X-Files

[EvilShoe]

A couple of really bad episodes didn't prepare me for how absolutely awful the finale is. The first episode ever I just couldn't sit through - had the last 30 minutes playing in the background while working on the computer.

Oh yeah, it's shockingly bad. I'd like to know the thought process behind it.

[Dukefrukem]

Too causal!

[D_Davis]

Weird how quickly time flies, and how much can change.

8 years ago I started this thread while my then wife and I had started re-watching the series.

Now, I'm back to season one again, this time watching it with my girlfriend.

Since starting this thread, I've owned 2 different homes, been married and divorced, lived in 2 different rental properties, and had 2 grandmothers die.

Sounds like a lot.

[Dukefrukem]

[MadMan]

Okay I'm excited.

[D_Davis]

So many mysteries of the X-Files could have been solved, revealed and exposed had Mulder or Scully had an iPhone, access to social media, and an IMGUR / Instagram.

If you went back in time and introduced a smart phone to almost all of the plots, they would play out completely differently. Every time Mulder sees something when Scully isn't around, all he'd have to do is snap a pic and IM it to her.

[number8]

What's so fun about the dynamic is that they're on such opposite extremes. You hear a lot of fans rag on Scully for not being more open minded faster after all the weird stuff that she's seen, but you rarely hear fans acknowledge just how fucking insane Mulder is. It's not just that he believes anything is possible, it's that he jumps to paranormal conclusions immediately, even when there is a mundane explanation available. In those early seasons, it feels like if he sees one guy trip on a sidewalk he would launch into a speech about how many cultures around the world have stories about phantoms pushing people off balance. I like to imagine that between every episode, the duo takes on a dozen normal cases where Mulder tries to pin on the paranormal from the jump and gets proven otherwise. And really Scully rejects his theories all the time because she's just so sick of his shit.

[D_Davis]

My GF and I have come to the conclusion that Scully is the greatest female character ever created. She is so complex and nuanced.

Their dynamic is incredible.

[Dead & Messed Up]

What's so fun about the dynamic is that they're on such opposite extremes. You hear a lot of fans rag on Scully for not being more open minded faster after all the weird stuff that she's seen, but you rarely hear fans acknowledge just how fucking insane Mulder is. It's not just that he believes anything is possible, it's that he jumps to paranormal conclusions immediately, even when there is a mundane explanation available. In those early seasons, it feels like if he sees one guy trip on a sidewalk he would launch into a speech about how many cultures around the world have stories about phantoms pushing people off balance. I like to imagine that between every episode, the duo takes on a dozen normal cases where Mulder tries to pin on the paranormal from the jump and gets proven otherwise. And really Scully rejects his theories all the time because she's just so sick of his shit.

"Mulder, he tripped and fell-- this isn't an X-file."
"Scully, as far back as the Hopi shona and the Hindu pavari, myth and folklore tells of trickster spirits who meddle with human balance."
"You can't ascribe what happened here to the paranormal. Folklore tells us of spirits like that, yes, because the world is a fundamentally imbalanced place, and putting our failings on the shoulders of superstition helps us to make sense of... Mulder, why are you looking at my feet?"
"Did you notice you haven't stepped on a single crack since we got out of the car?"
"..."
"So much for superstition."
"...the sheriff's over here, Mulder."
"I'm sure your mother's back is fine."

[Dukefrukem]

[Morris Schæffer]

X-files on blu-ray this december!!!!!!

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=17711

[number8]

Fuuuuck everything about this.

http://www.avclub.com/article/today-...-david--231134

[Dukefrukem]

I feel asleep during the opening credits.

[Scar]

Didn't watch it yet. Saw some random review that said the first episode is meh, but the second one is supposed to be real good.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Yeah, first episode felt windbaggy, even for Chris Carter, and one sequence suggests a new overarching conspiracy-making that's damn near hilarious for how convoluted and rapid-fire the information flies at the audience. That said, I enjoyed watching the characters again, the main titles, seeing familiar faces and noticing all the tie-ins to prior episodes, not least of which with a triangle spaceship that hearkens all the way back to "Deep Throat."

[number8]

I'm a fan who's never taken the conspiracy mytharc seriously at all, I mostly enjoy them for how camp the paranoia can be (making fun of Mulder is 60% of my enjoyment of the show), so I wasn't really as phased by the first ep as most people seem to be. Joel McHale's monologue in particular is hilarious to me, and feels at home with the show.

[D_Davis]

Loved that they kept the main title sequence largely intact. Very cool.

Yes - the expository dialog and INFODUMP was entirely too on the nose, but in light of the recent political climate it makes a lot of sense. Hard to believe that there hasn't been an X-Files during the last decade of this Political Theater shit show. The introduction of an Alex Jones type character is great. I really hope they touch upon how the smart phone and other newer technology changes the investigative nature of the show. It should be really freaking easy for Mulder to capture some images and video now! Damn, that dude should be wearing a GoPro ALL THE FREAKING TIME!

[Milky Joe]

I was at the same Secret Space Program conference as Chris Carter in 2014. He stood behind me in the lunch line with Foster Gamble (of Proctor & Gamble). He's directly lifted much of the material in this first ep—like the 'ARV'—from it.

There was a bit too much exposition, but I guess he had to get the audience up to speed on the shape of The Conspiracy in 2016. We've come pretty far from 1993. I'm hoping the rest of it is less info-heavy and more cool stuff. Smoking Man back is awesome.

[Dukefrukem]

But damn, 2 episodes down and only 4 to go and I feel like we've gone from zero to 6000. X-files reopened. Mulder and Scully are both FBI agents again? and we see a super cool ARV and now Mulder is convinced of a different conspiracy over the course of 24 hours.

[number8]

Mulder's defining characteristic is that he jumps to conclusions, especially when it comes to conspiracies. My most recent rewatch in anticipation to this focused only on the mythology episodes, and the dude changes his mind about his lifelong crusade like 6 times, not even based on flimsy evidence, but just by meeting some new shady guy who claims to know things.

[Mara]

I didn't think I was emtionally invested in this until Scully did an autopsy and I was like, awwwwwww. I missed this.

[Dukefrukem]

I didn't think I was emtionally invested in this until Scully did an autopsy and I was like, awwwwwww. I missed this.

So this.

Or the jabs Mulder was giving the Bill ORiley guy in the limo. I'm hoping the ratings on this series is spectacular so we'll get more episodes or another movie.

[number8]

I'm hoping the ratings on this series is spectacular so we'll get more episodes or another movie.

It's huge.

[D_Davis]

Is there talk of making it an ongoing series again?

I'd rather see a good movie or mini-series every other year or so.

But I'll take more X-Files any way, so long as it's good.

[Mara]

Have I mentioned yet that Gillian Anderson is the most beautiful woman in the world?

She is the most beautiful woman in the world.

She starts talking and my brain melts every time.