Things Are Getting Strange

Not to The Doors slightly sadly. That would be a bit too surreal. But certainly, closing and not even locking a door is enough to deter the new villainous version of that kid from the pilot episode of the series from attacking Doggett or killing Mulder. Useful stuff.

But before that Essence stuff, there's Alone:

Scully leaves the X-Files (the department) but remains in The X-Files (the show)! Doggett gets a new partner! Slightly inexplicably transferred from accountant to field agent. We like Layla in her first appearance here being the quintessential X-Files fan by asking awkward questions about the end of Fight the Future.

Then there's the start of our season closing conspiracy! And while the show-runners knew this wasn't the end of the series, it might have been. Or at least the start thereof.

We query Mulder's apparent ability to do what he wants, why Scully's child's sex and parentage is still in question, and other than audience fake-out, why does one character concoct such an underhanded way to feed Scully dietary supplements for her pregnancy. 

Support the show

Its never bad to have an episode where Reyes shows up. Though Empedocles does stress this attitude. For the main plot, Reyes herself prompts all kinds of questions about her existence within the FBI and her complete non-crossing paths with the X-Files. For the subplots, we do have to increasingly stress the question no one wants to ask: just who is Scully's baby-father?

But that gets side-lined in favour of Doggett's tragic backstory. Alluded to back in Invocation and then ignored. Until now!

Vienen should be a fun time. Another Thing-style episode for The X-Files. And the black oil is back! We're just left with a lot of questions. Like what even does Mulder do now he's not on the X-Files... maybe? Why does he insist on poking the bear (Kersh)?

And why is Scully so often side-lined and shoved aside this season?

Support the show

So Krycek's back in Deadalive. What has he been doing? Did he tell anyone he killed CSM off last season? Why does he want Skinner to prevent Scully from giving birth? We get no answers.

But Mulder is definitely dead. Totally. 100%. Just pay no attention to him being first in the opening credits again.

We get very confused about why Theresa (the other abductee returned last episode) doesn't factor into events, also how this weirdo new alien scheme works and how Scully used to think Mulder had more friends.

The three words in Three Words are very much not what you would assume. We were expecting something along the lines of a famous scene in The Empire Strikes Back. Instead we got a movie tag line.

There are some very odd technology queries with how this episode plays out and how people are forced to go to various places for no entirely coherent reason. Mulder (shock, he's alive!) meeting Doggett goes badly and we surprise ourselves by not enjoying Mulder's return to the series proper. Possibly to do with the alleged legal strife running concurrent with the season.

At least the Lone Gunmen do Lone Gunmen stuff again! Even if Scully now insists on calling them "The Gunmen" which is kinda weird.

Support the show

It is hard not to question Scully's decision-making ability in Per Manum. Not least because she figures the best place to hide out while conspiratorial stuff is going on is with the army. Who have never, ever been involved with anything shady and conspiratorial.

We discuss how ultrasounds tend to look a tad on the alien-side of things no matter what one you look at, Scully's lack of questions at multiple points, our confusion over what the latest twist of the conspiracy even is, and why it is at the very least impolite to get Doggett out of bed at 3am to tell him nothing of value.

This is Not Happening is sadly not the return of Lord Kinbote. Nor are we sure the repetition of the phrase is well-handled. Or various character's inability to stealth effectively. The episode boasts one of the few doctors we can be sure is not in on the conspiracy given how inept he seems.

Still, with the aliens apparently dropping bodies off the back of their ships, is it perhaps time for a certain member of the cast to rejoin proceedings?

Support the show

We're back! After injury and illness, we return to watch Doggett die in The Gift!

It is perhaps not as big a spoiler as you might imagine given he's perfectly fine and in the rest of this season despite this slight complication. This is a weird episode though and features an entity which we are repeatedly told is a soul eater despite not acting anything like one.

A shame the episode starts well and has a really good setup that fails to pay off come the ending.

Medusa continues a sporadic trend of episodes where the sting doesn't really mesh with the later reveals and eventual solutions. We discuss who's authority wins between FBI and Deputy Transport Chief - and are not entirely convinced the episode has this right.

Still, its a fun episode. A bit Mimic and a bit Aliens but also very much like a season 1 episode.

Support the show

We watched Tetsuo the Iron Man ahead of Salvage this week. Mostly because Salvage is an admitted version of the film. The experience was illuminating but did underscore how strange the idea of doing this idea as an X-Files episode and all the parts Salvage left out. At least we got to see all the things that inspired Tetsuo and all the things it seemingly influenced after...

We also talk a fair amount about new film Alien: Romulus, but also pick at the parts of Salvage that are confusing. Like whose ashes were Ray's widow given? Why are Doggett's explanations not even close to Scully's alternate theories in past series?

At least its better than Badla, now a major contender for the worst episode of the series. We vainly attempt to make sense of the plot and struggle mightily with the villain's motivation for literally anything. The one crumb the episode provides doesn't actually seem to apply and we are left with nothing but dissatisfaction.

A real shame this is the last time we'll see Chuck in the series...

Support the show

The premise and intent behind Via Negativa is really neat and interesting! The actual episode starts really strongly and then loses its way somewhat spectacularly and is found exceptionally wanting. Very confusing and not in a fun what is reality kind of way the episode is probably going for.

We talk about Event Horizon a bit and how the episode seems to hand wave away the impossibility of the murder weapon, though at least we get a Doggett-Skinman team-up episode so that's fun.

We get high-brow literary with Surekill. Or at least note that Of Mice and Men was probably an influence on the episode and that a similar moment crops up in The Losers (go Petunias!).

Its an interesting episode where massively cool and useful powers are being used in a kind of rinky-dink money-laundering scheme but the stakes are still appreciable and effective. Though surely seeing through walls would result in something more like the video to Hey Boy, Hey Girl by the Chemical Brothers...

Support the show

That Doggett can go through the events of Invocation and come out the other side to dismiss anything happening in Redrum is nothing short of astonishing. Never did Scully get handed something so ardently impossible as the dark tale of child kidnap and apparent manifestation from beyond the grave. Fresh Bones was not this concrete with its impossible child.

We get into how Closure from last season does provoke a lot of awkward questions for how the dark, dark backstory for this episode is even able to occur - where are the damn fairies for this one? We also speculate if Doggett is psychic somehow given he hits on a near-miss to the guilty party really fast...

Also the child is terrifying.

Redrum is a thing that happened EARLIER.

We talk about the eclectic mix of other backwards productions; Seinfeld, Sealab 2021 and Memento, and note Redrum is a curio amongst them. Also the least helpful time-travel story as Martin Wells can't even muster the kind of evidence someone like Max in Life is Strange can come up with. Not that this is a slight on the episode at all!

We discuss how the episode was written and note that like Memento, the actual story is very straight-forward and simple, but the presentation is what makes it all work. And that maybe as per the stated dates, Scully should be like seven months pregnant.

Support the show

A decidedly odd start to Doggett's time on the X-Files. And we can't ignore that it would be more effective if Patience and Roadrunners was swapped in the episode order. And also that Patience feels a lot like a re-do of Squeeze just without actually re-watching Squeeze and apparently just working off the vague memories of the classic.

We compare the monster to Buffy special effects, dwell on the nature of the show's Bible and wonder about man-bat breeding colonies. And also admire how no one mentions a certain DC comics character once.

Roadrunners is a bit different to Vince Gilligan's normal ways. This is tense, dark, gory and scary. Reminiscent of Morgan and Wong's Ice but a very different setup and execution.

We can't avoid noticing Scully's tattoo from Never Again has vanished somewhere in the last few years and how unfortunate it is that she already needs a rescue.

Support the show

New season and new character! With Within we welcome John Doggett to The X-Files and indeed, the X-Files. Our new hardened skeptic to Scully's abruptly much more open-minded version of herself. Which does feel a little odd as it feels like seeing the UFO at the end of Requiem would be more of a trigger for this, but here we are.

Also Kersh is back!

We discuss how Scully remains difficult for many X-Files writers to cope with and the implausibility of various spaceships within Earth's (or Earth-like) atmosphere. Also how we are now awash in Mulder retcons.

Without never really gets around to the particular question of what Scully even thinks she can do if she can find the relevant UFO in Arizona. One-on-ones with the Alien Bounty Hunter or most of the aliens in series tends to go badly for a variety of reasons.

We're also bemused by Gibson Praise being relevant again and how its taken this long for anyone to actually contend with the existential nightmare of dealing with the Alien Bounty Hunter.

Support the show