The X-Files (Season 11)

[Dead & Messed Up]

http://cdn2us.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeekus/files/styles/main_wide/public/2017/05/x-files-season-11.png

Welp, Chris Carter started it off with his whole Chris Carter thing.

I'm starting to treat his episodes as Dean Koontz self-satire, and it makes things tolerable.

[Dukefrukem]

I forgot about this entirely. :(

[number8]

So terrible.

[Milky Joe]

Like Dad Rock but a TV show. Dad TV. Chris Carter is a Dorky Dad. Not good, not bad, just... dad.

This was a better premiere than the last season's though.

[Irish]

Wait, what's the objection? You guys seemed to eat this up last season.

[number8]

They made a really big twist to the mythos that I'm sure left a huge bad taste in most fans' mouth, but for me it was just an incredibly poorly written ep. 2/3 of it was just Mulder driving back and forth shouting into a phone.

[Irish]

Ahhhhhh okay. That makes sense. Can you spoil the twist for me?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Ahhhhhh okay. That makes sense. Can you spoil the twist for me?

In the late '90s of the show, Mulder and Scully had a kid named William. This episode had Cancer Man tell Scully that he was the father, not Mulder.

It also retconned the events of last season's cliffhanger.

So that the global ramifications of alien existence being discovered in the climactic moments is revealed to be... a premonition by Scully that may or may not happen someday.

And the episodes I liked last season were definitely not the Chris Carter episodes. In fact, I thought the episode "Babylon," which he wrote, was possibly the worst episode of the show's entire history.

[Irish]

Thanks for the heads up!

(And yeah, I agree with the fans. That twist is legit dumb.)

[Kurosawa Fan]

I didn't think Carter could get worse than his work in season 10, but he absolutely proved me wrong. I didn't even make it to the twist. I couldn't stomach how fucking abysmal the writing was. I'll tune in for both Morgan episodes as well as James Wong. Anything Carter wrote is just trash at this point.

[Dukefrukem]

I'm not sure why they bothered, first episode feels so halfhearted. Pacing feels so off from older episodes. Everything is frantic.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I'm not sure why they bothered, first episode feels so halfhearted. Pacing feels so off from older episodes. Everything is frantic.

The entire thing played like a porn parody of The X-Files minus the porn. It was just embarrassing.

[Dukefrukem]

Watching it made me want to watch Season 1 all over again.... What they were able to accomplish on that Season 1 budget is nothing short of a masterpiece.

[Milky Joe]

That old man Mulder car chase had me thinking of the epic chase scene in Mitchell:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOCqlKNW9rU

[number8]

The gun standoff scene in the car legit felt like the Chris-R scene from The Room.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Friend of mine said that the loss of Spotnitz is a big deal in terms of mitigating Carter's worst impulses.

[Milky Joe]

2nd episode was better, more fun, some funny moments. still not great, still lots of weird 'cool-Dad-isms' (like that ending). I liked the graveyard sequence and the whole concept was interesting

[Milky Joe]

Question: why is this thread in the 2017 forum?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Probably 'cause I goofed.

[Dukefrukem]

I dont think the 2018 forum was made yet when this thread was made. I'll move it.

[number8]

2nd episode was better, more fun, some funny moments. still not great, still lots of weird 'cool-Dad-isms' (like that ending). I liked the graveyard sequence and the whole concept was interesting

It's back to basics paranoia and silly conclusion jumping (the graveyard thing gave me a chuckle). It is a bit tiresome realizing that this new mysterious organization is going to be the thread of the new season, when the last one hasn't even been resolved. Carter is so bad at wrapping things.

[Milky Joe]

Genuinely good stuff there with episode 3. Finally got away from the hamhanded worldbuilding and just had a somewhat simple paranormal story. Also several honestly creepy moments, like the X-Files used to be. Also some affecting scenes there between Mulder and Scully, dealing with age instead of just sort of ignoring it.

Seemed like a take on or response to Twin Peaks though... "a dark evil unleashed in a small town"—malevolent Doubles—a Demon Judy.

I liked it.

[Milky Joe]

Lots of hype for episode 4... Darin Morgan wrote it. I thought it was pretty stupid. Duchovny said that Morgan hates Mulder—I can only assume with this episode that he hates the X-Files too.

[Dead & Messed Up]

It was diverting and intermittently engaging (I loved the re-dressed office gag, mostly) but one of Morgan's least successful episodes.

Everything felt too much by 20 to 30%.