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Decided to start an X-Files rewatch tomorrow. My mom got me the complete boxset the Christmas before this one. Itās time.
Might tweet it a bit. Wouldnāt expect an epic thread like for #MurderSheWrote because Iāve seen most of X-Files numerous times so wonāt necessarily have the same level of discovery, but if I notice anything funny or interesting or have any funny or interesting thoughts, maybe!
Be warned tho, it will likely just devolve into me just YASSSSSing Scully and drooling over young Mulder.
*drooling over while (occasionally?) wanting to kick
When the boxset is so gorgeous, you really canāt even. 
Gillian Anderson has always been a brilliant actress. HER LINE DELIVERY HERE. Perfection.
What I also love is that, from Mulder and Scullyās first scene, even tho they immediately begin verbally sparring, you can tell they like each other. When itās over, she quietly smiles. Itās a tiny detail that speaks volumes.
I regret to notice that the recent Crown pic is not the first time Gillianās hair has had a Maggie-esque quality.
Vintage 1993 Seth Green #TheXFiles
Mulder is very relatable because while doing microfiche research in episode 3 he says it makes him seasick and I once got so dizzy doing microfiche research in high school that I puked.
Itās almost bizarre how well early #TheXFiles has aged overall despite being so 90s. It might have to do with the high production quality and meticulous cinematic detail. Might be the indelible joy of Mulder and Scully as characters/David and Gillianās performances.
I mean, all of the above, clearly. But it is amazing that a show with some of *those* styles, enormous clunky mobile phones, and only relatively primitive internet still feels fresh in many ways.
About to watch my FOURTH X-Files ep for the day. I mean, THE DECADENCE!!
The best thing about the early years of #TheXFiles is just when you start thinking about how timeless the show is, you get to an episode whose plot is THE INTERNET IS SENTIENT AND TRYING TO MURDER YOU.
āIceā is deservedly considered a classic episode but also David Duchovny canāt pronounce the word āArcticā and they make him say it approximately 500 times in this ep why did they do this to him #TheXFiles
Mulder has some selfish qualities but one of the reasons I love him is what a lovely example of non-toxic masculinity he can be. When abductee Max Fenig has a seizure in āFallen Angelā and he tenderly holds him, later caressing his face to console him, that is a MAN. #TheXFiles
And this behaviour from the male action hero protagonist of a sci-fi show that aired on FOX in 1993 at a time when their only other big live-action show was Married with Children?! Astounding.
In the spirit of full disclosure, Iām skipping *some* of the worst first season standalones. Iāve seen the evil space rocks one and the one about how Mulder is afraid of fire and apparently banged on Sir Arthur Conan Doyleās grave one too many times TYVM.
My Machete Cut of #TheXFiles S1 is a very manageable 14 episodes out of the 24 filmed, and Iāve actually even left some of the completely goofy ones in for good measure (and to give an accurate reflection of the show at its best *and* silliest, because that mix IS The X-Files).
This list retains all the key character/plot beats while also keeping you from having to suffer thru too many Mulder-and-Scullyās-exes-appear-and-are-like-possessed-or-whatever stories. Iām pretty sure the first mention of Mulderās porn habit is the only thing of value lost.
I will say a big green fly launching itself at my face in the bathroom is NOT what I needed less than 5 minutes after watching āDarkness Fallsā. #TheXFiles
The worst X-Files ep can descend to almost embarrassing levels of cheese but the best ones from the golden years...you could literally air them right now as they are and they would feel completely at home with todayās cinematic prestige TV. Itās almost magic. #TheXFiles
I just rewatched āThe Erlenmeyer Flaskā and it is still SO good. To the point that you almost forget that this is the same season that also brought up the Neanderthals from New Jersey, that ghost boss protecting his favourite female employee, and undead-guy-with-lizard-hand.
Also, like, this show was so good in its prime that its arc created to keep its pregnant lead off-screen while she had her baby is what catapulted it into the classic itās known as today. I donāt think people appreciate how remarkable that is, particularly in a sophomore season.
#TheXFiles is the rare show, not unlike #TwinPeaks and Iād argue #Lost, where the mytharc being seemingly riddled with inconsistencies and ultimately not coming together in a way that makes logical sense is actually the point and thematically strengthens the central thesis.
There is satisfaction in a perfect puzzlebox where everything clicks into place a la #Watchmen but that was meticulously/thematically constructed as a piece of clockwork whereas some mystery shows are intended to spin and spin and spin, being endlessly confounding, and thatās ok.
#TheXFiles premiered 26 years ago and the Blu-Ray restoration is so good that, other than stock footage and/or some random soft focus or lower quality shots, even the early eps look like they couldāve been filmed today.
Bradley Whitford just appeared in a S2 episode looking younger than he ever did on The West Wing, yet the episode looks *newer* than an episode of West Wing. Itās almost uncanny.
Not every Blu-Ray is worth buying the upgrade if you already own the DVD. This one tho...is absolutely astounding.
Watching #TheXFiles S2 back-to-back really draws into sharp relief how poor Scully is kidnapped FOUR times in that one year. The luck that woman has.
If you want to keep track, those times are eps 2.05/2.06 (Duane Barry/Ascension), 2.13 (Irresistible), 2.17 (Endgame), and 2.24 (Our Town).
You could also possibly add 2.14, Die Hand Die Verletz, if Mulder and Scully both being subdued, tied up, and nearly killed together counts.
And if you do count it, yes that means it happens to her two weeks in a row there.
I aspire to achieve even a 10th of Scullyās capacity for perfect deadpan. (Over-It Scully is Best Scully.) #TheXFiles
Reading reviews of X-Files mythology episodes and lemme just reiterate again how little interest I have in the mythology making sense. Pile on the mysteries, innuendo, and shadowy motivations that canāt be explained by any rational means! I love this stuff. And itās the point.
The point of X-Files is to see Scully sigh in scientist and witness Mulder looking extremely confused while sometimes shirtless. Duh.
It is also about talking into comically enormous 90s phones.
My Machete Cut of S2. YMMV on a few of the eps I chose to cut, but I feel like I eliminated the most disposable while, like last time, still retaining some dodgy ones for various reasons. Also in 3 cases, I keep scenes from otherwise meh-to-bad eps with time stamps. #TheXFiles
Iām reading each episode analysis in this book alongside my rewatch and, while I donāt always agree, there is some fascinating, insightful criticism here, and itās really enriching this entire experience.
(Would also like to clarify that since this book was released, one of the authors has come out as trans, and the later edition lists her as Emily Todd VanDerWerff.)
Not sure itās appropriate to yell that in public without asking Samās permission, Scully.
I always forget how much I love āQuagmireā (the one with the sorta Loch Ness Monster) till I see it again and remember all over again how it may be one of my all-time favourite eps. That conversation between Mulder and Scully on the rock is just divine. #TheXFiles
I love all of the subversive Darrin Morgan eps of S3, and I know he worked on this one, but I actually love this one even more because it has a lovely sense of hope that tempers his generally more cynical philosophy.
Plus while in some ways, it riffs on #TheXFiles formula as much they do, it feels more like itās coming *from* the text rather than commenting on it from the outside.
My Machete Cut of S3, this time around with just one time-stamped scene from one episode Iāve otherwise cut, just because I enjoy one of the jokes. #TheXFiles
The saddest thing about watching #TheXFiles today is when the Cigarette Smoking Man says something diabolical like āPeople are docile. Science is their religion now,ā and like, fucking please can we go back to this paradise?!
My brain actively blocks the fact that there was a period in late-stage X-Files (first go-round) where Mulder and Scully were both basically off the show, and Iām genuinely surprised every time I randomly remember.
Depending on which episode youāre watching, #TheXFiles could be one of the very best or worst shows to ever air. You could happen upon a huge number of bad eps and think it was genuine trash. You could stumble upon the best and consider it bona fide art. Truly chaotic energy.
There are some fun bad ones. But there are some Iāve stopped rewatching because theyāre so genuinely awful that, while watching, theyāve actually made me question if the show is actually terrible after all and I was just mistaken. Then I get back to a great one and PHEW!
The freakiest thing about this X-Files rewatch is that, so far 3 separate times, the very next thing Iāve happened to watch has randomly had an appearance by an obscure Canadian actor who happened to be in the X-Files ep Iād just seen. 3 different actors on 3 different shows.
This X-Files ep hinges on a plot point in which Mulder knows a cover-up happened because none of the corpses on a crashed flight are wearing wristwatches, thus they must have been removed to conceal evidence of lost time during a close encounter. The 90s were a different WORLD.
My Season 4 Machete Cut! Overall the ep quality is more consistent this season than any other up to this point. I only cut 3 eps this time around. Definitely in the golden years now. I suspect itāll tip back over in the other direction from season 7 onwards. #TheXFiles
Btw a day like today where Iām really fucking furious with the States is a PERFECT day for #XFiles bingeing.
I can think of no greater argument that a work of art can be problematic but still a genuine masterpiece, and that confronting those issues can lead to an even richer experience, than āThe Post-Modern Prometheusā. Hilarious, heartstoppingly beautiful, and yeah hella problematic.
Itās a truly wondrous, transcendent hour of television, not only my favourite ep of X-Files, but one of my favourite eps of anything ever. The plot also hinges on rape in a way that today doesnāt feel handled responsibly.
But strangely, its heart is in the right place, particularly when taken in the context of it being a retelling of Frankenstein, and what it does well is still breathtaking.
(Iād also argue that the surreal/heightened reality of the world of the ep allows it to almost get away with some of its issues in a way that wouldnāt have worked in another context, as well as the Iām-sure-to-some-extent-network-enforced ambiguity as to what exactly happened.)
It also introduced Young Me to Cher years ago and for that I am eternally grateful. I still associate each song used here with this ep.
God, Scullyās brother is SUCH a dick.
BAD BLOOD. Thatās it, thatās the tweet. #TheXFiles
Nothing fills me with as much joy as Scully just shutting Mulder down. #TheXFiles
My Season 5 Machete Cut is actually really simple: skip eps 5x08 and 5x09 (āKitsunegariā and āSchizogenyā), keep the rest! #TheXFiles
It may seem that that means S5 is the most consistent yet. Possibly...but also itās only 20 eps long due to the movie having been filmed concurrently, 4 fewer than usual, which also means less filler.
I also watched the first #TheXFiles film tonight which I actually love and enjoyed as much as usual, but seriously, alien virus plot now of all times...
If Iād known what would be going on today two months ago I probably wouldnāt have started rewatching #TheXFiles now of all times but Iām in too deep at this point!
Also Iām finding it oddly comforting? Alien colonisation of the planet seems almost relatively simple trouble compared to real life rn, and Mulder and Scully fighting to expose governmental evil is kinda cathartic.
Me pressing āplayā on yet another alien virus ep of #TheXFiles
And the very next episode features a quarantine. Not the alien virus. Something else. Naturally. #TheXFiles
Very excited as Iām about to watch yet another of my all-time favourite episodes, āTriangleā. It might actually be my very favourite. Season 6 is seriously underrated, guys. #TheXFiles
Gillian Anderson should have won a special comedic performance in a dramatic series Emmy award for āTriangleā. Her performance is a MASTERCLASS. #TheXFiles
āTriangleā is just such a ROMP. #TheXFiles x The Wizard of Oz x Indiana Jones x any number of 1940s farces
x DUH Back to the Future
āHow the Ghosts Stoke Christmasā is SUCH a goddamn delight. Another all-time fave. Iām such a Season 6 stan! #TheXFiles
UGH *Stole
Itās actually incredible how much comedic guest star power #TheXFiles had in S6. These are *consecutive* episodes:
Eps 4-5: Michael McKean
Ep 6: Ed Asner & Lily Tomlin
Ep 7: Bruce Campbell
Ep 8: Victoria Jackson (ok sheās a nutcase but back then, SNL star)
Eps 4-5: Michael McKean
Ep 6: Ed Asner & Lily Tomlin
Ep 7: Bruce Campbell
Ep 8: Victoria Jackson (ok sheās a nutcase but back then, SNL star)
I know itās controversial but S6 may be my favourite season of the entire run. It has such a sense of experimentation and fun. Lots of trying new, different things while still keeping a firm handle on the characters, and really the last hurrah before it all starts going downhill.
(with some random bright spots here and there in all of the later seasons)
Sometimes it feels like #TheXFiles canāt get thru a single ep without some sort of virus or quarantine. Finally got to one that seemed safe and then the immortal man had a long speech about what it was like to be in a hospital ward during yellow fever.
Yay!! Finally got to this one! #TheXFiles
Itās a funny sort of disconnect when you really enjoy something in a bubble and later learn a lot of people donāt. Reading reactions to that ep, apparently it wasnāt very popular? But itās one of my very fave monster eps. So thereās my controversial #TheXFiles opinion, I guess.
The X-Files book Iāve been reading called it one of the eps where NOTHING worked, and here I am even wondering if we watched the same show because I find āAgua Malaā creepy, unpredictable, and delightful?
Social distancing. (Apologies for this very niche reference.) #TheXFiles
I was enjoying that X-Files ep analysis book but weāve definitely reached a junctureāS6āwhere theyāve decided that the show has become largely not-good anymore whereas for me, itās my favourite season, so my internal monologue while reading has become,
And itās not just that I disagree with whether an ep is good or not but that imho theyāre vastly misinterpreting the meaning and intent of many of these eps to the point that Iām on the verge of yelling:
Scully is a forever MOOD. #TheXFiles
I actually do often find the lesser later seasons of formerly great shows oddly fascinating and enjoyable in their own rights, ESPECIALLY when you can tell how desperately they were *straining* to keep the show going past its expiry date. Anyway, Iām on S7 of #TheXFiles now...
Also I thought Iād seen all of #TheXFiles but Iām almost positive I havenāt seen *some* of these before...either that or I completely suppressed them. Either way, yay, ānewā! I mean, not great, but NEW!
Had some thoughts about the S7 ep, āClosureā: #TheXFiles https://twitter.com/robwillb/status/1244046866611871747
I love āX-Copsā so much. #TheXFiles
Omg I adore this quote about Scully in MONSTERS OF THE WEEK by Zack Handlen: ā[Scullyās] growing irritation at both the absurdity of the situation and the fact that she, unlike Mulder, knows exactly what it sounds like to actually listen to Mulder...ā
Watching āFirst Person Shooterā. ICONICALLY terrible episode. Scully arguing that video games cause RL violence and only men like them. Thereās a sentient game character who looks like...see below. Yeesh. The 90sness of it all JUMPS OUT and just wonāt stop. #TheXFiles
OH GOD MAKE IT STOP
Even the great Gillian Anderson canāt save this dialogue. 
āI saw what he DID, but where did he GO?!ā
...
āI saw where he WENT! I want to know where he IS!ā
Um, WHAT
...
āI saw where he WENT! I want to know where he IS!ā
Um, WHAT
MULDER HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO VIDEO GAME CODE YES THIS EPISODE HAPPENED
Iāve been quarantined too long and am now full-on hallucinating y/y?
WAIT HOW IS THIS GETTING WORSE
Gillian just had to deliver the line, āHey! No fair picking on a girl!ā Yes it was meant to be ironic but that doesnāt make it any less cringily bad writing. Whatever she was being paid, it wasnāt enough.
Speech. Less.
I swear, this was actually a great show sometimes. Just not here. 
And still the dumbest thing about this is that in an ep called First Person Shooter thereās never a single POV shooter shot.
Mulder: THATāS ENTERTAINMENT!
This is word salad. #TheXFiles
Realised I forgot to mention my S6 Machete Cut. Well, it just so happens to be my favourite season so Iāve only cut one ep, 6x16 āAlphaā, other than the final scene which starts at about the 42:00 mark and has a bit of character/plot continuity that you shouldnāt miss. #TheXFiles
Donāt worry, the last bunch of seasonsāhow shall I sayāMORE than make up for not cutting as many eps for the last few seasons in a row...
Me watching Mulder and Scully face terrifying monsters: 
Me watching Mulder and Scully get into a crowded lift:
#TheXFiles
Me watching Mulder and Scully get into a crowded lift:
#TheXFiles
#TheXFiles Zoomed first.
Ok Iām about to embark on another one of those S7 eps Iāve never seen before, what is supposed to be the LEGENDARILY awful Kathy-Griffin-plays-twins episode. Wish me luck! #TheXFiles
Oh before I continue, just have to jump back to say, yes āHollywood ADā is self-indulgent AF but TĆ©a Leoniās Gillian Anderson impersonation is a thing of pure genius and perfection. #TheXFiles
So, the Kathy Griffin Twinsā power seems to be...getting Jehovahās Witnesses to beat the shit out of each other when theyāre in close proximity to them? #TheXFiles
And now Mulder and Scully lookalikes are beating each other to a pulp. Second ep in a row with people playing Mulder and Scully which is...interesting?
Chris Carter wrote this one??
Ok so itās not necessarily violence they cause. Theyāre...doppelgƤngers? And when theyāre near each other vaguely defined bad stuff happens? Like um...this episode?
This episode is SHARKNADO bad and Iām LIVING for it.
One of the doppelgƤngers works in a COPY shop. GET IT???
Whatever the FBI pays Scully, it isnāt enough. #TheXFiles
Do they give Razzies for TV?
Mulder and me by the end of this episode:
If nothing else, S7 is the one where we know that Mulder and Scully are FINALLY banging. And given some of the episodes they have to go through this year, itās more than bloody deserved! #TheXFiles
On paper, āJe Souhaiteā has a more ludicrous concept than the last ep, yet itās the magic of Vince Gilligan that he makes āMulder is master to a genieā into 1 of the #TheXFilesā loveliest, most heartfelt, imaginative eps while also retaining a savage sense of humour/the macabre.
So many of S7ās attempts at comedy feel almost completely disposable. This one works because it manages to be fairy tale but also surprisingly straightforward and to have a real emotional core beyond āletās just be sillyā and then when it *is* silly, itās GENIUS about it.
Itās a top 10 fave ep for me, for sure.
Season 7 done! Hereās my Machete Cut. First season in a while where I remove a significant number of eps. Again, thereās one ep that Iāve cut but kept one very important scene at the end. Mythology eps are in bold. #TheXFiles
I donāt know who on #TheXFiles S8 writing staff needed to hear this but if they wanted to sell us on the Scully/Doggett partnership it mightāve been useful to not completely separate them in practically every episode.
Also god Deputy Director Kersh is the most repellent character. #TheXFiles
That gum you like is going to come back in style. #TheXFiles #TwinPeaks
Not #TheXFiles S8 doing an episode about a parapalegic Indian mystic literally climbing up and inside peopleās bums and turning them into human puppets whilst riding around in their stomachs before finally bursting out
I refuse to believe this ep is real how did they make it past the censors how how how and whyyyyyy
Gillian Anderson deserves a sainthood for being forced to do this script.
You can literally hear her gradually losing the will to live as she delivers these lines. #TheXFiles
Sure, sex is good, but have you ever watched an absolutely magnificent episode of #TheXFiles (8x11 'The Gift') after a run of 6 meh-to-flat-out-horrendous ones in a row? The greatness hits so much harder.
And it's even a Doggett episode with no Scully at all. And it's still that great. Which goes to show how strong a character he could be when written well. And this is the best he's been written up to this point.
Haha yet another deadly virus! #TheXFiles cannot help itself.
Sorry it didnāt end up being a virus. It was some kind of...bioluminescent electrical jellyfish creature that dissolved peopleās skin and looked like a cross between paintball paint and cum. Nothing to see here! #TheXFiles
Itās pretty incredible that, even in S8, when the #TheXFiles was no longer consistently great, it could still pull off a truly great ep. Just finished āThis Is Not Happeningā and...man, there are many shows that couldnāt pull off something that powerful and vital in their PRIME.
Amongst countless great performances as Scully to choose from, this may be one of Gillian Andersonās very best and coming so closely after that miserable ep I posted a clip from yesterday it goes to show how sublime she can be when given material worthy of her.
What isnāt talked about much is that the Mulder Returns arc of S8 is actually really good. Not quite golden years great but solid and often captivating. #TheXFiles
And OMG they just made a Harry Potter joke.
āWell, just remember, boys, this is America. Just because you get more votes doesn't mean you win.ā - Mulder
Weāve definitely passed into the Dubya Era now, kids.
Weāve definitely passed into the Dubya Era now, kids.
When you specifically call in a cult/ritual killing expert to a murder case because you found devil imagery that turns out to just be a Marilyn Manson album insert in his desk... Bonus dated reference: K-Mart!! #TheXFiles
Iām definitely in the final stretch of good #TheXFiles eps in a row now, which is making me a little sad. Not that there arenāt some good ones after this point, even in the new seasons, but itās going to be some very scattered quality from here on out.
They made a #MadAboutYou joke on one of #TheXFiles eps I watched yesterday.
I have a pretty high threshold for when #TheXFiles does its self-important pretentious babble opening monologues but Mulderās one in Season 8ās penultimate episode, spoken over stock footage of sperm fertilising an egg, is truly something.
All of these women at Scullyās baby shower, as if she had time to have forged even a single friendship with anyone she doesnāt work with.
If Scullyās mother would stop demanding she tell her the babyās gender so she can pick the ārightā colour of balloon, thatād be *great*.
My Machete Cut of #TheXFiles Season 8. I cut 5 eps from the first part of the season, other than one two-minute scene at the end of the otherwise abysmal āBadlaaā.
As before, the mythology eps are in bold.
The S9 credits just try SO HARD, itās almost embarrassing. Itās like ok guys, I know we have cool early 00ās graphics capabilities now but can we just calm down a bit please? #TheXFiles
The premiere is Not Very Good but, as always, Lucy Lawless and Cary Elwes do an excellent job of almost convincing me otherwise. #TheXFiles
Cinematic parallels: Lucy Lawless as an alien super soldier on #TheXFiles / Lucy Lawless in the season 3 #Xena episode, āThe Debtā
There was just a Pamela/Tommy Lee joke. #TheXFiles
Dogget has a hacking cough in this episode which Iām very much not appreciating at this exact moment in time. #TheXFiles
Definitely missing when Scully had material that didnāt revolve around being worried about her baby. #TheXFiles
I actually do like Doggett but this far into the show, sometimes dealing with his obstinate skepticism can be too annoying to bear. Like, cāmon, guy, even Scully believes at this point. #TheXFiles
And by this season, the paranormal on the show is in such evidence, he has to twist himself into even deeper knots than Scully ever did. And at least she had science. All he has is macho cop stubbornness. Itās not cute. #TheXFiles
Maybe I just feel that a guy who was not only completely devoured and vomited out/resurrected by a creature, but is also entirely aware that this happened, should be just a tad bit more open-minded about the paranormal being a thing? #TheXFiles
At least when Scully was skeptical about aliens having abducted her, there WERE actually also government men involved who COULD have been the only ones.
God, Scully is such an OOC wet blanket in āTrust No 1ā. This brilliant, fierce character completely reduced to weeping over Mulder and her baby being in danger. ENOUGH. S9 did her so dirty. #TheXFiles
Poor Gillian so clearly doesnāt want to be in this season, delivering these lines. #TheXFiles
The only thing Scully ever gets to say in S9:
Me:
Also if they could stop resetting Skinner to skeptic/blocking mode thatād be peachy. The show has Kersh for that. I know Mitch Pileggi is great at this but with all heās seen, Skinner suddenly not believing the FBI could be conspiracying against William is very dumb.
Williamās arc #TheXFiles
So Doggett and Reyes basically traded off which one of them was in hospital, on the brink of death, and sometimes in a coma every other ep. It makes all the paranormal diseases Scully and Mulder contracted seem restrained given they were somewhat spread out over 8 years.
John Doggett seeing clear evidence of the paranormal right in front of him that is also meticulously documented and correct beyond a shadow of doubt:
ELLEN GREENE ON #THEXFILES KLAXON
Interrupting my #TheXFiles rewatch for a few days to watch the short-lived #TheLoneGunmen spin-off which Iāve never seen!
The pilot of #TheLoneGunmen, which aired 6 months prior to 9/11, quite notoriously/eerily features a plot by a shadowy conspiracy within the American government to fly a plane into the World Trade Center in order to provoke a war in the Middle East.
For a long time, I'd been very curious to see how the ep would play today. Oddly enough, while it clearly dates it and is strange, I actually found the episode oddly inspiring now of all times. Because these three scrappy, idealistic guys manage to avert this tragedy.
As with #TheXFiles, it feels particularly cathartic now of all times to see people standing up to the government and preventing tragedy before it happens. It's pure wish fulfillment and goofily done at that but it's also giving me pure joy?
It's also ironic that, although #TheLoneGunmen aired in 2001, it actually feels more dated than early #TheXFiles not only due to the first ep plot but because there's such a focus on tech.
At the same time, it's full of so much more life, energy, and humour than seasons 8 and 9 of #TheXFiles that it makes it just so much more fun and entertaining to watch, and feels like a real reprieve.
Also back to the WTC, taking this and Season 9 of #TheXFiles into account, we know this is a universe where 9/11 didn't happen so at least on a symbolic level it feels like our heroes have affected actual change and made the world better.
Episode 2. Still enjoying the show but the tone is ALL over the place. It canāt quite decide if itās a spy hacker thriller or a wacky slapstick comedy with broad Airplane/Naked Gun-level performances from the guest stars. #TheLoneGunmen
Also dear lord the running slapstick gag about the blind football team whose players keep falling over each other because lol blind has aged soooo poorly. #TheLoneGunmen
2 more eps into #TheLoneGunmen. Iām actually really enjoying this silly little show particularly how it essentially plays Langley, Frohike, and Byers as secret folk heroes.
As a sidekick, Jimmy doesnāt work as well. The Lone Gunmen were originally comic relief characters and as the leads now, they donāt need their own comic relief, especially in the form of such a sitcomily exaggerated doof. He is very pretty tho so itās difficult to complain.
At the same time, I can, because it feels like the network saying āThree nerd leads arenāt good for ratings, you need to bring in hot people to support them, stat!ā Thus Jimmy and Super Hot Hacker Spy Lady.
Hardly an episode of #TheLoneGunmen goes by without at least one āNo homo!ā gag. 90s/early 00s comedy had SUCH a complex about being perceived as gay. Especially in shows with largely male casts.
Yes, this was pretty incredible. Some missteps due to time period such as casting a cis actress but everyone accepted her by her gender/chosen name without any jokes at her expense nor panic. Coming from a show about cis male nerds from ā01, amazing! https://twitter.com/riotgeek/status/1250204700881846280?s=21 https://twitter.com/riotgeek/status/1250204700881846280
Donāt mind me, just getting angry about decisions made about 19 years ago by #TheXFilesā creative team in the 9th season.
JFC the FINAL season of #TheXFiles (original run) was NINETEEN years ago.
You have one of the greatest actresses in the world on your show and THIS is the dialogue you give her to deliver?? I mean...
The world could literally end in an episode of #TheXFiles and the very next one may or may not acknowledge it, depending on if it originally aired on Sweeps Week.
Doggett and Reyes drawing straws for who gets to be the believer this episode and who gets to be the skeptic: #TheXFiles
#TheXFiles was socially distancing before it was cool.
So much of #TheXFiles S9 is a trainwreck particularly on an arc level but it also brought us Vince Gilliganās āSunshine Daysā, which is a miracle of an episode- magical, whimsical, lovely, bittersweet. And a vastly superior goodbye than the actual series finale that followed it.
Speaking of which, my #TheXFiles S9 Machete Cut! Yup, this is the season where the mythology is so far off the rails, I see no reason to try to follow it. Basically, finish S8, Google where Mulder is, watch these two eps, and consider them a nice coda to the seriesā original run.
YMMV even when it comes to Scary Monsters which I enjoy but isnāt everyoneās cuppa! But do not miss Sunshine Days!
And if you absolutely MUST see the mythology through to the bitter end, here are those episodes, but trust me, youāre better off not. What they do to Scullyās character in particular is criminal. Tho you do get Lucy Lawless as an alien super soldier in the first two.
But trust me, if even I of all people am suggesting skipping eps with an otherwise typically wonderful Lucy Lawless performance, you know theyāre dire.
In the end, the real answers to the X-Files mythology were the friends we made along the way.
ok about to rewatch the (first) final episode of #TheXFiles for the first time since it aired may god have mercy on my soul
damn it is really nice to have mulder back
love that they added david duchovny to the (still-terrible) new credits sequence for just this one episode
the pandemic is breaking my brain a super soldier just started strangling mulder and my inner voice yelled SOCIAL DISTANCE!!
i mean of course krycek is back as a ghost sure why not
ew why is mulder calling scully ādanaā stop immediately i donāt care if you two are boinking now
poor skinner, giving the universal face of āhelp a heterosexual couple is making out right next to meā compounded by being stuck in a literal prison cell with them
chris carter cobbling together the endless trial scenes
ooh I know what fans want as a culmination of 9 years...a slow-paced expositional clip show! - chris carter
for the love of god just stop saying āsuper soldierā
this is all somehow...worse than i remembered?
itās all just so relentlessly stupid
cigarette smoking man revealing to mulder that the date of the alien invasion just so happens to be the end of the mayan calendar
the fact that we literally see cancer manās face melted off and the skull underneath it to prove to us beyond a shadow of a doubt that heās actually dead this time yet he still manages to come back again
the final scene, just mulder and scully alone in a dark hotel room in roswell of all on-the-nose places, reflecting on their journey, is lovely tho
And tomorrow I get to watch the second X-Files film.
The Blu-Ray has a documentary nearly as long as the film WHO ASKED FOR THIS
Ok time for the second X-Files film...
And then she went and said it...
THIS READ I AM SCREAMING (audio required)
Ok, just finished. It actually wasn't as awful as I remember. But it isn't...good. It just has no reason to exist. #TheXFiles has been Very Dark before but it's never felt so dour and joyless before this film.
And the X-File here is barely an X-File for most of the film's runtime, until it suddenly...*sort of* is but it's a bad X-File.
It's also a bit gross from gay and trans perspectives but it doesn't feel like it's trying to be offensive, rather that it's just very poorly thought out and needed some queer voices on staff if they wanted to go there.
But, at the end of the day, it's just exceedingly meh. Mulder and Scully don't particularly seem like they want to be there. The big cliffhanger at the end of the series finale is barely addressed which narratively makes the whole thing feel off.
There are some good performances and some beautiful cinematography but, yeah, just no.
So now I just have the two new seasons to watch and Iāll be finished! Should be done in about 4-5 days and then Iām watching Star Trek TOS which Iām really excited for as Iāve only seen maybe 5 eps (of TOS, that is, Iāve seen all of TNG, DS9, Voyager, Picard, and all the films)!
So hereās the thing: the first 2 eps of #TheXFiles S10 are actually weirdly watchable. Theyāre very pretty to look at, have some fun alien ship designs, and Mulder and Scullyās reunion is a nostalgic joy. But other than the characterisations, the writing is a fucking calamity.
Literally all it takes is one conversation for Mulder to be completely convinced (AGAIN) that everything he believed up to that point was wrong despite having been abducted. But no itās another conspiracy to distract from a real conspiracy that distracted from a real conspiracy.
And teaming up with a right-wing conspiracy nut who thinks Nine Eleven was a f*ls* fl*g? Not a good look for Chris Carter or the show. Really looking forward to getting to the good standalones that have nothing to do with the aliens, the government, or god forbid William.
Ok but Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster is still an actual masterpiece. Such joy. Such a clever twist on the trope. Such a fascinating character study of an older Mulder. So good, I canāt begrudge the existence of #TheXFiles revival seasons even tho they were mostly crap.
Other best part is you donāt need to know anything about the awful overarching arc because it never comes up. Mulder and Scully are back at the FBI. Thatās literally all the info you need. Just jump right to that one, pretend itās the season premiere. #TheXFiles
'Home Again' is another gorgeous episode, just as good as #TheXFiles was in its prime. The monster is scary, the social commentary works, and the way it thematically parallels Scully's situation with her mother but never in an overly obtrusive way is just lovely.
The rest of S10 may be rubbish but with 'Were-Monster' and 'Home Again', we have a great character episode for Mulder immediately followed by a great one for Scully. They're both eps steeped in the lore and history of the show but which also actually have things to say.
As far as I'm concerned, this IS the tenth season: a beautiful pair of complementary character-driven episodes that also manage to be, by turns, funny and scary, showing what the #TheXFiles was able to accomplish so seemingly effortlessly in its best hours.
Confession: I donāt actually hate āBabylonā, even tho itās problematic and really really wants to be profound but isnāt. I can absolutely understand why it has a bad rep but as a #Farscape fan, Iām a sucker for weirdo trippy dream sequences with S&M overtones, what can I say.
Also Iām constitutionally incapable of not enjoying something that has Lauren Ambrose, there are some solid laughs, and the general batshittiness of it all makes it worth checking out at least once, even if it may not be an actual keeper. #TheXFiles
Ok to be honest it might be actively terrible but in a really compelling way? At the very least itās...unique...
āMy Struggle IIā... SIGH. #TheXFiles
This is also SO NOT the right time for this episode. Unstoppable global pandemic. Because #TheXFiles canāt help itself. And to add insult to injury, itās just a terrible episode on every level.
āMy Struggle IIIā is even worse on a rewatch. How did #TheXFiles return more problematic with regard to women and rape than it could sometimes be in its original seasons two decades previous?! Scully deserved a better showrunner. No wonder Gillian refused to come back again.
Possibly the most relatable moment in #TheXFiles history:
Meta Gillian Anderson #Hannibal reference! #TheXFiles
There is still such joy and playfulness from Gillian and David in the good eps of #TheXFiles, which yes there are more of in S11 than the revivalās overall rep gives credit for. Tbf again the mythology eps are dreadful so they do cast a shadow over the whole enterprise.
But the best ones are genuinely nearly as good as the show was in its prime. They have freshness, vitality, and urgency the show hasnāt had consistently since S6. Not that itās consistent here! But damn, the good ones, such as āThisā, which those clips are from, are GOOD.
Having watched literally all of #TheXFiles in a row for the first time, I can say on this rewatch that, as with Darin Morganās āWere-Monsterā in S10, his āThe Lost Art of Forehead Sweatā in S11 is an all-time classic.
It also might be my favourite concept to any X-File ever, being (a) rooted in a phenomenon weāve all experienced to some degree and (b) so timely and current it rejustifies the entire revivalās existence (despite Chris Carterās eps being a strong argument against its existence!).
Itās also arguably the most playful, fucking hilarious ep ever.
Also Gillianās reaction to the spoonful of off-brand JELL-O sheās about to eat at the end of the episode is legitimately one of my favourite bits of her acting in the entire run of #TheXFiles. Who else could take a moment like that and give it such DEPTH?!
Gillian Anderson to herself before delivering yet another devastatingly beautiful performance in yet another dire #TheXFiles mythology episode that does not deserve her:
āRm9sbG93ZXJzā is just a total masterpiece. Experimental, hilarious, actually genuinely taut and scary but always with that savage sense of humour underlying. Itās a two-hander thatās just Mulder & Scully until the final scene and is basically #TheXFiles meets #BlackMirror.
#TheXFiles revival has such a split personality between the creakiest rehashes of its glory days (Carterās eps) and the standalones, some of which have the same probs but many of which are glorious, recapturing the magic but also going to bold new places the old show couldnāt.
If I manage to get 3 more eps done today, Iāll be finished with my entire 11-season rewatch. 
For comparison, my complete #MurderSheWrote journey took nearly half a year.
Making an executive decision to jump to the final episode now and then go back for the previous two standalones so I donāt have to end on that mess. Self-care. #TheXFiles
