The Good: One or two truly great episodes, Moments of character development, DVD bonus features
The Bad: Loaded with average (at best) episodes, Largely unchallenging to the actors and characters
The Basics: Largely dull, the first post-conspiracy season of The X-Files nails the coffin closed by bringing Mulder (but not the viewer) closure in "The Complete Seventh Season!"
Lately, I have been pretty consistent in experiencing new things to review and have been generally excited about the whole process. So, I suppose, the way I finally realized how little I enjoyed the seventh season of The X-Files came when I realized that I was getting through the DVD set so slowly and I was finding any excuse possible to not review it. Today, I overcome that hurdle and I am ready to write.
Unfortunately, as a fan of The X-Files, here is where I begin to feel like something of a traitor. In its seventh season, The X-Files has become average with few moments that shine and even fewer that completely wow the viewer. Plagued by a high number of comedic episodes back-to-back (having "Hollywood A.D." and "Fight Club" proximate to one another was a mistake, especially with the weak "Je Souhaite" following that). This is a season of endings and the problematic aspect is that the seventh season does not offer as much satisfaction as it does answers. So, while there are answers, there are very few good ones.
Mulder suffers from a cataclysmic brain trauma that leaves him weakened and within the grasp of Diana Fowley and the Cigarette-Smoking Man. Delusional and believing he is given an opportunity for a completely different path, he succumbs to the ravages of an extraterrestrial force as Scully works to study the giant alien craft off the Ivory Coast. The gain the secrets and abilities he believes Mulder possesses, the Cigarette-Smoking Man undergoes brain surgery to take what Mulder has and implant it in him.
Recovering from this incident, a far less skeptical Scully renews her explorations of the paranormal with Mulder. This leads them to discover a kindly, brain-eating shark-man, hooligans who move faster than the speed of light, a man who seems to be supernaturally lucky, a magician, a werewolf-like creature and a mysterious entity that is killing off the lovers of a sheriff who is married to a devoted housewife. There is the return of serial killer, fetishist Donnie Pfaster (from the episode "Irresistible," reviewed here!) and Skinner sells one of the agent's cases to a Hollywood studio and it is made into a movie, much to the embarrassment of Mulder and Scully. There are dopplegangers and a genie as well.
With the collapse of the conspiracy and the syndicate in the prior season, there remain remarkably few loose ends to tie up as far as extraterrestrials go and as a result, the seventh season is largely focused on terrestrial matters, not alien encounters. The exceptions to this are, of course, the season premiere, which is forced to pick up the thread of the prior season's finale whatwith Scully uncovering a downed alien craft. She continues to study that, but the emphasis is certainly more on the medical effects it has on Mulder. Aliens do not pop up again until the season finale when the FBI agents return to their origins and Mulder is sent on a journey that he never expected.
In its seventh season, The X-Files closed off the dangling storyline of Millennium, which ended abruptly in its third (and final) season finale. Fortunately, fans of Millennium need not feel any compulsion to hunt down this DVD set, as the episode from The X-Files that resolves the series is included as a bonus feature in that third season boxed set. In addition to all of the other adventures, there is a creepy church-related story, one of the worst episodes ever ("X-Cops," which puts Mulder and Scully in an episode of Cops) and a Lone Gunmen adventure featuring their exploits into a sinister video game!
But the only episodes that made me seriously consider recommending this boxed set were two intensive character studies. Mulder finally gains closure on the abduction of Samantha in an episode that is well-presented but largely unsatisfying to the viewers (Mulder gets closure, the viewer does not). As Mulder comes to peace with his sister's abduction, the viewer is not given the concrete answers they seek about exactly what happened to her or where she is now. The other episode that gives me pause as a fan and reviewer is the Gillian Anderson-written and directed "All Things," which might arguably be the last great episode of the series. In that, Scully looks at the road not taken and determines that she took the right path.
The X-Files: The Complete Seventh Season is a set that those who love the idea of Mulder and Scully as a couple seem to get behind, despite the fact that Mulder has a vision of him and Diana marrying and growing old together in the season premiere while Scully struggles to save his life. In "Millennium," they share their first real kiss and in "All Things," there is the strong implication that they have spent the night together in a way that resulted in them making love (not made explicit in the episode or in the commentary track!).
But largely, devoid of a mythology to fall back on, the seventh season provides one "freak of the week" scenario after another and after six years of that, the show seems to be hitting an awful number of ruts. This is especially true of the losses that come from the recurring characters (there are remarkably few left to kill off and the replacements are hardly noteworthy) and the reappearance of villains like Donnie Pfaster.
And whereas prior seasons have done a good job focusing on the characters, episodes like "The Goldberg Variation," "First Person Shooter" and "Je Souhaite" all seem especially gimmicky, as opposed to decent character studies. Indeed, there is little to say about the principle characters in this season. Nevertheless, here is where they go for the seventh season:
Fox Mulder - The FBI agent, devoid of alien conspiracies to track down, recovers from an encounter with an extraterrestrial artifact that seems to indicate his brain is able to process information at an exceptionally heightened way (including reading minds). He learns the fate of his sister and grows closer to Scully, finally finding some real attachment to her even as he loses the last member of his biological family,
Dana Scully - Having now seen and studied an extraterrestrial craft, as well as encountered invisible men, genetic mutants and creepy snakehandlers, she opens up to the realm of extreme possibilities, including making her own paranormal guesses in "Fight Club." She has an encounter with a dying colleague who reminds her of her past and their almost-indiscrection, which leads her to Mulder for a relationship,
Skinner - Plagued by Krycek and the devices he has implanted in him, he nevertheless risks his life to save Mulder, with the aid of Kristchau. Skinner puts his professional reputation on the line when Mulder and Scully hunt an invisible alien craft, which leads him to his best delivery yet,
The Cigarette-Smoking Man - His past conspiracies all in ruin, he plots with Diana Fowley to gain the immunity he needs to the possible alien invasion. While he takes that ability from Mulder, he finds himself weakened as a result, manipulates Scully into finding his own cure and - in an unlikely move - turns to Krycek to preserve his legacy,
and Krycek - Abandoned by the Cigarette-Smoking Man, he is recovered with the assignment of finding the downed UFO in Oregon which would allow his mentor to start work anew on plans to save or dominate the world.
Perhaps the reason that The X-Files is so unsatisfying in its seventh season is that the actors all know their marks and the characters are not being challenged in any special ways to give them the chances to truly explore their range. Outside Duchovny's performance in "Closure," Anderson's performance in "All Things" and Mitch Pileggi's delivery in the final moments of "Requiem" the season is mundane on the acting front.
The DVD bonus features for this boxed set are average. There are only three commentary tracks and the one on "All Things" featuring Gillian Anderson seems more like a lament to all of the things that had to be cut than any sort of insights on what ended up in the episode. Still, that is not bad and there is the season feature, a collection of special effects spots and approximately ten deleted scenes from various episodes that appear both on the bonus disc and within the episodes using branching.
Still, it is not enough to recommend. This season is remarkably average and the highs are not quite as high as in previous years and there are an awful number of lows or mediocre episodes that sap the enthusiasm, even from loyal viewers. Fans of the series might want to pick up "The Complete Collection" (reviewed here!) so they get all these episodes without feeling like they actually paid for them!
5/10
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© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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