Thread by @robwillb, Decided to start an X-Files rewatch tomorrow. My mom got me the [...]

Decided to start an X-Files rewatch tomorrow. My mom got me the complete boxset the Christmas before this one. It’s time.

Might tweet it a bit. Wouldn’t expect an epic thread like for #MurderSheWrote because I‘ve seen most of X-Files numerous times so won’t 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 can’t even.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥰" title="Smiling face with 3 hearts" aria-label="Emoji: Smiling face with 3 hearts">

When the boxset is so gorgeous, you really can’t even. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable=

Gillian Anderson has always been a brilliant actress. HER LINE DELIVERY HERE. Perfection.

What I also love is that, from Mulder and Scully’s first scene, even tho they immediately begin verbally sparring, you can tell they like each other. When it’s over, she quietly smiles. It’s a tiny detail that speaks volumes.

I regret to notice that the recent Crown pic is not the first time Gillian’s 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.

It’s 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 Gillian’s 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.

‘Ice’ is deservedly considered a classic episode but also David Duchovny can’t pronounce the word ‘Arctic’ 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 ‘Fallen Angel’ 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, I’m skipping *some* of the worst first season standalones. I’ve seen the evil space rocks one and the one about how Mulder is afraid of fire and apparently banged on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s grave one too many times TYVM.

My Machete Cut of #TheXFiles S1 is a very manageable 14 episodes out of the 24 filmed, and I’ve 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-Scully’s-exes-appear-and-are-like-possessed-or-whatever stories. I’m pretty sure the first mention of Mulder’s 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 ‘Darkness Falls’. #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 today’s cinematic prestige TV. It’s almost magic. #TheXFiles

I just rewatched ‘The Erlenmeyer Flask’ 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 it’s known as today. I don’t think people appreciate how remarkable that is, particularly in a sophomore season.

#TheXFiles is the rare show, not unlike #TwinPeaks and I‘d 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 that’s 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 could’ve 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. It’s almost uncanny.

Not every Blu-Ray is worth buying the upgrade if you already own the DVD. This one tho...is absolutely astounding.

Technojargon

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥰" title="Smiling face with 3 hearts" aria-label="Emoji: Smiling face with 3 hearts">

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥰" title="Smiling face with 3 hearts" aria-label="Emoji: Smiling face with 3 hearts"> #TheXFiles

Technojargon https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable=

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 Scully’s 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 can’t be explained by any rational means! I love this stuff. And it’s 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

I’m reading each episode analysis in this book alongside my rewatch and, while I don’t always agree, there is some fascinating, insightful criticism here, and it’s 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 it’s appropriate to yell that in public without asking Sam’s permission, Scully.

I always forget how much I love ‘Quagmire’ (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 it’s 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 I’ve 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 ‘People are docile. Science is their religion now,’ 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 I’m genuinely surprised every time I randomly remember.

Depending on which episode you’re 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 I’ve stopped rewatching because they’re so genuinely awful that, while watching, they’ve 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 I’ve happened to watch has randomly had an appearance by an obscure Canadian actor who happened to be in the X-Files ep I’d 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 it’ll tip back over in the other direction from season 7 onwards. #TheXFiles

Btw a day like today where I’m 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 ‘The Post-Modern Prometheus’. Hilarious, heartstoppingly beautiful, and yeah hella problematic.

It’s 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 doesn’t 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.

(I’d 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 wouldn’t have worked in another context, as well as the I’m-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, Scully’s brother is SUCH a dick.

BAD BLOOD. That’s it, that’s 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 (‘Kitsunegari’ and ‘Schizogeny’), keep the rest! #TheXFiles

It may seem that that means S5 is the most consistent yet. Possibly...but also it’s 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 I’d known what would be going on today two months ago I probably wouldn’t have started rewatching #TheXFiles now of all times but I’m in too deep at this point!

Also I’m 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 ‘play’ 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 I’m about to watch yet another of my all-time favourite episodes, ‘Triangle’. 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 ’Triangle’. Her performance is a MASTERCLASS. #TheXFiles

‘Triangle’ 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

‘How the Ghosts Stoke Christmas’ is SUCH a goddamn delight. Another all-time fave. I’m such a Season 6 stan! #TheXFiles

UGH *Stole

It’s 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 she’s a nutcase but back then, SNL star)

I know it’s 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 can’t 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

It’s a funny sort of disconnect when you really enjoy something in a bubble and later learn a lot of people don’t. Reading reactions to that ep, apparently it wasn’t very popular? But it’s one of my very fave monster eps. So there’s my controversial #TheXFiles opinion, I guess.

The X-Files book I’ve 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 ‘Agua Mala’ creepy, unpredictable, and delightful?

Me briefly emerging from an X-Files binge to try to figure out what an #AnimalCrossing

https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> is:

is:" title="Me briefly emerging from an X-Files binge to try to figure out what an #AnimalCrossing https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> is:" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>

Social distancing. (Apologies for this very niche reference.) #TheXFiles

I was enjoying that X-Files ep analysis book but we’ve definitely reached a juncture—S6—where they’ve decided that the show has become largely not-good anymore whereas for me, it’s my favourite season, so my internal monologue while reading has become,

And it’s not just that I disagree with whether an ep is good or not but that imho they’re vastly misinterpreting the meaning and intent of many of these eps to the point that I’m 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, I’m on S7 of #TheXFiles now...

Also I thought I’d seen all of #TheXFiles but I’m almost positive I haven’t seen *some* of these before...either that or I completely suppressed them. Either way, yay, ‘new’! I mean, not great, but NEW!

Had some thoughts about the S7 ep, ‘Closure’: #TheXFiles https://twitter.com/robwillb/status/1244046866611871747">https://twitter.com/robwillb/...

https://twitter.com/robwillb/status/1244046866611871747

Continued... https://twitter.com/robwillb/status/1244047672081817601">https://twitter.com/robwillb/...

https://twitter.com/robwillb/status/1244047672081817601

And more... https://twitter.com/robwillb/status/1244047848196448262">https://twitter.com/robwillb/...

https://twitter.com/robwillb/status/1244047848196448262

I love ‘X-Cops’ so much. #TheXFiles

Omg I adore this quote about Scully in MONSTERS OF THE WEEK by Zack Handlen: ‘[Scully’s] 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...’

Watching ‘First Person Shooter’. ICONICALLY terrible episode. Scully arguing that video games cause RL violence and only men like them. There’s a sentient game character who looks like...see below. Yeesh. The 90sness of it all JUMPS OUT and just won’t stop. #TheXFiles

OH GOD MAKE IT STOP

Even the great Gillian Anderson can’t save this dialogue.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😬" title="Grimacing face" aria-label="Emoji: Grimacing face">

‘I saw what he DID, but where did he GO?!’

...

‘I saw where he WENT! I want to know where he IS!’

Um, WHAT

MULDER HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO VIDEO GAME CODE YES THIS EPISODE HAPPENED

I’ve 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, ‘Hey! No fair picking on a girl!’ Yes it was meant to be ironic but that doesn’t make it any less cringily bad writing. Whatever she was being paid, it wasn’t enough.

Speech. Less.

I swear, this was actually a great show sometimes. Just not here.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙈" title="See-no-evil monkey" aria-label="Emoji: See-no-evil monkey">

I swear, this was actually a great show sometimes. Just not here. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable=

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙈" title="See-no-evil monkey" aria-label="Emoji: See-no-evil monkey">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙈" title="See-no-evil monkey" aria-label="Emoji: See-no-evil monkey">" title="I swear, this was actually a great show sometimes. Just not here. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙈" title="See-no-evil monkey" aria-label="Emoji: See-no-evil monkey">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙈" title="See-no-evil monkey" aria-label="Emoji: See-no-evil monkey">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙈" title="See-no-evil monkey" aria-label="Emoji: See-no-evil monkey">" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>

And still the dumbest thing about this is that in an ep called First Person Shooter there’s never a single POV shooter shot.

Mulder: THAT’S 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 I’ve only cut one ep, 6x16 ‘Alpha’, other than the final scene which starts at about the 42:00 mark and has a bit of character/plot continuity that you shouldn’t miss. #TheXFiles

Don’t worry, the last bunch of seasons—how shall I say—MORE 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:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😊" title="Smiling face with smiling eyes" aria-label="Emoji: Smiling face with smiling eyes">

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍿" title="Popcorn" aria-label="Emoji: Popcorn">

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😍" title="Smiling face with heart-shaped eyes" aria-label="Emoji: Smiling face with heart-shaped eyes">

Me watching Mulder and Scully get into a crowded lift:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😱" title="Face screaming in fear" aria-label="Emoji: Face screaming in fear">

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😬" title="Grimacing face" aria-label="Emoji: Grimacing face">

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😭" title="Loudly crying face" aria-label="Emoji: Loudly crying face"> #TheXFiles

#TheXFiles Zoomed first.

Ok I’m about to embark on another one of those S7 eps I’ve 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 ‘Hollywood AD’ is self-indulgent AF but Téa Leoni’s Gillian Anderson impersonation is a thing of pure genius and perfection. #TheXFiles

So, the Kathy Griffin Twins’ power seems to be...getting Jehovah’s Witnesses to beat the shit out of each other when they’re 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 it’s not necessarily violence they cause. They’re...doppelgängers? And when they’re near each other vaguely defined bad stuff happens? Like um...this episode?

This episode is SHARKNADO bad and I’m LIVING for it.

One of the doppelgängers works in a COPY shop. GET IT???

Whatever the FBI pays Scully, it isn’t 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, it’s more than bloody deserved! #TheXFiles

On paper, ‘Je Souhaite’ has a more ludicrous concept than the last ep, yet it’s the magic of Vince Gilligan that he makes ‘Mulder is master to a genie’ into 1 of the #TheXFiles’ loveliest, most heartfelt, imaginative eps while also retaining a savage sense of humour/the macabre.

So many of S7’s 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 ‘let’s just be silly’ and then when it *is* silly, it’s GENIUS about it.

It’s a top 10 fave ep for me, for sure.

Season 7 done! Here’s my Machete Cut. First season in a while where I remove a significant number of eps. Again, there’s one ep that I’ve cut but kept one very important scene at the end. Mythology eps are in bold. #TheXFiles

I don’t know who on #TheXFiles S8 writing staff needed to hear this but if they wanted to sell us on the Scully/Doggett partnership it might’ve 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 people’s 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 & #39;The Gift& #39;) after a run of 6 meh-to-flat-out-horrendous ones in a row? The greatness hits so much harder.

And it& #39;s even a Doggett episode with no Scully at all. And it& #39;s still that great. Which goes to show how strong a character he could be when written well. And this is the best he& #39;s been written up to this point.

Haha yet another deadly virus! #TheXFiles cannot help itself.

Sorry it didn’t end up being a virus. It was some kind of...bioluminescent electrical jellyfish creature that dissolved people’s skin and looked like a cross between paintball paint and cum. Nothing to see here! #TheXFiles

It’s 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 ‘This Is Not Happening’ and...man, there are many shows that couldn’t 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 Anderson’s 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 isn’t 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.

‘Well, just remember, boys, this is America. Just because you get more votes doesn& #39;t mean you win.’ - Mulder

We’ve 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

I’m definitely in the final stretch of good #TheXFiles eps in a row now, which is making me a little sad. Not that there aren’t some good ones after this point, even in the new seasons, but it’s 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 Mulder’s one in Season 8’s penultimate episode, spoken over stock footage of sperm fertilising an egg, is truly something.

All of these women at Scully’s baby shower, as if she had time to have forged even a single friendship with anyone she doesn’t work with.

If Scully’s mother would stop demanding she tell her the baby’s gender so she can pick the ‘right’ colour of balloon, that’d 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 ‘Badlaa’.

As before, the mythology eps are in bold.

The S9 credits just try SO HARD, it’s almost embarrassing. It’s like ok guys, I know we have cool early 00’s 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, ‘The Debt’

There was just a Pamela/Tommy Lee joke. #TheXFiles

Dogget has a hacking cough in this episode which I’m very much not appreciating at this exact moment in time. #TheXFiles

Definitely missing when Scully had material that didn’t 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, c’mon, 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. It’s 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 ‘Trust No 1’. 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 doesn’t 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 that’d be peachy. The show has Kersh for that. I know Mitch Pileggi is great at this but with all he’s seen, Skinner suddenly not believing the FBI could be conspiracying against William is very dumb.

William’s 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 I’ve 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& #39;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& #39;s pure wish fulfillment and goofily done at that but it& #39;s also giving me pure joy?

It& #39;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& #39;s such a focus on tech.

At the same time, it& #39;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& #39;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 can’t quite decide if it’s 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. I’m actually really enjoying this silly little show particularly how it essentially plays Langley, Frohike, and Byers as secret folk heroes.

As a sidekick, Jimmy doesn’t work as well. The Lone Gunmen were originally comic relief characters and as the leads now, they don’t need their own comic relief, especially in the form of such a sitcomily exaggerated doof. He is very pretty tho so it’s difficult to complain.

At the same time, I can, because it feels like the network saying ‘Three nerd leads aren’t good for ratings, you need to bring in hot people to support them, stat!’ Thus Jimmy and Super Hot Hacker Spy Lady.

Hardly an episode of #TheLoneGunmen goes by without at least one ‘No homo!’ 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 ‘01, amazing! https://twitter.com/riotgeek/status/1250204700881846280?s=21">https://twitter.com/riotgeek/... https://twitter.com/riotgeek/status/1250204700881846280">https://twitter.com/riotgeek/...

https://twitter.com/riotgeek/status/1250204700881846280?s=21

Don’t mind me, just getting angry about decisions made about 19 years ago by #TheXFiles’ 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 Gilligan’s ‘Sunshine Days’, 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 series’ original run.

YMMV even when it comes to Scary Monsters which I enjoy but isn’t everyone’s 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, you’re better off not. What they do to Scully’s 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 they’re 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 ‘dana’ stop immediately i don’t care if you two are boinking now

poor skinner, giving the universal face of ‘help a heterosexual couple is making out right next to me’ 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 ‘super soldier’

this is all somehow...worse than i remembered?

it’s 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 man’s face melted off and the skull underneath it to prove to us beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s 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...

#selfisolationbeard

And then she went and said it...

THIS READ I AM SCREAMING (audio required)

Ok, just finished. It actually wasn& #39;t as awful as I remember. But it isn& #39;t...good. It just has no reason to exist. #TheXFiles has been Very Dark before but it& #39;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& #39;s runtime, until it suddenly...*sort of* is but it& #39;s a bad X-File.

It& #39;s also a bit gross from gay and trans perspectives but it doesn& #39;t feel like it& #39;s trying to be offensive, rather that it& #39;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& #39;s just exceedingly meh. Mulder and Scully don& #39;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 I’ll be finished! Should be done in about 4-5 days and then I’m watching Star Trek TOS which I’m really excited for as I’ve only seen maybe 5 eps (of TOS, that is, I’ve seen all of TNG, DS9, Voyager, Picard, and all the films)!

So here’s the thing: the first 2 eps of #TheXFiles S10 are actually weirdly watchable. They’re very pretty to look at, have some fun alien ship designs, and Mulder and Scully’s 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 it’s 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 can’t begrudge the existence of #TheXFiles revival seasons even tho they were mostly crap.

Other best part is you don’t need to know anything about the awful overarching arc because it never comes up. Mulder and Scully are back at the FBI. That’s literally all the info you need. Just jump right to that one, pretend it’s the season premiere. #TheXFiles

& #39;Home Again& #39; 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& #39;s situation with her mother but never in an overly obtrusive way is just lovely.

The rest of S10 may be rubbish but with & #39;Were-Monster& #39; and & #39;Home Again& #39;, we have a great character episode for Mulder immediately followed by a great one for Scully. They& #39;re both eps steeped in the lore and history of the show but which also actually have things to say.

As far as I& #39;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 don’t actually hate ‘Babylon’, even tho it’s problematic and really really wants to be profound but isn’t. I can absolutely understand why it has a bad rep but as a #Farscape fan, I’m a sucker for weirdo trippy dream sequences with S&M overtones, what can I say.

Also I’m 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 it’s...unique...

‘My Struggle II’... SIGH. #TheXFiles

This is also SO NOT the right time for this episode. Unstoppable global pandemic. Because #TheXFiles can’t help itself. And to add insult to injury, it’s just a terrible episode on every level.

‘My Struggle III’ 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 revival’s 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 hasn’t had consistently since S6. Not that it’s consistent here! But damn, the good ones, such as ‘This’, 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 Morgan’s ‘Were-Monster’ in S10, his ‘The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat’ 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 we’ve all experienced to some degree and (b) so timely and current it rejustifies the entire revival’s existence (despite Chris Carter’s eps being a strong argument against its existence!).

It’s also arguably the most playful, fucking hilarious ep ever.

Also Gillian’s reaction to the spoonful of off-brand JELL-O she’s 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:

‘Rm9sbG93ZXJz’ is just a total masterpiece. Experimental, hilarious, actually genuinely taut and scary but always with that savage sense of humour underlying. It’s a two-hander that’s 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 (Carter’s 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 couldn’t.

If I manage to get 3 more eps done today, I’ll be finished with my entire 11-season rewatch.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤯" title="Exploding head" aria-label="Emoji: Exploding head">

I mean EEP https://twitter.com/robwillb/status/1253266486740881408">https://twitter.com/robwillb/...

https://twitter.com/robwillb/status/1253266486740881408

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 don’t have to end on that mess. Self-care. #TheXFiles

Latest Threads Unrolled: