I had so much to do and I put all of it off this week. I got it all done. Thank god too, this week was hell. I had an optical printing assignment due, which was super difficult. I hate that machine oh so much. Then I had a radio project due by Saturday at Midnight, reworked some things crated the project and got it done, by the deadline, go me.
Then I was given some free time to myself before Megan came over this weekend...what to do....
It will get spoilery here if you have interest in ever watching the x-Files, join me next week.
So I decide its time. Time to do what I set out to do TV wise at the beginning of the this semester. Let's go back. About a year ago I borrowed from my brother Curt his DVD box set of Season 1 of the X-Files. It didn't really thrill me, and I skipped a bunch of episodes and watched the season finale. Well that finale kicks ass, so I suddenly realize I'm going to be watching this show. I let it sit forever though, and then think about it and pick it back up. I finish what I skipped in season 1, then start season 2. The season starts off strongly, but then I move on again...probably Doctor Who fix or something. This summer I say to Curt "I don't know if I watched 'Irresistible' or not". He tells me I'd know if I had seen it. So knowing I had watched every episode prior to that particular episode I decide that that's where I left off. That night Curt and I watch it.
The episode suddenly had me realizing what that lyric in the Barenaked Ladies song 'One Week' (watchin' x-files with no lights on...) was all about. It was so good. So creepy. So perfect. Suddenly I'm hooked and I'm running right through it. Thank God Curt has every season on DVD. By the end of Season 2 the mythology is starting to really kick into gear and it starts laying out the big mystery. Season 3 is the best season in my opinion, its sort of where everything you think of when people think the X-Files comes from. Mulder and Scully on the case of aliens, Cigarette Smoking Man, Skinner: good or bad guy?, the Lone Gunman, Krycek, and the Syndicate...its all there.
Whereas Season 3 is sort of iconic X-Files, Season 4 and 5 are like the character growth seasons. Season 4 is very much about Scully, and her character grows as she struggles with cancer. Season 5 about Mulder's struggle with his faith in aliens and the conspiracies. Season 5 is also a little strange because we get a lot of Scully and Mulder apart episodes...as they were filming the movie at the same time.
The movie is great if you've been watching the past 5 seasons. If not, it makes little sense but I'm sure its enjoyable...cause I liked as a kid and I had no clue what was happening.
Season 6 is where things get sticky. It starts off really strong, and continues to be strong until the half way point. The 2 part mythology episodes 'Two Fathers' and 'One Son' is in my personal opinion the best mythology episodes the series ever offered...and really the show should have ended at the end of the second part. Perfect end to the show, the mythology, the baddies, and everything. Unfortunately, they kill off the Syndicate, and leave our protagonists with nothing to really go after. So the rest of season 6 and all of Season 7 are pretty bland, boring, and overall meaningless. But season 7 ends well. Mulder is abducted by aliens. Fuck.
Season 8 is solid. Not the best season of the show. Not the most iconic. But its solid, the stories are overall better and the dynamic of the show is changed up with Mulder gone and Doggett assigned to the X-Files to search for Mulder. Doggett really works for the show. He shakes things up, but he is written and performed so well. He isn't Mulder. He doesn't plan to be. He isn't a believer, hes a skeptic and he has no feelings whatsoever towards the X-Files. But he is honest. Hes strong. He has trouble believing in the paranormal, but he isn't a baddie. He's Scully 7 years prior. Its a dynamic that really helps make the show exciting again. And it all leads up to a really fantastic finale. A finale that next to Two Fathers/One Son could have really serves as a perfect finale to the show as a whole. The X-Files continue, Mulder & Scully move on, and the fight continues...the truth is out there.
So I finished 8 the beginning of this semester. Then I needed a break. I couldn't continue. It was such a solid end that I didn't really care what happened next. But I had to know. So I decide to watch the spin off - The Lone Gunman, which aired the summer between 8 and 9 anyhow. I watched a few episodes and let it be. Finally this weekend I finished that show. It was decent, different from the X-Files, more light in tone, but overall rather enjoyable.
Season 9...jesus how did things go bad so quick. My only assumption was Chris Carter wanted out, and he had to get viewing figures low enough to let Fox get rid of him. It worked. Season 9 is a boring silly pointless season to a show that had run its course. The 90 minute finale is nothing short of anti-thrilling, and just recaps everything you already know. With this season and the newest movie both being so uneventful and pointless, I'm inclined to agree with Curt. The show ends at Season 8, and then nothing much else happens.
Then I was given some free time to myself before Megan came over this weekend...what to do....
It will get spoilery here if you have interest in ever watching the x-Files, join me next week.
So I decide its time. Time to do what I set out to do TV wise at the beginning of the this semester. Let's go back. About a year ago I borrowed from my brother Curt his DVD box set of Season 1 of the X-Files. It didn't really thrill me, and I skipped a bunch of episodes and watched the season finale. Well that finale kicks ass, so I suddenly realize I'm going to be watching this show. I let it sit forever though, and then think about it and pick it back up. I finish what I skipped in season 1, then start season 2. The season starts off strongly, but then I move on again...probably Doctor Who fix or something. This summer I say to Curt "I don't know if I watched 'Irresistible' or not". He tells me I'd know if I had seen it. So knowing I had watched every episode prior to that particular episode I decide that that's where I left off. That night Curt and I watch it.
The episode suddenly had me realizing what that lyric in the Barenaked Ladies song 'One Week' (watchin' x-files with no lights on...) was all about. It was so good. So creepy. So perfect. Suddenly I'm hooked and I'm running right through it. Thank God Curt has every season on DVD. By the end of Season 2 the mythology is starting to really kick into gear and it starts laying out the big mystery. Season 3 is the best season in my opinion, its sort of where everything you think of when people think the X-Files comes from. Mulder and Scully on the case of aliens, Cigarette Smoking Man, Skinner: good or bad guy?, the Lone Gunman, Krycek, and the Syndicate...its all there.
Whereas Season 3 is sort of iconic X-Files, Season 4 and 5 are like the character growth seasons. Season 4 is very much about Scully, and her character grows as she struggles with cancer. Season 5 about Mulder's struggle with his faith in aliens and the conspiracies. Season 5 is also a little strange because we get a lot of Scully and Mulder apart episodes...as they were filming the movie at the same time.
The movie is great if you've been watching the past 5 seasons. If not, it makes little sense but I'm sure its enjoyable...cause I liked as a kid and I had no clue what was happening.
Season 6 is where things get sticky. It starts off really strong, and continues to be strong until the half way point. The 2 part mythology episodes 'Two Fathers' and 'One Son' is in my personal opinion the best mythology episodes the series ever offered...and really the show should have ended at the end of the second part. Perfect end to the show, the mythology, the baddies, and everything. Unfortunately, they kill off the Syndicate, and leave our protagonists with nothing to really go after. So the rest of season 6 and all of Season 7 are pretty bland, boring, and overall meaningless. But season 7 ends well. Mulder is abducted by aliens. Fuck.
Season 8 is solid. Not the best season of the show. Not the most iconic. But its solid, the stories are overall better and the dynamic of the show is changed up with Mulder gone and Doggett assigned to the X-Files to search for Mulder. Doggett really works for the show. He shakes things up, but he is written and performed so well. He isn't Mulder. He doesn't plan to be. He isn't a believer, hes a skeptic and he has no feelings whatsoever towards the X-Files. But he is honest. Hes strong. He has trouble believing in the paranormal, but he isn't a baddie. He's Scully 7 years prior. Its a dynamic that really helps make the show exciting again. And it all leads up to a really fantastic finale. A finale that next to Two Fathers/One Son could have really serves as a perfect finale to the show as a whole. The X-Files continue, Mulder & Scully move on, and the fight continues...the truth is out there.
So I finished 8 the beginning of this semester. Then I needed a break. I couldn't continue. It was such a solid end that I didn't really care what happened next. But I had to know. So I decide to watch the spin off - The Lone Gunman, which aired the summer between 8 and 9 anyhow. I watched a few episodes and let it be. Finally this weekend I finished that show. It was decent, different from the X-Files, more light in tone, but overall rather enjoyable.
Season 9...jesus how did things go bad so quick. My only assumption was Chris Carter wanted out, and he had to get viewing figures low enough to let Fox get rid of him. It worked. Season 9 is a boring silly pointless season to a show that had run its course. The 90 minute finale is nothing short of anti-thrilling, and just recaps everything you already know. With this season and the newest movie both being so uneventful and pointless, I'm inclined to agree with Curt. The show ends at Season 8, and then nothing much else happens.
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