The X Files Love-in - The Bear and Badger

regmcfly

Since there's a few of us on here who have been talking about this recently, thought I'd start a page up for it, to discuss the high highs and terrifying lows of this fantastic series.Â

I've just started watching it again with mrs reg, and barring some hilarious 90s fashion and synth (bumbabumBUM) it holds up well. Still, I wonder if she'll stay with it till seasons 8-9.Â

So, what are people's favourite episodes? Â I'm reckoning there will be an influx of Bad Blood / Post Modern Prometheus here, but I'll try to go a little differently.

Ice (1x07)

Taps aff

An utter rip-off of The Thing, which I now realise. However, back in 1994, I'd never seen the Carpenter film, and the little wormy dudes freaked me out to a very high degree. Also, features Mulder and Scully shouting at each other a lot, something I'll never get bored of.

Duane Barry / Ascension / One Breath (2x05, 2x06, 2x08)
Â

In hindsight, not the best story arc, but it did show the change in budget of the show, particularly with Mulder hanging on to a cable car. I remember thinking this was PURE DRAMATIC as a youngster - particularly with the CSM show-down.

Nisei / 731 (3x09, 3x10)

More of Mulder hingin on to things, which must be something I like. This is my all-time favourite 2 parter of the show. A nice little condensed thriller, but also pushes forward the Scully Cancer story. Amazing.

The Field Where I Died (4x05)

My personal favourite condensed X-Files episode - not really a monster or freaky thing, but one that explores the idea of reincarnation, although even that's not quite right.Â

Finally...

X-Cops (7x12)

Had to get one comedy episode in, and because this was so late in the show's life, it often gets overlooked. Mulder's werewolf impression alone makes this.Â

Anyway - anyone got any other favourites? Anyone absolutely despise the show?Â

Post away...

mk64

I seemed to just stop watching it at some point. They seemed to drag things out longer than the more recent sci fi Lost. I've been toying with the idea of watching it from the start all the way through. Always wanted to know if that shady smoking guy was a baddie or not. Although he was portrayed as one I had a feeling he was a show.

Birdorf

I'm due to watch these again, main story line lost its way slightly and I think they should have stopped at season 7.

Best TV series ever, except Star Trek.

Rev

Wasn't there the pilot for a spin off series of the long gunmen which was about flying planes into the WTC?Â
I'm sure I read something about it.

I was a big fan of the X Files. The worst thing that happened to it was when they decided they had to make a film of it. Â And when they made them kiss ffs.

regmcfly

I think I had a huge tolerance for a lot of Lost because of The X-Files.Â

For CSM -Â

Spoiler:

Skerret

Birdorf wrote:

I'm due to watch these again, main story line lost its way slightly and I think they should have stopped at season 7. Best TV series ever, except Star Trek.

No.

I_R

mk64 wrote:

I seemed to just stop watching it at some point.

My hazy memory of it is the same, there wasn't a turning point or a terrible episode, it just fizzled out for me.

I actually stopped watching Lost after the first series because of the X-Files, definitely had that winging it vibe.

Olimite

Can't remember at what point I gave up on it. Used to be compulsive viewing for me. Might start it from the start again.

I used to love Millennium too. That was sadly cancelled just as it was starting to get good (and the woman who played Frank's wife was HAWT!

krs

David Duchovny is shit as fuck is what I think of The X Files.

Coopers Green

Yeah, I've just ordered the first two seasons from Amazon. Really in the mood for some Monster-of-the-Week. X-Cops is a great shout, Reg. The Field Where I Died was an odd one.

Tempy

The X-Files is fucking excellent and has an amazing 4 season run right down the middle: 2-6 are mostly brilliant both in terms of the central mytharc and the stand alone episodes. It all went off the boil in 7 but it was clear by that point that they had set up to many little plot strands to ever satisfy the fans.

Any episode featuring the Black Oil is great, I think it's Tunguska where Mulder and Crycek go and get themselves all creeped up whilst exploring the wierd Roswell fuelled cold war that never ended, which is awesome. The Erlenmeyer flask is great season finale too, one of the best in any show due to it totally pulling the rug on you.

Bad Blood is obviously amazing, stated, so is X-Cops. You've missed Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man though, possibly grouding him as one of the best villains/characters ever. Other great shouts are the one about the Flukeman, Small Potatoes and Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, which is probably better than Poster Modern Prometheus all told.

I wish they'd stuck with the little grey men a little more, there is an episode in season 1 or 2 where they go to a mountain archive and there are clearly Aliens in there amongst them, even keeping them hidden as they mostly did would have been preferable to scrapping them almost entirely, especially before you really got to hear the full extent about their civil war and the resulting evil-hibernating-in-nuclear-reactors bretheren. Still, it might have ended up like Star Trek if that had happened so I guess they knew best.

regmcfly

Tunguska / Terma is excellent as well, Temps. I thought about Musings. Actually looking at Season 4 - that is an incredibly dark season, from Home, to Paper Hearts, to Leonard Betts and Never Again, and then that season finale.Â

Quite looking forward to getting there again.

Tempy

Musings is a bit of a tear jerker for me. Here we have this utter bastard, wry, intelligent and morally repugnant (if you're on the Mulder and Scully side of things) and then:

Spoiler:

Also, I can't spell it but Sygziy is fun too.

Coopers Green

I liked the one where they were stuck in a time loop with the bank robber/bomber dude. A nice nod to Groundhog Day.

Tempy

I remember hating Deepthroat's replacement until he goes FULL BADASS. Skinner is also guilty of being a PURE ASS KICKER a few times.

Another good Episode is the one where they are consulting on a film of the X-Files and they have a three way jacuzzi phonecall.

regmcfly

That's the one with Gary Shandling, I believe.Â

I also do like the episode Triangle, which is ridiculously clever with all its split screen stuff.

Tempy

Basically it is pure awesome up until Season 7. I love all the little things too like the nods to Mulder's awful sex life, there is an episode where he calls Scully from a payphone and in the background there is a strip club. Things like that are great.

Now, when was the best hair, GO.

regmcfly

There's also references to Mulder's 'videotapes' and his what's in his drawers.

regmcfly

There is a good Robert Patrick reference in season 8 where Â he says something about turning into a 'metal man' only happening in the movies.

Coopers Green

Any reference to Mulder being a bit of a sleaze always got a laugh from me. There's one episode where we see he's got a wardrobe full to the top of porn & junk, then in subsequent episodes it turns out that it's not a wardrobe, but the door to the bedroom.

regmcfly

Skinner even got his sex on in Season 3.

That didn't go well though. And now as I'm thinking about it, I've just clocked it's a fucking rip off of Don't Look Now, down to the red anorak.

Tempy

They had a lot of fun with it, I'm itching to buy the big box again now even though I've only watched one episode of The Sopranos. I try to explain this to people though, Good SciFi will always win over the supposed critical darlings as it is the genre I would gently spoon into the long goodnight if it was a good woman.

regmcfly

How the fuck did I forget War of the Coprophages from the list, which includes not only one of the best background jokes (car crash), as well as a 'real' cockroach crawling over the screen, and a character named Bambi.

Amazing.

Tempy

Also it translates to 'War of the Shiteaters' which is funny. Was there really a robot Cockroach in the end WHO KNOWS.

Jose Chung's From Outer Space. MEN IN BLACK/PILEDRIVER

Coopers Green

YES! Brilliant! Funny episode, but also creepy as fuck at times. Loved the smoking 'Grey'.

Brooks

Which was the Tooms episode? That always seems to get a thumb up in these surveys.

Tempy

@Brooks: There were two, can't remember them both but one was called 'Tooms' I think, they are very good Mosnter of the Week stuff, pretty much set the template for them all afterwards.

@Coopers: I love Scully in that episode, she accurately captures any book lover reading the latest best sellers that she can't understand the love for, with the added bonus of it being about her. Seriously meta that, along with the film episode, which is why Reg loves the FILES.

Coopers Green

'Squeeze' is ep 3, S1, 'Tooms' is ep 21, S1.

Thanks, wiki.

regmcfly

Yerp. Squeeze is up next for Mrs. Reg.

Tooms has the immortal Mulder line re bile 'How do I get it off my hands without betraying my cool exterior?'

Brooks

I don't think I caught a single episode after the third season, and never saw the movie.

regmcfly

You should dig season 4, most of 5, and avoid the film.

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