X-Files is Cancelled (1 Viewer)

[Rex Bachmann]

Steven K:

] too much to ask for him to try to tie it all together in the end? OR at least offer an explanation as to why certain things happened back then, only to have them "disappear" from the mythology of the show?

Frank Spotnitz from Knight Ridder news service 1/31/'02:

"'I just want to say right away, we're not going to answer all the questions. Anybody thinking we're going to . . . . you couldn't possibly answer all the questions, you just couldn't. We'll do as much as we can.'"

On a proposed second movie:

"'Whatever the movie is, it'll be a new beginning. What we're most concerned about is finishing the series properly. We're not really worried about whether there's something left over for the movie. In all likelihood, the movie's going to be a stand-alone Mulder and Scully investigation anyway.'"

"Amen" to that.

 

[Mike Graham]

I'm a little confused as to what plot lines that everyone wants wrapped up. What answers are you looking for?

The mythology of the first 5 years of the show was partially explained in the X-Files movie, and the main questions were answered in the "Two Fathers/One Son" two parter; the disappearance of Mulder's sister was finally resolved a year later in "Sein Und Zeit/Closure" two parter.

Right now the only questions floating about now are whats really up with Scully's baby, how she can get Mulder back, and where the Super Soldier plot is going. That's all Carter is going to try and wrap up.

Truthfully, although the mythology has been kinda hokey since Season Four's finale "Gethsemane", I've found Scully's pregnancy to be silly, yet forgiveable. However, the quality of the show since last season's dismal two part finale has really gone down, with the exception of "John Doe."

I consistently find Robert Patrick to be the best thing about the show; its a shame his character is utilized so poorly. Don't even get me started on how they've treated Mitch Pileggi this year!

 

[Rex Bachmann]

. . . the disappearance of Mulder's sister was finally resolved a year later in "Sein Und Zeit/Closure" two parter.

As much as I'm totally bored with the "mythology" of the The X-Files I think I'm enough of a fan to remember correctly that that episode did not resolve the happenings surrounding or the whereabouts of Mulder's sister. Mulder decides from meeting the "ghost" children that he no longer needs to worry about his sister. He says something about her being in a better place, if I remember correctly (and, no doubt, the "mythology"-lovers among you will correct and/or augment what I've said).
However, this is a perfect example of a part of the show that should always have been left a complete (ergo unresolved) mystery that drives the protagonist. That's a bit of the protagonist's background that's trivialized by being part of this whole literal government-conspiracy shebang. (Yawn!!!!)

 

[Mike Graham]

In the "Sein Und Zeit/Closure" two parter, it was finally confirmed that Samantha was taken by aliens and the Syndicate to be tested on; after her abduction she was returned to the Cigarette Smoking Man and his family on some obscure army base. The testing on Samantha continued until one day she escaped; CSM tracked her down to a hospital, where she mysteriously disappeared.

Over the course of the two parter, we learn of "walk-ins", previously mentioned in Season Two's "Red Museum", are spirits which protect children from horrible deaths by taking them first; the idea is even floated that their souls are turned into star light (yes, I understand its very hokey).

At first this is a bit hard to swallow, but Mulder , who may or may not have had some odd form of psychic ability during Season 7, sees the dead spirits walking about, and sees what he realises is the ghost of his now long dead sister, who is finally at peace (I guess this means that after the Cigarette Smoking Man captured Samantha again she was going to suffer a horrible death either through punishment or experimentation, so these walk-ins took Samantha away before it could happen). Upon seeing this, Mulder is finally able to reconcile the fact that his sister is in a better place.

Yes, many fans believed this to be a very anti-climatic ending to one of the most notorious quests on TV; however, to have such a spiritual and peaceful fate to a character who was put through such torture (along with her brother being haunted by her disappearance) , I think it shows that the writers wanted to do right by the characters they had to put through such strain over the years.

 

[John C]

Anyone remember the Project or the ail black oil that is going to be used to enslave or even wipe out the human race? If U.S. census figures show that aliens are slowly taking over the world then I would hope they address this storyline. The mythology has gotten damned annoying!

 

[Dave Barth]

Re: Samantha. I consider this plotline to be dead. For what it's worth, the episode that ended it was (a) incredibly moving, (b) hokey in parts, and (c) a terrible disappointment given the series' history and in terms of continuity. I have no idea how to grade Closure because it was very effective on its own and an abomination as far as it fit in the series as whole.

Re: aliens invading. I missed last season's two-part finale where Scully gave birth. Was this wrapped up? My impression is that the super soldiers are supposed to be people immune to alien control or fight the invasion, but that seems like a rather tactless way of simply shifting out of the hopelessly muddled alien plotline into a fresher one.

Re: Mulder having to leave. Mulder being in danger is itself a mystery to me. He's always been in danger, the whole series run. So WTF? I recall in the season opener Scully told Doggett "just don't ask [why]". WOW WHY NOT SIMPLY HAVE CARTER COME ON THE SCREEN AND TELL US DD IS GONE AND HE DOES NOT YET KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THE MULDER CHARACTER'S MOTIVATIONS FOR LEAVING SO IT WILL BE YET ANOTHER MYSTERY OF THE SHOW. I hope it is answered in the finale.

Re: numerous other plotlines. Abandon all hope. Carter made it up as he went along, and it was clear starting after season 3. Even if you held out hope through season 4, you had to abandon it early in season 5 when Gillian Anderson said Carter instructed her to play Scully telling the truth at end of season 4 when she said Mulder was dead, only to write a plot that had the notoriously bad liar Scully lying quite emotionally and effectively -- and in the process depriving Anderson of the chance to act Scully the way she would have had she known what Scully knew at that point...

 

[Mike Graham]

"Carter made it up as he went along, and it was clear starting after season 3."

Ironic that you would say that, as I find that Season Three is by far the most well organized and constructed season of the show. The two parter that opened that season ("The Blessing Way / Paper Clip) dropped info on the Nazi agenda, killed Scully's sister, involved the infamous digital tape and had Krycek break ties with Cigarette Smoking Man .

Later in that season , we had the "Nisei/731" two parter which discussed the Nazi agenda and Scully's abduction very thoroughly, and also left a plot line dangling about a ship being raised from the bottom of the Pacific.

Then in "Piper Maru/Apocrypha", we find out what kind of ship it was (that was raised from the bottom of the Pacific) , Scully's sister's death was addressed better, and had the Digital Tape and Krycek's whereabouts brought to light.

In the season finale, the idea of colonization (which was addressed in Season Two's "Colony/End Game") was brought back up.

This season was very tight, and no episode went to waste. The second last episode was done exceptionally well, and was a great way to gear up for the finale.

Although I have to agree, the cliffhanger at the end of Season 4 ("Gethsemane") was silly (even though the episode had superb acting and character interaction); the idea that everything was a complete hoax was a little bit too much to swallow, and the following episode, "Redux" seemed to suffer from it. Although it's an interesting idea to have Mulder as the skeptic, I can't really say I bought it (Duchovny played it very well though). This flip - flop was finally put right by the "Patient X/The Red And The Black" two parter in Season 5, so all was well as we were gearing up for the movie.

 

[Dave Barth]

Sorry, by "after season 3", I meant it was clear not because of season 3 but what came shortly after in season 4. The big alarm bells started going off in my head when Mulder drove up to Canada to see bees (?) with an alien (?) and apparently didn't manage to learn anything about the plot along the way (?), X was pointlessly killed for shock value (?) right after we had just learned he was a lackey of the CSM (!) which made his whole character much more interesting, and then Carter started doing crap like playing with the taglines for awful episodes like Teliko (WTF?).

In short, I thought the wheels came off the cart incredibly quickly after that, ie the very start of season 4.

I could have been clearer in my post. Sorry about that. For what it's worth, I agree with your thoughts about season 3, which I found to be very good to brilliant throughout with the exceptions of Hell Money and Teso Dos Bichos.

 

[Mike Graham]

The season 4 opener, "Herrenvolk", was by far one of the biggest disappointments in the history of the series. Ironically enough its still a very entertaining and thought provoking episode. Its just not designed to be an opener - it doesn't want to answer any big questions - it just poses them.

Carter wanted to get rid of X, and although the acting talents of Steven Williams were dead on, the character was actually very deceptive and looking back he seemed to hinder Mulder more than anything else, so his death didn't affect the show as much as Deep Throats. Marita Covarrubias was then introduced, and she was an even bigger waste - we just didn't get to see enough of her in Season 4.

The bees are a very spooky element, mainly because I hate insects and the idea of them being bred to spread a disease was a very disturbing idea. Whenever I was able to catch this episode in syndication, I have to say I enjoyed it much more the second time around.

I agree with you that the first half of Season 4 was weak - "Sanguinarium", "Teliko", " El Mundo Del Gira" - they were definite low points and really seemed to kill the momentum of the series at times. It seemed like every episode was either something that could really get under your skin or spook you ("Home", "Unruhe","Paper Hearts") or was a let down. Still one of the better seasons.

The following season, year 5, is by far the most over rated as far as I'm concerned though.

 

[Dave Barth]

Well, that depends on how you rank it relative to the years that follow it...I'd rank as follows

3

2

4/1

-- big gap

8/5

-- big gap

6

7

Kill Switch, Bad Blood, All Souls, Pine Bluff Variant, and Folie a Deux are my favorites from this year. The problem is, of the ones I don't love, there are a lot to loathe. The actors look tired, the chemistry is a lot more forced, and the whole series really seemed drained of vitality, particularly in the first half of season 5. Plus while Patient X and The Red and the Black had a lot of promise, the movie didn't deliver, and neither did seasons 6 and 7...

maybe I should buy seasons 4 and 5 on DVD. It's quite possible that my view of them will rise somewhat once I'm no longer viewing them through the lens of fading hope that the show would go where it initally promised to...

 

[Mike Graham]

When I first watched the movie in theater, I was outright disgusted. The disappointment I felt was incredible. Here I was expecting the biggest blow out of all time; in truth I don't think anything Carter and Bowman put up on the screen would have impressed me. How do you follow 5 years of fantastic television with a two hour movie that was designed more for beginners? It's simple - you can't.

However, I've caught the movie numerous times on home video and DVD, and much like the previous episode we were discussing ("Herrenvolk") I think I enjoy it more now then ever. The effects and visuals are great, while I find that the movie doesn't really offer any big solutions, it just clarifies the information we've been given piece by piece over the years. The acting by supporting players Martin Landau and John Neville really makes the movie.

I would strongly suggest checking out the older seasons again if you get the chance because I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.