Jay 37,287 Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 I've seen Gillian Anderson's recent work - on both Hannibal and The Fall, she plays very emotion-less characters. They are work-driven and in most scenes are very stoic and do not show visible reactions to much of the crazy goings-on the shows have. Also in both shows her beauty and sexuality is an important part of her characters that she uses to manipulate people and situations. It almost seemed like she had trouble getting back into the Scully character, who is the complete opposite of these characters. In both of the first 2 episodes, I noticed that she continued to deliver her lines in the quiet, subdued way those other two characters of her did. Sometimes you had to strain to even hear what she was saying; This I think could possibly be the director's fault as I noticed other people, even Mulder speaking in a weird way in these first two eps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taikomochi 1,136 Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 I recall an interview around when I Want to Believe came out, Anderson discussing how much she had tried to move her career away from Scully and how it was a challenge to get back into that character, but I think she was good in IW2B. I think that's probably the issue here, as you pointed out with her other recent roles, where she was excellent but different. I agree Duchovny is a bit awkward up to that point, but he is completely back in his element in the third episode. Anderson doesn't really get enough screentime for me to get a good read. I thought she was awful in the 4th episode, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 The X-Files 10x03 Mulder and Scully Meet The Were-Monster Brilliant! A class X-Files episode! Darin Morgan did my favorite episodes from the original run and his entry in the revival did not disappoint at all. Loved the guest starring work by Rhys Darby as the monster of the week and Kumal Nanjiani as the animal control guy / real bad guy of the week. There were so many funny scenes and scenarios like the chase by the trailers, the hotel scenes, Guy Mann (ha!)'s story... all good. The premise of a creature who gets bit by a man and becomes human, including the desires of wearing clothes and working and everything else was just brilliant. I'm glad Morgan salvaged it from that Nighstalker revival he was working on and saved it for this as it was a perfect fit for the show. Best episode of the revival so far and one I'd happily rewatch again any time! Loved it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 I love that the whole thing is so ridiculous that even Mulder has trouble buying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 If there was any complaint I had about the episode it was that the graveyard conversation between Mulder and Mann was too long. Not that they said anything that didn't need to be said; More like it was just kind of boring that the long conversation all happened in that same spot. It would have been a better idea to have the conversation take place as they were traveling from one place to another, something like that. In other words the director should have found a way to liven up all that exposition. Other than that though, totally great episode! crumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wojo 2,453 Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Nah, they needed to maximize the time seeing Kim Manners' grave marker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 The X-Files 10x04 Home Again When did TV get so violent? You never would have seen a dude literally ripping people in half at 8:00 on a network show in the 90s! This is an odd episode; It's like 2 completely unrelated stories smashed together. In one they investigate this dude who made a dude of clay come alive to take revenge on those who mistreated the homeless... yawn. This felt completely underdeveloped, because it was, because of the other story stuffed in here: The other is about Scully, who goes to the hospital when her mom gets ill. Her mom had only asked for Scully's brother, who annoying keeps calling Scully even though the actor doesn't return for the episode (what was he, too busy?). Eventually she dies only saying "I had a son named Williams too!" which makes you wonder why they bothered getting the original actress to return at all. This makes Scully and Mulder discuss the son they gave away, which I think would have more impact to me if I remembered anything about this storyline from 2 decades ago (We haven't caught up to that point in the original show yet). Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 The two storylines are actually linked philosophically in that the artist who created the "garbageman" claims he is not responsible for the actions of it's creations. While Scully comes to a different conclusion. That she and Mulder are responsible for the fate of the child they gave away. Was that a big thing in the original series? Or was Scully just preggers because Gillian Anderson was at the time and they didnt wanna hide it? Was their son ever mentioned again after they handed it over? It's certainly seems to be the central theme of this short season. And yes TV did get more violent. Even network TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 The X-Files 10x05 Babylon By far the worst episode of the revival! Were Miller and Einstein supposed to be a trial run for a new season where they are the primary agents and Scully and Mulder only pop in when the actor's schedules allow? The whole terrorist thing was so blandly handled. You think when it opens that they are making you think about your own perceptions when they are clearly setting up the guys to be suicide bombers... but no, it turns out that's exactly what they are. What was up with the random scene of the nurse trying to pull the plug? More random commentary that goes nowhere. Also going nowhere is one brief scene where the CIA agents speak arabic? Also leads nowhere. Mulder's acid trip was very good, and in the end just goofy to be goofy. The episode ends with no explanation of how it actually happens (since Einstein said she gave him a placebo). Unless she was lying of course..... Meh, a big disappointment. So far the season has been more bad than good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 2 minutes ago, Jay said: Meh, a big disappointment. So far the season has been more bad than good! Are you trying to anger Joe? That episode was the weakest so far indeed. Though I will happily watch Lauren Ambrose in anything. In a normal 20+ episode season an ep like this wouldnt be much of an issue. But when you only have 6.... There's no point in continuing this series if they can't have Mulder and Scully starring, so I hope that wasnt why this was done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 Talk about a way to waste the return of the Lone Gunmen too. They brought the actors back for that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Apart from Mulder and Scully every recurring character has been underused so far. I'm assuming we will get some Smoking Man in the last one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 Yea they've barely given Skinner anything to do at all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 So far the season has a remarkably stoic feel to it. Very business as usual. What you would not expect of a revival of a show thats been off air for well over a decade. Overall its been very solid. But rather lacking the sense of an "event" that you reckon a 6 episode series would bring. Matt C 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,232 Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 They really are testing the waters I guess. I won't be surprised when tonight's finale sets up something significant that'll leave everyone tantalized and ready for another run or movie or whatever they have in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 That's actually what always annoyed me about the mythology part of the series. "OMG! we are gonna finally find out wha....oh never mind...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taikomochi 1,136 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 3 hours ago, TheGreyPilgrim said: They really are testing the waters I guess. I won't be surprised when tonight's finale sets up something significant that'll leave everyone tantalized and ready for another run or movie or whatever they have in mind. And we see now that that is exactly what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,232 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Looking forward to it! As long as my new celebrity crush survives I'll be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 23, 2016 Author Share Posted February 23, 2016 You never heard of Lauren Ambrose until now? Watch Six Feet Under immediately! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 6 hours ago, Jay said: Talk about a way to waste the return of the Lone Gunmen too. They brought the actors back for that? well they are dead so what's your beef. Loved the cliffhanger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 23, 2016 Author Share Posted February 23, 2016 The beef is that if they were going to track those guys down (it almost didn't happen because one of them was in rural Australia), they should have done more with them than a blink and miss it cameo. In my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taikomochi 1,136 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Coming out of the finale, I thought, "that was actually a pretty exciting episode. A little bonkers, but fun." As I sit with it, yeah, that was a disaster in the worst way The type of disaster only The X Files could deliver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 23, 2016 Author Share Posted February 23, 2016 David Duchovny Says He Would Love To Do More X-Files Episodes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Good episode! The whole "end of the world" sorta came out of nowhere after 4 monster of the week episodes, and they didnt have quite the budget to portray a world cataclysm. Most of what we got was an epic traffic jam and the conspiracy theorist ranting online about the pandemonium that was going on. I guess that if you compare these 6 episodes to current day TV of this type it feels oddly old-fashioned in style. The mixing of serialised stories with stand-alone ones was very common in the 90's, and helped pave the way to the fully serialized TV shows that are popular nowadays. It is no surprise I guess that Carter and co stuck to the formula that has worked for the show for so long. But I can't help feeling I would have liked more of the massive mythology and one or two less stand alone stories. Since this end on a massive cliffhanger I really do hope that there will be a follow up season, or movie. Or else what would have been the point of all this? Btw, interesting entomological detail. The word mulder in Dutch means someone who works at a mill...a miller. Which happens to be the name of...agent Miller. It's impossible that that's a coincidence, though I wonder if it will lead somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBoal 7,538 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Wait, so you're saying... Mulder is Dutch? MIND = BLOWN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 No. Though the name Mulder is a very common Dutch surname. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,232 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 I eagerly anticipate the upcoming movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightscape94 965 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 I agree that "Babylon" was by far the weakest. Thought the finale was really good It was actually very tense and well paced. Scully is a badass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 23, 2016 Author Share Posted February 23, 2016 Chris Carter says The X-Files will be back, “almost without a doubt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBoal 7,538 Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 I wonder if they'll reveal whether Mulder is Dutch or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 I never said Milder was Dutch. I said his surname was Dutch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBoal 7,538 Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Of course, but you may be onto something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Hmmm...that could be the answer to the riddle thats been going around since the early 90's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 The X-Files 10x06 My Struggle II Not bad. I liked how the episode started with a Scully narration, mirroring the opening of the season. In fact, this was totally Scully's episode, with Mulder sidelined for a long portion of it. I enjoyed her taking charge and getting stuff done, even though the science behind it and explanations we got were kinda wonky and underdeveloped. In fact, the big problem with the episode was the scope and total lack of pulling off that scope. The idea of doing a story where humans are dying worldwide caused by an alien plot that a syndicate of humans knew about are selected ones that would survive it is certainly an interesting plot that could lead to a great filmed adaptation. But the first problem is that this giant, world-wide event happens basically out of nowhere after a series of four monster-of-the-week episodes, not at all as something slowly set up over the course of a month and a half miniseries. The second problem is that they didn't show how epic a situation like would really be at all. This is a cinematic idea that would have been good for a movie, or at least something with a big budget. Instead all we really get is lots of shots of crowded hospitals, Joel McHale on TV telling us how bad things are, and some traffic. D'oh. I kinda liked the return of Miller and Einstein, they were integrated well enough into the story. Skinner once again has nothing to do. What's up with that? The return of the Cigarette Smoking Man as a key player in events should have been huge too but it just... wasn't. He mostly just delivers these long monologues that attempt to catch the viewer up to what's going on and... then just lets Mulder leave to die? I dunno. The cliffhanger ending was so stupid. This is how you end your revival? What if no one watched, ratings were terrible, and there were no future episodes? Did they just assume they'd get more some day? But we have no idea how far away they are? I didn't like it. So a very flawed end to a very flawed return. I realized something. We're currently going through the original series now, we're about halfway through season 7. Through the first 5 seasons, the show was a nice balance of Monster of the WEek episodes and Conspiracy episodes. The conspiracy episodes weren't always compelling (and let's be frank, all the MOW weren't either), but they were never wildly different from each other. Then the movie happened, which attempted to both tell a convincing standalone story and advance the conspiracy story (it didn't succeed to well at either IMO). BUt then halfway through season 6, they did a 2 part mythology story that completely wrapped up the whole syndicate story so far. It was really good, among the best mythology episodes, and made sense with everything that came before in it that long running story. Since then, the show has gotten weird. There's a drastic different between the MOW and the mythology stuff they do now, so when a mythology one starts you kinda slump down like ugh, we gotta slog through this. They did one where they completely retconned Samantha's abduction in season 7, wtf? I think what happened was t hat Chris Carter simply isn't the writer he used to be. He used up all his best ideas in the first 5 years of the show, and also had hired a seriously talented group of other writers to work on the show for all its year. I don't think its a coincidence that the Chris Carter penned episodes of this revial are the worst, and the ones by the returning other great writers were all better. Since he's also the showrunner, it would have been his decision to have this weird global arc setup in the prmiere, then sidelined for 4 episodes, then awkwardly continued and ending with a cliffhanger now. Bah. I think the best thing for the show will be if Chris Carter lets someone else showrun any future episodes before he does any more damage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 The MOTW episodes are mostly fine, but could have been placed anywhere in the previous 9 seasons without standing out one way or another. Which is ok if you have 24 episodes to do. There's always gonna be a bunch decent if unremarkable episodes. If you are only doing 6, you really need to raise the bar. Especially on a show that's made a return after being off the air for so long. You shouldn't revive a show for the purpose of doing a slew of eps of 7 out of 10 quality. I happily watched and enjoyed season 10, but the were-monster episode is the only one that will be remembered. Quote The cliffhanger ending was so stupid. This is how you end your revival? What if no one watched, ratings were terrible, and there were no future episodes? Did they just assume they'd get more some day? But we have no idea how far away they are? I didn't like it. Apparenty Carter isn't finished with X-Files. Which seems to be a continuous issue for him. He's never quite done with this "universe". Always something more to tell. But yeah. You would hope that they will actually do another season or a movie or something. Or else they will have ressurected a story that had basically been concluded and ended it on a cliffhanger that won't be resolved.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 28, 2016 Author Share Posted February 28, 2016 I agree with this article! Chris Carter created 'The X-Files,' and was by far the worst part of the revival Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Bring back Spotnitz and Gilligan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted February 28, 2016 Author Share Posted February 28, 2016 Let him write the occasional episode but have someone else architect the overall story for the next miniseries! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkgyver 1,645 Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 I accidentally zapped into an episode of this last week. At first, I thought "cool, X Files reruns" because of the retro opening titles. Then I noticed Scully looked too old. Then I was like "Oh GOOD I totally forgot about this!" Then I was like "They captured the feel of the Series REALLY well". I can't bear the German dub, so I'll wait until the BluRay is out. I don't care how good it is, it's X-Files and David Duchovny, that's all I Need to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 X-Files Creator Chris Carter Debriefs Us on Season 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightscape94 965 Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I found this particularly interesting... CS: Will we get any answers on Margaret Scully’s quarter? Carter: No. That’s a mystery for Scully, one that will probably drive her crazy for the rest of her life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taikomochi 1,136 Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 That's the thing with this miniseries, isn't it? There's a lot of thoughtful ideas like the quarter that seem great on paper, but seeing them executed is a whole other thing. The quarter just seemed an underdeveloped plot in the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 http://deadline.com/2016/05/the-man-in-the-high-castle-showrunner-frank-spotnitz-exits-amazon-series-1201759933/ Maybe this means Spotnitz will return for season 11 of The X-Files, which was announced earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightscape94 965 Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 It wasn't really announced, but they're talking about it. It's all a matter of timing. Apparently the earliest they can get it to us is 2018 because of the actor's schedules. I was hoping for a yearly short order, but I'll take what I can get at this point. Just wish it didn't end on a cliffhanger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 'Significant Talks' Underway With David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson for Season 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweeping Strings 2,344 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 I wouldn't care if they just left it alone now. Something felt 'off' about this year's new series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,287 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 The werewolf one was great! Other than that..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 The other 5 could have been slotted into any of the other seasons and be barely noticeable. More X-Files? Sure, but with a bit more ambition please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstrox 6,647 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 The X-Files has been uneven throughout its entire run. Even "peak" X-Files seasons had their fair share of clunkers. The only episode I disliked was the one with the trash monster coming to life or whatever. The rest were okay-to-good and two were great, IMO (Founder's Mutation and the Were-lizard one). Recently, TV is made more by committee - there's a writer's room and a showrunner, and even though somebody bangs out the final draft, everybody has their hands in every script. I remember reading interviews that this season of The X-Files was not done that way - every writer did their own script and that was it. I can't help but think that the whole "event series" (if you could call it that since it covered a whole bunch of different unrelated events) could have been tighter, or something really special, if it had been more collaborative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 TV has always been made that way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now