Silver Age The X-Files: Season 10 Meanders Along The Familiar.

The Good: Good performances, Moments of entertainment
The Bad: Poor continuity, Repetitive quality
The Bottom Line: The X-Files - The Complete Tenth Season returns Mulder and Scully to the F.B.I. and their familiar roles with a fairly familiar plot and adversary.


Nothing speaks to me about how little I enjoy something by how long it takes me to actually finish it. Back when The X-Files returned to television for a six-episode limited Tenth Season, my wife bought me the season and it seemed like it would be a slam dunk of a gift. But, alas, two episodes in and I gave up on the season. The bulk of the season remained unwatched, much like my repeated attempts to get through the second season of Revolution and the final season of Parenthood. But, with the eleventh season of The X-Files kicking off, I figured that it was time to bite the bullet and plow through the tenth season of The X-Files.

My only issue with The X-Files going into the tenth season was that it was hard to imagine just what the show had not done already. The X-Files ran for nine seasons with several permutations to the cast, with two feature films - during the series and after - and, despite the slapdash nature of the way the show's fundamental conspiracy was created, its main arcs were pretty well played out. The X-Files (reviewed here!), in its serialized elements, told the story of an F.B.I. team that slowly uncovered an international conspiracy surrounding alien visitors to Earth. Shadowy government agents from around the world worked with aliens to prepare Earth for an alien colonization before agents Mulder and Scully managed to derail their work and stop their insidious plan. The major players in the government conspiracy were all killed and while there were other aliens still infecting or influencing Earth, the show got to the point where the main danger had passed . . . and there were seasons afterward that were awkward filler.

The idea that it had all been done for The X-Files surfaces almost immediately in the tenth season as, once again, it begins to look like the alien invasion conspiracy on Earth is just an elaborate government conspiracy. Fans of The X-Files will easily recall that idea from the entire plotline surrounding Kritschgau, the apparent suicide of Mulder, and the period that found Mulder entirely disillusioned until he was able to use alien-derived technology to help cure Scully's cancer. Scully started as an active disbeliever until her use of the scientific method allowed her to confirm extraterrestrial influence, genetic mutations and previously undiscovered natural phenomenon, like massive fungi. So, The X-Files has done pretty much all it could and it returns for a tenth season, more than a decade after it went off the air, to provide viewers with more of the same, including a pretty standard The X-Files comedy episode.

Opening with the crash in Roswell, New Mexico, 1947, the government coverup of U.F.O.s begins in earnest. Flashing forward to 2015, Doctor Dana Scully is preparing for surgery when she is contacted by Skinner. Skinner uses Scully to get in touch with Mulder, to put him in contact with a conspiracy theorist who has a popular television show. Scully and Mulder meet Tad O'Malley, who brings them to a remote location in Low Moore, Virginia, where they are introduced to Sveta, a former abductee. Sveta tells the former agents about experiments that have been performed repeatedly upon her, including her fetuses being repeatedly harvested by what she believes to be aliens. O'Malley takes Mulder to a facility where Mulder is shown an alien replica craft and Mulder returns to Sveta where she reveals that she believes she has been abducted by government agents, not extraterrestrials. Mulder meets with an old contact, a man who performed medical experiments at Roswell, who helps convince him that alien technology is being used by government agents against the human populace.

Following the murder of Sveta, Mulder and Scully investigate an apparent suicide at Nugenics, a company with Defense Department ties that is experimenting on children. Mulder and Scully then go to Seattle to investigate an apparent werewolf murder. The pair investigates a serial killer, while Scully's mother goes into a coma. Following the death of her mother, Scully finds herself in a precarious place when two young agents approach the agents for help with communicating with a near-death (would-be) suicide bomber.
The season climaxes with a biological epidemic that promises to be the endgame of the new conspiracy against the human race . . .

. . . if Chris Carter and his staff have the will to see it through. The fundamental problem with the tenth season of The X-Files, other than it being criminally short for a season and resurrecting the show's primary human villain yet again, is that when it is not being derivative of its own works, the season treads in the same direction as Christ Carter's other big show, Millennium. The second season of Millennium (reviewed here!) climaxed with a world-ending virus and it was such a powerful move that in order for the show to return for its third season, the writers and producers had to pretty much redefine the scale of what occurred in the second season finale and sweep it under the rug. Millennium exists in the same universe as The X-Files and as the tenth season of The X-Files rushes toward its climax, it builds a cataclysm and begins to undo it, which has a painfully familiar feel to it.

The tenth season of The X-Files is well-performed by its principle cast. Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny slide easily back into their well-established roles. Duchovny is low-key as Mulder and Anderson makes her way around the jargon and disbelief Scully is usually saddled with nicely. Lauren Ambrose fits nicely into the universe of The X-Files as Agent Einstein; the show returns with a familiar look and feel to it, allowing viewers to return without feeling like they are watching a different show.

As one might expect, the tenth season of The X-Files is dominated on the character front by:

Fox Mulder - Having become a recluse, he returns to the field and the F.B.I. thanks to Skinner. Convinced that the Sveta is the key to proving that the conspiracy surrounding extraterrestrial influence on Earth, he once again believes himself to be the victim of a massive hoax. But, as he witnesses more technology and medical science than ever before, he comes to believe that alien technology is being used by humans to bring about armageddon,

and Dana Scully - Now a medical doctor as Our Lady Of Sorrows hospital, she tries to do good - assisting surgeons with giving children born without ears new appendages. She remains one of the few people with the ability to easily contact Mulder and when Skinner asks her to, she brings Mulder back to Washington. When she gets genetic proof that both she and Sveta have alien DNA, she becomes committed to returning to the X-Files. She is disturbed when her mother falls into a coma and asks for her estranged brother, as opposed to her. As the cases progress, she comes to believe that humanity stands on the precipice of extinction and that her alien DNA might be the key to either destruction or saving the world!

The tenth season of The X-Files adds surprisingly little to the overall story. In fact, outside Scully and Mulder actually dealing the the death of a parent in a realistic way - the deaths of Mulder's parents were glossed over with cases and conspiracies and the death of Scully's father came as a way for Scully to be vulnerable to a serial killer - the tenth season repeats more than it innovates.

Ironically, The X-Files Season 10 hinges almost entirely upon how it is followed up upon in Season 11. If the season's climax is brushed under the rug, like Millennium, then season ten stands as a disappointing waste of time; if the eleventh season actually ties together the conspiracies and commits to the apocalypse then the tenth season is an important prelude to what Chris Carter has painstakingly built.

For other works from the 2015 – 2016 television season, please check out my reviews of:
Love - Season 1
Agent Carter - Season 2
Orange Is The New Black - Season 4
The Flash - Season 2
Game Of Thrones - Season 6
Grace And Frankie - Season 2
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Season 3
The Walking Dead - Season 6
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - Season 2
Legends Of Tomorrow - Season 1
Jessica Jones - Season 1
Daredevil - Season 2
House Of Cards - Season 4
Rick And Morty - Season 2
Doctor Who - Season 9

4.5/10

For other television set reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Signs And Portents In The Comedic The X-Files Spin-Off The Lone Gunmen

The Good: Moments of humor, Decent acting and character development, some interesting plots
The Bad: Never seems to get to its potential, Addition of "beautiful people."
The Basics: In a fun, but average, series, the conspiracy theorists The Lone Gunmen attempt to save the world by exposing weird manipulations by those in power.


Perhaps what defined the trio of characters collectively known as The Lone Gunmen on The X-Files was that they were the atypical group of geeks who appeared, were paranoid and brilliant and did not quite fit the mold of what one would expect out of, well, pretty much anybody. They were, through and through, geeks. Part of their popularity with fans of The X-Files was that the Lone Gunmen were most analogous to the fans, somewhat crazy conspiracy theorists, many of whom lived in the basement. So, when Fox ordered a series based just on the Lone Gunmen, they were targeting a very specific demographic of a very specific demographic.

The Lone Gunmen follows the adventures of Byers, Frohike and Langly, the investigative reporters and editors of the conspiracy-theory publication The Lone Gunmen as they attempt to save the world from megalomaniacal computer hardware and foil a plot to blow up the World Trade Center using a plane (months before others succeeded in real life). Unfortunately, despite their drive, they are dirt poor and their business and publication are failing. They unwittingly enlist the aid and funds of a rather wealthy man improbably named James Bond and they find themselves constantly embroiled in schemes that pit them against the quasi-villainous Yves Adele Harlow.

On DVD, The Lone Gunmen is a complete series, of sorts. Basically, this is the end of The Lone Gunmen with footage of the trio's origins in The X-Files available only on some of the bonus features. There are thirteen episodes in the series and the DVD producers graciously added the sendoff to the series from The X-Files, entitled "Jump The Shark," which effectively ends the storylines left open in The Lone Gunmen.

So, what is this show really? It's a conspiracy-thriller comedy and the problem there is that throughout the series there is a sense that it does not know quite what it wants to be. There are moments that are so overtly going for laughs, most notably involving Frohike and slapstick humor, but the best episodes of the series tend to be the most serious. The superlative story, "Tango De Los Pistoleros" is in fact funny only in a dancing montage clip, but otherwise remains one of the most tense, humorless stories of the series. Beautifully shot, that episode follows the Gunmen following Yves to a tango competition to stop a smuggler from selling very classified information to enemies of the U.S.

And problematically, The Lone Gunmen abandon the classic, humble (dare I say "geeky") roots in its attempt to make a viable television show. In short, in order to make the show fly, the series adds Jimmy Bond and Yves Harlow, two very obviously, very Hollywood beautiful people. Yves, played well by knockout Zuleikha Robinson, is an adversary, but she's also quite obvious sex appeal to make the show, well, sexy. The problem is, the Lone Gunmen aren't supposed to be about sexy. They're geeks who live in a dungeon exposing the underbelly of government conspiracies!

The principle characters in The Lone Gunmen are:

John Fitzgerald Byers - The classy Gunman who has the integrity to probe into the government conspiracies based on a long-standing problematic relationship with his father. Byers is the cool head among the Gunmen and the most respectable of the bunch,

Melvin Frohike - Perhaps the most classic geek of the bunch, Frohike has ideas and old-school paranoia and ultimately acts as comic relief more than being useful,

Ringo Langly - The hacker, tech man for the Gunmen, he is the man who can get into virtually any computer service, until later in the series when the Gunmen inexplicably need help from someone even better at hacking than Langly. Go figure,

Jimmy Bond - Dimwitted and wealthy, Jimmy joins the Gunmen as its financial backer with brain of an ox and a heart of gold,

and Yves Adele Harlow - A woman of uncertain allegiance, she is essentially a bounty hunter who brings the Gunmen cases and/or foils their work.

The acting is fine. Bruce Harwood, Tom Braidwood and Dean Haglund each show up and give their usual wonderful performances as Byers, Frohike and Langly. The only real issue is that their acting talents are almost never challenged. They are playing the characters we're used to seeing on The X-Files for years, only here they are given more airtime.

Ultimately, the real problem with The Lone Gunmen is that it doesn't seem to know what it wants to be, so it ends up being a little of everything and not much of anything. So, it's political in "Like Water For Octane," suspenseful in "Tango De Los Pistoleros," and ridiculous in "Diagnosis: Jimmy." It's a tough nut to crack and odds are it will be enjoyed most by the sliver of fans of The X-Files that most loved the occasional trio of guest stars.

For other shows that originally aired on FOX, please check out my reviews of:
Family Guy Presents: It’s A Trap!
Glee - Season Two, Volume One
Fringe - Season Two
Arrested Development
Wonderfalls
Millennium
VR.5
The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr.

6/10

For other television reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2006 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Enter Frank Black, Investigator Of The Darkness Within In Millennium's "Pilot".

The Good: Character, Acting, Plot.
The Bad: "Gehenna" is a little weaker
The Basics: Chris Carter's serial killer horror show Millennium begins on a high note with "Pilot" and "Gehenna!"


At the beginning of Millennium, writer and creator Chris Carter envisioned a series focusing on serial killers and the man who stood at the brink to oppose them. The hero is Frank Black, an investigator who is so attuned to the mind of evil people he has the ability to put himself in their place, see through their perspective, in order to try to solve crimes. And it is intended to be a dark, adult series and Carter's vision is well-executed from the very first episode. This is a scary show and it pioneered the way for every profiler series that clogged up the airwaves after it debuted. Today, it remains an original . . . and a terrifying one at that.

In the "Pilot," a serial killer kills a stripper and decapitates her. As Seattle police detectives scramble to solve the crime, Frank Black, retired from the FBI, arrives in Seattle to settle down with his wife Catherine and daughter, Jordan. Black, now working as a consultant for the Millennium Group, is brought out to assist the police and he becomes convinced that there are more people who have been abducted and are awaiting slaughter.

When a poem mouthed by the suspect leads Frank to a biblical prophecy about the apocalypse, he is given unlimited resources by the Millennium Group to find the killer. Concerned that glimpsing into evil will fracture his psyche, Frank is hesitant, but when the police - especially Frank's old friend, Lt. Bob Bletcher - come up empty, he engages his skill to track the killer down.

In "Gehena," Frank Black is called to the site of strange ash which is revealed to be human remains desiccated in an industrial microwave. When it seems that a cult might be responsible for the death, the parents of one of the young men who has been missing from a local school hire Black and the Millennium Group to find out what happened. Frank's old FBI mentor assists Frank on the case, while helping Frank to deal with the implications of the photographs being sent to him in the mail.

Millennium is a combination of episodic - killer of the week - stories and serialized character arcs, as Frank Black is harassed by a photographer who takes pictures of his wife and daughter. This, predating the series, made him have a breakdown and in "Pilot" and "Gehena" it becomes clear that the stalker has followed Frank and his family to Seattle. These two episodes make the implied threat of the unseen stalker very real and it puts Frank on edge.

These two episodes establish well the series as a visually and psychologically disturbing drama. For example, in the "Pilot," there a person is found with their eyes and mouth sewn shut. The image is gruesome and it is shown, so for the sensitive members of the potential audience, it is important to be aware that this is the closest network television ever got to a Silence Of The Lambs series. It is creepy and truly frightening, even after multiple viewings.

Unfortunately, there are some elements of predictability even in these first two episodes. Both were written by Chris Carter and directed by David Nutter, giving the series an instant start that screams continuity! But in "Gehena," Carter seems bound by the conventions of "If a gun is introduced in the first act, it must be discharged by the final curtain." Sure, he's stylish and cool by replacing "gun" with "industrial microwave" but from the moment the mammoth device is introduced, the viewer knows someone is going to end up inside it.

What continues to sell Millennium, even ten years after it originally aired, are the characters. Frank Black is an incredible character to watch and his tortured backstory lives within him in every scene he is in in the "Pilot." Frank's ability to get inside the heads of the killers is a gift that borders on the paranormal (it is never explained in the series, outside a reference in the first episode to Frank seeing what the killer sees). It is an intriguing ability and the way it is played out - even in these first two episodes - makes for entertaining drama.

Moreover, Frank is surrounded by people who are equally interesting. Catherine is more than just a symbol of all that is good, she is dynamic, loving and concerned about Frank and the effect his work has on him. Bletch is a competent police lieutenant and his pride is wounded by having to call in Frank, even as his friendship with Frank makes him worried about the effects of having him on the cases.

On the flip side is Frank's Millennium Group contact, Peter Watts. Watts appears as a mysterious character in these two episodes almost exclusively to deliver exposition and insinuate about what the group is for future episodes. He is well played by Chris Carter favorite Terry O'Quinn, of late of Lost. He and Lance Henriksen play off one another amazingly well.

It is Henriksen who must sell Millennium, though and he does an impressive job at that. Perfectly cast, Henriksen represents a mature, disturbed adult figure who is not Hollywood beautiful, which makes him instantly more believable in the role than any number of actors. He plays the part with a detached logic and coldness that is distinctly different from his role of Bishop in Aliens (reviewed here!). Indeed, the power of his acting is that he spends much of the episodes with a look of grim determination on his face, but in moments with his female costar, he softens and smiles. They play a couple in love with an adult sensibility to it and that is beautiful and realistic. One has the sense from the moment Henriksen appears on screen that Frank Black is a strong man with a real gift, but a core of humanity that only comes out with his family. He makes the show.

And this is a wonderful beginning to the series and one that is well worth the attention of anyone who loves great drama, especially the creepy serial killer stuff and CSI type shows that are on the air now. This is what paved the way for them. It should be noted that Millennium does fall into the same universe as The X-Files (reviewed here!).

Knowing that VHS is an outdated medium, a better investment might be Millennium: The Complete First Season, reviewed here!

7/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Not As Bad As I Remember It Being After The Apocalypse: Millennium Season 3!

The Good: Good acting, Interesting stories, Interesting character development
The Bad: Real stretch after the prior season's finale, Some fairly standard stories, No real surprises
The Basics: After the Apocalypse arrived at the end of the second season, Millennium returned for a third and - try as they might - is unable to get the magic back.


Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files and Millennium returned to his latter series after a year of working on The X-Files feature film and other projects to find his show had been almost completely co-opted. It was unrecognizable from where he had started it. The Millennium Group - which he had based on a group of noble, real-world profilers - had become an enemy cult that was bent upon bringing about the apocalypse. One may only imagine he was not terribly happy.

If you are a fan of Millennium and have not watched the second season finale, stop here, go watch the second season first. If you're not a fan of Millennium and don't mind reading something that is seminal to understanding the third season, but was surprising at the end of the second season, read on. Otherwise, please leave now. It's impossible to talk about the third season of Millennium without mentioning certain aspects of the second season finale.

That's all the warning I can give.

Following the viral outbreak that marked the beginning of the apocalypse at the end of season two, Frank Black returns to work for the FBI as a single father without his unique ability in play. He works quietly to raise Jordan, despite having to deal with the hostile in-laws and he searches for a way to make the Millennium Group pay for what was ultimately - apparently - a localized phenomenon with the viral outbreak.

Frank is paired with Emma Hollis, a competent and bright young woman who is pretty much fresh in the field. Frank and Hollis explore psychopaths and cases that are like generally violent The X-Files at the behest of a different Director in the FBI. And as the season goes on, Hollis and Frank learn to trust one another more while Frank's obsession with the Millennium Group fades, then returns even more forcefully.

And then the series pretty much ends. Fortunately - from a matter of perspective - this DVD boxed set includes the coda to Millennium from The X-Files, an episode called Millennium that tries to resolve the issues left open at the end of the series and instead is marginal and somewhat silly.

The fundamental problem, hands down, with the third season of Millennium is that it follows on the heels of season two. Season two's two-part finale is one of the greatest endings for a show. Ever. I mean that. Like in the history of television. Millennium's second season finale is one that I can watch over and over and over and over again and always be entertained, find something new, and end with a feeling of "WOW!" It's an ending that is almost impossible to come back from.

This is why the first episodes of season three of Millennium are forced, awkward. The producers, even Chris Carter, had no clear idea of how to come back from that finale and the best they can do is to work around it and try to figure out what the Millennium Group is now. As much as this might be heresy to fans of Millennium, I can only recommend the third season of Millennium in good faith to people who absolutely loved the first season of the show and want more of the same. Here's what you do. Watch the first season and if you love what you see and don't want the format of the show to shift radically, just buy the third season. It's a surprisingly easy transition given where Kathrine ends up at the end of season one.

But, it doesn't. Season three follows season two (reviewed here!) and it's a real tough sell on that count. The first episodes are clunky and then the show falls into stories that are more episodic than serialized. And when Peter Watts shows up - and he does - it's very hard to tell how his character relates to the character from the prior seasons. Watts has lost all revelation and doubt from the second season finale and it takes the whole season before Frank can get him even to question again.

That's not to say this is not wonderful television. It has moments that truly are. One of my favorite episodes of the series, "Omerta" is in this season. It was robbed; it should have won awards for musical direction, but did not. Similarly, I enjoyed "The Sound Of Snow" in this season and fans of Buffy The Vampire Slayer are bound to enjoy James Marsters' appearance in "Collateral Damage." And I tend to enjoy the Lucy Butler stories and this season has two (or three, wink wink) of them.

It also has some duds, like "Seven And One" which just seemed too obvious to be real. And I know a lot of KISS fans enjoyed ". . . Thirteen Years Later," but I found it to be lacking. It tried to be a second season episode and failed. It wasn't quite as clever as some of those pieces (like "Somehow Satan Got Behind Me") and it just didn't work the way it could have with better writing.

What is interesting is the character arc of Emma Hollis. Because Hollis is not tied to the previous works, her whole arc is interesting and natural. She is believable and compelling. She makes a good foil for Frank and perhaps the only real good part of the series finale is where she is left and it works.

Hollis is played quite ably by Klea Scott who is wonderful in the role. She easily projects an intelligence and innocence with her eyes and as the series goes on, she is able to flex some spine in ways that she is not able to early in the season. Scott brings a wonderful humanity to the cases that Megan Gallagher was never able to do because she was not inside Frank's professional world. Scott is articulate and charming and she carries every scene she's on her own in the series without her costar.

Lance Henriksen is stuck in a tough place, though he rides out the series quite well. With his hair back (most of the season) to a darker shade, he is put in the awkward position of redefining his character. He lives up to the challenge as best he can, making Frank more of a straight-out profiler as opposed to using an almost supernatural ability. Henriksen is appropriately intense throughout the season and the few moments he's able to soften (like when his character is with his daughter) he does so successfully.

Ultimately, though, this is one of those cases of average television falling on the heals of truly great television. I own it, as a fan of Millennium and I henpeck the episodes from time to time, but it's a rare thing for me to sit down and watch Millennium - The Complete Third Season all the way through the way I do with seasons one and two. It just had too high a hurdle to jump after such an amazing run.

For other works where the third season was the show's last, please check out my reviews of:
Star Trek - The Third Season
Veronica Mars - Season 3
Arrested Development - Season 3

4.5/10

For other television reviews, please be sure to visit my index page page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2006 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Exploring The Nature of the Group Designed To Save The World: Millennium Season Two Shakes It Up!

The Good: Very dark, Wonderfully well-written, Clever, Well-directed, Season finale!
The Bad: Seeming lack of direction at the season beginning
The Basics: As the world nears the turn of the Millennium, Frank Black finds himself exploring the group that is designed to save the world and wondering if they truly will in the second season of Millennium.


One of the problems Chris Carter, who conceived The X-Files and Millennium had with The X-Files was that he had no clear blueprint of where he wanted the show to go. If one goes back and watches the second season "mythology" episodes of The X-Files where the Alien Bounty Hunter comes into the series and compares them to the later episodes with the eye-gouged shapeshifters, it becomes clear he didn't know where they would end up when he originally characterized them. It's unfortunate, because the show would have been much stronger in its later seasons if he had the foresight to work it all out ahead of time.

Watching the second season of Millennium on DVD it becomes clear that Carter's disciples, Glen Morgan and James Wong, executive producers of the show, have no such lack of vision. Out of the twenty-three episodes in this set, the pair wrote twelve. Chris Carter's name is featured prominently on the box, but - while he created the series - it is clear he had little to do with the creation of these episodes. Morgan and Wong created a creepy masterpiece that reaches its fullest potential here in its second season.

Opening with the cliffhanger from the first season, Millennium finds Frank Black's wife Catherine at the mercy of a kidnapper. Over the course of the season premiere, Frank finds himself struggling to find Catherine and going into the darker ranges of his psyche. When the situation resolves itself, Frank finds himself pushed away from his family, distraught. He moves out of the yellow house and away from his loved ones into a small, spooky yellow house where he begins to question who exactly the Millennium Group is and what role they intend to play in the oncoming apocalypse. As the season progresses, Frank finds himself more and more troubled by the discoveries until events climax in an incident that will change everything for him.

First off, is the sole point against this season and the boxed set DVD. The second season of Millennium is a definite shift in the television show. Unlike the first season "serial killer of the week" storylines, the second season of Millennium is an exploration of the growing apocalypse predicted for the end of the Millennium and an investigation into the Millennium Group. As a result, this show is a little different from the first season and it feels like the train has switched tracks. The DVD boxed set suffers because the two people who took the show in this new and wonderful direction, declined to participate in the creation of the extras. That is truly disappointing. (As a result, one of the extras is simply Chris Carter sitting and saying that he had nothing to do with the second season of Millennium and that it was very different from the show he envisioned.)

The result, however, is a show that is incredibly creepy that starts at a murky character point and builds incredibly to a climax of catastrophic proportions. The first episodes of the season build an estrangement between Frank and Catherine and introduce Lara Means, another Millennium Group Candidate. Frank and Lara investigate potential child molesters, a young man abducting innocent children to keep them safe from the apocalypse, holy relics that are causing international conspiracies, and a division within the Millennium Group itself.

This is a terrifically engaging show and this season is filled with some of the most intense and intriguing plots of any television show conceived. Here are some of the highlights that make this boxed set an easy and truly worthwhile investment:

"Monster" - A creepy story of a day-care with perfect casting of a little girl who is just plain evil,

"The Curse of Frank Black" - A very different episode for Millennium as there is almost no real case, but rather an exploration of Frank and the pathetic form his life has taken on. Unredeemably depressing,

"19:19" - One of the few "serial killer of the week" type stories in the second season, this follows Frank and Lara tracking down a young kidnapper that believes he is saving children from the apocalypse,

"Jose Chung's 'Doomsday Defense'" - An episode that would have been inconceivable in the first season, Darrin Morgin's quirky author Jose Chung, from The X-Files appears on Millennium to expose a cult and the end of the world in a hilarious, weird, episode that makes its mark,

"Goodbye Charlie" - One of the most powerful episodes of television anyone could watch, this follows an amazingly ambiguous villain who is able to sense when people are dying of terminal illnesses and he helps them kill themselves. This is an hour of television that is fearless in its exploration of assisted suicide and the ethics behind it and it is amazing, given the power and tact of the episode, that it was ever made,

"Owls" and "Roosters" - An episode that the show has been building to all season wherein a division in the Millennium Group forms over how the end of the world will come about. When a piece of wood from the cross of Jesus is unearthed, it sparks debates between those who believe in a theological apocalypse and those who believe in an imminent secular apocalypse. And this is a wonderful conspiracy tale as the divisions are exacerbated by a third faction that his attacking the Group from without,

"In Arcadia Ego" - Following a prison break, two female inmates who are very much in love flee to have a baby they believe is immaculately conceived,

"A Room With No View" - Another incredibly powerful episode wherein young high schoolers are abducted and tortured to break them of their extraordinary abilities. This is an episode that is both frightening in its implications and extraordinary in its resistance. It is fine to watch the resistance of evil in the form of young people simply trying to make life better for others,

"Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me" - Another weird episode that would have been inconceivable in the first season (also written by Darin Morgan) wherein four devils sit around a coffee shop discussing the nature of evil today. It's hilarious and just plain weird,

"The Fourth Horseman" and "The Time Is Now" - The two-part season finale that is one of the most gripping and intense season finales of all time. "The Time Is Now" is impossible to stop watching (even with the full-act breakdown sequence). When a virus begins to plague Washington State with complete lethality and communicability, Frank discovers the Millennium Group may be the cause and the true villains of the apocalypse. Best season finale ever. Seriously. Of all time!

In fact, the build-up to the season finale is a ratcheting up constantly that does not disappoint the viewer and leaves the viewer aching for season three. It also does beg the question (which is, alas, not answered in ANY of the DVD extras!), "Was the second season finale of Millennium originally intended to be a series finale?" Millennium was picked up for a third season, but the way the second season ends, it puts fans over the edge of a cliff in the most entertaining, agonizing way.

As with all great television, Millennium is truly about characters and how they develop. Here is how the second season finds the principles:

Lara Means - Introduced in this second season, Lara is a Millennium Group Candidate who has the supernatural power of seeing an angel that forebodes bad things. She is articulate, wry and efficient and she and Frank bond quickly into a great team,

Jordan Black - Her abilities begin to develop more and more as the young girl begins to see things beyond her and that freaks out Catherine,

Peter Watts - Far more knowledgeable and in control, Peter becomes a gate keeper to Frank and Lara and it becomes clear that he is the keeper of the Millennium Group's secrets. He becomes more of a religiously-oriented figure in the second season and his relationship with Frank becomes more and more strained as Frank questions what the Group is,

Catherine Black - Surviving the horrible abduction by a maniac, Catherine finds herself raising Jordan and trying to reconcile her love of Frank with despising the Millennium Group he has joined. Catherine's part is much smaller this season as she is estranged from Frank and she works hard to find her way back to love, with mixed results,

Frank Black - Estranged form Catherine and distanced from Jordan, Frank spends his time focusing on the apocalypse and how to prevent it, if that is at all possible. Frank aids individuals in doing good and tries to combat larger evils in a world he is discovering is more and more out of his control or understanding. When his abilities fade, he becomes hardened and as they resurface, he learns the end may be much nearer than anyone had anticipated.

While Terry O'Quinn (Watts), Kristen Cloke (Lara Means) and Megan Gallagher (Catherine) are all amazing in their roles and performances, the show hinges on the acting talents of Lance Henriksen. Indeed, there is only one episode Lance is not in (and it is in this season). Henriksen is moody, intense and realistic as Frank Black adding his dour demeanor and gravelly voice to create a character that is adult and incredible. This season allows Lance to illustrate more of his talents with moments of comedic edge to them.

Millennium is a great horror show that creates horror far more often by using realistic situations than the supernatural. In its second season, investigator Frank Black discovers that the horrors of our world may be caused by those claiming to work to prevent the end of the world.

For other works featuring Terry O'Quinn, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Lost
The West Wing - Season 7
The West Wing - Season 6
The X-Files: Fight The Future

10/10

For other television show reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008, 2005 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Millennium Season 1: Chris Carter's Scary Growth Into Adulthood

The Good: Genuinely horrific moments, Excellent acting, Great characters, Amazing opening credits
The Bad: One or two conceptually far-fetched plots
The Basics: In the adult horror show Millennium's first season, Frank Black uses his gift to see in the minds of the evil to try to keep his family (and the world) safe.


When Millennium first aired, it was easily the edgiest show on network television. Seeing it now on DVD, it's easy to be amazed with how much horror, gore and even near-nudity the show got away with. This is an adult show from the get go and it's very successful at being an adult exploration of the horrors people inflict upon others.

Frank Black, having recovered from a mental breakdown as a result of his work, moves to Seattle with his wife and daughter. There, working as a consultant for the mysterious Millennium Group, he finds himself getting more and more back into the life he thought he left behind as he chases down serial killers and other villains against society.

Frank Black is no ordinary investigator, though. He possesses a freakish talent to understand the mind of evildoers so well that he can see what they see. He catches glimpses into the minds of those who do evil and is thus able to track them down with a high degree of success. Over the course of the first season, Frank is put in situations where he must confront serial killers, mind-controlling cults, bombers, molesters, and zealots.

Frank's professional life is balanced by his family life. After a day of encountering evil, he returns to his bright yellow house to the woman he loves and the daughter who is growing up in the world Frank is desperate to make for her.

Like all great dramas, the stories revolve around characters and Millennium is no exception. The principles for the first year (though only Lance Henriksen and Megan Gallagher are credited every episode) are:

Frank Black - This is mostly his story. Frank tries desperately to keep evil at bay by catching the worst elements of society. But his gift comes with a soul crushing price as he comes to realize that the world is too big to be saved by one man,

Katherine Black - Is a social worker who loves and supports Frank and keeps him grounded. She is a pragmatist, but as Frank's association with the Millennium Group progresses, she begins to feel more and more distance from him and more fear for what he is doing,

Bob Bletcher - the Chief of Detectives in Seattle and an old friend of Frank's, he helps Frank whenever possible and acts as a friend to both Frank and Katherine. Unsure the depth of Frank's ability or ability to stay grounded, Bletcher lives in the real world, but accepts Frank's help when the case is unspeakably bad,

Peter Watts - Frank's coworker at the Millennium Group. A forensic expert, Peter represents the Group which is otherwise nebulous. He is efficient and calculating,

and Jordan Black - the daughter of Frank and Katherine, she is almost completely innocent. Her innocence is challenged when Katherine begins to suspect that she may share in Frank's abilities, making her a target of evil.

Millennium is a show where pretty much anything can happen. Unlike some shows that will take the viewer to the edge of terror and then everything turns out all right, Millennium is a show grounded in some measure of the worst aspects of reality. Good people suffer, evil occasionally gets away, relationships get strained. It has a gritty feel to it that makes it quite compelling.

A great deal of credit must be given to the cast and the writers. Series creator, Chris Carter, has a talent for casting and for picking writers and directors who know how to scare the bejesus out of their viewers. And it is not all gore. In "The Well-Worn Lock," one of the series' only Katherine Black stories, the horror of the episode is done all in the writing, the acting, and the insinuations. This is easily the most creepy hour of television done without envoking the supernatural.

The actors must get some serious credit. Megan Gallagher is wonderful as Katherine Black. She lends a realism to the supernatural show by embodying a strong, intelligent woman who expresses so much through her body language. She was perfectly cast as a foil to Lance Henriksen.

Terry O'Quinn is not given as much to do in the first season as he is in subsequent seasons, but he establishes Peter Watts as an intriguing character. O'Quinn has a gravitas to him that lends well to a character like Watts who clearly has more knowledge than we ever see in this season. O'Quinn is balanced well by Bill Smitrovich, who plays Bletcher. Smitrovich's everyman quality works perfectly to portray a less guarded associate of Franks. Smitrovich is likable and his ability to balance an air of integrity with good natured smiles makes him a pleasure to watch.

Lance Henriksen is amazing as Frank Black. First of all, it is refreshing to see someone who looks more like a real person than most anyone else on television. Henriksen does not possess a Hollywood face or bearing. Instead, he and his gravely voice make Frank into a believable entity. Henriksen plays confused, confident, and stricken without ever leaving the conflicted character of Frank Black. He is a pleasure to watch and a force of his own on screen.

Who would enjoy Millennium? Anyone who likes a good, intelligent horror. This is not about people jumping out of the dark, it's about people who go to open houses and wait in the closets until the home's owner comes back. It's not about cheap gore, it's about the sliding of the lock on a child's bedroom door and the understanding of the terrible thing going on on the other side. This is a great show for those who understand that the world is mostly good, but there is evil in it.

And it's refreshing to see someone else fighting for us.

For a little more information on what is in this boxed set, please check out my more detailed review of the first two episodes, "Pilot" and "Gehenna" by clicking here!

For other works featuring Lance Henriksen, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Alien Vs. Predator
Alien 3
Aliens
The Terminator

7.5/10

For other television works, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008, 2004 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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An Unfortunately Erratic Series, Millennium The Complete Series Is Shaky.

The Good: Genuinely horrific moments, Excellent acting, Great characters, Space-saving boxed set.
The Bad: It's all over after the second season finale . . .
The Basics: Chris Carter's most successful (to date) non-The X-Files project is Millennium, a series that is erratic with real hints of greatness that didn't quit while it was ahead.


There are few television series' that I truly consider as examples of a poor overall work where there is something to love. But with Millennium, Chris Carter's project while The X-Files (reviewed here!) was at its peak, it is hard to discuss the series with love and feel like one is being truthful. With Millennium The Complete Series, this becomes very evident. The show had three seasons, but the first is radically different from the second and the third struggled to reinvent itself and, coming on the heels of a powerful season finale, failed horribly. The result is a creative, but terribly erratic series which does not hold together very well at all.

Millennium is a forensic crime drama that precedes the C.S.I. craze. The boxed set of Millennium The Complete Series features the same discs from:
Millennium Season One
Millennium Season Two
Millennium Season Three without any additional bonus features or discs, but in a slimmer DVD case. Millennium focuses on Frank Black and is a deep, very dark psychological horror series that has a former F.B.I. Agent working for a group of consultants as the year 2000 approaches.

Season one finds Frank Black, having recovered from a mental breakdown as a result of his work, moving to Seattle with his wife and daughter. There, working as a consultant for the mysterious Millennium Group, he finds himself getting more and more back into the life he thought he left behind as he chases down serial killers and other villains against society. Frank Black is no ordinary investigator, though. He possesses a freakish talent to understand the mind of evildoers so well that he can see what they see. He catches glimpses into the minds of those who do evil and is thus able to track them down with a high degree of success. Over the course of the first season, Frank is put in situations where he must confront serial killers, mind-controlling cults, bombers, molesters, and zealots. Frank's professional life is balanced by his family life. After a day of encountering evil, he returns to his bright yellow house to the woman he loves and the daughter who is growing up in the world Frank is desperate to make for her.

In the second season, Frank and his wife Katherine are estranged as a result of the extreme lengths Frank went to to save Katherine's life at the climax of the prior season. On his own and with Peter Watts, Frank struggles to understand serial killers, torture artists and actual devils and angels who cross his path while attempting to reconcile with his wife and see his daughter.

And the third season has Frank reuniting with the F.B.I. when it appears the Millennium Group is actually a sinister organization.

The problem here is that the seasons do not truly relate to one another. Season one has the Millennium Group working to save humanity and treasuring Frank's gifts while ridding the Seattle area of all sorts of darkness. Season two has quirky stories that exposes the supernatural and insinuates the Millennium Group is not all it initially seemed. And the final season pairs Frank Black with a rookie investigating surprisingly mundane cases.

Like all great dramas, the stories revolve around characters and "Millennium" is no exception. The principles for the first year (though only Lance Henriksen and Megan Gallagher are credited every episode) are:

Frank Black - This is mostly his story. Frank tries desperately to keep evil at bay by catching the worst elements of society. But his gift comes with a soul crushing price as he comes to realize that the world is too big to be saved by one man,

Katherine Black - Is a social worker who loves and supports Frank and keeps him grounded. She is a pragmatist, but as Frank's association with the Millennium Group progresses, she begins to feel more and more distance from him and more fear for what he is doing,

Bob Bletcher - the Chief of Detectives in Seattle and an old friend of Frank's, he helps Frank whenever possible and acts as a friend to both Frank and Katherine. Unsure the depth of Frank's ability or ability to stay grounded, Bletcher lives in the real world, but accepts Frank's help when the case is unspeakably bad,

Peter Watts - Frank's coworker at the Millennium Group. A forensic expert, Peter represents the Group which is otherwise nebulous. He is efficient and calculating,

and Jordan Black - the daughter of Frank and Katherine, she is almost completely innocent. Her innocence is challenged when Katherine begins to suspect that she may share in Frank's abilities, making her a target of evil.

Millennium is a show where pretty much anything can happen. Unlike some shows that will take the viewer to the edge of terror and then everything turns out all right, Millennium is a show grounded in some measure of the worst aspects of reality. Good people suffer, evil occasionally gets away, relationships get strained. It has a gritty feel to it that makes it quite compelling.

The actors must get some serious credit. Megan Gallagher is wonderful as Katherine Black. She lends a realism to the supernatural show by embodying a strong, intelligent woman who expresses so much through her body language. She was perfectly cast as a foil to Lance Henriksen. Similarly, Terry O'Quinn establishes Peter Watts as an intriguing character. O'Quinn has a gravitas to him that lends well to a character like Watts who clearly has more knowledge than we ever see in this season. O'Quinn is balanced well by Bill Smitrovich, who plays Bletcher. Smitrovich's everyman quality works perfectly to portray a less guarded associate of Franks. Smitrovich is likable and his ability to balance an air of integrity with good natured smiles makes him a pleasure to watch.

Lance Henriksen is amazing as Frank Black. First of all, it is refreshing to see someone who looks more like a real person than most anyone else on television. Henriksen does not possess a Hollywood face or bearing. Instead, he and his gravely voice make Frank into a believable entity. Henriksen plays confused, confident, and stricken without ever leaving the conflicted character of Frank Black. He is a pleasure to watch and a force of his own on screen.

But the entire series is erratic and viewers might do better with the first and second season without the third to weigh it down. Even though the first and second are radically different, they are both good. The third is deadweight on a creative series.

For other shows that originally aired on FOX, please check out my reviews of:
Family Guy Presents: It’s A Trap!
Glee - Season Two, Volume One
Fringe - Season Two
Arrested Development
Wonderfalls
VR.5
The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr.

5/10

For other television series reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Wanting To Believe In The X-Files: I Want To Believe: The Mediocre Outing Doesn't Know What It Wants.

The Good: Complexity, Most of the acting, Surprise cameo, Moments of character
The Bad: Jumbled plot, Predictability, Gruesome
The Basics: The X-Files: I Want To Believe crams a lot of ideas into a movie, making for a jumbled experience that is more gruesome than the average episode of the series.


I have a love/hate relationship with The X-Files. For one thing, I DO own the entire series on DVD in its collector's edition (reviewed here!), which I purchased after pretty much disowning the series for all of its flaws in terms of continuity and story. I generally enjoyed The X-Files: Fight The Future, the first cinematic outing for the franchise (reviewed here!) but I had been pretty lukewarm about the new cinematic endeavor, The X-Files: I Want To Believe. My trepidation came largely from hearing early on that it would not be a "mythology" type movie, it would be the cinematic equivalent of a haunted house story.

As they say, you can't believe everything you hear.

The X-Files: I Want To Believe is a thriller . . . sort of. What many fans of The X-Files seem to want to forget is that the series dealt with all manner of paranormal experiences and tried to make it as realistic as possible. As a result, the show was never just about extraterrestrials and the episodes that weren't were designed to scare the bejezus out of viewers, as Chris Carter said on the interviews on the original VHS tapes. Going into the movie, my last thoughts before simply experiencing I Want To Believe was just "I hope this doesn't suck." Well, it didn't suck. But it was something else . . .

When an FBI agent is abducted and a psychic leads searchers to a severed arm, Special Agents Dakota Whitney and Mosley Drummy call upon Dr. Dana Scully to find Fox Mulder. Scully, long-retired from the FBI and now simply a medical practitioner at a Christian hospital, arrives at Mulder's secluded residence with an offer from the Bureau: amnesty for past alleged crimes in exchange for Mulder's help in finding the missing agent. Reminded of their many adventures that nearly cost them their lives, Mulder opts to give up being a fugitive and help Whitney and the FBI.

While Mulder investigates the pedophilic former-priest with psychic abilities, Scully works to save the life of one of her young patients. While the hospital's administrative priest objects to the extreme measures Scully is willing to take to save the young boy's life, she and Mulder clash over how far out of the FBI she truly is. Soon, though, Mulder, Whitney and Drummy find themselves investigating multiple abductions, as evidenced by body parts from a terrifying number of different bodies and a twisted doctor who does have a connection to Father Joseph . . .

The X-Files: I Want To Believe bears more of a resemblance to episodes of The X-Files like "Home" than it does to any of the alien mythology episodes. It is not a "haunted house" type story any more than it is truly a "smoke out the psychic" story. The problem with the movie is that it is complex and ambitious and as a result, it is hard to describe what it actually is. I Want To Believe is not a simple movie to categorize and as a result, it often seems to be a mash of too many things.

As a result, there is a decent amount of political commentary, including a wonderful comparison between George W. Bush and J. Edgar Hoover. There is frequent mention of priests and pedophilia, belief and redemption. There are questions of faith and the Gruesome science of medical experimentation on people. There is the psychic and the doubt in him because of his history and truth be told, the only thing I called as I watched the movie that did not come to pass was the dogs being fed human body parts.

After about twenty minutes of I Want To Believe, the film spirals into an increasingly complex series of events and ideas. Given that viewers of The X-Files are generally savvy and intelligent people, it is not hard to guess that many - like me - would quickly see the relationships between the disgraced psychic priest and the abductors, the relationship between Mulder and Scully's separate obsessions and the role of belief in the film. And, despite that predictability, the movie pulls it off with a reasonable amount of panache.

The question ought to be asked: Who will like the film more: fans of The X-Files or non-fans? Fans of horror movies will like I Want To Believe. Fans of The X-Files will like the initial bits of humor as Scully and Mulder bond again. Fans of The X-Files will like the references to Luther Lee Boggs, Clyde Bruckman, William, and Samantha. But, objectively, fans of The X-Files are more likely to enjoy I Want To Believe simply because it is The X-Files. In other words, those of us who have a broad palate of movies we love are likely to have less tolerance for the conceits and issues in this movie than those who simply love the franchise. So, the answer to "who will enjoy this" is split pretty evenly between those who will see it anyway (fans of The X-Files) and fans of slasher/horror movies. Those who like crime dramas are much more likely to be turned off by the nuances and pacing issues than those others. And those who are fans of flat-out drama are likely to not enjoy this because it lacks genuine dramatic tension through much of the movie, going instead for the jumpy and shocking as opposed to the truly suspenseful. Actually, there is a very specific niche of people who will love this movie: fans of Chris Carter's spin-off Millennium. This "reads" much more like an episode of that series than it does like an episode of The X-Files.

That said, after so many years, it is pretty wonderful to see Mulder and Scully again. Neither is treated as monolithic and while Mulder has his obsessive belief in the paranormal, Scully still clings to her faith in god. The two sets of beliefs play off one another well, just as they did in some of the best episodes of the television series, and as they hunt for the serial killer in I Want To Believe, each character approaches it from their sense of faith. Mulder, then, is pretty willing to overlook Father Joe's past while Scully rails against him for his very earthly crimes.

One of the things that pushes The X-Files: I Want To Believe up into "recommend" territory is that the film is unflinching in confronting the complexities of these beliefs. The viewer is quite willing and able to empathize with Scully. After all, a priest who abused as many children as Father Joseph certainly does seem to be a man who is not a great messenger of god. But it is Father Joseph who tries to seek his own redemption; decrying what he has done and asking the same question Scully asks: where did the urges that rule him come from? It is pretty daring in this day and time to make a film that exposes the many colors of the world (it's not just shades of gray in I Want To Believe). Father Joseph does that admirably.

One of the things that did make me excited going into The X-Files: I Want To Believe was the presence of Amanda Peet in the cast. I'm a bit of a fan of hers and that she wasn't nominated for her work on Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (reviewed here!) is something of a mystery to me. She is fabulous and has the ability to do great work as a comic actress. In I Want To Believe, Peet reminds the viewer that she can carry serious drama as well. She has only one moment that reminds the viewer of her smirk, the rest of the time keeping up a grim and determined facade that makes the viewer believe she could be such a high-ranking FBI agent. Peet could be the next Scully and she sells us on that idea.

The acting challenge for veterans David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson is not so much to do something that the viewer has not seen from them before, but rather to convince the viewers that their characters are still the same people we are familiar with. Moreover, they have to sell us on the reality of the years in between the final frames of the television series and now, several years later. They do this surprisingly well and the movie quite wisely focuses on Anderson's Scully for as much time as possible.

Anderson rises to the occasion of the attention by playing Scully as determined and willful, a woman of strong convictions. Anderson has always had the ability to create a steely demeanor and here it serves her perfectly. The viewer must absolutely believe that Scully is not going to return to working for the FBI and Anderson sells that completely and makes it believable.

This is not to say that David Duchovny slouches through his part as Mulder. Mulder wants to be dependent upon Scully and when Scully refuses to join him (something that keeps the film feeling very fractured), he is forced to accept her decision. Duchovny makes it work, though, reminding viewers why it was easy to fall in love with Mulder for years the moment that light appears in his eyes that indicates to the viewer that Mulder is a visionary. Mulder sees the world differently and it is Duchovny who puts that light in the character's eyes.

Fans of The X-Files will find much to enjoy about the movie and I doubt the surprise cameo (which, given that it happens in the last fifteen or twenty minutes, ought to rightfully stay a surprise, especially considering that the IMDB did not ruin it on their front page of cast for this film, for a change) will remain that way for much longer, but I won't be the one to ruin the surprise. Also, the closing credit sequence is clearly a gift to the fans more than it is an actual conclusion to the movie, so sit through that if you're into The X-Files.

On DVD, The X-Files: I Want To Believe is packed with bonus features, including a pretty decent commentary track with Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz. There are deleted scenes as well, trailers, a gag reel and a music video from co-star Xzibit. There's an extensive documentary on the making of the movie and how the plot was kept secret. The bonus features certainly raise the value of the DVDs for fans.

But ultimately, it's an erratic film and it is barely above average, especially for the genre; there are many good elements, but they are all mixed together and the pace is slowed as a result.

For other works featuring Amanda Peet, please check out my reviews of:
2012


6.5/10

For other film reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Not As Bad As I Remembered It, The X-Files Season Nine Still Underwhelms!

The Good: A few imaginative stories, Moments of character development, Supersoldier plotline is decent, Finale.
The Bad: Light on DVD bonus features, Some terribly repetitive plots, Absence of Mulder.
The Basics: The X-Files Season Nine is not bad, but the best episodes are available elsewhere for less money and this is a far cry from the show at its peak.


It is time for my grand confession as a fan of The X-Files. I was one of the many, many fans who jumped ship on the show in its ninth season and started watching Alias. For me, it wasn't so much the absence of Mulder which drove me away - the prior season, I found myself caring less and less about Mulder as they tried to fill in stories from the seventh season in the eighth season and Mulder's character began to make less overall sense - but rather the plotlines that no longer resonated with me. While Alias started off with a bang with an intriguing serialized plot, the ninth and final season of The X-Files was declining with repetitive "freak of the week" episodes and the serialized plots of the Supersoldiers resonated with me less because the villains we cared most about were all gone and the heroes who remained were not as interesting as the ones who preceded them.

Or so I thought. After rewatching The X-Files Season Nine on DVD the last few weeks, I began to remember why I liked the show to begin with. The Supersoldier episodes were more intriguing than I remembered them being and even the new agent, Reyes, had some interesting-enough plotlines to keep me happy. I finally caught "Improbable," the episode which featured Burt Reynolds as God, and I respected Chris Carter's creativity and moments of the execution with that story. But the biggest thrill for me, sadly, was when Michael Emerson - who took on a regular role of Ben Linus beginning with the third season of Lost (reviewed here!) - appeared in the penultimate episode, "Sunshine Days." More than anything, though, watching the ninth season of The X-Files on DVD is an uncomfortable exercise in watching the endurance of humans be tested as almost every other episode involves Doggett or Reyes ending up in a coma, shot or having their brain messed with. Seeing the episodes so closely, there is the feeling that these people must be superhuman!

The ninth season of The X-Files finds Scully off the x-files and Mulder on the run to parts unknown, both in attempts to protect their baby, William. Agents Doggett and Reyes are running the x-files and they find themselves hampered by two powerful leaders within the FBI, Deputy Director Kersch and Assistant Director Follmer. As Doggett investigates Kersch in relation to the incident where Knowle infiltrated the FBI building, Follmer extorts Reyes with a video of Skinner killing Krycek. The investigations seek to expose the powers within the FBI which have been covering up the Supersoldiers - former Marines who are now part of the intelligence community, all of whom were experimented upon and now are indestructible warriors who have the ability to return even from the most traumatic of wounds.

With the investigation ongoing, Reyes and Doggett take time to investigate other x-files, like a boy who apparently kills others by marshaling vast forces of flies, a serial killer who appears to kill as part of a blood vengeance from multiple past lives, and a killer who may be the evil manifestation of an otherwise innocent man. The agents are wounded by a killer from an alternate reality and a car accident which puts Reyes in a netherregion between life and death where her only hope is to stay alive inside a dollhouse replica of the hospital. God shows up to encourage a serial killer to change his ways and a kid torments everyone with his uninhibited mental powers. And Scully, Doggett, Skinner and Reyes find hope in a man whose abilities may be empirically illustrated, which would once and for all prove the existence of paranormal phenomenon.

Throughout the season, there are bits peppered in about Mulder being on the run, rumors that he has been killed and conspiracies to try to get him to surface. And Mulder does surface for the series finale, the double-length episode "The Truth," which has Mulder put on trial for the murder of Knowle and he works to establish a defense based upon information collected throughout the years on the x-files. This leaves the series open enough such that years later the film The X-Files: I Want To Believe could be released.

What is nice about the ninth season is that Agents Doggett and Reyes have enough of a backstory and chemistry to make their near misses on a romantic relationship interesting to watch. While Mulder and Scully kept things chaste for most of their years together, Doggett and Reyes have overt sexual chemistry and it works for them as well as the writers let them run with it.

Unfortunately, that is far less frequently than most viewers will be satisfied with. While Reyes and Doggett flirt and make conscious choices not to get romantically involved, this is often pushed aside as quickly as possible and as fans had been jerked around for years with the denial of the Mulder and Scully chemistry, this may seem problematic and annoying to most viewers. As a result, Reyes and Doggett take professional and personal risks for one another - like Doggett refusing to pull the plug on Reyes in "Audrey Pauley" and Reyes going to Mexico in search of the brain-altered Doggett in "John Doe" - without them ever getting the romantic benefits that come with their obvious love and respect for one another.

As well, the stories oscillate from the familiar to the troubling. Stories like "Lord Of The Flies" and "Daemonicus" are basically freak-of-the-week and serial killer stories which seem like they have been done before by The X-Files. "Scary Monsters" is almost entirely self-referential about that with the FBI's beancounter returning with her almost constant refrain of "That's not how Mulder and Scully would do it . . ." This, sadly, works poorly in an episode that already seems familiar to most fans of the show.

Finally, the show is weakened by the loss of Mulder and the teased references to him being underground. Episodes like "Trust No 1" go so far as to have a fleeing Mulder shown just long enough to annoy viewers who can see clearly on DVD that it was not David Duchovny. And when "The Truth" comes, the result is less spectacular than most fans would like because there is so much to wrap up and so much left unclear.

Even so, the season is not as weak as I remembered it being. The Supersoldier episodes (anthologized on DVD separately) was a stronger plotline than I remembered it being before and Doggett becomes a much more likable and interesting character through his experiences on the x-files. So, unlike Scully, who took years to believe things which were right before her eyes, Doggett begins to understand things - most notably about the indestructible nature of the Supersoldiers - quickly and he begins to accept them because the evidence is right before him.

Scully is, unfortunately, diminished by much of the ninth season. She takes on a supporting role as she works to keep William safe. Sadly, some of her most interesting moments in the season actually have her openly pining for the absent Mulder. Outside that, she seldom is in the field in these episodes, which makes "The Truth" fairly incongruent with the rest of the season.

The essential characters in the ninth season of The X-Files are:

Dr. Dana Scully - Having had her baby, William, who begins to exhibit supernatural powers like the ability to move objects with his thoughts, she works to keep the baby safe. In addition to taking a teaching job at the FBI training facility, she spends more time doing things like working from home and advising Doggett and Reyes. She gets terribly lonely with Mulder's absence and when a man from her past resurfaces, she comes to understand that while William is a great gift, he is also a tremendous liability to her and her work,

Special Agent John Doggett - After investigating Deputy Director Kersch on how the supersoldiers have gained influence within the FBI, he becomes an unconditional believer in the existence of the supersoldiers when Knowle resurfaces, as does one of the other members of Doggett's former company. Influenced by the female supersoldier, Doggett comes to understand the threat level they represent and he works to expose the conspiracy surrounding them. While he begins to have feelings for Reyes, he also has the opportunity to put the murder of his son to rest,

Special Agent Monica Reyes - A believer in the supernatural, she tends to investigate satanic rituals and practices. She quickly leaps to conclusions about the nature of reality and parallel universes when Doggett is shot across town moments after being with her in her new apartment and she discovers her own past life history. She tends to let her heart guide her, despite being exceptionally smart,

Assistant Director Walter Skinner - Continues to support the x-files as a leader within the FBI, but he finds his support diminished and himself having to cover his tracks after killing Krycek,

Fox Mulder - No longer an FBI agent, he is on the run from the sinister government conspiracy which threatens to undermine everything he believes and menaces every freedom loving person on the planet. He misses his infant son and Scully even more.

In terms of performances, the ninth season of The X-Files is a study more in stagnation than anything spectacular. While Robert Patrick continues grow in his performances as Agent Doggett, Annabeth Gish is given very little to work with as Agent Reyes. While she does shine in "Audrey Pauley," this is sadly the exception to the rule for her on the show. More often than not, she is treated as an uncomfortable appendage as opposed to a vital member of the ensemble.

Gillian Anderson, however, continues to come out strong as Dana Scully. She is given some greater emotional range to work with in this season as she now has opened up to loving - and thus, missing - Mulder. Anderson plays mopey extraordinarily well and that makes many of her scenes alone work better than one might expect.

On DVD, the ninth season comes with an entire disc of season retrospective featurettes and there are commentary tracks on three of the best episodes. But among the special effects featurettes and the retrospectives, there is a feeling that the show had run its course and even on DVD the producers were not excited about talking about the project.

Despite there being some decent episodes in this boxed set, the best truly are on the Mythology Volume 4 discs and that makes this final season of The X-Files entirely dispensable, even if it is not horrible. As well, fans who want the entire story would do much better to buy The X-Files Complete Collection, reviewed here! And even in that set, the ninth season is a weaker one, though arguably not as bad as the season which preceded it.


5/10

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© 2011, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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