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Gobbeldygook posted:I'm watching X-Files for the first time and just hit episode 21, Tooms, which is the first episode where they revisit a previous monster of the week. In later seasons, do they almost always do a new mystery every week with follow-ups like that being few and far between? Yes, there are only a small handful of MOTW repeats or sequels. quote:Do later seasons have more metaplot? Yes (although this isn't always a good thing). The mythology kicks into high gear and becomes a coherent through-line in the middle of season 2 and stays strong and consistent until season 6. Unfortunately there are 3 more seasons of show after that and they aren't all MOTWs. haveblue fucked around with this message at 08:30 on Dec 26, 2014 |
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Dec 26, 2014 08:23
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haveblue posted:Yes, there are only a small handful of MOTW repeats or sequels. The two that come to mind aren't nearly as good as Tooms, though, unfortunately. But there is one callback to a great S2 monster in one of the best MOTW episodes of S3. In other news: I've been loving around with the X-Files: Resist or Serve game. It's hilarious, at points (zombie game!!! also there's a dude who looks like a wizard in there somewhere that made me laugh too hard to fight him properly), and plays like an RE title (fixed camera angles) but it's voice acted by the original cast, and the plot is basically a lost episode. Don't know if anyone else on the thread has played it, but it's worth checking out. If you're allergic to tedious combat, it comes with handy-dandy cheats to make your life easier. Doesn't help with puzzles, but it makes the typical-survival-horror shooty-kill portion pretty much irrelevant. Also: the models are loving hilarious in more than a few places. Anyway, I'd recommend it for anyone who's got some free time and is still really into the show. The story's written by the show's actual writers, the plot's definitely X-Files, and there's replay value in being able to switch from Mulder or Scully's POV. Doesn't hold up to the best of the best in the series, but it's a game that was released with a $20 price tag at launch, so no one was really expecting it to poo poo gold. Random note: The X-Files Files podcast should really be added to the OP. EDIT: Expect a few really ridiculous moments and even more ridiculous terms. COSMIC GALACTIC RADIATION! But, like later-season stuff, when it's good, it's good, and when it's bad, it's... Well. Bad. Old Boot fucked around with this message at 10:23 on Dec 29, 2014 |
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Dec 29, 2014 09:30
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Old Boot posted:In other news: I've been loving around with the X-Files: Resist or Serve game. It's hilarious, at points (zombie game!!! also there's a dude who looks like a wizard in there somewhere that made me laugh too hard to fight him properly), and plays like an RE title (fixed camera angles) but it's voice acted by the original cast, and the plot is basically a lost episode. Don't know if anyone else on the thread has played it, but it's worth checking out. If you're allergic to tedious combat, it comes with handy-dandy cheats to make your life easier. I can't imagine that Resist or Serve held up very well over 10 years. I remember the graphics being laughable, even by 2004 standards. It's not a terrible game by all measures, but most of its value lies in its fan service. IIRC, all of the original cast voice their characters, and the story was actually pretty good for a licensed video game, ripe with meaningful references and easter eggs. If I get bored one of these days, perhaps I'll fire up the PS2 and check it out again. I think I still have a copy of the original point-and-click game for PC too, but I'm not as inclined to boot that one back up for obvious reasons. I still have yet to check out the podcast, as I have been very busy lately, but I'll add it to the OP. I've really wanted to listen to it, but I just haven't had the chance yet.
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Dec 30, 2014 04:34
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Basebf555 posted:I did a rewatch with my roommate this year and we're right at the end of Season 7 where Mulder is about to exit. Its a loving bummer because the chemistry between Duchovney and Anderson is so strong by this point, their banter in some of these episodes carries the whole thing. It would have been great to have another full season of them reacting to ridiculous poo poo like genies, dopplegangers and garbage monsters. Oh man, the garbage monster episode in the suburbs. That entire episode is comedy gold simply because of how Mulder and Scully bounce off of each other and their location. Granted, I tend to like the MotW episodes over the mytharc ones simply because it felt like the writers could get a little wackier (Triangle, X-COPS).
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Dec 30, 2014 04:40
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Polaron posted:Oh man, the garbage monster episode in the suburbs. That entire episode is comedy gold simply because of how Mulder and Scully bounce off of each other and their location. Granted, I tend to like the MotW episodes over the mytharc ones simply because it felt like the writers could get a little wackier (Triangle, X-COPS). At the time, it was pretty funny how people reacted to mytharc vs motw. Early on in the series people would look forward to mytharc episodes and be pretty disappointed when it was a MOTW. That reverses some time after the 1st movie, when people knew a mytharc episode would be another punt.
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Dec 30, 2014 04:51
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Old Boot posted:The two that come to mind aren't nearly as good as Tooms, though, unfortunately. But there is one callback to a great S2 monster in one of the best MOTW episodes of S3. What callback is this? I remember a joke about Tooms in the episode with Tony Shaloub, but that's about it.
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Dec 30, 2014 04:52
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The podcast is so good holy poo poo. When I found out there weren't going to be episodes of it these last few weeks of 2014 I had a brief existential crisis. It's making going through the series for the first time a lot more enjoyable.
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Dec 30, 2014 04:52
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I've been sad since I found out that Devin Faraci is apparently an rear end in a top hat in the CineD Who Greenlighted thread, as I've found his contributions to the X-Files Files incredible. He's taught me a ton about the cultural scene of the early 90s and conspiracy theories, which I do admittedly find really interesting. He and Carmen Esposito are probably my favorite guests.
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Dec 30, 2014 04:55
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joepinetree posted:At the time, it was pretty funny how people reacted to mytharc vs motw. Early on in the series people would look forward to mytharc episodes and be pretty disappointed when it was a MOTW. That reverses some time after the 1st movie, when people knew a mytharc episode would be another punt. Arcadia in particular may have resonated with me because I remember battles my dad was having with our neighborhood HOA around the same time about Christmas decorations. No garbage golems but plenty of busybodies in golf carts 
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Dec 30, 2014 05:27
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Jack Gladney posted:What callback is this? I remember a joke about Tooms in the episode with Tony Shaloub, but that's about it. Um, he might be referring to the opening of 'Pusher' where we see the Flukeman pictured in a newspaper.
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Dec 30, 2014 06:46
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Octy posted:Um, he might be referring to the opening of 'Pusher' where we see the Flukeman pictured in a newspaper. Yes. The other callback MOTW eps are pretty much straight-up garbage (Orison, Kitsunegari - though Kitsunegari gets some props for the blue paint scene. Orison is just loving terrible.) Exploder posted:I can't imagine that Resist or Serve held up very well over 10 years. I remember the graphics being laughable, even by 2004 standards. It's not a terrible game by all measures, but most of its value lies in its fan service. IIRC, all of the original cast voice their characters, and the story was actually pretty good for a licensed video game, ripe with meaningful references and easter eggs. If I get bored one of these days, perhaps I'll fire up the PS2 and check it out again. I think I still have a copy of the original point-and-click game for PC too, but I'm not as inclined to boot that one back up for obvious reasons. You're right about the graphics. Considering it's got SH2 to compete with - strictly on the survival horror side of things - it's weak as hell, but I figure that most of the budget went into paying the voice actors. The story is fun, a little ridiculous in a lot of places, but, all in all, I enjoyed it as a 'buy it for two bux' used game. EDIT: and I'll admit that I was more than a little amused by seeing all the male VAs put on lipstick for their readings. quote:I still have yet to check out the podcast, as I have been very busy lately, but I'll add it to the OP. I've really wanted to listen to it, but I just haven't had the chance yet. I've been putting it on my MP3 player and listening to it in the car/at work. It's really fun. Also worth putting in there for anyone who hasn't seen the show, but happens to be curious about it. Jack Gladney posted:I've been sad since I found out that Devin Faraci is apparently an rear end in a top hat in the CineD Who Greenlighted thread, as I've found his contributions to the X-Files Files incredible. The rear end in a top hat in the what and the huh? Only thing I know about him is that he pissed off a bunch of screeching gamergate shitlords. 
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Dec 30, 2014 06:57
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Old Boot posted:Yes. I guess he has a blog where he picks fights with people who write or direct movies he doesn't like? He never seems aggressive or unfair on x-files files. I have honestly never heard of him outside the podcast. I only know Kumail from being Prismo on Adventure Time. His guests are pretty much mysteries to me. I thought they were all just LA comics he knew personally.
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Dec 30, 2014 20:59
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I've just been watching this for the first time, I'm almost done with the first season. I have to say I'm already tired of other mysterious government agents coming in and destroying evidence or whatever and I doubt that aspect'll get much better, but on the plus side, Beyond the Sea was really really good.
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Dec 31, 2014 00:18
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IronicDongz posted:I've just been watching this for the first time, I'm almost done with the first season. I am now into the third season and that does not get any better. Mulder is Charlie Brown and the government is Lucy, forever taking away the football.
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Dec 31, 2014 08:49
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Gobbeldygook posted:Agreed, Beyond the Sea stands head and shoulders above the rest of Season 1. Fittingly, I watched it for the first time on Christmas day. The only other episode to really jump out at me from the first season was Tooms. Ha, I think I just watched it on Christmas day too, but it might have been the day after (that week was kind of a blur for me). Beyond the Sea is one of those episodes that if I see it's airing on Chiller, or BBC America, I just have to drop everything and watch it because it's that good. Honestly, the mythology really isn't that great, especially compared to today's great serialized dramas. And I say that as a huge X-Files fanboy. I'm assuming you just got done watching Nisei and 731? It is kind of the same thing over and over again, but there are a few standout episodes here and there, like Paper Clip in season 3 for example. The real value in this show is the MotW episodes, so as long as your are enjoying those, keep watching.
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Jan 8, 2015 09:25
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Chris Carter should not try to do goofy episodes. "Syzygy" was terrible. So many groan-worthy lines, and the Mulder-Scully power struggle thing felt really forced. Was kind of funny to see Ryan Reynolds talking about kicking butt in heaven though.
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Jan 13, 2015 23:51
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“It’s been reported, and it’s true, that we’ve had some conversations about [reviving] X-Files,” ideally with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, [Fox Television Group chairman Gary] Newman shared. “But I have nothing that we can announce at this time.”TV News posted:In a recent interview, the subject of another season of The X-Files was raised with Gillian Anderson, who played Special Agent Dana Scully in the hit TV series. Slate Action fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Jan 17, 2015 |
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Jan 17, 2015 19:58
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I heard that quote is from a Nerdist podcast or whatever Anderson did some time ago? Can anyone confirm if she actually said that? Some people are saying it's a misquote or something. Would be cool though.
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Jan 17, 2015 21:31
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Isn't there something in the media about a revival of the show or a new movie about every other year? I'll get excited when it's something more concrete, not just 'conversations' about doing it.
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Jan 17, 2015 22:32
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I listened to the podcast and she definitely was on board.
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Jan 18, 2015 00:12
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Octy posted:Isn't there something in the media about a revival of the show or a new movie about every other year? I'll get excited when it's something more concrete, not just 'conversations' about doing it. Not anything this substantial, and nothing that was ever been confirmed by FOX or Carter's camp. It looks like they are actually making some progress this time. This is pretty exciting news, but I wouldn't get my hopes up TOO high.
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Jan 18, 2015 01:53
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Exploder posted:Not anything this substantial, and nothing that was ever been confirmed by FOX or Carter's camp. It looks like they are actually making some progress this time. This is pretty exciting news, but I wouldn't get my hopes up TOO high. Carter, along with Spotnitz, Duchovny and Anderson have always said that they would want to do a 3rd movie and were a little less clear on a tv product. Carter in the past even talked about working on the script. Fox people have also always said that they'd be "open" to it. This news is only slightly more significant in that the Fox executive said that talks are ongoing.
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Jan 18, 2015 02:43
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Exploder posted:Not anything this substantial, and nothing that was ever been confirmed by FOX or Carter's camp. It looks like they are actually making some progress this time. This is pretty exciting news, but I wouldn't get my hopes up TOO high. Well, if we can get a Twin Peaks revival there's probably no significant reason why we can't also get another season of the X-Files which was vastly more popular at the time of its run.
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Jan 18, 2015 08:26
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The aliens got stuck in space traffic, making them 3 years late for colonisation
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Jan 18, 2015 13:13
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I've not seen Millennium before, aside from the finale episode absorbed into The X-Files (I'd no idea what was going on). How was it? Worth tracking down, maybe?
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Jan 19, 2015 01:23
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Metal Loaf posted:I've not seen Millennium before, aside from the finale episode absorbed into The X-Files (I'd no idea what was going on). How was it? Worth tracking down, maybe? Millenium''s quality is like the x-files sped up. Great first season, mediocre 2nd season, and weird 3rd season that doesn't really fit with the 2nd.
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Jan 19, 2015 02:57
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joepinetree posted:Millenium''s quality is like the x-files sped up. Great first season, mediocre 2nd season, and weird 3rd season that doesn't really fit with the 2nd. Look how wrong this guy is. Mediocre first season, amazing (but also deeply flawed) 2nd season, garbage dogshit 3rd season. The first season was almost entirely about SEXMURDER. The direction of it was solid, the storylines were decent if predictable, but it was all very same-y and constantly about sex-murder serial killers. Second season became all about the Millennium, doomsday prophecy, and the fundamental nature of good and evil. It has one of the single best episodes of television I've ever seen as a Halloween special and another brilliant piece later on. Quality is all over the place - a few episodes are downright poo poo, but most are solid and some are the peak of the show. Third season? Don't watch third season. The reason for this is real simple, by the way. Chris Carter was involved strongly in season 1 and then handed it over to Glen Morgan and James Wong. GM and JW looked at this sort of promising show that was constantly hamstringing itself and decided there was one thing to do: Heap on the crazy in huge goddamn amounts each and every episode. And they did, and it produced a sometimes amazing, sometimes awful, television series. CC of course hated this, and took over again for Season 3. He removed all the crazy and made the show essentially X-Files Lite, and it suffered a ton for it. After some of the crescendos of Season 2, Season 3 simply cannot compete. You may recognize the names James Wong and Glen Morgan from their X-files work on half the best episodes of the first season and some of the most notable and awesome episodes later on: Die Hand die verletz, Home, and Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man. Wong's recently written some of the better episodes of the last two seasons of American Horror Story.
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Jan 19, 2015 03:23
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joepinetree posted:At the time, it was pretty funny how people reacted to mytharc vs motw. Early on in the series people would look forward to mytharc episodes and be pretty disappointed when it was a MOTW. That reverses some time after the 1st movie, when people knew a mytharc episode would be another punt. It was about the third or fourth season where I got sick of mytharc. Something would happen, mulder would go nuts, scully would get up on her science horse, and at the end mulder would have a choice between saving someone's life or getting the evidence (or between his life and the evidence), and *bam*, all that's left is mulder looking sad and scully going 'there's no evidence, you're crazy'. The movie really cemented that for me with scully not seeing the spaceship because of timing. What really got me is that I sided with the conspiracy. You have the aliens doing *stuff*, and a bunch of people hiding stuff so that the aliens wouldn't kill everyone. They're putting everything off for as long as they can so that they can produce a superweapon to fight back against the aliens, and mulder keeps running around trying to expose their activities.
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Jan 19, 2015 08:42
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I stopped watching Millenium because there was some EVIL DOGS episode in the second season I just couldn't make it through.
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Jan 19, 2015 09:31
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Loomer posted:
Also from Space: Above and Beyond which was a fantastic show, kind of a proto-BSG remake
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Jan 19, 2015 17:12
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And they created the Final Destination series (for good or Ill).
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Jan 19, 2015 20:30
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Millennium is, if nothing else, a weird show to box-set through. The tonal shift between Seasons 2 & 3 is hilarious out of context, although I didn't find a huge difference in quality between the two.
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Jan 19, 2015 21:02
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kingturnip posted:Millennium is, if nothing else, a weird show to box-set through. The best thing to do is just watch the first two seasons and think of the season two finale as the series finale.
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Jan 19, 2015 21:29
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The best episode of Millenium is the one with the four devils telling stories to each other about how they like to gently caress with humans. I think that episode has a short cameo with Mulder and Scully too.
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Jan 20, 2015 06:37
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soscannonballs posted:The best episode of Millenium is the one with the four devils telling stories to each other about how they like to gently caress with humans. I think that episode has a short cameo with Mulder and Scully too. Its just their stunt doubles.
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Jan 20, 2015 06:42
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Also Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense, which is confusing because it's a sequel to an X-Files episode and features David Duchovney's face in an ad for scientology.
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Jan 20, 2015 14:06
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I loves me some Millenium. Gonna get my box set out and binge. For a long time the pilot and the X-files episode 'Home' (yeah you know that one) were the creepiest things I had ever seen on TV. In the article I read about Fox bringing the X-files back, they also mentioned resurrecting 'Prison Break' and more '24'. Holky gently caress I'd love more PB! My feeling is that any of those would do great as short event series. As much as I love the X-files I'm not sure how well it would work as a regular series today. The era in which the show aired was as big of a part to its success as the writing etc. Edit: Found the article where Prison Break, X-Files, and 24 are all mentioned isaboo fucked around with this message at 16:41 on Jan 20, 2015 |
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Jan 20, 2015 16:01
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All X-Files really needs is a truncated 'tenth season' to get the mythology back in respectable shape. Something like the upcoming Twin Peaks season (nine episodes) would work fine.
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Jan 20, 2015 16:05
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Agreed, a short season would be fantastic. Didn't Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan work on some of the better X-Files episodes? Thinking about what he could do with the franchise today after his success with BB gets my mind whirling. And now that Amazon has declined to pick up Chris Carter's latest project The After, maybe now is a good time for him to get on the ball.
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Jan 20, 2015 16:33
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pahuyuth posted:Agreed, a short season would be fantastic. Didn't Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan work on some of the better X-Files episodes? Thinking about what he could do with the franchise today after his success with BB gets my mind whirling. And now that Amazon has declined to pick up Chris Carter's latest project The After, maybe now is a good time for him to get on the ball. Yes. I am doing a rewatch and shocked how many classic episodes he wrote. Look at some of these classics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Gilligan#Television
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Jan 20, 2015 16:35
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