Wooo. X Marks the Spot.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-01-18 12:26am

I just finished an X Files Season 2 marathon, watching all 25 episodes of that season in a two or three day marathon session. Soon I shall start on Season 3.

Reminded me of what it was like when the show was worht a damn, and when TV was worth watching on friday nights before BSG came along.

The set decoration when the show was based in Vancouver really did look like the east coast of the US, where a lot of the show "takes" place.

They even visited Rockville Maryland where I used to live until 5 years ago, and Warrenton VA (where my dad lives), and the scenery was "right".

Same thing for the episodes in Iowa, Wisconscin, etc. They actually did look like the real things, instead of fucking los angeles.

The Conspiracy was kept as a pretty low key thing throughout this season; the only sticking points I had were the loss of a US SSN with all hands in the Beaufort sea near Alaska due to the ABH. They must have had to spin that one pretty hard.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2007-01-18 01:06am

Hey, I'm doing the same thing. I'm up to Hell Money in Season 3.

Watching it consecutively, it seems like Mulder is insane. With the most circumstantial of evidence he is able to come out with the most outrageous theory and state with complete conviction. Sure, he's right, but c'mon it's still damn ridiculous.

Post by **Vympel** » 2007-01-18 01:09am

I never liked X-Files. Mostly for purely superficial, this-minor-thing-annoys-me-greatly, reasons.

For example, the useless fucking flashlights. It's always dark as all hell, can't see anything (obviously, having the lights off prevents the audience from seeing how fucking cheap the sets must look)- and to assist in the fraud being perpertrated on the audience, the flashlights shoot an uber-bright ... 0.1mm diameter beam. Illuminating positively sweet fuck all. It happens in every episode. Ugh.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2007-01-18 01:53am

The X-files has not aged well. Mulder is absolutely insane, like neolong says, and it affects my viewing of the show.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-01-18 02:05am

Actually it's aged well.

Mulder's near insanity plays off well with Scully's skepticness. The dialogue is still great.

What hasn't aged well is the endless conspiracy episodes.

Post by **weemadando** » 2007-01-18 02:22am

Up to season 6 was classic X-Files. Season 3 was without doubt the strongest. Nisei/731 2-parter was awesome. Lots of great stand alone episodes. And the introduction of Jose Chung!

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2007-01-18 05:41am

Aaaaah Season 2. I still remember the Fluke Man creeping me out.

Majin Gojira · Post by **Majin Gojira** » 2007-01-18 08:06am

Yeah. Flukeman rocked.

I did prefer the Monsters of the Week to the overall Conspiracy. But I have a bias against conspiracies...

Plus the oneshots were often the strongest episodes.

Who cannot love their crossover with COPS? WHO!? You must speak now so you may be treated properly!

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-01-18 01:34pm

Finished the two parter that finished off season two's cliffhanger.

I have to even more strongly emphasize that the conspiracy episodes today are real draggers. Too much uber paranoia, plus people dying, and massive widespread conspiracies which have lasted for 40 years.

The bigger a conspiracy grows, the harder it is to keep it under wraps; it seem slike virtually everyone in the government but Mulder and Scully knows about the conspiracy, and has kept it going for 40 years.

An addenum is the number of deaths linked to the conspiracy. One death every five to ten years can be buried easily, if you're powerful enough. But it seems like ever since the X files began 1.5 years ago (by the beginning of season 3), it's been open house on people dying like flies related to the conspiracy. Even THEY can't cover up that many people dying in such a short period of time.

It's for these reasons that the Conspiracy episodes are stupid as shit today; and I suspect that five to ten years from now, "24" will be very stupid and irrevelant due to it's incredibly byzantine plotting and conspiracies.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2007-01-18 01:36pm

What was the conspiracy anyway?

Deathstalker · Post by **Deathstalker** » 2007-01-18 01:52pm

Who cannot love their crossover with COPS? WHO!? You must speak now so you may be treated properly!

"Cowboy up deputy! You're on national television!"

As for the conspiracy, it was about aliens messing with humans, and humans helpong to cover it up, which is the short version.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2007-01-18 02:05pm

Ah, I did so love watching the show until it sort've lost the plot around season 5/6. I completely stopped just prior to Robert Patrick taking over Mulder's place. The movie at least answered a lot of things, but I was expecting a second one to sort out what was going on with those aliens and their Black Oil.

andrewgpaul · Post by **andrewgpaul** » 2007-01-18 02:13pm

I lost interest after the movie; the subsequent TV season took nearly 2 years to be shown in the UK, and even then, it was on satellite rather than the Beeb, so I couldn't keep up easily.

18-Till-I-Die · Post by **18-Till-I-Die** » 2007-01-18 02:32pm

Gandalf wrote:What was the conspiracy anyway?

I wasnt able to watch the whole series, but this is what i've read in terms of an explaination.

The aliens had once lived on Earth eons ago, but were driven away for some reason. As there are chunks of rock on Earth now that kill the aliens, it's likely it was a kind of "kryptonite" situation.

After living away from Earth for millennia they returned, only to find their former homeworld all but uninhabitable to them and populated by these "human" things.

So they tried to kill the humans. But some humans figured out that the rocks could kill them and built their cities there, which made the aliens think twice. Eventually they decided to strike a deal with some humans, to create human-alien hybrids that would conquer the world. The black oil was the true form of the aliens, the gray form is an illusion or a host that they use to get around.

The Consciracy had been offered a chance for them, and a few other humans to survive if they helped the aliens, secretly they were trying to defeat them however, developing a vacine against the black oil.

The Myan (or Incan?) "doomsday clock" tells that Earth will be invaded wholesale by the year 2012 IIRC. Part of this plan is to release genetically engineered bees infected with a deadly kind of smallpox that will exterminate all of mankind, so the alien hybrids can conquer the world.

So the Consciracy was actually kind of the good guys, trying to double cross the aliens and create a way to protect us against them. The aliens were an ancient form of life that once lived here but now couldnt make it here any longer, and wanted to take their world back. The Alien Bounty Hunters were, i believe, some seperate race conscripted to fight for the main aliens.

NeoGoomba · Post by **NeoGoomba** » 2007-01-18 06:31pm

Did the Millenium Group factor into the Conspiracy at all? I know that they kinda sorta resloved Millenium on an episode, which I enjoyed, but I don't know if there was any other connection between the two series.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2007-01-18 08:06pm

How did someone as wacked out as Mulder manage to stay in the FBI? How did he make it through the pysch screening, are they a union shop or something?

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2007-01-18 10:06pm

Cpl Kendall wrote:How did someone as wacked out as Mulder manage to stay in the FBI? How did he make it through the pysch screening, are they a union shop or something?

He has political connections, or at one time he did. Senator Matheson I believe was one of them.

That and he was something of a golden boy at the FBI before he went off the deep end with the X-Files.

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2007-01-19 05:40am

Deathstalker wrote:
Who cannot love their crossover with COPS? WHO!? You must speak now so you may be treated properly!
"Cowboy up deputy! You're on national television!"

"What i'm saying is your deputy was attacked by a werewolf, and we must secure him for his safety and ours."
"...... Can I see your badge again?"

I think it was so good because it harkened back to the early days with 'crazy' Mulder.

Srynerson · Post by **Srynerson** » 2007-01-20 01:47am

NeoGoomba wrote:Did the Millenium Group factor into the Conspiracy at all? I know that they kinda sorta resloved Millenium on an episode, which I enjoyed, but I don't know if there was any other connection between the two series.

The only other connection I know of is that José Chung appeared on Millennium in the episode "José Chung's Doomsday Defense".

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-01-20 01:59am

www.bestbuy.com has a sale on the X Files. You can get the seasons for only $19.95. I immediately ordered Seasons 4-9.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-02-18 08:27pm

I'm right now on Season 8; Agent Doggett is pretty good. I really think that there's a very strong case to be made for a revival of the X-Files as a new show; with a new set of FBI agents investigating simply weird shit.

spongyblue · Post by **spongyblue** » 2007-02-18 11:08pm

I actually didn't mind Doggett at all. He seemed to be the kinda guy who could care less if it was an alien or a guy in a suit; If it was bad, he had to stop it. I thought he was a good character that ended up suffering from a falling apart plot.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-02-18 11:15pm

My only problem with the show as a whole was the really mixed and random quality with the episodes. Sometimes you'd have one of the best episodes of a season preceded and followed a couple of the worst.

That and I thought the human body-snatchers/alien bounty hunters/super soldiers were cheap...

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2007-02-18 11:55pm

neoolong wrote:
Cpl Kendall wrote:How did someone as wacked out as Mulder manage to stay in the FBI? How did he make it through the pysch screening, are they a union shop or something?
He has political connections, or at one time he did. Senator Matheson I believe was one of them.

That and he was something of a golden boy at the FBI before he went off the deep end with the X-Files.

He also inheireted some high powered connections with the same community from his father, William (?) Mulder. That was part of it too, in that these were men that went out of there way to sheild Mulder and enable him.

And even on the X-files he did deliver on cases, even if they weren't necessarily inclined to accept his explanations. As I recall and he and Scully did break quite a number of cases.

Post by **weemadando** » 2007-02-19 01:57am

Stormbringer wrote:
neoolong wrote:
Cpl Kendall wrote:How did someone as wacked out as Mulder manage to stay in the FBI? How did he make it through the pysch screening, are they a union shop or something?
He has political connections, or at one time he did. Senator Matheson I believe was one of them.

That and he was something of a golden boy at the FBI before he went off the deep end with the X-Files.
He also inheireted some high powered connections with the same community from his father, William (?) Mulder. That was part of it too, in that these were men that went out of there way to sheild Mulder and enable him.

And even on the X-files he did deliver on cases, even if they weren't necessarily inclined to accept his explanations. As I recall and he and Scully did break quite a number of cases.

Just in the first season, they wrap up:

1x01 - Eugene Victor Tooms gets gaoled.
1x05 - Espionage/illegal arms sale ring gets busted.
1x08 - IIRC a saboteur at NASA gets busted.
1x10 - The Eve's are rounded up.
1x11 - Cecil L'Ively caught and gaoled.
1x12 - Creepy psychos exposed and caught.
1x14 - Murderer, Kidnapper and Bank Robber gets caught and killed. Well. Sort of.
1x15 - Mulder kills Barnett (well, probably. Mostly.).
1x17 - Murdering member of the faithful exposed (arrested or killed, can't recall).
1x20 - Tooms gets proper-fucked.