I’m not one for networks firing creators/showrunners from their own shows, but...yeesh, Chris Carter written/directed mythology episodes are messes. This show would benefit greatly from someone from his talented writers’ pool taking over (or possibly just someone to read his scripts and say “dial back the flat exposition/voiceover about 80%, please.”)
The early reviews seem to posit this episode as the worst, so...uphill from here?
That episode was just not good at all. I really don't care for Mulder's internal monologue and how we're ... back to Skinner not being trusted what? Didn't we resolve that 5 seasons ago? Based on this episode, I could see how Gillian Anderson wouldn't want to come back for another season.
Really wanted her to reach up under the bed and pull her service weapon from a hidey spot and blast that guy choking her rather than Mulder showing up and...what? Why is there a surgical tray sitting there with a scalpel?
What was with the quick tiny constant zoom in and outs? Is that a new "overused dutch angle" thing? Did someone really think that would continuously ramp up the intensity or tension?
So they're retconning the second half of Season 10? Which itself was a giant retcon of pretty much the entire series? Does that make it a reverse-retcon?
Scully had a vision where Mulder got high on mushrooms that were actually placebos and saw his dead friends and linedanced to Honky Tonk Badonkadonk?
It's yet another "We can't trust Skinner!" plotline?
They added a five minute long commercial for the 2018 Ford Mustang sloppily disguised as a "car chase"?
Mulder got cucked by his own dad, which makes his 'son' his half brother... doesn't that technically make Scully his stepmom?
There was a conveniently placed set of scalpels right next to a patient who was admitted for seizures?
William was supposed to be the world's first superhuman? What about Xena and the other supersoldiers from earlier in the series?
Also at this point, if a character doesn't just unload an entire clip into the smoking man, they are a complete idiot.
Somebody needs to shoot a rocket into that guy.
+6
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Zilla36021st Century. |She/Her|Trans* Woman In Aviators Firing A Bazooka. ⚛️Registered Userregular
edited January 2018
What a sucky retcon for most of the last season. Scully's 'visions' should all come with 'Dallas' style intros, then the CSM walking out of the shower.
The Taurus thing always struck me more as it being the "generic" rental sedan rather than product placement. It was to traveling government employees what the Crown Victoria was to police departments.
Amusingly enough the Taurus was chosen as the Detroit PD patrol vehicle for the first Robocop movie because it was brand new at the time and looked "Futuristic".
I guess the props department only had enough money left for matte black rattlecans though.
That was the worst but also slightly less bad than the last one. When do we get a monster one
Apparently, this season is supposed to be more of a case/monster of the week hybrid, like this episode, which was tangentially related to the “mythology”, but was mostly standalone plot about an AI prison or whatever.
I think (hope?) The Darin Morgan episode this year is an exception.
The Taurus thing always struck me more as it being the "generic" rental sedan rather than product placement. It was to traveling government employees what the Crown Victoria was to police departments.
Amusingly enough the Taurus was chosen as the Detroit PD patrol vehicle for the first Robocop movie because it was brand new at the time and looked "Futuristic".
I guess the props department only had enough money left for matte black rattlecans though.
I read an article about a guy who got paid to drive Robocop's car across America for something or other. He said it was a colossal piece of shit and he had to stop multiple times to get it fixed, including lashing the front bumper to the car with wire/twine at one point.
I want to believe has never been more salient when I watch this mess of a revival. I'll stay with it until it stops breathing, but I'm having about as much fun as Gillian Anderson at this point.
I was sorta wishy-washy on it, but that last line from Skinner cracked me up. I like X-Files episodes that are goofy (an idyllic suburb is terrorized by a trash golem who murders anyone who doesn't follow the HOA rules) but not super goofy (awkward character inserts into moments from classic episodes).
I could really do without the "build a wall"/Trump references. We get it, you don't like the President, making fun of the situation at this point is low hanging fruit.
The latest episode was, to start, abysmal. I can't tell if the beginning is so bad on purpose, along with the episode hook (a bad slenderman rip off) to shift your attention? The episode ended up being alright by the end, the sentimentality worked even though this episode was eh overall. The episode keeps tricking you which is neat, if gets a bit old. You can only unreliable narrator us so many times in an episode. Just show us whats actually going on. I feel mediocre on this episode. The last episode with their 'comedy' schtick they pull out is always great. the title card 24 minutes in had me rolling, along with arguing which kind of conspiracy they were in the middle of.
Aftereffects of this episode:
William makes it pretty clear he isn't going to be found by them and he "knows" who scully is at this point. He heard scully cry over him being dead calling him william. That's a weird setup or path to take.
fake edit: I thought there was only one more episode? It's getting 10 this season?
I thought it was incredibly boring and lame. It might as well have stopped after the cold open, which fully communicated the entire heavy-handed moral that was all the episode had to say. With basically no dialogue, it never got the opportunity to be fun. It seems like they felt the hackneyed, facebook-aunt "teach the robot children" concept was strong enough that nothing needed to make sense or be followed through on.
I like X-Files when it's legit good TV, and when it's kinda clumsy-good, and also when it's unintentionally hilariously bad (like eps 1 and 2 this season) and this was just a boring, nothing 'sode.
I do like how the show is so inconsistent that even when this happens it's worth tuning in next week though.
Zilla36021st Century. |She/Her|Trans* Woman In Aviators Firing A Bazooka. ⚛️Registered Userregular
This was like every 80+ year old techno-phobe's worst nightmares condensed into one script.
The smart fridge spitting ice cubes at Scully...
(And is she even the kind of character that would buy a smart house anyhow?)
I think they were trying for the nuance and sophistication of a 'Black Mirror' episode, only a few years too late.
So many hilarious moments that the were intended to be taken seriously.
She absolutely isn't that kind of person. The episode can only be read as either some weird alternate universe, or a weird retcon of the show as now taking place in some somehow-never-before-mentioned Black Mirror spec-fic future where there are already self-driving ubers and robo-chefs and shit. It's a very weird thing to have done. I fully expected a "it was all a dream" thing, because it doesn't fit into the universe at all (I know the X-Files universe is cramped with all manner of sci-fi and fantasy bullshit but this was specifically about pervasive inescapable tech that we have had no hint of before)
I'm just going to assume that this episode and forehead sweat are just one off alternate universe things, which makes them significantly better episodes in my mind.
I hated this one. Just gross gore for its own sake, with Mulder and Scully having nothing to do with it and basically exerting no force on the plot in any direction. Whole thing happens the same way if they never show up.
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that Mulders real name
is fox bush
We're being trolled
I thought this was badly directed/shot and monologued/dialoged. Just... everything really.
The early reviews seem to posit this episode as the worst, so...uphill from here?
Really wanted her to reach up under the bed and pull her service weapon from a hidey spot and blast that guy choking her rather than Mulder showing up and...what? Why is there a surgical tray sitting there with a scalpel?
Scully had a vision where Mulder got high on mushrooms that were actually placebos and saw his dead friends and linedanced to Honky Tonk Badonkadonk?
It's yet another "We can't trust Skinner!" plotline?
They added a five minute long commercial for the 2018 Ford Mustang sloppily disguised as a "car chase"?
Mulder got cucked by his own dad, which makes his 'son' his half brother... doesn't that technically make Scully his stepmom?
There was a conveniently placed set of scalpels right next to a patient who was admitted for seizures?
William was supposed to be the world's first superhuman? What about Xena and the other supersoldiers from earlier in the series?
What the fuck is even going on anymore?
Dirk Gently season 2 on Netflix tho!
Agreed. Hated nearly every part of the episode.
The narrating, the in-episode commercials for Ford and Samsung, the fact that no one is ever willing to pull a trigger on a gun pointed at a bad guy.
It was just terrible.
Also at this point, if a character doesn't just unload an entire clip into the smoking man, they are a complete idiot.
Somebody needs to shoot a rocket into that guy.
Mulder rented a Taurus every week in the 90s, so product placement doesn't really concern me.
Amusingly enough the Taurus was chosen as the Detroit PD patrol vehicle for the first Robocop movie because it was brand new at the time and looked "Futuristic".
I guess the props department only had enough money left for matte black rattlecans though.
Apparently, this season is supposed to be more of a case/monster of the week hybrid, like this episode, which was tangentially related to the “mythology”, but was mostly standalone plot about an AI prison or whatever.
I think (hope?) The Darin Morgan episode this year is an exception.
I read an article about a guy who got paid to drive Robocop's car across America for something or other. He said it was a colossal piece of shit and he had to stop multiple times to get it fixed, including lashing the front bumper to the car with wire/twine at one point.
And whats the point, if they have one redundancy for the most important system in the world, they surely have more than 2.
Also the ramifications are that they already have everyone who has picked up a cell phone since they started. That shits too late.
Also.. they were in hiding.... in his home. for weeks? From whom? Someone who didn't know his address?
E: I'd actually be okay with this episode bring the series finale.
I could really do without the "build a wall"/Trump references. We get it, you don't like the President, making fun of the situation at this point is low hanging fruit.
Aftereffects of this episode:
fake edit: I thought there was only one more episode? It's getting 10 this season?
I like X-Files when it's legit good TV, and when it's kinda clumsy-good, and also when it's unintentionally hilariously bad (like eps 1 and 2 this season) and this was just a boring, nothing 'sode.
I do like how the show is so inconsistent that even when this happens it's worth tuning in next week though.
The smart fridge spitting ice cubes at Scully...
(And is she even the kind of character that would buy a smart house anyhow?)
I think they were trying for the nuance and sophistication of a 'Black Mirror' episode, only a few years too late.
So many hilarious moments that the were intended to be taken seriously.