mhg83

So i decided to start my x-files first run today. The plan is to watch at least 2 episodes a day. The most i've seen of x-files was the first movie and a few bits and pieces of the later seasons. So I'm going in completely spoiler free. I'm hoping to make it through to the end of season five and possibly 6-9 if I'm still watching at that point. So lets begin ;

Season One


"Pilot"** Robert Mandel Chris Carter September 10, 1993

The first thing that surprised me was Chris Carter only wrote the pilot but did not direct. I seem to recall a lot of pilots being written and directed by the same person.

I enjoyed the first episode. Mulder and Scully are instantly likable characters. Mulder had some funny lines throughout. I just hope they don't stay the same throughout the whole series. I'm guessing Scully becomes less skeptical and more of a believer as the show continues?

The big X Mulder spray paints and the jump in time with flash of lights were intriguing and have me intrigued.

The best part was the cigarette man at the pentagon at the end. Felt like a nod to Raiders of the lost ark ending.

Supermallet

Man, I loved the X-Files. Watched every episode the night it aired. That is probably why the last seasons were so crushingly disappointing to me.

joe_b

Fantastic series -- probably my favorite. While the later episodes are clearly a step down from the glory days of season 1-5 (coincidentally, before they moved the production to California), when viewed in a condensed timeframe like you are planning to do, those seasons don't seem nearly as bad as they've been made out to be. For the most part, even the worst this show had to offer was still better than most of today's network television.

I watched the series off and on when I was a kid, but most of the myth-arc episodes (while intriguing) left me clueless. I later revisited the series on DVD and became addicted. It's made for marathon viewing. You're in for a great ride. To be honest, things did get a little murky toward the end with some of the multiple conspiracies, but by and large it's a fantastically constructed series

ultimaton

Yeah, for most of it's run X-Files was the first show that I considered appointment TV. The final season though, I recorded on VHS and it probably took me 2 years to get through. That said, X-Files is still one of my all-time favorite shows.

darkblue

A fine show. Reminiscent sometimes of 'Kolchak, The Night Stalker' when it's doing a creature feature type episode (as opposed to the continuing story conspiracy episodes) and I enjoyed both kinds.

Very much a personally nostalgic series for me as well - my daughter would always ask to watch it with me when she came for her every other weekend visit.

Supermallet

To me, the big problem with the later seasons isn't that the episodes are of lower quality, but it's that it became clear that Chris Carter obviously had no clue where his own show was going. Consequently, a lot of the later season stuff isn't so much bad as it is pointless.

superdeluxe

So we have a trek journey and a x-files journey.

We did the x-files journey, and did 2 episodes per day..it was like built into our schedule. Good luck.

davidh777

I watched the full run during broadcast and would record the episodes so I could watch them twice. I even bought episode guides and some of those VHS collections.

I've said before on this board that I think this show would have had the same kind of crazed online community as Lost did had such a thing existed when it aired.

mhg83

2."Deep Throat"** Daniel Sackheim Chris Carter September 17, 1993

The best highlight of this episode was the guest appearance of Seth Green. The theme of ufos seemed much deeper and involved. The Goverment using ufo tech on their aircraft was a cool aspect of the episode. The scenes of Mulder being taken away and drugged was very chilling. A great follow up to the pilot.

I had to at Scully having only access to a landline.



3 "Squeeze" Harry Longstreet Glen Morgan & James Wong September 24, 1993

first monster of the week ep. Meh. Seemed the quality dipped a bit when compared to the first two mythology ep.

superdeluxe

Dude it was crazed..but instead of facebook etc..it was newsgroups and IRC chat...and all of those crazy X-file conventions!

superdeluxe

Squeeze was one of season ones best monster of the week episodes.

PhantomStranger

That does become a serious problem in the later seasons, it became clear the writers had no idea how to tie together the mythology they had created. The same thing happened on Lost in the final season, but X-Files had several seasons like that.

kstublen

Seriously. In general, I always preferred Mythology to Monster of the Week, but there really were some great Monster of the Week episodes, "Squeeze" being one of the best. Eugene Tooms is such a great villain.

Supermallet

I almost always preferred Monster of the Week. Those episodes were usually the scariest and/or the funniest and/or the most poignant.

Tracer Bullet

If you go into the show knowing that the mythology of the X-Files is incomprehensible and goes nowhere, you'll be satisfied.

Personally, I'd stop at the end of season 5 and the movie.

Michael Corvin

These two guys speak the truth.

ATX

x-files was an interesting show... certain random episodes pop in my head when x-files is mentioned

i think of the brady bunch, burt reynolds, gish in fake hospital, amish aliens dissapearing shadows...

theres an awful one that i never liked that involved the space shuttle, lol

davidh777

Yeah, I guess I wasn't dialed in to that stuff at the time. Wasn't that the days of paying per minute of dialup?

mhg83

4 "Conduit" Daniel Sackheim Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon October 1, 1993

Mythology episode. Getting more insight into Mulder and his sisters abduction. Very sad ending with Mulder in the church and Scully listening to the therapy tapes.

5 "The Jersey Devil" Joe Napolitano Chris Carter October 8, 1993

M.O.T.W episode. I liked this one better than Squeeze. at Mulder looking at the porno mag in front of Scully. I like how they keep the romance out of Mulder and Scully. I think it works better that they have a plutonic relationship.

6."Shadows" Michael Katleman Glen Morgan & James Wong October 22, 1993

M.O.T.W. episode. Liked Lauren was a red herring for the poltergeist. But overall felt kinda weak and dialogue forced and cliched.

7."Ghost in the Machine" Jerrold Freedman Howard Gordon & Alex Gansa October 29, 1993

M.OT.W. episode. Liked the homage to 2001 's Hal. Hoping they get back to spome mythology episodes.

tommyp007

The wife and I were watching the entire series on dvd when we found out she was pregnant.

Our daughter's name is Dana Katherine.

Yep, big fan here.

superdeluxe

I was at the unviersity, so it would be on their dime lol

mhg83

8 "Ice" David Nutter Glen Morgan & James Wong November 5, 1993

fantastic episode! This is my favorite M.O.T.W. episode so far. Reminded me a lot of John Carpenters 'The Thing'

Fist of Doom

One of the best episodes of the series. And, yeah, it has strong parallels to The Thing.

Michael Corvin

"Ice" is my all time favorite episode. Awesome stuff.

dhmac

The "Ice" episode was inspired by The Thing