The Lone Gunmen: Reviews

MUSIC
I cannot state enough how the music of the series is horrible. I really do not understand how someone as talented as Mark Snow could produce such a horrible soundtrack. Do you remember the album The Truth and the Light? Imagine listening to an entire album of that music? I bet you wouldn't want that. That would be called torture.

THE Z-TEAM
The series is really like a bad and joyless half-copy of The A-Team, only flatter and weak, afraid of going at it fully. That's the big problem. When it goes fully at it, it is stupid; and when it goes the serious route, it is a pale copy of The X-Files, only with lame characters. This is the purest example of a zero sum. The equation is simply unsolvable.

SEXIST
Oh, and the episode is sexist as well. Really horrible.

SUMMARY
I give it 1 out of 5. Very bad.

The episode starts with an excellent scene, in which Langley can be seen as a kid, not belonging and finding solace watching kids programs on TV. This is really interesting and we can all relate to that.
But then, of course, the series is still the same. Bad acting, bad music, uninteresting plot.

SUMMARY
Not so horrible as all the other episodes. I give it only a 3 out of 10. And that's a good note for this show.

OH, THE IRONY
The episode is ironically much better than the previous ones, and that's actually a problem. Because it is not better by trying to be original, it is better by simply trying to emulate an X-Files episode based on the Lone Gunmen. That's the irony. That's the reason why the spin-off is pointless. It serves no purpose, whatsoever.

FOX MULDER
The appearance of Fox Mulder, portrayed by David Duchovny, is horrible. Horrendous. Stupid. Extremely badly executed. The music when he appears is literally horrible. I mean truly, truly horrible. Mark Snow utilizes the title music of The X-Files in the worst of ways. The same way the sound cue will be used in the movie The X-Files: I Want to Believe, when we get to see the picture frame of George W. Bush.

SUMMARY
A better but still bad episode. I give it 3 out of 10. Also, the cliffhanger is totally uninspiring and uninteresting.

Once again, at the end of the season (and the series), the episode are not as horrible as the previous ones. But at the same time, the series morphs into something it is not. It was supposed to be a fun show. And instead of that, it goes back to being a very poor X-Files episode without the paranormal elements as well as Mulder and Scully. It is more unappealing as a Diet Coke.

Also, I did not like the appearance of Walter Skinner. This is desperate attempt to recreate The X-Files. But what's the point of a spin-off if you try to come back to the original material?

SUMMARY
A very bad episode. I give it 2 out of 10.

After the previous horrendous episodes, it feels somehow good to watch a somehow watchable episode. The theme is of course interesting, hence the raised interest. But once again, the score of Mark Snow is really bad and the story is uninteresting, as usual.

SUMMARY
A very bad episode. I give it 2 out of 10.

Once again, a horrible episode with horrible music, horrible acting, uninteresting story. As usual, a pointless episode of a pointless series.

Also, I find this episode sexist. This is clearly an episode written, directed and produced by males - immature males. The writing is really horrible. A sexy nurse is seeing Jimmy and instantly wants to check out his ass. I feel sorry for the creators of this show.

SUMMARY
I give it 1 out of 10.

The opening scene could have been interesting on paper (if you are on drugs), but once again in this series, it does not work.
After an episode with a baby, we get an episode with a chimpanzee. But worst than this, instead of making it fun as Friends was able to do with Marcel in the first season, here the chimpanzee talks through a computer keyboard. Yeah, right. I must say that a couple of weeks ago, I was watching The Wire. The drastic change is messing with my brain.

SUMMARY
A stupid episode. I give it 1 out of 10.

The episode opens exactly on the kind of way a bad episode of The X-Files from season 6 or 7 would. Visually, nothing is interesting, everything is pale and flat and uninteresting. This is the flatness of the 2000's in autopilot mode. The episode asks the audience, "where do you think this person is from?" Obviously, he's not been abducted by aliens, since he's saying it from the start.

So, instead of watching Mulder and Scully doing a proper investigation, we just get uninteresting characters doing uninteresting things, with uninteresting music and uninteresting dialogue.

POINTLESS
Once again, this is a totally pointless exercise. Art is about communicating something. Even if the aim is to communicate nothing. But here, we feel that all the producers are trying to insert a cube into a sphere. It doesn't fit, won't fit and will ultimately fail.

SUMMARY
A very bad episode. I give it 2 out of 10.

The episode is painful to watch. The humor is horrible. Extract:
Langly: Gentlemen, looks like we may have ourselves a Deep Throat.
Jimmy: Whoa, guys.

Jimmy is by far one of the worst tv characters that I have ever seen. The puns about him being stupid are actually stupid. They don't work and are beyond childish.

But then, the episode becomes really, really, I mean really, horrible. There is a joke about gas in an obviously fake medical center. I really felt ashamed of Chris Carter, the writer of this episode. And I am really glad I watched this piece of utter garbage alone.

The summary is don't ask the king of tv scary stories to write comedy. This cannot be improvised. Humor is not pull my finger and banana slip. It's about timing, it's about building something, it's about originality.

Oh, and I forgot about the baby screaming the entire time, as if the episode was not annoying as hell enough.

SUMMARY
A painful episode to watch with horrible jokes - not a single one working. I give it 1 out of 10 without any doubt. The worst episode of the series so far. If I would have worked at the FOX studio at the time, I would have cancelled the series right away. God this series is awful.

This episode is exactly like the previous one. It starts with a great flashbacks opening scene. And then it goes down the drain.
The episode is not interesting at all. The plot is boring and for a comedy show, the jokes are bad, really bad. This proves that it is far more difficult to produce a comedy than a drama.

SUMMARY
A very bad episode, once again. I give it 2 out of 10.

OPENING SCENE
The opening scene with the Nazi looking like Frohike is extremely fun and well produced. Finally, the first interesting thing since the 9/11 prediction from the pilot episode.

FROHIKE
The episode focuses on obviously the best of The Lone Gunmen, Frohike. But after watching the episode, I should say the least worst of them. Once again, the episode is totally boring and uninteresting. Once again, tv comedy clichés all over, with people falling while running, falling on water, faking a kiss scene, the all thing.

PLASTIQUE BERTRAND
Oh, and it was nice to hear some Plastique Bertrand in that episode. Ca plane pour moi, you bet it does.

SUMMARY
A very bad episode, slightly less worthless than the previous one. I give it 2 out of 10.

I've waited seventeen years before watching the rest of The Lone Gunmen series. I remember having watched the pilot episode at the time and that was more than enough for me.
So, seventeen years later, tv has changed a lot. I appreciate watching an episode slowly produced with a slow pace. This is a nice format. But as for the rest, the episode is bad.

OPENING CREDITS
For the first time, we get to see the opening credits. The result is really poor and while the music is kind of fun, the overall result is pretty bad and uninspiring.

MUSIC
The music is terribly bad. Mark Snow completely overuses his synthesiser. So much that it makes the episode totally unbelievable.

ZERO AMBITION
The series is moving forward and it lacks any sense of ambition. The three lead characters have no charisma at all. They are totally immature and uninteresting. I have rarely seen such a bad series.

CLICHES
The series is like a cliché of lame James Bond movie. Ironically, James Bond is the reference in the title.
Also, as in all bad series, there are both a knock-out scene as well as a kidnapping and someone being put in a car's trunk.

EARLY JUMP THE SHARK
To me, the series already jumps the shark when Langley throws up in the golf bag. The entire sequence is truly horrible. The horrible music, the worthless acting, the odd tone, the stupid sound cues.

JIMMY
Finally, the introduction of Jimmy is the same as the lame introduction of Eve. Totally useless and uninteresting. We are now at three lead characters and two secondary characters. Too much of emptiness.

SUMMARY
A bad episode from a very bad series. I give it 1 out of 10. Really horrible and actually beyond bad.

The Lone Gunmen is a spin off from The X-Files series. Frohike, Byers and Langley are three characters that appeared in the first season of The X-Files, in the episode "E.B.E.". While The X-Files was very serious at the time, the appearance of The Lone Gunmen characters was the first time the series went into the geek and fun storyline. I was never a fan of it at the time, as I much prefer the classic and serious X-Files than the self-aware one.

SPINF OFF ARE BAD, ALWAYS
Up until today, I have yet to see a good spin off. Creating a successful and interesting series is so damn difficult, than trying to create another great one based on it is virtually impossible.
The Lone Gunmen is no exception.

AVERAGE
The word that comes to mind is average. From the first moment of the pilot episode from The X-Files, the producers tried to go as far as possible from the typical average tv series frameworks. As an example, the actress was not the typical sexy bimbo. Instead of owning the fact that the three lead characters of The Lone Gunmen are not Hollywood sexy males, they had to add sexy characters, such as Eve. It makes no sense to add her into the loop.

BAD ACTING
It is by watching this episode that I discovered that Dean Haglund, the actor playing Langley, is actually a very, very bad actor. Every time he blabs a line, I simply did not believe it.

MUSIC
The music from Mark Snow is fun. Some parts are interesting, especially the electric guitare moments. But it ends there. The worst thing is by far the regular sound cues, as if we needed those. This feels cheap, lame and overall pointless. This diminishes the already low quality of the show.

DIALOGUE
Many times throughout the episode, the dialogue feels odd. It simply doesn't work. There is no real energy.

TRIO
Also, the episode shows that it is extremely difficult to build a story with three equal characters. Lots of shots feel badly staged.

9/11
But there is one thing that is extremely interesting in this episode. The Simpsons may have predicted Trump becoming President, but The Lone Gunmen showed a story about a commercial plane (almost) hitting the World Trade Center from New York only six months and seven days before the horrific terrorist attack from 9/11/2001.

SUMMARY
An average pilot using too many tv clichés. I give it 4 out of 10.

The 'Cap'n Toby' Show is the most successful episode of the series.

Written by the Gilnitz, they address poignant and relevant themes such as the difficulty of reconciling our beautiful years of childhood with the modern world. An episode with a nostalgic look at the values worn by the heroes of our childhood.
I think I would have preferred a second season of The Lone Gunmen, with that kind of episodes, than the actual season 9 of The X-Files. I know it may sound daring, but in the worst case a new season of The Lone Gunmen would have been harmless and less detrimental to the legacy of our saga than events of season 9. Canceling the show after only one season was a bad move, FOX television. A very bad political move.

The Lone Gunmen forever.

STAFF
Tango de los Pistoleros is one of my favorite script from Thomas Schnauz. That guy really works hard.
Everything works in this episode. The photography is great. Bryan Spicer directed it very well and the music is perfect. I really love "El Lobo" and "Sling Blade" songs from, of course, Mark Snow.

ACTORS
Zuleikha Robinson was very convincing, as an artist, a dancer and an actress. Her last scene with Stephen Snedden is touching. Special mention for Tom Braidwood, El Lobo !

Tango de los Pistoleros is a very sensual and solid episode. Excellent.

In my opinion, this is the only very bad episode of The Lone Gunmen and it is from Chris Carter.

A lot of bad scatological humour for an average plot. It seems Chris Carter only wrote bad loner episodes since the end of the season 6 of The X-Files, with the exception of Improbable in season 9. That's very sad.

A good episode. We are all like Langly : we love the series and shows we watched on TV when we were kids and we hate when they are retouched to be with current tastes. It reminds us that we are getting old and it strikes a blow at our childhood mémories.

A really good episode. For the fan of X FILES, you can see Morris Fletcher and Mulder. You discover that Yves and Mulder are in touch ... This episode is focused on Yves. Nice work.

An episode with Walter Skinner ! Really nice.

This is one of my favourite episode. I really like the music and the rythm. We can see another face of Yves. Really nice.

This episode has a good message about bears poaching which is unfortunately still topical. And this is good to see Jimmy making his own investigation.

This episode has an end that can be surprising. It's also nice to see Yves who helps the lone gunmen without personal interest.

This episode is not the best, but this is fun to think that an animal can be smarter than human. And Jimmy has a good role. It shows that he is not as stupid as we think.

This episode has an interesting main topic but I don't like the end.

This episode is not very good. I don't like the humor and the end. The only good thing is that Jimmy has the lead role.

A good episode with funny scenes thanks to Jimmy. This is amazing how this episode has still a topical subject.

This episode is interesting because it's the first meeting between Yves and Jimmy... this is funny. This is also an episode in which Frohike has a major role. Godd episode even if it's not the best.

The beginning is really funny. This episode is important because you understand the role of every character. And most important you meet Jimmy, who will be one of my favourite character.

An average episode, not very well directed, but working with animals is very difficult. It is always a challenge and I respect that kind of initiative. For that, my rating is a 5 instead of the regular 4.

This first episode is pretty good thanks to the 3 main characters and the actors. The story is amazing because the writers have seen the future and it shows their talent. This is sad that some dialogues are not good and don't work.

When Chris Carter wrote the pilot from The X-Files, his wish was to push the boundaries of the current television landscape. Here, Chris Carter does exactly the opposite. The Lone Gunmen is a series that tries to be like so many other TV series. Average. Uninspiring. Plain boring.
Instead of focusing all of his attention on The X-Files, which quality was already fading for quite some time, Carter spreads himself even thinner with this spin-off that no one wanted.

I give it 2 out of 5. The best of this awful and short-lived uninspiring series.