1168 replies to this topic

[ejluther]

So, I watched the 1993 version of BODY SNATCHERS last night (great flick - Meg Tilly is very, very good in it) and was struck by the fact that I hadn't made the connection and realized how much the XF was influenced by the story/movies, especially the Alien Replicant/Super Soldier plotline. I even found this when I was looking at the DVD of the first filming of the BODY SNATCHERS story:

Without this movie there would be no X-Files-it's the original paranoid sci-fi psychodrama. Seedpods silently invade a small California town and turn its residents into lobotomized drones while they sleep. The holdouts are Dr. Miles Bennell and his old flame Becky who realize something funny's going on. The critics have read a lot into this movie: it's about the atomic threat, communism, McCarthyism. Bottom line: It's a killer B flick.

http://www.dvdprices...alc&tmpCart=858

My bottom line? All three versions of THE BODY SNATCHERS are great and worth a look, especially if you like XF...

Edited by ejluther, Jan 18, 2004 @ 6:01 PM.

[bmills]

XF borrowed from all sorts of things, but the two strongest influences (which CC acknowledged) are All the President's Men (the whole government is out to get you and you must use clandestine meetings and informants to fight them) and Kolchak, The Nightstalker (an investigator (or two) working on the fringes, thought to be nuts because he (they) believe in the things he (they) is (are) investigating). For specific episodes and subplots you can point to just about any science fiction or horror classic, but those two are the biggies.

(This post brought to you by parentheses. Parentheses: when you want to nest clauses.)

[ejluther]

Some of my fondest early-TV memories are of NIGHTSTALKER - my folks were fans and we'd all watch it together. I'd love to see it now, as an adult, to see what I think of it, if it holds up...

[bmills]

Sci Fi channel runs Nightstalker episodes, but of course at seemingly random intervals. Watch the guide for their weekday 11-4 mini-marathons. I think the show doesn't quite compare to fond memories of it, but that's not its fault. We're used to seeing similar stories told with a better budget, special effects, and two great leads as opposed to one Darrin McGavin, and it sort seems like a rough draft of X Files by comparison. That's the cost of being an original: your imitators come along and do it better.

[Lili Von Shtupp]

Kolchak occasionally airs on Trio, too.

The original Invasion of the Body Snatchers is one of the best. movies. ever.

Topic? The more that time passes, the more I'm growing to like S8. There were actually some pretty good episodes. I don't even really miss Mulder, and I've always loved Doggett. There. I've said it. I feel much better now.

[Kanel]

I haven't had the heart to give season 8 another go yet. I have a few eps recorded, I should probably see them again now, that some time has passed and I have some perspective.

I always found quite a few eps of season nine to my liking in a whole other way than I did with season 8, and I'm thinking that might have been because I was getting used to the changes by then.

Maybe if I watched it again now, season 8 will grow on me? I do trust Lili's judgement - except for the musical thing, of course...

[snarkcake]

I'm like Kanel - I haven't given S8 another go, and I'm not buying the DVDS for 8 or 9. I like Doggett fine, but all those eps still remind me how wrong it all went. I've been watching early S5 and falling in love again...I don't want to dwell on the decline.

I read somewhere (here?) about someone reordering S8 eps mentally so the search for Mulder eps come first ending with "This is Not Happening," then all the Doggett-Scully eps (with no need to search for Mulder cause he's planted, the nameplate in the desk, etc.), then the resurrection and the life. That is how I now think of S8 when I do.

[Crass]

I have to say I think that Three Words is one of the best X-files episodes, even if it is from the horror that is S8. Some really good performances all 'round, and Mulder's jealous fits about Doggett are worth the price of admission alone. Plus it has TLG. What more could you ask for?

[IvoryChopsticks]

I'm slowly making way way through Season 8, and finding I'm liking it a lot more this go round. Diminished expectations are good, I guess. Skinner and Doggett working together is a beautiful thing.

I still have a hard time with the "Mulder was dying of a brain illness and didn't tell Scully" bit. After everything those two went through together I just feel like there's no way he would keep something like that from her for a year. I can't retcon this into making any sense. It's a crappy, cheap character assassination. This plot point is actually the reason I didn't watch most of Season 8 first go round (though I ended up watching most of season 9).

How in the hell, too, could Doggett not believe after The Gift. Of course, since both Scully and Skinner have taken over the believer roles, someone has to take over the "what, what, I can't hear you, it's not true, I don't believe" role.

And I just saw on tvtome that Deep Roy (who played the mystic in Badlaa) also played Mr. Sin in the Dr. Who Classic, The Talons of Wang-Chiang. That's just... cool.

Edited by IvoryChopsticks, Jan 26, 2004 @ 1:25 PM.

[ejluther]

as for mulder's brain illness, i know most fans see it as character assassination, but i think it can also be viewed - gulp! gasp! - as continuity, just bad continuity.
remember that mulder was operated on in the first episode of Season 7, he had all those brain problems and the like, so what I took his mysterious brain disease to be was the continuation of those ailments. of course the glaring problem is not even obliquely referencing it during the rest of Season 7 and the HOCUS POCUS! way he was cured. So, like many of the plotlines on the show, i think it starts off fairly strong and then meanders around so long it sort of dies from exhaustion.

as for not telling scully, i think it does fit mulder's character to not confide in scully. we've seen him do that time and time again throughout the show, he even did it in THE TRUTH...

[nm317]

I personally like Vienen, if only because of Mulder and Doggett running around the ship wearing tight jeans. If more of season 8 had been like that, that would have been cool. I like Three Words as well, at least the flashback parts. I actually don't remember any of the rest of it. (Is Three Words the "Scully asks Mulder if she can have his baby" episode?" I forget.

[Scrambled Eggs]

Per Manum is the episode with the flashbacks and the failed baby-making. Three Words is the one with the Knowle Rohrer and the disk with "fight the future" on it and Mulder breaks into a building and he and Scully discuss her pregnancy for about 10 seconds.

Hated the brain disease, it doesn't make any sense that Scully wouldn't have noticed something was wrong with Mulder, even if he didn't want to tell her. So I ignore any mentions of it as best as I can.

[luv2surf]

While it was lying low for most of S8, the episode "Existence" really brought to the surface Reyes' somewhat questionable/confusing comments and body language. Considering the lovable moniker 'Moronica,' I know a lot of fans didn't like her, but I mostly did. I was just fraught with the stress of not 'getting' Monica or feeling like I understood her in the least through her first year.

When Doggett came on he found a groove pretty quick with Scully, Skinman and Kirsh. But, and maybe it was intentional, it always seemed to me that Reyes was this unknown quality, coming in from the 'outside' and never really getting 'in' with the the little team.

Her tentative and ambiguous relationship with Scully this season really wierded me out, while she never acted consistently around Westly (flirty, accusatory, hostile, friendly...wth?). I only felt like I knew where she was coming from when she hung with Doggett.

I am trying to address this here instead of opening up a Reyes-centric thread cause I'm not sure how game everyone will be to discuss her in depth. I mean my issues with her were confined to S8 for the most part, she got a little more settled in S9.

I am willing to concede that this may be just me. I've watched since S1 and got very testy about this show around S6, so everything after that was mostly a disappointment. I rallied and managed to enjoy the dying embers of the XF flame, but no one else I know stuck with it so with the discovery of this board and this thread (yay!) I thought I would check out the Reyes issue, however late it is.

Reyes: was it jitters, HoYay for 'Dana', her uber Spidy-sense, the writing, AG, one bad drop in a bad bucket (ie.the season sucked all round)...?


ETA-BTW Hello fellow X-Philes!

Edited by luv2surf, Feb 7, 2004 @ 3:33 AM.

[ejluther]

I like Monica, too, but the writing of her character was scattered - I think they wanted her to be everything all the time; scully's friend/substitute sister, doggett's new "believer" who secretly (or not so secretly) loves him, mulder's replacement as someone who can intuit things successfully, possibly untrustworthy - by the time she did all that, there was little work spent on the actual character and her motivations. Doggett was much better because he was so linear, so clear-cut in who he was, but Monica had a lot on her shoulders. AG did a really fine job, but I suspect wasn't given much direction beyond "Um, Annabeth? Okay. I like what you're doing but, this time, could you deliver your lines slower? Yes, much slower. Perfect!"

Plus, it was the second time in less than a year a new character was being brought on in an obvious attempt to replace one of the beloved leads. I think people just sort of lost it. They lost Mulder and were going to fight losing Scully with every fiber of their little X-phile fan-bodies! Perfect example is the whale songs; a funny "look how much I'm like Melissa" moment blew up in their face and ended up defining this character as "Moronica" - and the "you look really beautiful" comment? I never saw lesbian overtones in it, and I'm a sucker for homosexual subtext. Besides, Scully is a beautiful woman, it's true! I think people just didn't want to like Monica and wanted to make fun of her. Actually, I can't think of anyone else ever telling Scully, at least to her face, that she was beautiful (besides Frohike). Maybe that one time Mulder said he can understand why someone would find her hot (something like that), but it's not like Scully was constantly being told she was beautiful. Maybe that's one of the reasons Monica's compliment seemed so strange to people.

Having said all that, I thought AG brought some new blood to the show and I liked where she was going and wanted to know more about her. I thought she did a consistently great job in Season 9 and her courtroom scene is just about the best scene in THE TRUTH, IMO.

Edited by ejluther, Feb 7, 2004 @ 5:17 PM.

[Kanel]

Welcome to the boards, luv2surf! We tend to like discussing anything X-Filesian - you're in good company here.

I mean my issues with her were confined to S8 for the most part, she got a little more settled in S9.

She definitely got her XF legs more in season 9. I like to think that's because AG got sick of the non-direction and just made up her own mind about the character, but, sadly, I have no proof of that what so ever.

I didn't exactly get the Ho-Yay! undertones in the "you look really beautiful" comment, either. I think I understand what she meant, like, encouragement or something, but if I was about to give birth, alone in a delapidated shack, surrounded by maybe-evil supersoldiers, that's not what I would like to hear from my only companion.

Preferably, she should say something like "Right. You breathe, I'll go boil some water. And don't worry, I've got everything under control!"

"You look really beautiful." Really. How helpful is that?

In season 9, though, there were several times when I actively liked Moronica. I didn't actively dislike her at other times (in opposition to most people on the boards, I guess), I just never really cared either way.

Of course, in season 9, I found myself liking the whole setup a little better that in season 8, because I was slowly getting over the shock of losing my beloved show to this!

[TotalNirvana]

Hi all, huge X-Files fan, but new to these boards, thought I'd comment. :)

To me, the brain disease does make sense, and isn't as much a retcon (taking retcon to mean changing the past) as just something they should have shown us earlier, if that makes sense. After the operation in Amor Fati, Mulder was cured and CSM had his newfound powers... but as we saw in Closure and forward, CSM didn't in fact have his powers, and was sick, the operation didn't work. I remember one explanation thought of at the time was that CSM was wrong in thinking he was Mulder's father, but as we saw later in S9 he most definitely was (which I say with mixed feelings), so the Amor Fati operation was without a doubt a failure. I always thought the brain disease made sense for that reason, why would CSM be dying, but Mulder be fine, then? It seemed like Mulder should have been dying as well, just... slower. Most importantly, in Requiem, Mulder stepped into the light of the ship willingly, he knew where he was going (although I remember a lot of people argued this, saying Mulder would never leave Scully... but c'mon, he isn't exactly fighting for his life when he was abducted, the look on his face was one of awe, until the bit of fear when he saw the Bounty Hunter), so in a way perhaps the brain disease was a response to that charge, that Mulder went *because* he was sick, after all, he had seen Cassandra return cured of what afflicted her in the past. Personally I think Mulder would have walked in willingly sick or not after how long he had spent looking for the answer, but perhaps that's just me. :) I do like the brain disease angle even if it wasn't mentioned at all in S7 (perhaps Requiem should have began with Mulder talking to a doctor about it, revealing it had been going on all season?), and I love the main episode that came out of the story, The Gift, and while it was brushed off rather quickly in Three Words I still do think it served a purpose. And as some of you have mentioned, pffft, of course Mulder would hide it from Scully, that's just his stubbord, protective way! Anyway, cool thread, and dammit now I'm going to end up wasting even more of the time I should be spending on important things reading the threads for each season... ;)

Edited to add: Another fanwank I think works is that there must have been a reason Mulder could see the starlight children in Closure, and this could easily be an explanation for that, CSM had most of what was causing Mulder's illness and was deteriorating quite quickly... but Mulder still had remnants, allowing something like that, and killing him at a slower pace. It's an explanation that probably doesn't stand up under close scrutiny, but I always did like it.

Edited by TotalNirvana, Feb 8, 2004 @ 1:39 AM.

[luv2surf]

"Um, Annabeth? Okay. I like what you're doing but, this time, could you deliver your lines slower? Yes, much slower. Perfect!"

Bwah! So true. The pacing of the post-film and especially post-DD seasons were markedly slow. I was watching CSI the other night and the darkness of that show plus the suspense and squick-factor almost replicated the S1-S3 vibe of XF for me, so thrilling to feel that again!

ejluther: I felt like I was losing my footing as a longtime fan when they introduced RP. I was more resistant than most people, but by the time I got over it I was kinda like "OK, this is the new show. All aboad! Sure bring in 12 new cast members - I don't care!" so Reyes and Westley and Noel Roar, no problem. Kinda like Kanel said, only earlier for me.

Mid S7, I guess, I was past my stubborn delusions that XF could find its way back to the original brilliance and pretty much deep-sixed any expectations about how they would finish it off. I was really receptive to Monica at that point, I just had no clue where/what she was doing there, and as you astutely pointed out, that was probably due to the fact that TPTB didn't either.

Scully: absolutely. I agree she is a beautiful woman. Maybe the comments seemed odd because they were so unhelpful and seemingly misplaced in contrast to the gravity of the situation. Or maybe I just didn't expect that type of personal commentary from someone who had only known her for like, I dunno, 6 mos. (feel free to correct me), well, not that long.

OTOH, they did try to go the touchy-feely route with Monica's character so maybe that was just a cheap Anvilicious moment, reminding us of her differences vs. Scully's analytical reservedness.

They did do an 'Ode to Scully' type episode with the heart-ripper-outer guy who wrote the manuscript. That was all about her, not just her superficial perfection, so maybe it doesn't count as a declaration of her beauty. But both she and Mulder read the book so...

I guess I just thought: "duh', we've all been watching their every move for 6 years now. Of course Scully is a gorgeous and delightful creature, get in line you twit". OK, not that Reyes is a twit, but it was a twit-worthy line, IMO. It seemed obvious and unecessary - maybe cause it wasn't coming from Mulder and it had no real purpose. I jest.

Really, I probably shouldn't be so averse to praise for GA/DS of any sort from anybody, but it felt uncomfortable so there it is. I'll let it go now.

Word on the courtroom. It was almost entirely anti-climactic, so when AG came on and rocked her scene, I was very pleasantly surprised that they gave her good stuff. Which was replaced by immediate and intense depression that I would never again be pleasantly surprised by this show.

BTW-Thanks for the welcome Kanel! My X-Phileness of yore (S1-S5) could almost be called a debilitating illness. I had it bad. Thankfully, or um, not, the show started to tank (for me) and I got somewhat of my brain back for other things. Now I find the board. Oh well, I'm still probably more of a fan than my friends combined. I think I'm proud of that (?)...yeah, I can say that here ;)

As a general rule my posts are short, I swear. I guess the X-Files induces this verbosity, sorry!

[Slippin' Mickeys]

Okay, here's something I don't recommend doing... on Sunday, I had a mini marathon and watched Anasazi/Blessing Way/Paper Clip. Last night, I FINALLY got my S8 DVDs.

I would recommend at least a one week waiting period between the quality of the first four seasons and anything after season 7. At least.

Robert Patrick is seriously S8's only saving grace.

[RDJisAOK]

AND the kiss. (Hee!)

I'm so frustrated with the commentaries. ALL X-Files commentaries suck. I was watching "Existence" and in The Scene, all Kim Manners said was "This is the scene fans have been waiting for 8 years for." Thank you for that freakin' update! Like I wasn't AWARE of that fact? Then... silence. I've noticed the silence on all the other eps I've watched. Would it kill them to TALK? Jebus.

[Slippin' Mickeys]

Actually, I think it would. They're all actually a bunch of 1013 automatons who immediately combust when they begin to talk too seriously about the mytharc or the 'ship. What do you think ever happened to Morgan, Morgan & Wong?

[ejluther]

SuperSoldiers for real?

http://news.yahoo.co...leton&printer=1

[Scrambled Eggs]

Hmm. Between this
and Super Soldiers, maybe Chris Carter was more prescient than we could have expected.

[JimsBride]

I saw that yesterday- so weird!

[Bishop2]

Any day now, we're going to have doctors start harvesting human ova for the purposes of proving that this works on people. And then we'll all have to start breaking into numerous facilities and stealing the ova back.

And then we'll keep them in the fridge for three years before we tell anybody.

[Crow T. Robot]

When I saw that ova thing in the paper yesterday, I thought, "Perhaps THIS explains Scully's renewed fertility." Perhaps I watch too bleebleeblahblahboo.

[ejluther]

i found this bit especially XF-appropriate:

they could lead to treatments to postpone menopause or restore fertility, either in older women or in women who have suffered infertility as a side effect from cancer treatment.

And then we'll keep them in the fridge for three years before we tell anybody.

i wonder if there's a market for "Ova-Pops"?

"Now in your grocer's freezer! Ova-pops! The frozen treat that's not only good for you, it IS you!"

Edited by ejluther, Mar 12, 2004 @ 2:27 PM.

[NickChick]

Caught a bit of "TINH" this evening on TNT and I realized I never popped in here to ask -- does the S8 DVD commentary address why the hell "Three Words" is such a stilted episode in terms of no actual discussion about what Mulder went through in his abduction?

Does any of the commentary shed light on whether there were scripted scenes that were just never filmed/or were dropped? And if it was never part of "TW" or any episode, do they say why they chose to just skate right over that?

[Crow T. Robot]

Or how about the scene after Mulder wakes up when Scully stands up to get a drink of water (or something), and Mulder says, "Holy shit, Scully, you're pregnant!" and they have a conversation about it? Or did Skinner tell Mulder that Scully is pregnant?

Edited by Crow T. Robot, Mar 17, 2004 @ 1:26 PM.

[Slippin' Mickeys]

I think Skinner is their liason. After season 7, they never actually talked to each other. When Scully wanted to tell Mulder that she loved him, she'd call Skinner and have him do it. As with the telling that Scully is pregnant, and then with the deal with William in the finale.

[oneloudbitch]

I just Netflixed the last disc of Season 8. In fact, I should get it in the mail today.

I figure that way I can watch all the "extra" stuff without having to sit through episodes I've already seen.

I'll let y'all know if there's anything cool on it... or should I? I kinda don't wanna know what's on the disc until I sit down and watch it. Otherwise, I'll be totally disappointed.

If I hear that there's nothing good on it, I'll be disappointed now. If I hear there's something good on it, I'll get excited and then inevitably be disappointed when I finally see whatever it is.

I guess this is a no-win situation, huh? >:)