Season Nine: "oh my freakin' Christ"

Okay, so this is an indulgence... I never watched any S9 episodes, so to summarize the season may seem presumptuous, if not outright unfair. (And the above words were not — to my knowledge — ever uttered by anyone in connection to S9; it's all me.)

But for all of the catch phrases that were associated with this show, the plain truth is that the truth was never out there. At least not in any believable format. And this, from someone who "wanted to believe". Trust no one? I guess in the end, that means don't trust the creators of this show to do it any final justice.

First of all, did they really think that viewers would protest if William had been taken by aliens? (That's got to be a rhetorical question, because they seem not to care a whit when viewers protest.) Would it have been too predictable? Did that option seem so sour to them that they would instead go for the totally insane, out of character move by Dana Scully to put her son up for adoption after going through what she went through to have him? (For a bit of fun, check out my next posting tomorrow when I will unveil the Top Ten List of Better Outcomes for Baby William.)

Of course, the whole baby story arc should not have been introduced into what was already a messy mythology at the end of S7. So many things still needed be cleared up that adding a "special baby" was the last thing that any of us needed. As I've said, TXF literally took on the worst aspects of fan fiction when that storyline was allowed to persist. Oh, and if I thought that the mythology had been hard to follow up until then, it apparently became totally muddled and convoluted through S8 and S9.

If you want to see something hilarious, go to YouTube and do a search on "david duchovny gillian anderson paley center October 2013". The two of them appeared together last fall for an intimate live interview session and even although the moderator is a bit "nebbishy", the session is quite entertaining as a gauge for how memorable the last parts of TXF were. (And I get that as TV/film actors, you play a scene so many times over that you may or may not care to see the completed, pieced together version of what you're doing. Over seven, eight and nine seasons, unless an episode is particularly memorable, I don't doubt that things are easily forgotten over time.)

While the two of them recall specific details from the beginning and early periods of the show (and by and large, David seems to remember more things than Gillian), the revelations about how the series ended seemed like news to them. Gillian appears to have wiped out pretty much all of the events from S8 and S9 (no blaming her there), judging by her reactions and her various surprised queries, including "what the f--k is magnetite??" and "where was our kid at the time?" From David, we got assorted interjections like "I'm dying to know how it ends..." and "that's crazy s--t" and "it's just a little too far-fetched..."

Yep. That about sums it up. Funny in one way, but a sadly lost opportunity in so many others.

Oh, and Billy Miles... (you'll get the joke if you check out the video).

Season Eight: "the truth is in the lies"

Overall Rating: 2.17 out of 4 (circa 2003)

It's over? Really? I'm finally free? God knows that when I originally saw Closure last season that I didn't know how appropriate Mulder's closing statement would be in a little over a year's time. "I'm fine. I'm free." Overall, it's been a trying experience this year (and I didn't even start watching until February) to see a once proud show testing the patience of its audience and stretching the limits of believability in a way that I never thought possible — even for The X-Files. And even though the ever-brainful "powers that be" have decided that something with that title will still show up on the airwaves this fall, I have one final sentiment to add to the above: "I'm gone."

Worst / Best

It's actually not fair that I have to pick out the worst because I don't think I even saw the worst of the bunch, given what I've heard. Out of the twelve episodes that I did see, however, I may as well go with my ratings and choose Alone as the worst. The x-file component of it was pointless, the tribute part of it came off like a back-handed compliment, and for what seems like the thousandth time in the past couple of years, the Dana Scully that I saw cheesed me off in a big way. (I'll never be able to watch Tempus Fugit in the same way again.) That said, I have no fond feelings for any of the following, either: The Gift, Per Manum, This is Not Happening, and Empedocles.

If the first question of identifying the worst episode wasn't fair, the next task of identifying the best is damn near impossible. Again, I'll just go with my ratings and choose what I recall made me feel the best at the time that I saw it, which would be DeadAlive. Totally unbelievable in any context, but it had enough action and "edge of your seat" pacing to make me forget its shortcomings when I originally watched it.

Most Disappointing / Most Surprising

Did I have enough high hopes for anything this season to have found any one episode disappointing? I think I'll answer this one in a slightly different manner and expound on all the reasons why I found this entire season disappointing. When Mulder got sucked up into the alien ship last year, I knew that things would never be the same again. An era on TXF ended right there, no mistake about it. At that point in time, however, it was not apparent to me that any "next generation" type of folks would be introduced to the show. My guess was that Skinner would get demoted for his role in the "loss" of Mulder and that he would welcome the temporary re-assignment to field agent status to help Scully search for Mulder. It wasn't my naive belief that episode after episode until David Duchovny's return would focus on this search, but it was definitely my expectation that the show would take on a new respect for continuity and include a scene or two every week where we would get a status report showing their progress. That this could have been so easily accommodated but was ignored, was truly disappointing.

The characterization of Dana Scully — one that had long ago reached the point of irritation for at least two viewers that I know — was a further disappointment. I've been on her case since the "hold on" speech at the beginning of season seven, but this year took the proverbial cake. I'm not going to fan the flames by going into any great detail, but suffice it to say that whatever understanding that I used to feel for this character simply died over the course of season eight. It got to the point where I rolled my eyes at her distress because I didn't find her actions/reactions believable or even worthy of my concern.

My last big disappointment concerning season eight was the way in which they ended up using David Duchovny's services. So much potential ended up being so seriously wasted on trivial material. I must admit to having had expectations that Mulder's return would be a temporary revival of the "old X-Files". Mind you, I must also confess that I didn't think the ridiculous pregnancy storyline would be carried out to its "fullest" so that by Mulder's return, Scully would be as big as a house and not much good as a field agent anyway. Again, it wasn't anything that a decent attempt at realistic story-telling wouldn't have fixed, but I got the distinct impression that Chris Carter and his cronies didn't want any realism to interfere with their particular brand of story-telling this year. And that has to be the biggest disappointment to this fan.

So do I have a pick for most surprising? Once again, I'll tackle it from a slightly different perspective. My reaction to this entire season has been the most surprising part of it. In my wildest dreams (even after I sat in front of the TV moaning, "no, no, no" at the end of Requiem last year), it never occurred to me that by the time another May rolled around, I would care so little about this show and about what future Mulder and Scully might have. Which leads me to the closing scene in Existence... I think it's sad that some of us have cared so much and been so thoroughly ignored that those two minutes were enough to satisfy. In the context of what I've seen on the show the past couple of years, that ending just didn't fit. It may have been what many of us wanted after investing up to eight years of our lives, but CC had done the MSR some major damage over the past two seasons. In the end, what I saw were two characters who have behaved in aggravatingly stupid ways and who now think that a baby is going to assure them of "happily ever after". Sure. Fine. Whatever.

I don't know what Fox/Chris Carter has in mind after season twenty-seven or whatever, but I do wish that they'll all keep something in mind for the next big "hit" project: "Always leave your audience wanting more." The wisdom of the person who originated that saying can't be disputed.

Since I chose not to re-watch any of the episodes in S8, I have no changes to make to any of the individual reviews or ratings. The part of me that still cares about TXF is ultra sensitive to the incredible frustration that arises whenever I think about anything beyond the second last scene of Requiem. In revisiting my personal history with this show, it occurs to me that the worst trends in fan fiction seemed to have pervaded the series in its final two seasons. The creators of the show — ever the fierce protectors of the "relationship" and where it could or could not go — totally botched it. In the end, only those that I would describe as "shippers beyond all reason" would think that the Mulder and Scully story ended up anywhere near realistic or satisfying. I mean, my God, a baby! (How many discussions about bad fanfic did we have on the old discussion boards about "M&S with kids" stories??) And Mulder was actually dead and buried for how long? And how long was Scully's pregnancy? Oh, I forgot, I shouldn't ask such questions...

They'll have to resolve me while I'm not there, so I hope they don't say, 'Oh yeah, Mulder's gone, what an asshole. He had a baby with me, he kissed me and then he left.'

Season Seven: "everything dies"

Overall Rating: 2.73 out of 4 (circa 2003)

Isn't it always the case that when you go back to watch episodes again, some are better than you initially thought them to be and some are just worse? I must admit that the summer of "post season seven" has been quite dark for me... I've encountered more that I've felt are worse rather than better. Combined with the nasty news regarding the possibilities for the upcoming year, quite frankly, I'm ready to leave it all behind. The only thing keeping me on board on a part-time basis this upcoming year is DD's part-time involvement. Otherwise, this fan is on a downward slide from a five year TXF high, let me tell you!

Worst / Best

Okay, so what were the highlights and lowlights of Season Seven? Easy pick for absolute worst is Fight Club but there actually are a few runners-up that - upon completion of that all-important repeat viewing - are almost as aggravating. Orison, Signs & Wonders, First Person Shooter and all things are all considerably harder on the nerves the second time around. (In other words, if I were doing the ratings now, I'd be downgrading the ratings of each of the above by one notch.) And by the way, I'm betting that if you watch Orison together with all things, you might just start wondering if indeed God is talking to Scully... at the very least you'll think that GA likes the idea.

I also encountered several so-so eps that really don't provide any subsequent viewing appeal: Theef, The Amazing Maleeni, and Brand X to name a few.

Best ep? I still have to go with The Goldberg Variation. Out of the three episodes that I gave "excellent" ratings to, GV was the one that had the convincing and interesting x-file component. It was also sweet, touching, and real in terms of characterization. It wasn't edgy in the way that many TXF episodes usually are, but I think the fact that I didn't miss the edginess says a lot. I'm still amazed that one and the same writer put out two such opposing episodes (in terms of quality) in a single season.

Most Disappointing / Most Surprising

Most disappointing ep is a little harder to pin down, because it's not often that I have such high expectations of any specific ep - basically, I just know better than to do that - that I get shattered by the reality of it being the pits. That said, this year's Orison and Closure were both a little disappointing for me. The former for the fact that it was simply not well executed as a follow-up to a very good episode and the latter for the fact that I had hoped for something less elusive and more conclusive. But all told, I was totally disappointed by the lack of believability in First Person Shooter, for all the eye candy appeal of that episode and for all the "talented" writers behind it. (Oh, and for anyone wondering about Fight Club, I wasn't disappointed by that ep, merely disgusted that it got made.)

Most surprising? Hollywood A.D., definitely. I was cringing on the sidelines as news came out that DD had indeed not been kidding when he said that he'd cast Leoni and Shandling in his episode. (And I have nothing against these people, it was just that I thought DD was once again making himself a bullseye target for the masses out there who have severe problems with every breath he takes and every word he utters. I have since come to the conclusion that he probably couldn't care less about those people.) Everything that I heard about the episode - and granted, I tried to hear as little as was possible - prepared me for the worst. And it turned out that I was very pleasantly surprised. Go figure.

Looking Towards S8

I have decided that I am not going to be revisiting any of the season eight episodes. (To be honest, I'm not even sure I have all of the ones that I originally saw still on VHS, so it may be a moot point, given that I don't have the DVDs.) Having gone through season seven and feeling that resistance again, I'm not in a good frame of mind to do a revisitation any justice. Maybe in future. Maybe never. Probably never. Unfortunately, I still think that TXF really got crazy after "I'm pregnant."

I'm not criticizing evolution and desire for change for a series that — to be fair — even CC thought would end after S7. (I have heard in the intervening years that it was FOX that issued an ultimatum for him to continue or it would continue without him.) People are generally resistant to change, but if it's good change, they eventually come around. What happened to The X-Files post S7 was not "good change". I think the creators tried to introduce good change and move forward. In general, John Doggett was a good character. It's just that they were so determined to keep viewers invested in past history (largely by reinventing it) that worlds just ended up colliding and it all turned into a sucking black hole — with emphasis on "sucking". That's my take on it. (Oh and by the way, be warned... I was consistently in an extremely bad mood when I wrote those original S8 reviews.)

For the record, once I get through what I have of S8, I intend to go back and re-watch all of the eps from S1 through S7 and add new commentary.

Season Six: "believe the lie"

Overall Rating: 2.81 out of 4 (circa 2003)

This season started off on a snarky note in many ways. There were those who were making snide comments about the fact that the show had moved to L.A. and had therefore lost its dark edge. (Funny, all the years in which it had been produced in Vancouver, no one had ever really said that the city was the real reason behind the success of the show.) A certain subset of those individuals then began its requisite DD-bashing. Personally, I thought that the first part of the season was just shaky in terms of quality. It had nothing to do with where they were filming. But as the "controversial" season wound down, I was pleasantly surprised by the results. At this point, (although I haven't finished rating all the episodes for all seasons) I'm pretty sure that the 2.8 rating above might actually be the highest total.

Worst / Best

The worst of the bunch is usually pretty easy to identify. My vote goes to Alpha. Close seconds are Agua Mala and The Beginning or One Son. Huh you say? Strange choices? It's the "morning after" syndrome, or some "settling down" of intense feelings after watching episodes for a second and third time. For example, I hate Drive less over time, while I dislike the above mentioned ones more over time. In fact, I recently watched The Beginning and thought, what a goddamn mess... they've left Gibson out there for two years!

Episodes that have turned out to be "not so memorable" for me on subsequent viewing include S.R. 819 (although it was good the first time out), Tithonus (surprisingly enough), and Trevor.

The best of season six? Wow. Quite a few towards the end. How do you choose from among Monday, Milagro, The Unnatural and Field Trip? Each one of these episodes evokes a strong emotion from me, and in very different ways. In the end, I love the message and the feeling behind The Unnatural, simply because it was so new and fresh for The X-Files. Every time I watch it, I seem to come away with some new insight into what's important in life.

Most Disappointing / Most Surprising

The previous season (five) ended on a dramatic note, with what I thought were a lot of unresolved feelings and issues between our heroes. The bridging movie seemed to indicate that they had worked out their difficulties; at least that was my impression upon seeing their "cuter than cute" interactions at the start of the film. Therefore the honour of most disappointing has to go to The Beginning, for taking so many steps backwards in the respective behaviours of Mulder and Scully. He, for seemingly siding with Diana Fowley for no good reasons that we were able to see, and she, for being so hideously and grossly unsupportive that it more or less drove him into "The Foul One"'s arms. This of course, sets up my second pick for most disappointing, One Son. 'Nuff said.

I'm picking Field Trip for most surprising, with Monday coming a close second. From hearing their respective spoilers, both seemed somewhat unoriginal and had the potential to be contrived and uninspired; they were anything but. Field Trip in particular brought some nasty feelings between M&S to the surface. How does a partnership made up of individuals so different survive the perceived blows to their respective egos and belief systems, time after time? Will the differences eventually destroy them? Not necessarily, because everyone is capable of growth in areas that they wouldn't think possible. In any case, this episode had a lot to more to say and show us than an unlikely x-file involving magic mushrooms.

Season Five: "resistance is possible"

Overall Rating: 2.65 out of 4 (circa 2003)

Season five was accused of being weak due to the fact that the creators and actors had been working through the previous summer on the long-anticipated (?) X-Files movie. It nevertheless opened strongly, I thought, with the Redux two-parter and the surprisingly tightly-woven tale of Susanne Modeski. (Upon recently re-watching Three of a Kind from season six, I've wondered if they can't convince Signy Coleman to join the cast somehow. She'd make a wonderful new Scully.... Hell, they talk about new Mulders so why not new Scullys??) Overall, while one of the worst episodes of all time made the cut in season five, we were also treated to one of the best episodes of all time, not to mention the very effective mythology arc of Mulder's disintegrating belief system. For a shortened production schedule, there were more winners than losers here.

Worst / Best

No question about it, it had to be Travelers. While not as appalling as season seven's Fight Club (which had the advantage of Mulder & Scully's involvement), it's an example of a conspiracy-heavy story without the chemistry of the characters that viewers have come to love. In other words, no matter what the creators may think, this isn't why we watch The X-Files. Nothing else this season even comes close to how I feel about this episode.

Those that have "so-so" repeat viewing potential for me include Christmas Carol and Schizogeny. I must admit that even though I don't especially care for Chinga and Kill Switch, I don't necessarily avoid them when they come around in repeats. (Maybe I'm still looking for that lost potential...)

Blurb from 2013... I liked Chinga less and Kill Switch more this time around. On the latter, I didn't like it enough to raise its rating because I still think that the overall premise is weak/unoriginal (and reminds me too much of Star Trek: The Motion Picture), but I was able to appreciate the performances. And the episode was stylishly done.

Just like the worst was a no-brainer, I think the best is also a no-brainer: Bad Blood for me, definitely. And I think I've spoken enough about it all over the place here to need no further justification for picking it. The really amazing thing is, even though sometimes the great episodes are not that great for repeat viewing, I can sit and watch this one over and over again.

Most Disappointing / Most Surprising

Kitsunegari comes to mind for most disappointing, because despite the great next-to-final scene, it really didn't deliver the goods based on its predecessor. I must say however, that it was unfortunately overhyped in the on-line community, leading us to expect more than even a good sequel would have been able to provide. Runners-up for this honour must also include the scripts from Stephen King and William Gibson, as well as the one that I just don't get, Post Modern Prometheus (hey, I'll keep trying...).

Most surprising is an easy one — Pine Bluff Variant. I'm tagging it with this honour because of the person who wrote it. With apologies to Mr. Shiban, he just hasn't been exceptionally strong in the past to come up with a story on his own that didn't make you cringe for all the wrong reasons. This one, despite the fact that it could only have ended one way (i.e., with Mulder alive), was an interesting journey into a new place. As I said in my review above, had it been just a bit less foggy in terms of what was really happening behind the scenes, I would have given it an "excellent" rating. Nothing deep about the ep otherwise, just a wonderful showcase for DD's dramatic talents.

Season Four: "deceive, inveigle and obfuscate"

Overall Rating: 2.75 out of 4 (circa 2003)

Was this season the jewel in the crown for The X-Files? I don't think we'll ever get any consensus on what is the "best" season for the series but time-wise, this certainly marked the show's heyday. It was the height of coolness to be a Phile, at a time when the show had finally overcome the boundaries of "traditional drama" to be recognized as a verifiable hit, perhaps by even the stuffiest of critics. Above all, I think we got some interesting shows that broke new ground (Home and Small Potatoes) and continued to see trademark "film-making" qualities highlighted during the two-parter sweeps eps.

Worst / Best

Worst ep? This season didn't have a "screamingly bad" episode, in all honesty. El Mundo Gira is obviously my pick but I don't have that strong dislike for it as I do for others that I could mention. The others that were rated at the bottom (Teliko, Sanguinarium) weren't entirely appalling either. The ones that didn't hit the high marks this season (and many did, which says something in itself) were merely less creative, less original. They were not necessarily indicative of bad characterization or poorly chosen story-telling techniques, which have been obvious with other "worst of" picks.

The best? There were many great episodes this season, but my personal pick is also one of my all-time favourites: Paper Hearts. Perhaps the quintessential Mulder story, the X-File in this one was not the possible explanation behind the disappearance of Samantha, but the uncanny link that Mulder has with her potential killer.

Most Disappointing / Most Surprising

This is going to seem like a strange pick, but I'm selecting Synchrony as my most disappointing episode. As I mentioned in my summary for the show, I like time travel stories and have seen some good examples of them. I thought that this episode had the potential to be so much more than what it was, considering how I felt after seeing the opening sequence.

I was basically surprised at every turn with the events of Home, TXF's effort at pushing the envelope with respect to network TV censors. This is the only X-Files episode where after each commercial break, our local affiliate aired a viewer discretion warning. And while I'm not the sort to be easily disturbed by graphic content, I was surprised with what they managed to get away with in this one. However, the subsequent move to ban it from ever being aired again (and I'm not sure if this is still true but it certainly was at one point) was a bit much.

Season Three: "I want to believe"

Overall Rating: 2.79 out of 4 (circa 2003)

This season represented my personal introduction to the X-Files, and for that fact, these episodes will always retain that "soft focus, first time" feeling for me. When I originally saw them, I was naive enough to be enthralled by their open-endedness and lack of real closure. And while that sounds somewhat facetious today, the fact was, by the end of the third season, I had been converted into a regular, confirmed, "put that on my schedule" kind of viewer. Looking back, I think the season's offerings were worth it.

Worst / Best

If I have to pick a worst ep, I'll have to go with Teso Dos Bichos, but I would qualify that — in the overall X-Files world — it was not that horrible an hour. The thing is, among all the episodes offered in this season, it failed to make an equal impression.

Best in a pretty good year? Since I found it hard to choose from among some very interesting mythology eps, I'm going to go with Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose. Great writing based on a great idea, great guest star, interesting interactions and dialogue for everyone, and no monsters in sight except perhaps for the ones that exist deep within each of us that we have to live with on a daily basis. It was both serious and funny in a very "real life" way.

Most Disappointing / Most Surprising

I can't name a most disappointing episode in this season. No episode during this time period was ever "presented" to me beforehand for me to have had any expectations about it, so I was never in the position to be disappointed. (Unfortunately, this category only becomes applicable in later years when — due to my increased fan participation — I began to have expectations that were doused.)

My vote for "most surprising" goes to War of the Coprophages. (It's a Darin Morgan kind of year for me, I guess.) While I never really "got" his other star contribution (Jose Chung), I could relate to this one right away. It was unconventional, a whole lot of fun, and definitely surprising, even from an X-Files point of view.

Season Two: "the truth is out there"

Overall Rating: 2.64 out of 4 (circa 2003)

I did not see any of this season's episodes during their first run, which means that I was a committed fan already when I eventually caught up with them through occasional reruns and later, via daily syndication. As such, I tend to see many of these episodes through rose-coloured glasses, because the feelings were so "high" when I originally encountered them. To put it in perspective, however — and as most long-term fans would agree — these really were representative of the days when the quality was obvious on The X-Files.

[This is a bit of an aside, but I assume I am not the only one out there supremely irritated by the fact that you can't skip over some elements of a DVD... the most significant being that ubiquitous FBI warning. Anyway, because I've been exercising on an elliptical while rewatching these eps, I have not bothered to fast forward through the show's opening sequence either. Needless to say, I've had a lot of time to look at it closely over the past couple of months and it's occurred to me that if not for that wonderful Mark Snow theme song (theme "notes"?), the TXF title sequence is pretty lame and borderline amateurish. Apart from the single shot of our intrepid pair working an early case and their FBI ID cards, the rest of it seems like an unrelated collection of offbeat images and cliches pulled out of some oddball's hat. I really wondered why it wasn't revamped after the first season.]

Worst / Best

There were many great episodes from this season and it remains the reason why I haven't sold my Season Two DVD set. (I only have two sets — this one and the previous. When my interest in TXF took an angry tumble, I briefly considered selling them. I've since changed my mind even though chances are, I'll probably never get around to viewing all the disks. I guess it's like keeping letters and gifts from an old boyfriend. My time in TXF fandom was a significant and unique part of my life, and for that reason, I see no reason to expunge all memory of it.) Anyway, it's impossible for me to choose one single best episode from a season that saw me rate seven — count 'em, seven — of them with the highest rating possible. Consider it a big tie among Ascension, One Breath, Colony/End Game, and Anasazi.

Worst ep? Hmmm... of the four eps that I gave a "poor" rating to (Red Museum, Fresh Bones, The Calusari and Our Town), I'd consider it a toss-up between the middle two. I have little feeling for either of them in the sense of wanting to view them ever again.

Most Disappointing / Most Surprising

Given that I'd heard so much about "the barbecue episode", I have to pick Red Museum as the most disappointing, because all in all, it didn't deliver much of anything interesting or exciting beyond Mulder wiping sauce from Scully's face... and even that scene was arguably not that enticing. It was one of those strangely "disconnected" mythology eps — and we all know how disconnected the connected myth eps became over time — that seemed to raise a bunch of unrelated questions with no possibility of resolution. (Maybe a typical CC production??)

My pick for most surprising episode from season two is Aubrey and I'm suspecting that some will be surprised by this selection. I more or less dismissed it on first viewing, but this is an episode that I like more with each subsequent viewing. Sure, it had holes galore in the plot and timeframes — as do many TXF episodes, by the way — but there was also something compelling about it, too — in a "human drama" sense, beyond an X-File.

Season One Summary: "trust no one"

Overall Rating: 2.33 out of 4 (circa 2003)

A wide variety of stories came out of the first season of this ground-breaking series. (And ground-breaking it was. When I see how far-reaching the TXF influence has been, it amazes me. From totally unrelated things such as a show called "The Sex Files" to the myriad of pseudo-scientific paranormal ripoff/homage series that can be found around the current dial, TXF made its mark, no doubt about it.) Some were more successful than others, of course, but overall, the scripts that we saw in season one convinced the network powers that be that this show had potential to be more than just a show about aliens.

Worst / Best

My pick for worst ep goes to Born Again. Nothing much to say about it except that of all the episodes that I gave a "poor" rating to in this season, this one sinks to the bottom as one that I wouldn't care if I never saw again. And it's not because it conjures up hateful memories like an episode that I won't mention from season seven. This one just appears to lack in any sort of impact.

Best episode is a toss-up between Squeeze and Ice and if I had to pick one, I think I'd go with the latter. The fact that the agents are so isolated in that episode raises the danger level for them, and the way in which they are forced to interact shows us so much of their respective characters. Mulder is still so Mulder in his quips and reactions and Scully is ever the rational soul who seeks a scientific answer to everything.

Best episode of the first season? Since I downgraded Ice from Excellent to Good, I might have to restate my choice. I didn't check out Squeeze this time around, but I did rewatch Beyond the Sea. And I can definitely say that it made a greater impression on me than it did years ago, when I may have dismissed it somewhat for being Mulder-lite. In watching it again, I was impressed by the deep emotional connection I felt with both of our heroes, as well as with Boggs. Yes, he was a horrible killer, but I liked how Morgan & Wong humanized him in their script. "Don't underestimate my fear of dying" indeed. Even though some might think that Mulder vacillates back and forth in this episode with the "believe or not believe" routine, I fully understood where he was coming from at all times. After all, as he said to Scully in the pilot episode, "I'm not crazy" — in that, I don't automatically believe just to believe.

Most Disappointing / Most Surprising

Since I was a full-fledged fan before I ever saw most of these first-year episodes, I was exposed to "fan comments" about some of them that led me to have expectations. So in light of that, I have to choose Fire as most disappointing. It simply wasn't a very strong story despite the Phoebe/Scully thing. And while the "BSB" scene was very sweet eye candy, by itself it doesn't elevate an episode's overall quality.

I would have to choose the series pilot as most surprising episode in season one, because I was surprised — on many levels — when I finally saw it in the fall of 1998. I was surprised by how the characters looked in their choice of dress — which probably had a lot to do with budgetary constraints — and accessories. (Scully actually carried a sizable purse... and did you get a load of their suitcases??) Both agents also seemed a bit "green and raw" compared to how they appear by the "next" episode. On the other hand, I was surprised by the extent to which the characters were established from the very beginning. Aside from that incongruous "mosquito bite check" scene, Mulder and Scully more or less acted as we would expect them to later in the series.