The X-Files: "I've Been Getting My Ass Chewed"

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > The X-Files: "I've Been Getting My Ass Chewed"

Vogon Poet: Jun 18, 2004; Someone bought me this custom title because they think I kick ass at Photoshop. They happen to be right.

joepinetree posted:

My favorite serious non-mytharc episodes are Home, Drive, Pusher, Milagro and Hungry. And my favorite "funny" non-mytharc episodes are Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, Jose Chung's From Outer Space, Small Potatoes, Bad Blood, and Je Souhaite. Just thought I'd post this in case other people are looking for more stuff to get started (and in looking up the name of the episodes, I just noticed that Vince Gilligan wrote most of them).

By my reckoning, from season four onward Gilligan was responsible for almost all of the really top-tier episodes. Others to go on that list that you didn't mention include "Paper Hearts," "Field Trip," and "Folie a Deux" (the latter is an utterly brilliant look at the two main characters and might be the most under-appreciated episode of the whole show).

# ¿ Jan 24, 2014 06:23

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 15:29

Vogon Poet: Jun 18, 2004; Someone bought me this custom title because they think I kick ass at Photoshop. They happen to be right.

Octy posted:

Going through my first rewatch. Season 1 has a lot of great episodes: Squeeze, Ghost in the Machine, Ice, Space, Darkness Falls...

Probably the first time I've seen someone call "Space" and "Ghost in the Machine" "great episodes." :raise:

Really, although some late season episodes were worse, I'd probably call "Space" the dullest of the show's entire run.

# ¿ Jan 24, 2014 16:10

Vogon Poet: Jun 18, 2004; Someone bought me this custom title because they think I kick ass at Photoshop. They happen to be right.

UnknownMercenary posted:

I think "Fight Club" takes the cake for worst X-Files episode

This is a correct opinion.

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

Oh man, I just remembered Soft Light, the episode with Tony Shalhoub playing the scientist whose shadow can disintegrate people. That is a phenomenal episode.

Vince Gilligan's first episode. Also his second ever writing credit, period. The first was this movie, which I'm now slightly curious about because I love Vince Gilligan that much.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2014 21:36

Vogon Poet: Jun 18, 2004; Someone bought me this custom title because they think I kick ass at Photoshop. They happen to be right.

Aaron Paul was in season 9 episode "Lord of the Flies." It's a pretty bad episode, but his appearance is amusing. Jewel Staite (Kaylee from Firefly) was in season 3's "Oubliette."

# ¿ Jan 26, 2014 02:00

Vogon Poet: Jun 18, 2004; Someone bought me this custom title because they think I kick ass at Photoshop. They happen to be right.

Febreeze posted:

I watched up to about mid season 7 in college but ran out of free time and lost interest as the myth arc got increasingly stupid and convoluted.

Are there any episodes in 8-9 that are still worth watching?

There are some decent episodes scattered across the last two seasons, but really nothing that's up to the standards of the best episodes from earlier seasons. When the show was originally airing I found the mytharc episodes toward the end of season 8 with Mulder's return to the show to be very exciting, but on my rewatch of the series I was already fed up with the mytharc by that point. My favorite season 8 episode now is probably "Roadrunners," a nice creepy MotW. I'd probably consider "John Doe" from season 9 to be the best episode of the last two seasons. If you're a Breaking Bad fan it's definitely one to watch - it was written by Vince Gilligan, a Mexican drug cartel figures into the plot, and it was Michelle MacLaren's directorial debut.

# ¿ Jan 26, 2014 06:11

Vogon Poet: Jun 18, 2004; Someone bought me this custom title because they think I kick ass at Photoshop. They happen to be right.

Exploder posted:

I think season 6 starts out very strong with Drive, Dreamland, and Triangle. I'm partial towards How the Ghosts Stole Christmas, but I think that episode is hit or miss with most people. After that, the season slows down a bit, but you still have Monday, Arcadia, The Unnatural, and Field Trip to look forward to. Looking at it, season 6 is really one of the best seasons in terms of MotW episodes.

Don't forget "Tithonus," which is not only a great episode but also has a neat tie-in with Clyde Bruckman's prediction that Scully doesn't die.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2014 23:57

Vogon Poet: Jun 18, 2004; Someone bought me this custom title because they think I kick ass at Photoshop. They happen to be right.

99 CENTS AMIGO posted:

Barring Reyes and two episodes (one of which is just solidly mediocre), I maintain that Season 8 is the strongest season of the show.

I hope this doesn't come across as combative, but I find it genuinely astonishing that this is an opinion held by a real person. You're certainly entitled to that opinion, of course, and if you really got that much enjoyment out of Season 8, more power to you. Out of curiosity, when did you start watching the show?

In my opinion, Season 3 is the strongest and every season thereafter is at least a little weaker than the one preceding it. Season 7 to Season 8 is what I'd consider the most dramatic dropoff, though. Seasons 8 and 9 are the two I'd generally recommend skipping to non-completists. Don't get me wrong, they aren't all bad, but I'm pretty sure my list of top 30, maybe even top 40, X-Files episodes wouldn't include any from the last two seasons.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2014 06:46

Vogon Poet: Jun 18, 2004; Someone bought me this custom title because they think I kick ass at Photoshop. They happen to be right.

Octy posted:

'Hungry' ought to be in your list.

Yep. Any Vince Gilligan episode shouldn't be missed.

# ¿ Feb 27, 2015 21:31

Vogon Poet: Jun 18, 2004; Someone bought me this custom title because they think I kick ass at Photoshop. They happen to be right.

Wheat Loaf posted:

Read an article lately observing that Gilligan's said he'd be keen to be involved in a revival of the show if it got off the ground. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I didn't make a note of the website's address.

Via the AV Club, I found this: an interview he did with the fan site X-Files Lexicon. Here's the relevant quote, but the whole interview is well worth reading because it's very interesting.

quote:

Matt: Now there�s a lot of media attention about Fox television in discussions to do an X-Files revival / mini-series with David, Gillian, and Mr. Carter; if asked, would you want to be involved?

Vince: I would love to be involved. I don�t know with my current schedule, if I necessarily could be involved, but I got to tell you. I hope that is the case, and it works out that there more X-Files in the offing because even if I weren�t involved, I can tell you as a fan, I�d be right there with my Dr. Pepper and my big bowl of popcorn, and the lights dimmed down low. I think The X-Files is going to live forever. I think it�s a wonderful show, I am more proud that I can even express that I was a part of it, that I was a fan before I was ever a part of it, and I knew it was something special before I was ever involved in it. The thought that there could be more episodes of The X-Files is very exciting to me indeed. Absolutely if I knew I could do it, I would love to be a part of it, but even if I am not, you can know for a fact that I�ll be watching every episode and rooting them on, and being very much the fan boy that I started, in regards to The X-Files.

# ¿ Feb 28, 2015 17:04

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 15:29

Vogon Poet: Jun 18, 2004; Someone bought me this custom title because they think I kick ass at Photoshop. They happen to be right.

Wheat Loaf posted:

I'd have thought there'd be TV directors waiting in line to work on The X-Files, but I might be overestimating how big a deal it was in its heyday (I was too young for The X-Files while it was on).

Maybe Michelle MacLaren would do an episode. She made her directorial debut on season 9 episode "John Doe," penned by Vince Gilligan (probably the best episode of the final season).

# ¿ Mar 25, 2015 15:36

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