. It's always a pleasure to see the dialogues between Doggett and Scully.
Also, the mystery of the episode is very well implemented. You want to know the secret until the very end.
I give the episode a 4 out of 5: Very good.

The X-Files: Roadrunners (8x04)
Pike December 30, 2015, 12:12 ET

Gore is good!

What a beginning of a season! If there was one word to summarize the first two loners, that would be "darkness". "Patience" and "Roadrunners" are setting the tone of the season, and it is damn good. Unfortunately, not all loners will be as good as the first ones, but still, what a beginning. Seasons 6 and 7 were quite joyful and had lots of funny episodes, here, we go far from there. This is clearly a back-to-the-roots start.
But the episode takes a very long time before being very interesting. The pace is dramatically slow, but the last ten minutes are simply excellent.
The scenes with Scully being kidnapped and then kind of raped by the monster are quite difficult to watch. We clearly can feel her pain.
I give the episode a 5: good.

The X-Files: Patience (8x03)
Pike December 30, 2015, 12:12 ET

Excellent scenes between Doggett and Scully

The episode itself is simply an excuse to bring back darkness, as well as starting the Doggett/Scully relationship. Every single scene between Doggett and Scully are simply perfect. It is very interesting to see Scully trying to think out of the box. Also, it feels so damn good to see a very simple dark story. Of course, the story about the monster is not very complex or extremely interesting. But it provides a conduit to show some excellent dark scenes, such as the brilliant opening sequence. The previous three loners from season 7 were "Je Souhaite", "Fight Club" and "Hollywood A.D.". It was time to go back to the roots of the show.
Of course, if the episode was a typical one with Mulder and Scully, it would have been a much lower episode. Hence, this is the proof that having a new character and changing the dynamics between the main characters was a very good idea.
For those positive reasons, I still give the episode a low 4 out of 5. I know that most reviews are lower on this episode, but I find it as much as interesting as the first two episodes of the season, if not more. I think that Carter did a great job and should deserve some credit for this very good episode and the way he handled Duchovny's half-departure during this season.

The X-Files: Without (8x02)
Pike December 30, 2015, 12:12 ET

Good conclusion to the two-part episode

Even though the episode has a very slow pace - there are not a lot of things happening - it is still very enjoyable. Instead of being confined in some FBI office sets, talking about Mulder, the characters are in the middle of the desert (where the actors seemed to have been pretty hot) and the story is still interesting.
Also, if there is one beautiful thing in this episode, it's the relationship between Doggett and Scully that starts in one particular scene. When Scully gets beaten up by the Alien Bounty Hunter, Doggett arrives and screams something like "Agent down!". He then gets near her and take her a little bit into his arms. She then starts to cry.
I think that this scene is really beautiful, as this is a clear scenario when a third person arrives in a relationship and cares about one of them. We know that Scully will never fall for Doggett. But they will start to have a real relationship based on respect and it will be very touching to see some moments here and there with Doggett taking care of Scully.
Meanwhile, there are still some things that seem a bit odd. Like the dialogues about aliens. Even though, we, as an audience, all know that it's real, the fact that Scully and Skinner openly refer to them seems odd.
The introduction is also kind of useless and also feels odd. Just a few seconds and that's it. Within/Without would have been better as a 1 (full) hour episode than a 90 minutes episode. The pace would have been a bit faster, which would not have been a bad thing at all.
I give the episode a 4, like for its predecessor.

The X-Files: Within (8x01)
Pike December 30, 2015, 12:12 ET

Very good introduction of John Doggett

"Within" is a good introduction to the eight season and a good introduction of the new main character of John Doggett. Since David Duchovny signed for only half of the new season, the producers decided to introduce a new character. Fans started to fear that Mulder would simply be replaced. How an impossible task? Replacing Fox Mulder in The X-Files is like replacing Walter White in Breaking Bad. This simply cannot be done. But David Duchovny was not gone for the all episodes. Therefore, this gave the executive producers a great way to bring some new energy to a show that was living to its last leg during season 7. The mythology of the show was over - we finally knew about Samatha's disappearance. And there were more and more bad episodes.
I don't think a traditional eighth season with Mulder and Scully would have been interesting. The show was slowly fading away and moving the set around was the only thing to do at the time.
So, in "Within", we finally get to meet this new character of John Doggett. The first scene with the character is very well done. Instead of showing this new friendly character, we actually face the complete opposite of Mulder, a "non-beliver" ex-cop playing by the rules. Robert Patrick did a great job and seeing him is like a breath of fresh air. The second characters were starting to get boring (Kersh, Skinner, Krycek, etc.) at the time of the end of the seventh season.
In terms of the story, we start to understand that Mulder may have been sick and had some secrets, hidden from everyone, including Scully. This is very interesting - who doesn't like secrets? - in a show filled with mystery. Since "Biogenesis", the characters became the mythology, and vice-versa. This is now official with this episode and will continue throughout the seasons eight and nine.
As for the episode itself, we get to see some nice sequences, such as the dreams (or not) with Mulder being tested on cruel machines. What a torture! And also, the episode ends in the beautiful location in the desert.
Of course, not everything is great. Seeing this episode when comparing to season 1, the show has officially become a soap opera. The secrets are embedded in the characters. But still, the episode is re-energizing the series in a positive way.
It also gives a sense of wanting to know the rest of the story, hence providing a line throughout the episodes. This was done in the past with Scully's abduction, but this only lasted two episodes. This was also used with Scully's cancer, but still, this was not so big as Mulder not being part of the show anymore.
For all those reasons, I give the episode a 4. Very good, even if far from the best seasons of the show.

The X-Files: Trust No 1 (9x06)
Pike December 26, 2015, 12:12 ET

The X-Files Jumps the Shark

"Trust No 1"... I remember pretty well when I first heard about the name of this episode. I was really enthusiastic, hoping to experience the return of a good-old mythology episode. But, as usual with the late seasons of The X-Files, I was left feeling deeply disappointed.
For me, this is one of the worst episode of the show, ever. If I had to name 5 bad episodes, "Trust No 1" would be on this list, and for plenty of reasons, some of which I will write about:
First, the teaser. Of course it is very moving to see a nice montage of pictures of Mulder and Scully with the beautiful Barcarolle from Tchaikovski. But this should have been a YouTube fan-made video made from and for teenage girls fans of the show, not a teaser of The X-Files!
Remember the first five seasons of the show? When Chris Carter was saying over and over again "They will never get in bed together"? Well... things have changed, obviously.
Frank Spotnitz is saying all the time that The X-Files is a story about love. The answer is no. At least mine is no. You could say that The X-Files includes a storyline of a relationship base of mutual friendship, you could even say that Mulder and Scully fell in love for each other at one point, but this is not a show about love.
Sometimes, I even think that Spotnitz doesn't know the show as it is. But it would be very pretentious to me to think that I know what the show should be about. It's like saying "I don't want things to change." But I have nothing against evolution. On the contrary, I welcome it originality and new things! The X-Files isn't a comedy show, but we all praised "funny" episodes such as "Humbug" or "Jose Chung's...". There is a reason for that: those episodes weren't just "light", they had a strong script.
"Trust No 1" has not a strong script at all. The storyline is very simple: some men are lurking Scully's apartment from years through electronic surveillance. The idea wasn't that bad, but you don't think of this episode like a good version of George Orwell's "Nineteen Eigty-Four", you think that it's just ridiculous to think that the shadow man was lurking Scully's bedroom for years. The worst thing about this is when the shadow man tells Scully that he was surprised to see her and Mulder get in bed together. This was plain ridiculous. This is serialized television at its worse.
Second thing, the shadow man is played by Terry O'Quinn. It was a bad choice for the fans, because we already seen him in The X-Files. If it was only from his appearance in "Aubrey" (season 2), it would have been okay, but O'Quinn played a character in the movie "Fight the Future", not a major character, but a very memorable one! Therefore, during the watching of the episode, I was thinking "Is this Agent Michaud? Is Agent Michaud a supersoldier? (he actually was one) So if he is a supersoldier, he could have survived the attack in the bulding from The X-Files movie? So he's the same character?
And the answer is no, this is not Agent Michaud. So I found this very disturbing.
Then, talking about disturbing... After the fan-made teaser, Scully can be seen in an Internet cafÃ©, receiving cheesy romantic e-mails from Mulder. This all sequence is just pathetic. The answer is worse than this: "My hands are physically shaking right now (...)".
The all character of Dana Scully was based on her being a strong FBI woman, like Clarice Starling in Thomas Harris's "The Silence of the Lambs". We can understand that she fell in love with Mulder and that she is now missing him, but we saw this during ten episodes in season 8. Now it's "I miss Mulder" all over again. It worked in season 8, because it was the first time, because of Mark Snow's Scully's theme, because it was done in a touchy way. But now this is just the big artillery! Fan-made teaser, e-mails with "I love you Dana", Scully crying reading the e-mail, Mulder and Scully's baby... Imagine watching the first season of the show and then jumping straight to this episode! Talking about jumping, at this point, we can really say that The X-Files jumped the shark. And not a small jump, a jump so huge that it would win every world athletic competition and triple-break any record!
I don't want to sound rude against Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter, but this episode made me sad. It was very disturbing to watch it. This was the first time I felt this way in front of an episode. All my dreams about a good ending of the show fell apart that very day, when I saw "Trust No 1", thinking I would see a good mythology episode when I actually saw Terry O'Quinn chasing Scully until he died, flying in a rock mountain... I have never seen a worse special effect in my entire life. It wasn't really badly made, but it is just ridiculous, you can see this is riduculous, just reading it on paper. "And then, the supersoldier will fly into the rock and die!".
Since season 7 (actually since the season 6 finale "Biogenesis"), the mythology became the characters. In the previous seasons, the things happening to Mulder and Scully were happening as a result of their search for the truth (Scully's abduction in "Duane Barry", Mulder's tests in "Tunguska"). Now, it's the opposite. Mulder and Scully are the mythology and the storylines are the results of it. It was great in "Amor Fati", it was not that bad in season 8 (the search for Mulder was quite enjoyable to watch), but now it is just pathetic. The love of Mulder and Scully finally became apart of the mythology: the secret about the conception of the child is an element of the mythology...
I can understand that after the full disclosure from season 6, the mythology would become personal things happening to Mulder and Scully - because all the mythology episodes were more personal - but the all storyline of the baby savior is, for me, not only wrong, but simply painful to watch. And when this is not about Mulder and Scully, this is about the supersoldiers, which is worse.
For all of those reasons, I am giving this episode a 1 out of 5.

The X-Files: Provenance (9x09)
Pike December 26, 2015, 12:12 ET

Scully kicks some ass! The rest is bad

In the previous seasons, I used to religiously wait for the mythology episodes like the Holly Grail. By season 9, it was the opposite, or, to be precise, I waited for them hoping for something huge and was disappointed all the time. The mythology episodes of this last season are very weak. So weak that I wished there were none.
In "Provenance", an FBI man tries to kill Scully's baby. This scene is actually quite good! Scully-fu will always work! But something will never work again: it's the "Mulder is dead" thing. It worked in "Anasazi" (season 2), it worked a bit in "Gethsemane", it worked a little in "DeadAlive", but now it's just pathetic. When Brad Follmer tells this, it's like an insult to the fans of the show. Are we supposed to hear about his death every ten episodes?
Then, I'm still disturbed to see Scully talking openly about the paranormal. The show worked great with a skeptic and a believer. But now, everyone except Doggett is talking about aliens and spacecrafts. The show starts to feel like Start Trek, which is not positive.
I also find the leading FBI men so clichÃ©s it's painful to watch. I never liked Assistant Director Kersh, and it's now even worse when watching Brad Follmer. Skinner was a great superior in the first seasons because he was a friend to The X-Files and also their strict superior. He could help Mulder and Scully and scream at them in the same episode. That was good to see his difficult position. But, of course, Skinner saw too much and since season 8 he is talking UFOs and aliens as well.
That's the problem of this season, it is a natural sequel to season 8, but they have so many bad elements that they have to continue: the baby, Mulder's absence, Scully believing in aliens along with Skinner, and so on.
Anyway, I found this episode plain boring and sometimes ridiculous. Indeed, when the FBI motorbiker takes the piece of the spacecraft in his hand, his body heals itself, but then Scully touches it and we can clearly see that her injured face doesn't change a bit (in close-up!).
So, I give it a 2 out of 5, just because of the Scully-fu sequence, which is really good.

The X-Files: Providence (9x10)
Pike December 26, 2015, 12:12 ET

Baby, religion, prophecy, miracle = bad episode

This is an episode about religion. The references are in BOLD during "Providence". I really loved the religion aspect of the trilogy "Biogenesis"/"The Sixth Extinction"/"The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati". But this (kind of) sequel is really bad. When I watched it the first time, I was more than fed up with the "Your baby is a miracle" aspect. Now this is even worse that than. Indeed, one of the worst quote ever is in this episode: "(...) And that your son must die too. Or everyone, all of mankind, will perish from Earth."
And it can become even worse, with this quote: "If you want to see the boy, you'll bring me the head of Fox Mulder."
I found this prophecy story very bad. Oh, and now, the supersoldiers are the sons of god. Of course, they existed since the gulf war, but we only heard about them from the eighth season...
There is no mythology at all, now the mythology are the characters.
But, near the end, the sequence with the spacecraft finally moving and Scully looking for William with Reyes was pretty good! While watching the episode, I remember that I thought that they finally got rid of William... but no! Scully finds him... So this all mytharc episode went for nothing.
Then, I didn't like the characters, all of them: Scully (crying all the time), Reyes (Gish's acting), Follmer (as usual), etc.
But, Chris Carter's directing was good, but not enough to fill the gaps of this low screenplay. Because, in the end, if you have a bad screenplay, you cannot do much to get it right.
And the worst thing of this episode is the last frame. "Oh my god, he's a supersoldier?!" It was already deja vu all over again in "Essence", it's the same here. We just don't care anymore.
So, I give it a 2 out of 5.

The X-Files: Improbable (9x13)
Pike December 26, 2015, 12:12 ET

Oh my, an original episode!

Finally, something original in this last season! Since season 7, we were used to see "the loner of the week" and were a bit bored by the ending of the series. That's why "Improbable" was really a great news for the X-Philes.
The episode is very original since the first frame and it feels good.
Chris Carter was very imaginative on this one: Burt Reynolds (as God?), the Karl ZÃ©ro music, the split-screens, the numbers, etc.
And the final sequence is cult!
"Telefono per tu!
- E qui Ã¨?
- E Carlito!"
We give it a 4 out of 5. Who do I mean by "we"? "Io mammata e tu!"

The X-Files: William (9x16)
Pike December 26, 2015, 12:12 ET

Finally, we get rid of the baby

Except for two episodes, which were "John Doe" and "Improbable", I wasn't surprise anymore while watching episodes of The X-Files during its final season. It wasn't the show I knew, when, for instance, the final credits would arrive and I would stay there thinking "Damn, that was amazing!". Season 9 kept to disappoint me for plenty of reasons: the supersoldiers, Monica Reyes as a full character, but mainly because of Scully's son. It was really hard to see Scully changing from a tough Special FBI Agent to a mother, crying all the time: "What is wrong with my son?!", "I wanna know what happened to my son!", "Where is my son?!", "What did you do to my son!?", and so on.
So, I started to watch this episode without having any expectation and suddenly, I was surprised by its beginning! You could clearly see the return of David Duchovny, even if he "just" co-wrote the story and directed the episode. The teaser sequence is great for one reason: William is finally abandoned! Suddenly, everything changes, and we cannot wait to see more of the episode. We are surprised... again!
Then, the episode starts with a nice joke about Doggett doing some push-ups: "498... 499... 20!".
Doggett leaves and suddenly, a mysterious guy enters the office. The mystery starts and we are watching a good old X-Files episode!
Doggett comes back into the office and gets kicked so violently it's really enjoyable, as the rest of the episode. What could have been a usual low episode of season 9, Duchovny transformed a good script into a very good episode. His realisation is very dramatic and that's what we love in The X-Files, because it's a drama after all, and not a cheesy lame series, as are the lowest X-Files episodes. Some scenes are particularely violent in many aspects, it's far more violent to see Doggett receiving a foot on his face than most so-called monsters from the latest X-Files loners.
I also liked the little things, like Scully putting back her shoe while walking to the FBI, Scully singing "Joy to the world" to her so. It gives a-je-ne-sais-quoi to the episode.
What is also very good is that, even if there aren't, "William" makes us think that there are connections between this last mythology and the previous (good) one. It's also nice to see the Cigarette Smoking Man in a quick flash-back.
And the acting performances are really good, especially Gillian Anderson (she's amazing) and Robert Patrick (very good when he's upset!).
In the end, this is a very good episode and not an auto-pilot episode, like many from season 9.
So I give it a 4 out of 10. Good conclusion to the baby mythology arc.

The X-Files: The Truth (9x19)
Pike December 26, 2015, 12:12 ET

Worst conclusion possible (update: actually, it wasn't)

ANTICIPATION
I waited years, dreaming about the very last episode of the show. And then I saw it... Let's be clear : I didn't like this series finale.

BORING
The main reason was simple : the tribunal sequence is way too important and very boring, especially if you know the show well. This is not the fault of Kim Manners as he did a great job with this poor script (40 pages for the tribunal ! half the episode).
The fact is that when you passed 9 years of your life waiting for the next episode, you start thinking about the very last episode like the holy graal. Expectations were high ! So, when the episode started, it was great to see Mulder back in a black suit, chasing the truth in some military secret base. But as soon as he is in jail, the episode is completely boring until he gets out.

SECOND PART
The second part is much more interesting and captivating. It is just a shame that the all episode wasn't like this.
What is great though, is that Chris Carter and his team did a real conclusion with the end of the show (along with "Jump the Shark" and "William") : Scully's baby has been given away, The Lone Gunmen are dead, The X-Files are closed (exit Doggett and Reyes), we know that everything is in its right place for the preparation of the colonization (supersoldiers in power inside the governement), Smoking Man is dead, Mulder and Scully are fugitives. So the next movie(s) can start without all the problems that would have mean finishing the show with "Requiem" for instance. It will be a "simple" scary story with Mulder and Scully. That's it, and that's all I want to see now because I am really fed up with the mythology.

SUMMARY
I give the episode a note of 2 out of 5. It is very bad.

UPDATE FROM 2018:
Back from the future, after all, "The Truth" wasn't the series finale. Chris Carter produced new seasons. What he was able to do was to make "The Truth" even stupider, by bringing the Cigarette Smoking Man back from the dead. The all point of the series finale (or so) was to see the definitive end of this evil character, that we followed from the pilot episode.

The X-Files: Beyond the Sea (1x13)
Pike December 26, 2015, 12:12 ET

One of the best episodes ever

I had the privilege to watch "Beyond the Sea" in a movie theater, introduced by Chris Carter himself. And this is no coincidence that this episode was hand-picked by Chris Carter, as this is one of the best episodes of the entire series.

GILLIAN ANDERSON
Gillian Anderson gives a wonderful performance and simply shines. For the first time, this excellent script lets her reveals her true potential as an actress.

BRAD DOURIF
Of course, most of the episode is based on Brad Dourif, that is providing a cinema performance. We are far from the boundaries of television here.

DIRECTING
Finally, David Nutter directed this episode beautifully. And this is not a surprise, after directing the classic "Ice".

SUMMARY
For all these reasons, I give the episode a 10 out of 10. "Beyond the Sea" is a classic masterpiece.

The X-Files: Duane Barry (2x05)
Pike December 26, 2015, 12:12 ET

Powerful Chris Carter directional debut

NOT BORING
The episode could easily have been completely boring, because most of it is happening in a little room (the travel agency where Duane Barry hold hostages). But it is exactly the opposite: there is always something happening, even if there are little dialogues (beautifully written).

DIRECTING
This is the very first episode both written and directed by Chris Carter. And you can see that Carter is full of energy and creativity and simply does the job fully.

STEVE RAILSBACK
Steve Railsback (playing Duane Barry) is one of the reasons this episode works so well. He is superbly portraying the paranoid Duane Barry. This is a major success in terms of casting and acting.

DAVID DUCHOVNY
Meanwhile, David Duchovny does an excellent job in front of him. The "I'm your friend" part is very realistic. Duchovny is fully involved and really acting well. He is Fox Mulder.

TO BE CONTINUED
"Duane Barry" is also the very first episode that ends with a "TO BE CONTINUED" message. And boy, are we in for the thrill of a lifetime in the follow-up episode.
This is the first time that there is a real cliffhanger with a two-part episode in The X-Files and the result is simply great! Scully screaming for help in the end and the fade to black are both excellent.

POWERFUL
Overall, the episode is extremely powerful. It has this force all across.

SUMMARY
If I got to choose just 5 X-Files episodes, "Duane Barry" would be in those five. This is the first time that Chris Carter directed an episode, and we can see that it took the job very seriously.
I give it 5 out of 5.

The X-Files: Space (1x09)
Pike December 26, 2015, 12:12 ET

The worst episode... ever

CHEAP
Cheap is the first word that comes to mind. If you want to write a story filled with space rockets, you better be able to film at least one. Here, the poorly choice was to include very low quality footages of space flights throughout the episode.
Also, the mission control feels way too cheap. We just don't believe it.
But a low budget cannot justify the direction.

SPECIAL EFFECTS
And even when we do not see recorded images of space, the special effects are horrible. Just plain horrible.

BAD DIRECTING
For instance, when the woman asking some help from Mulder and Scully is having an accident, this is filmed very poorly, like a very (very) bad television series.

CHILDISH MULDER
Second point, Mulder is acting like a child. It is so bad it is often funny (Mulder clapping like a child in the airbase!).

COL. BELT
Finally, the actor playing Colonel Belt is not giving a subtle performance at all. I can agree that his lines are pretty bad, but the way he is acting is extremely painful to watch. He is by far the worse character of the first season at the moment along with Brad Wilcheck ("Ghost in the Machine").

SUMMARY
Overall, "Space" is simply one of the worst episode of the all series. Chris Carter himself acknowledged this.
Ridiculous episode, I give it a 1 out of 10 without any doubt. Beyond bad.

The X-Files: Ice (1x08)
Pike December 26, 2015, 12:12 ET

Masterpiece of paranoia

STUNNING OPENING SCENE
"Ice" opens with a visually stunning sequence, which is one of the best opening sequences of the show. It is particularly violent and interesting. As usual, most episodes of the show are either pretty good or pretty bad, and you can see it right from the start. Either it works beautifully, either it fails miserably. Rarely episodes are in between. This is especially true here, knowing that "Ice" is between "Ghost in the Machine" and "Space", two of the worse episodes of the series.

FIRST SECLUDED EPISODE
Visually stunning, the episode embarks us on a journey in a secluded location, which is a new for the show. This will become a tradition in the show, with following episodes such as "Darkness Falls", "Firewalker", "Dod Kalm", "Agua Mala", "Roadrunners" (to an extent), "Vienen" and "John Doe" (also to an extent).

CHARACTERS
All characters are very well constructed and casted.

ATMOSPHERE
The atmosphere is brilliant, going so high as Mulder and Scully almost shooting each others and angry at each others for the very first time. David Duchovny, which usually gives low-key performances, delivers in "Ice" a great performance. He's never as good as when the stakes as high and that he is pissed.

SEXUAL TENSION
Also, the tension is so palpable that there is almost a sexual tension between the characters, such as when Mulder and Scully are alone in that small room, touching each other searching for spots, like explained Gillian Anderson:
"That scene where we, uh... touch each other in the room is the first time that you see Mulder and Scully touching each other. And it's very provocative, the way the camera moves around us and the way the lighting is with a single lightbulb – it's swinging. And then for her to start to walk away and him to stop her, there's a moment of fear and tension in that, because you don't know if he's going to attack her, if he has been actually been affected by this parasite."

SUMMARY
A perfect classic. 5 out of 5.

The X-Files: Ghost in the Machine (1x07)
Pike December 26, 2015, 12:12 ET

Scruffily cheap and horrendous

After the bad episode "Shadows", we are faced yet again with another episode taking place in the corporate environment. When you mix it with technology, especially in the 90's, you simply get one of the worse episodes of the show, with stupid lines about scruffy minds, the machine saying "file deleted" or "file opened", etc.
The worse part is clearly the second half of the episode, when Mulder and Scully are doing an expedition in the EURISKO building. Scully is doing stupid things in the ventilation shaft while Mulder is part of a stupid sequence with the awefully bad revelation from the office's super. "Not bad, agent Mulder!". How lame.

After the episode where Tom Colton, a friend of Scully's, is asking for some help ("Squeeze"), this time, it's a friend of Mulder who is asking for some help.

CHEAP
The episode feels extremely cheap. For instance, the fake skyline picture outside the window from the company.
Also, at one point, Scully is typing a report on her private computer. Are we supposed to believe that she is having the Internet in 1993? That would be the only possible for the COS program to connect to her computer.

TECHNOLOGY
Writing about technology is always a challenge. Not only it is extremely difficult, but any movie about technology mostly age pretty badly.
In here, all is bad. At one point, Brad Wilcheck is saying to the COS program, "You are not equipped with a voice synthesiser", as if this program from the 1990's would automatically develop its own system.
In a way, maybe the episode was too far ahead from its time.

BRAD WILCHECK
The engineer character is beyond clichÃ©. And the actor plays so bad his horrible lines.

STILL POSITIVE
But in this first season, even a bad episode contains positive aspects:
- For instance, once more, this season is embedded in realism, which is truly a great thing. For instance, Mulder and Scully are buying sandwiches in the FBI floors where Mulder's friend arrives. Later on, Mulder and Jeremy are having an argument, while other agents are looking but without doing too much. This realism is important and it will slowly disappear throughout the following seasons.
- At 23:00, there is a beautiful sound cue from Mark Snow, that appears on the soundtrack "The Truth and the Light".
Mark Snow also reuses the Deep Throat theme in the last scene. There is such a nostalgia when Deep Throat is on the screen. He was really truly the best second character of the entire series.

SUMMARY
But overall, "Ghost in the Machine" is clearly part of the ten worse episodes of the show, hands down. I rate it 1 out of 10 (Beyond bad).

The X-Files: Shadows (1x06)
Pike December 25, 2015, 12:12 ET

Forgettable bad episode without ambition

BAD MULDER AND SCULLY INTRODUCTION
The scene with Mulder and Scully discovering the bodies is so bad we actually feel nervous for them. The two characters in front of them, not saying a word, are particularly useless. It is simply not working.
Also, when Mulder and Scully finally get to leave the room, the light is horrendous.

MULDER KNOWS IT ALL
From the very beginning, Mulder gets the all story. He knows it's a ghost. What is the point of continuing to watch the episode, then?

USELESS SCULLY
Scully is not really productive in this episode. She just spends her time nagging Mulder and laughing at him.

MULDER AND SCULLY ARE BAD SPIES
Also, Mulder and Scully are extremely bad spies. Then just sit in a car, ten feet from the person they are spying, with a huge picture camera. Almost the same at the cemetery.

UNAMBITIOUS SCOPE
Even though the main actress is giving a hell of a performance, the story lacks ambition and scope. There is nothing original about a ghost, and especially not the way it acts, by doing little things such as closing a door or switching on car lights.
Also, the fact that it takes place in a corporate environment is especially unappealing and ultimately boring. Who wants to see an episode taking place at the office?
After the four excellent series opening episodes ("Pilot", "Deep Throat", "Squeeze" and "Conduit"), "Shapes" is part of the three bad ones following those ("The Jersey Devil", "Shapes", "Ghost in the Machine").

SUMMARY
This is clearly a forgettable episode. I give it a note of 3 out of 10 (Bad). But I wouldn't go that far as to rate is as 2 (Very bad).

The X-Files: The Jersey Devil (1x05)
Pike December 25, 2015, 12:12 ET

First bad episode from the series

FIRST BAD EPISODE
« The Jersey Devil » is the first bad episode from The X-Files. And it is actually very bad. Interestingly, when an episode of The X-Files is bad, it is usually pretty bad and not just average. By trying to find a new paranormal story every week, some could be beautiful while others exceptionnaly bad.

OPENING SCENE
The opening scene is not terribly bad, but it is very cliché and not really believable. The family of the fifties (1947 precisely), singing songs in the car while the dad is wearing a hat. Then, after trying to fix a flat tire in the middle of the night (and in the middle of a forest), the dad is being killed. The direction is not very interesting and very dull.
This seems like the dull shooting of a folk tale.

FOLK TALE
Actually, the episode itself is nothing more than a folk tale. By the fourth minute, we already know exactly what killed these men. A human. Mulder jumps on his seat and think instantly of the Jersey Devil. That’s a wrap! Case closed!
There is no investigation whatsoever. Mulder just tries to meet the Jersey Devil and... that’s it.

POTENTIAL
The story of the episode could have been interesting, with Mulder spending some time in the forest, looking for a potential monster living in the woods. But, unfortunately, the story doesn't work for one simple and obvious reason: the so-called monster is simply a young woman living in the woods. Since she has no special paranormal abilities, we, as an audience, don’t care one bit and do not get scared at all. We simply cannot believe that a SWAT team is sent to stop one skinny teenage girl.

BAD COP
We are used to have Mulder and Scully interfering with a police investigation and getting nasty with the local authorities. This one is one of the worst examples of all time. The local policeman is playing so overly angry, that it becomes laughable. It is especially visible when he first appears and says beautifully:
« I don’t remember anybody calling theeeeee.... FBI in on this! » (angry eyes).

PHILOSOPHICAL BAD DIALOGUES
And the worse part is when Mulder and Scully are starting to discuss about human evolution with a professor of anthropology, and then some more after. These dialogues are very badly written and feel cheap. This is what could have been "The X-Files" if it had lacked ambition.
First, Mulder and Scully meet a professor and talk for about five minutes about random food-chain-circle-of-life things.
But much worse, when Mulder and Scully are looking for the monster, they start to have one of the worse dialogues of the series:
Fox Mulder: What if it is a female, Scully? How close is she to you and me? Does she feel emotion? Or her days are just spent... looking for food?
Dana Scully: Maybe she spends her day shopping.
Fox Mulder: Eight million years out of Africa, I don’t think we’re all that different.
Dana Scully: Mulder, we’ve put men into space. We built computer that work faster than the human mind.
Fox Mulder: While we over-populat the world, and create new technologies to kill each other with it. Maybe we’re just beasts with big brains.
Dana Scully: ...
Fox Mulder: What?
Dana Scully: Nah, I was just, thinking about my godson’s birthday party. Eight little six year old boys running around. Talk about primitive behaviour.
I think that sums it up in terms of bad dialogues.

PRIVATE LIFE
Meanwhile, one interesting thing is that Chris Carter tried twice to create a side-story with Scully's personal life. In the pilot episode, Scully is having a boyfriend - boyfriend that we never see, as his two scenes were cut from the episode. In this one, Scully is attending her godson's birthday party and then is having a date. Although this gives the series a sense of realism, which is extremely important and visible in the first season (for instance, Mulder fills out documents to rent out a car), this clearly does not work. How could we spend time watching scary stories with creepy murders and then suddenly go to a scene where Scully is in a fancy dress talking about Cirque du Soleil? (They actually don’t talk about Cirque du Soleil in that scene, but you get the point).
Overall, this seems like a zero sum. No one wins. Either we get characters so obsessed with their work that it becomes unbelievable, either we get real characters but the stories become less interesting and the stakes smaller. Clearly, the no life wins by a big margin.
Clearly, Carter did the right choice by stopping these scenes and simply focusing on good storytelling, while putting on the sides the personal side-stories. This is also an original move in an era where tv series were definitely focused on the private lives of their main characters.

BAD ROMANCE
At the same time, maybe it could have been possible to write a private life for both Mulder and Scully. But when it comes to writing romance, Chris Carter is as good as Marilyn Manson would be to write a classical opera. His writing is very immature and not realistic for one bit. Hopefully for us, it will be very rare during the first seasons.

THE A-TEAM
One of the worse scenes is when we can see the formation of the A-Team, chasing the beast! The A-Team is ironically formed of Mulder, Scully, the ranger and the professor. They randomely go into a building, in the hope of finding the beast.
In it, Mulder and Scully have their aweful dialogue scene about Africa and species. And then, one of the worse moments is when both Mulder and Scully (even know a few minutes apart) jump with a back-flip in a scene. This is very bad.

TOUCHING SCENE
One positive comment thouth, the last scene between Mulder and Scully is very touching and defines very well Scully's commitment to focus her life on her work with Mulder.
In the previous episode, Scully commits to working on the x-files FBI section. In this one, Scully formally gives up having a life on her own. Even thouth the atmosphere of the scene is very moving, it is actually a tremendously sad scene.

OPENING BAD ENDING
Finally, the episode ends on a very bad and cliché opened ending.

SUMMARY
Overall, I give the episode a 2. This is the first bad episode from the series.

The X-Files: Conduit (1x04)
Pike December 25, 2015, 12:12 ET

Superb realistic episode!

DARLENE MORRIS
The character of Darlene Morris is excellent. Beautifully portrayed by Carrie Snodgress (who passed away on April 1st, 2004).
At first, Mrs. Morris is surprised to see the FBI being interested in her daughter's disappearance.
What then happens is very interesting. Because of Mulder's investigation, Mrs. Morris actually gets her life even more destroyed, with the appearance of the CIA.

MULTIPLE ANGLES
At first, we all think that the young woman has been abducted by aliens. But then, we start to understand that this girl wasn't so prude after all. The Sheriff is telling Mulder and Scully that she wasn't the perfect girl at all. This reminded me a bit of "Twin Peaks", when we slowly realize that Laura Palmer wasn't this innocent girl after all.

OBSESSED MULDER
For the very first time in the series, we get to see Fox Mulder obsessed about a case and having a dark side into him. When that arises, David Duchovny plays a beautiful facette from the character. This facette will be seen again in future episodes. The paroxysm will be when facing Duane Barry after he abducted Scully.

EMOTIONS
This provides an emotional connection from Mulder, which is always more interesting where characters have deep connections to the case. For instance, it is so emotional when Mulder touches the picture of the "abducted" girl as a child.
Mulder is just a man desperately trying to find out what happened to his sister. This vulnerable side of the character is what makes him a deep character and not a flat one like new characters such as Monica Reyes. Mulder is a true human being to which you can really connect as an audience.
Even though this is a series about aliens and monsters, the themes are real and the first season, with its low budget, is perfect for that.

REALISM
Once again, the episode is anchored in realism. At the beginning of the episode, FBI Chief Section Blevins explains to Scully that Mulder has filed a dedicated form (named 302). Mulder is actually filling out a request for future travel expenses. He is formally asking the Bureau to assign a case file number to a new investigation. Can you imagine that? In the later seasons, Mulder and Scully would simply jump on the next sci-fi quest without even asking. This level of realism of the first seasons is very positive.

ENDING / MUSIC
The ending of this episode is a beautifully stunning as the one from "Deep Throat", two episodes before. It is excruciatingly beautiful.
Just after Mrs. Morris refuses to have Mulder interrogating her returned daughter, he leaves frustrated. We then get to see Scully listening to Mulder's hypnosis tape, talking about his abducted sister.
Mark Snow especially composed a marvellously beautiful theme (and this is a rare thing, as he rarely composed a dedicated theme in future episodes).
This scene, with this beautiful music, beautiful writing and beautiful acting and directing, makes it one of the most emotional scenes of the series. We sense that Mulder doesn't want to openly talk about his abducted sister, as this subject is too close to him. Scully also feels that she cannot openly talk about it with him. This makes it very realistic and beautifully moving. Here are the beautiful dialogues:
Fox Mulder: I can't move. So I don't. I just lie there in bed.
Dr. Heitz Werber: Can you see your sister?
Fox Mulder: No, but I can hear her.
Dr. Heitz Werber: What is she saying?
Fox Mulder: She's calling out my name, over and over again. She's crying out for help. But I can't help her. I can't move.
Dr. Heitz Werber: Are you scared?
Fox Mulder: I know I should be, but I'm not.
Dr. Heitz Werber: Do you know why?
Fox Mulder: Because of the voice.
Dr. Heitz Werber: The voice?
Fox Mulder: The voice in my head.
Dr. Heitz Werber: What's it telling you.
Fox Mulder: Not to be afraid. It's telling me that no harm will come to her, and that one day she'll return.
Dr. Heitz Werber: Do you believe the voice?
Fox Mulder: I want to believe.

SUMMARY
I simply love Conduit and find it underrated. I give it 4 out of 5.

The X-Files: Squeeze (1x03)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Perfect first ever monster-of-the-week

MONSTER-OF-THE-WEEK
After the first two episodes telling stories linked to extraterrestrials, "Squeeze" is the very first ever episode having no connection at all with aliens. Therefore, it is the first episode of the so-called monster-of-the-week genre.

REALISM
Once again, even though The X-Files is dealing with paranormal phenomenons, the series is extremely realistic in its portrayal of those phenomenons.
I deeply appreciated the tone that was set in terms of Scully and Mulder at the FBI, and the way that Scully is a strong character in the middle of male FBI Agents. All the Agents are grinning at Mulder; calling him "Spooky" (nicknamed that Scully reveals to the FBI Chief Section Blevins during the pilot episode).
In the later seasons of The X-Files, there is no realism whatsoever in terms of the FBI. In here, just the fact that Mulder is asking a strange question to a suspect (i.e. are you more than 100 years old) is getting him in deep trouble. This feels extremely real and therefore, we truly believe in this story.

TOM COLTON
Portrayed by Donal Logue, the character of Tom Colton is a delight. I loved hating him in this episode. He doesn't real care about solving the murders, as he cares about his career and climbing up the latter. It is really effective, in contrast with Mulder and now Scully, working in an office located at the basement of the FBI.

DETECTIVE FRANK BRIGGS
While the character of Tom Colton was much fun to watch, the character of the old Detective Frank Briggs was pure genius. The way the actor Henry Beckman portrayed him is magnificent. You can truly feel that this detective has lived this case very personally.
I use this opportunity to honour the memory of the actor Henry Beckman, who passed away in 2008.

MULDER & SCULLY
Once again, the relationship and chemistry between Mulder and Scully is simply perfect. They trust each others, are serious and professional, while having fun between with each others ("Do you think I'm spooky?"). Just perfect.
The emotions that go into Mulder's character are very deep. We truly feel bad for him, being laughed at by his peers.
On the other side, we can now see a glimpse of Scully's life, which is a very solitary life. When coming back from work, Scully has no boyfriend or family waiting for her at home. She instead spend her time writing reports of her current investigations.
On the long term, this may seem unrealistic. If really the producers would have pushed the boundaries to the realism even more, they would have needed to provide Mulder and Scully with a private life - meaning a wife or husband, maybe some kids, some friends, etc. But of course, it would have been very difficult - to almost virtually impossible - to add it naturally to the show. Hence the good decision for them to have no life at all whatsoever, as sad as it is.
Also, it is in this episode that Scully decides to follow Mulder's quest in the x-files section, even though she has the chance to follow Tom Colton's path to a more typical career at the FBI.

GILLIAN ANDERSON
I think that Gillian Anderson gave a wonderful performance in this episode. She shows herself as a strong character, but at the same time shows a sense of subtlety of a fragile person. it is as if she is openly showing that there is someone living inside her strong character. It is really magical to see.

SOUNDTRACK
The music from the episode is extremely creepy. Mark Snow did a beautiful job. The introduction sequence would have been nothing without his music, as well as the creepy sound cues.
And at the same time, the music is, like in the two previous episodes, very emotional in the nostalgic sense. It is very clear at 18', when we can hear at the very same time some very dark and creepy sounds, while having a nostalgic music at the same time. Therefore, we feel both frightened by Tooms and sad by looking at Fox Mulder being laughed and screamed at by the Bureau.

66, EXETER STREET
The apartment of Tooms is also part of the classic scenes from The X-Files. This very old building is simply the perfect location for such episode. I don't remember remembering by heart the address of any other place from any other tv series, but 66, Exeter Street.

DON'T SHOW
Even though I love this episode, I can find two minor details that bugged me. First, when Tooms jumps on the man inside his house, the shot, even though lasts for just one second, is pretty poor. On the contrary, the next shot is beautiful. Instead of seeing the actual killing, we move away from the direct scene and just see a small flame dying in the fireplace. This is a brilliant way to frighten the audience without actually showing the dark moment. This is a typical gimmick from Alfred Hitchcock.

HANDCUFFS... REALLY?
Finally, the other thing that I couldn't believe was the fact that Mulder and Scully are handcuffing Tooms at the end of the episode... As it it would stop him from squeezing himself and getting free again. There should have been a better way to actually stop him.

OPENED ENDING
Even though the first two episodes had opened endings, the cases were mostly closed. In "Squeeze", we live a true opened ending, with Eugene Tooms slowly smiling at the view of his prison cell door. What a marvellous ending.

SUMMARY
"Squeeze" is the first monster-of-the-week episode and represents its perfect definition. Though paranormal, the story is anchored in a deep reality, which gives the episode, and the series, a true sense of scariness.
I give the episode a 10 out of 10. A true classic.

The X-Files: Deep Throat (1x02)
Pike January 1, 2016, 12:01 ET

Superb nostalgic episode with a majestic soundtrack

Deep Throat is the first episode of The X-Files shot after the pilot.

OPENING CREDITS
For the first time, The X-Files proposes us a completely new opening credits sequence—the pilot episode having no opening credits except a sentence stating that the episode was based on actual material.
This opening credits scene will become cult for an entire generation. So cult that when Chris Carter will actually edit it during the eighth season, X-Philes, the self-titled fans of the series, will scream. This sequence will even get completely revisited in the ninth season, before turning back to its original version from the tenth season.

These opening credits are pure marvellous; 43 seconds of stupendous marvel.
In a radical change to most of the series from the time, the opening credits contain almost zero images from the main characters. Very intelligently, the names of the main actors are displayed in front of FBI badges. Therefore, we don't face the abject "Love Boat" syndrome, where the names appear in front of scenes from the characters.
In these marvellous credits, Mulder and Scully only appear very briefly on a short shot taken from the following episode (Squeeze).
The logo from the series will appear in different format along the years, seasons, movies and merchandising products. But only the "X" from these credits will represent the true mystery from the show. These waves along the "X"... This cut part at the top left... This "X", typical from a typewriter, sends us back to the fifties, to the Cold War, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the JFK assassination and to the darkest hours from the FBI.
We easily imagine this "X" appearing on a piece of paper from the Remington typewriter of Kolchak, writing his article, his hat on his back.

And what to say about the musical theme of the series? This is simply a myth of television culture. The echo that we can hear and that gives the theme all his sense was actually the result of an error. Mark Snow and Chris Carter were together and suddenly, the wrong button was pressed, which gave this enigmatic sound.

ATMOSPHERE / MUSIC
Shot more than one year after the original pilot, Deep Throat still has the same magical atmosphere as the first episode. One of the most important aspects from this episode is the music. Mark Snow offers us once again a beautiful soundtrack both nostalgic and mysterious at the same time, a tour de force that will slowly vanish along the years to come, in favor of a more convential music for this televisual genre.
This tour de force is clearly visible in the very first apparition of Deep Throat. Suddenly, an atmosphere filled with nostalgy and msystery is rising and taking everything with it.
How many times have we heard about the chemistry between Mulder and Scully? So much that this alchemy will one day take over the rest and become counter-productive. For once, I will tell you about another chemistry. The chemistry between Fox Mulder and Deep Throat. From their very first meeting, a father and son relationship, even grand-father grand-child relationship is taking place. This relationship is stronger than fater and son, because we sense that the Deep Throat character is aware that his life is behind him. And he wants, through Mulder, achieve a sort of redemption, because of his acts.

EXCELLENT SCENARIO
While Deep Throat tries to dissuade Mulder to pursue his investigation, Fox Mulder continue anyhow and discovers a major plot from the series. Some men from the government have some alien technology and are developing alien-based military equipment. Everything is beautiful developed, so well that the episode can be seen from multiple angles, which makes the interactions between Mulder and Scully perfect.

PARANOIA
Meanwhile, the sense of paraoia is intense in this episode. Mulder's phone is being taped, a fake journalist is spying on the FBI, Deep Throat warns Mulder not to pursue this investigation, etc. For the first time, we truly feel this sense of paraoia, which will become one of the typical aspects of the series - again going to its abject paroxysm when we will discover that Scully's aparment was filmed in the ninth season.

HUMOUR
At the same time, the episode is very funny. The scenes with the young couple (including Seth Meyers) are hilarious. Also, some dialogues between Mulder and Scully are especially funny:
Scully: If I were that stoned––
Mulder: Whoo, if you were that stoned, what!?

Mulder: Tell me I'm crazy.
Scully: Mulder, you're crazy.

MAJESTIC ENDING
Finally, the ending is one of the most beautiful in the all series. I have seen it so many times that I can narrate the dialogues by heart.

Deep Throat: Your lives may be in danger.
Mulder: Why?
Deep Throat: You've seen things that weren't to be seen. Care and discretion are now imperative.
Mulder: I saw someth...
Deep Throat: As I said, I can provide you with information, but only so long as it's in my interest to do so.
Mulder: What is your interest?
Deep Throat: The truth.
Mulder: I did see something. But it's gone. They took it from me. They erased it. You have to tell me what it was.
Deep Throat: A military UFO...
Mulder: ...
Deep Throat: Mister Mulder, why are those like yourself, who believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life on this Earth, are not dissuaded by all the evidence to the contrary.
Mulder: Because, all the evidence to the contrary is not entirely dissuasive.
Deep Throat: Precisely.
Mulder: They are here, aren't they?
Deep Throat: They've been here for a long, long time.

The writing of this scene is just sublime. When we add it up to the awesome directing (the arrival of Deep Throat on the field, Mulder and Deep Throat face to face), the excellent acting from both David Duchovny (he plays this scene tremendously) and Jerry Hardin (playing his character in a very enigmatic way), as well as the magnificent music from Mark Snow, the result is majestic.

SUMMARY
I am simply in love with this episode, to which I give a note of 5 out of 5.

The X-Files: Pilot (1x01)
Pike June 3, 2002, 12:06 ET

We are not alone 🛸

The pilot episode of The X-Files perfectly defines the essence of the series. Opening with a disclaimer stating that this story has been inspired by actual events, the episode then starts with a woman running around in the middle of a dark forest.

ATMOSPHERE
One of the things that amazes me the most is the atmosphere of the episode. The images from Robert Mandel, along with the music of Mark Snow are simply magically insanely amazingly nostalgically beautiful. The atmosphere is calm, dark and kind of nostalgic. You really have to watch the episode in order to understand what I'm trying to say.
As an exemple, at 11 minutes, Mulder marks the spot with an x sign on the road, near the forest. Then we hear six beautiful piano notes that starts this utmost beautiful transition. We hear some more notes and

A NEW DUO
The Mulder and Scully duo works perfectly! One as a believer (Fox Mulder), the other as a sceptic scientist (Dana Scully). And I should say that this so-called chemistry is so important during this episode that you sometime can SEE it!

FOX MULDER / DAVID DUCHOVNY
David Duchovny is great too. He didn't play Mulder as a plain crazy guy, but as this excellent agent ending up in the FBI basement because of a personal crusade.
Duchovny plays the role with a nonchalance and a dry sense of humour that is simply perfect for the character. He doesn't play it over the top, but in a very subtle and overall brilliant way. He IS the character.
Not only that, but this nonchalance is actually not a coincidence, but part of the dialogues and direction too. For instance, this goes hand in hand with his lines in the FBI basement, when he meets Scully for the first time. It is also part of the direction, when he is listening to music, laying on airplane seats while the plane is having some major turbulences.
But Mulder is not only that. At the same time, behind this mask, Mulder is a very deep and emotionally invested character.

SAMANTHA
The reason behind it is that he lost his sister when he was a boy. When discovering that there is a conspiracy about it, he became obsessed and, as he mentions to Scully very seriously in the hotel room scene, "nothing else matters to me."

DANA SCULLY / GILLIAN ANDERSON
Gillian Anderson gives a great job as a young agent trying to work on two levels (her assignement to debunk the X-Files and the need to resolve the case).

RELATIONSHIP
One interesting aspect is that Scully is, in an extremely subtle way, trying to show that she is a strong and mature female FBI agent. Two scenes prove this to me. In the first, Scully is sitting on her bed in her hotel room, writing and thinking about the implant that she found. When Mulder knocks on her door, she says that she won't lose any sleep on it, but you can clearly see that she is invested and is a very professional agent.
Later on, at the end of the episode, Mulder calls her late at night to talk about the proves that have vanished. She does the same thing. She quickly replies that they will talk about it tomorrow and hangs up.
But then, like in the hotel room, you can see Scully not being able to sleep and obviously thinking about it.
(In reality, her boyfriend Ethan Minette is in her bed as well at the same time, which could explain why she doesn't want to talk to Mulder. But Ethan Minette was actually deleted from the scene and the episode overall. Therefore, we can put our thinking as an audience, even though it may not have been the original intent in the script and even at the time of the shooting).

UNRESOLVED ENDING
The conclusion of the episode is also sublime.
As much as it was rare at the time, back in 1993, The X-Files would often close its case of the week with an opened ending. As we will see many times in future episodes, all the proves are taken away by mysterious forces.
This also is a testimony to the audience. And we are not lied to, because we follow an actual investigation. But when it comes to the end, we still have a few missing pieces from the puzzle and can continue thinking about it. In a way, we actually participate into the resolution of the case, which is simply phenomenally outstanding.

MUSIC
Meanwhile, the score is bringing the final and most important touch of the beautifully nostalgic and dark atmosphere.

AN INTELLIGENT SERIES
This pilot episode represents as well a major difference between The X-Files and most of the other series from the time (and still today). Most series would produce a pilot with lots of action scenes, some energetic special effects as well as some dramatic music.
This episode is everything but that. It is highly intelligent and thinking as well that the viewer is intelligent enough to want more than the typical 43 minutes of boring tv.

SCIENCE VS FICTION
According to me, The X-Files is not about science-fiction at all. The main topic is about finding the truth. it is about emotions. A young man trying to desperately find his abducted sister.
Samantha could have been abducted by a serial killer or a UFO, it doesn't matter. As an audience, we simply connect with this character and hope that we will find the truth through him one day. Finding Samantha should have been the ultimate point of a series that started beautifully. But I will talk more about this in the reviews from the seventh season.

SUMMARY
This pilot episode is simply perfect and represents for me the true classic X-Files. I give the episode 5 stars out of 5. A true classic and timeless masterpiece. I am in love with that episode. Simple as that. A sublime timeless classic.

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The X-Files: Reviews

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