The X-Files

For me, The X-Files are a religion. I loved the show when I was little (I could watch it only occasionally, when I didn’t misbehave) and I still vividly remember stuff that happened around several of the episodes, like what I had that day for dinner, what I was playing with before, etc. Back then, I even named my hamsters Dana and Fox… I simply loved it. And I still do (I’m planning to go through all the seasons), even though I now watch it with a more critical eye than 12 years ago. Season 1: It has very memorable episodes and several duds. The mythology at the beginning is only hinted at, it is much better in the following seasons. Best episodes: Squeeze, Ice, Darkness Falls. Season 2: The episodes have a very high level, with only few that are weak. The mythology is already well developed. Best episodes: Die Hand Die Verletzt, Død Kalm, Humbug. Season 3: The number of good and bad episodes is balanced, and there are more with humour (which I don’t like much). The mythology is very good. Best episodes: Grotesque, Pusher, Oubliette. Season 4: Very good quality episodes and a good atmosphere in most of them. Mulder’s wisecracks aren’t a hindrance, they are like a spice in parts that are not precisely funny. The mythology remains very good. Best episodes: Home, Small Potatoes, Leonard Betts. I’m working on the remaining seasons :) Edit: After several years I’ve finally watched it all. I won’t comment individually on the seasons, all of them have great episodes, but it’s not like at the beginning. The mythology, in particular, becomes too contrived, confusing and boring, with one conspiracy over another, and God knows whether any of that makes sense. Otherwise, the weakest season is the seventh, I watched it at a pace of one episode a month and I really felt like giving up on it. The addition of new characters in the eight season gives the show a breath of fresh air, and that season is also great. Unfortunately, however, in the ninth and final season, the quality drops again. (14.08.2007)

The X-Files oscillate in quality from one episode to the next and are a sort of “lucky dip". Because you never know if you’ll like the candy you pull out; it might be a mediocre sci-fi, the most atmospheric horror you have ever seen, a quite entertaining dark thriller or a side-splitting comedy where the creators pick fun at themselves and their colleagues. And it is absolutely irrelevant if you are watching season one or season nine; you are just as likely to pull out an episode of genius as an episode that belongs in the trash. Approx. one third of the episodes move the overall story along, while the rest are all-in-one self-standing stories. Although the first season contains some of the best episodes of all, it also has a couple of the worst ever and really it is still finding its feet. Seasons two, three and four are the X-Files that we all have nostalgically stuck in our minds. Seasons five and six are the absolute zenith. Season seven means a drop in quality, a change of filming location and instead of many dark episodes with a lighter episode here and there, we primarily get comedy. (28.09.2007)

The X-Files was a huge cult and exceptionally successful television product in the 90s, which quickly sold practically in all corners. The whole world adores mysteries, dreams of extraterrestrial civilizations, and enjoys playing. The series came up with a concept of playing with its audience, which new projects successfully imitated in the new millennium, such as the series Lost. It works similarly to the tales of Princess Scheherazade. You slowly uncover individual puzzle pieces, but still discover new clues about the mysterious conspiracy of the presence of aliens on our planet. Conspiracy theories pile up, and here and there a partial fate or case is resolved in the tangle of riddles. It has the unpleasant effect that sooner or later, knowing that the point is out of reach, this game stops being entertaining. As the commercial success continued with new seasons, the ideas started running out for the screenwriters, and the quality of episodes inevitably declined. The X-Files met a shameful death - it rotted to the core. In the late stage of the project, both stars who made a name for themselves in The X-Files wisely withdrew from further collaboration. Today, the series seems quite worn out to me, but there were times when I eagerly awaited each new episode. Overall impression: 55%. (21.01.2013)

When the X-Files were running on TV, I missed more episodes than I saw and so I decided to right the situation. After season one I am utterly thrilled and I will definitely continue watching. The alien episodes are simply delicious. Now I understand why such a cult has built up around it. Season two continues in the footsteps of season one and the first few episodes are the high points of the series so far. A bit of a shame that Mulder wasn’t left without Scully for a little longer. The episodes with the little green men are still my favorites. Season three is already a little creaky. Here and there a lame episode, one is a parody of itself, but there are many that are jam packed with really nice snappy lines (the phone calls in the episode with the cockroaches were priceless). But the mythology is still very strong and the important episodes are always worth watching. THE SURGEON GENERAL WARNS: SMOKING CAUSES LUNG CANCER. Season four offers a couple of fascinating answers, including one episode about a smoker. Otherwise it retains its quality overall, but the “we’ve been here already" syndrome is beginning to set in unpleasantly. But I am still enjoying myself immensely. Season five has several key mythological episodes that are really good to watch, on the other hand there are more lame episodes than I would like. But I was pleased with the episode that Stephen King was involved with and the episode with several viewpoints of the same case. The ending prepared the ground nicely for the movie that I completely missed in the day and that I am very intrigued about now. So we’ll see... Season six is about the same as the one before in terms of quality. I gave myself a good rest between the movie and the first episode of season six, because the movie made for a nice ending, but hunger for more cases with Mulder and Scully won in the end. What’s with these move-along episodes that are crowned by the final episode. The other episodes are there just to fill space, sometimes they’re entertaining, sometimes scary, sometimes superbly surprising. And the reference to Homer Simpson was also nice to hear. Season seven is one big ending of a chapter. Although the episodes have less and less substance to them, the last episode is superb. A classic example of creators having ideas, but not many, so they have to be frugal with them. I wonder if I’ll ever get round to watching another season. I want to leave this “ending" to mature inside me. (14.07.2009)

The X-Files used to be a big deal. The series used to have great guest appearances and standalone movies, and many books were also published. As with Twin Peaks, new series were created much later. The memories will yet be vivid for a long time to come. (19.08.2010)