The X-Files: Series 1, Second Half

Time for the second half of the first series of the X-Files. I began watching these as an over the summer thing. The fact I've managed to find time for the rest of the first series during term time should be a clue as to how much I'm enjoying them...

Exactly the same as before, a few musings on each episode, and then some overall conclusions.

Beyond the Sea

• If Mulder is 90s man, Scully's father is 50s man...
• Excellent, family trauma, psychics and kidnap.
• A rare case where Scully is the believer and Mulder is the sceptic.
• Well, Luther Boggs seems a well-balanced, rational, affable bloke.
• Poor Mulder, all the UFOs and monsters, no effect, but the one deranged lunatic and she's all over it...
• "Did time for sexual assault, narcotics, nothing big really." Maybe the 90s weren't all good...
• Wow, they did not pull any punches in the penultimate scene.
• Silence of the Lambs meets the Exorcist.

Gender Bender

• Not sure this title would be accepted in our more 'civilised age.'
• Because 90s clubbing improves everything...
• Those people are clearly Amish, it doesn't matter how you dress it up.
• The tolling bell is creeping the hell out of me.
• That map Mulder gets given is atrocious. It might as well be a kid's drawing.
• This is like the Wicker Man meets Sleepy Hollow. But with added sex.
• They seem to have borrowed that cave from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
• Oh yeah, send five armed agents in the house, and Mulder into the creepy cave *by himself*, great idea...
• Take that back, where *is* the cave? Come to that, all the people?!

Lazarus

• I reckon I have a guess at what this one will be about...
• Hang on, that is not how bodies work...
• Mulder, you can get headphones for that, get your fingers out of your ears.
• I love that they have whole offices devoid of PCs.
• This is turning into the weirdest hostage setup ever.
• And this is why the FBI employed Mulder. Because he is good.
• I'm sorry, was the FBI's full time Hostage Rescue Team busy this weekend?

Young at Heart

• Prison seems a nice, normal place. 
• Palaeography finally comes in handy... 
• A dead stalker is the worst type of stalker... 
• I think Mulder did well out of getting out of Violent Crimes and into the X-Files... 
• Doctor Mengele is *not* someone you want to be compared to... 
• Oh good, Scully's gone back to using Microsoft 3.0 
• Does Scully not own any electric light in her flat?! 
• Good grief, that scene in Scully's flat was bloody terrifying... 
• Mr Helpful is back, at least Mulder bought him a pint for his troubles. 
• The FBI agents stand out a mile off at that concert. 
• Bloody hell, Mulder is a good shot... 

E.B.E.

• Rather depressingly, a story set over Iraq in 'the present day' is just as plausible in 2016 as it was in 1993... 
• What on Earth is Mulder doing with that gadget? 
• Scully is going out of her way to explain the UFO away, even by her standards... 
• At least they've visited the site during the day this time... 
• The rest of the Mulder fan club give nerds a bad name... 
• Some atrocious flirting going on in this episode. 
• Mr Helpful keeping terrible hours. 
• Mulder's searching for bugs in his flat was like Father Ted before the 'All-Priests five-a-side Over-75s Indoor Challenge Football Match, against Rugged Island.'
• Given his track record, there is no way there are any top secret government bases in the USA that don't have a picture of Mulder at the gate. 
• More high level conspiracy stuff. 
• Finally, Mr Helpful is starting to spill the beans!

Miracle Man

• Wow, this is a brave topic of them to have tackled, faith healing...
• The worst aspects of American Protestantism.
• "I know this isn't an X-File..." Oh yeah, Scully, Mulder'll really pass this one up...
• Last time they exhumed a corpse, they dropped it, is this wise?! (Short answer- no).
• I'm sure the bar is from the Blues Brothers...
• "Agricultural smorgasbord" is my quote of the month.
• That choir is *definitely* from the Blues Brothers.
• When the autopsy isn't an alien, Mulder becomes a lot more squeamish.

Shapes

• What is this, a gothic horror novel?! (This was written within the first 60 seconds.)
• Answer- Yes (This was written after the first 120 seconds).
• Montana has made the list of places to Never Ever Visit.
• Clever, the FBI's involvement comes from the fact that this is an Indian Reservation case, complete with all the political tensions and grievances that provides.
• Great bit of dialogue Scully: "We're looking for anyone who can provide us with informal..." Mulder: "We're looking for something that can create human tracks and then a step later leave animal tracks."
• The Indians are coming across as more unhelpfully sinister than the Amish...
• The first ever X-File, nice bit of archival drawing...
• Scully, it's a funeral, don't gatecrash...
• Mulder picks up an Indian name along the way.
• Of course the power is out, why wouldn't it be?!
• The transformation has held up remarkably well.
• Why on Earth does Parker own a house full of stuffed animals?! Didn't he know it would cause confusion?!
• Scully's determination to not believe is truly remarkable.

Darkness Falls

• Talk about a gripping opening...
• Eco-terrotists, villains from simpler times...
• Casual Alphabet Agency reference
• Where on Earth did Scully get that raincoat?!
• And the 1994 Emmy Award for the most uses of the 'word' "ecoterrorist" before the first break goes to...
• I mean, 10/10 for gender equality, but how comes Scully has to go up in the pulley to the strange unknown hive?!
• Make that a strange unknown hive with a corpse in it...
• 'Hammer large pieces of crooked wood up against all the windows!'
• Oh great, that residue is terrible news...
• They've clearly borrowed the quarantine facility from ET...

Tooms

• You again!
• First repeat villain, not counting the aliens.
• Hang on, who looked at his case file and thought he should be released?!
• Smoking Man is back, as is Scully's miserable boss...
• Things no one seems to be addressing at the court hearing include 'He's over a century old' and 'He's basically an evil Mr Fantastic...'
• Isn't that how they found Richard III?
• Seriously, how are those two not together?!
• Jeez, Mulder watches some bad tv...
• Clever move on Tooms' part.
• Wow, the FBI bureaucracy really don't like Mulder, do they?!
• Does the Smoking Man *ever* say anything?!
• Answer- Yes

Born Again

• Marvellous. Creepy child in alleyway. Nothing can go wrong here...
• I mean, I was not expecting it to go that wrong, that quickly...
• Some good honest parenting going on.
• They just explained what origami is...
• May have been the 'Dana Scully face of the series' when Mulder started talking about psycho-kenesis...
• TAKE THE SCARF OFF!!
• I take the parenting back, 90s American parents were terrible.
• Good to see that Mulder also does Hamlet-esque monologues.

Roland

• A 90s disability story. This can only go well...
• Not an opening to watch while having dinner.
• Mulder heads straight for the maths.
• Q- Premonitions?
• A- Premonitions.
• Actually, an episode to avoid if you're trying to eat dinner...
• Cryogenics, that's pretty bloody 90s.
• Of course Mulder used the UFO toy as a prop.
• If you're going to go to the extent of installing cryogenics, at least install a thermostat...
• Nice Shakespearean showdown at the end
• Fairly basic design flaw in that wind tunnel, the lack of an emergency stop.
• Glad Scully stepped in and prevented Mulder from telling that woman 'It was done by psychics, obviously.'
• A surprisingly good portrayal of disability.

The Erlenmeyer Flask

• Hang on, is this Bullitt I've accidentally turned on?!
• What is he, Captain Scarlet?
• Ooh, different words on the intro credits! (N.B. Having got used to 'I Want to Believe,' seeing 'Trust No One' instead really freaked me out).
• Mulder's taste in films is confirmed as dreadful.
• Mr Helpful is back, being really cryptic.
• Mr Helpful's 'real' name is Deep Throat. How has it taken them 24 episodes to mention that?!
• Mulder completely disregards the scientist's unwillingness to talk.
• Scully has got a point, at least Woodward knew who the Watergate Deep Throat was, and why he was helping them.
• The 'Obi-Wan Kenobi Crap' should be the name of a band.
• Seriously high end conspiracy stuff.
• They've just had to explain the Human Genome Project...
• Well, that's one use for commercial storage...
• I love how the 'we've been using alien viruses for years!' line is delivered...
• Why has no one spotted that Scully is the only person not wearing a lab coat, she stands out a mile off?!
• One hell of an ending...
• The Raiders overflow warehouse is still doing a roaring trade...

Overall Musings

Things the X-Files love/specialise in: 

Twins 

Post-death experiences

Electrical charges

Psychic connections

Only working at night

Visiting creepy places at night (see above)

Scully giving Mulder 'The Look.' Normally when the words 'aliens' or 'psychic connections' are mentioned
Shadowy obstructive government people

I'm completely hooked. Have already acquired the second series, ready to carry on. As Mulder announces, as the final line spoken in the last episode:

I'm... not going to give up. I can't give up. Not as long as the truth is out there.