The X-Files - Season 10 & 11 [** Spoilers **]

alchemist33

Saw the first episode last night and genuinely thought it was bloody awful! It was like an hour of lines from all the previous series being rabbited at me in a random fashion. A lot of it made little sense and the lab in Scully's hospital seriously needs to be looked into if it comes up with two completely different results when running the same test on the same sample.

I absolutely loved the X-Files, until it disappeared up its own backside in the latter stages. Only reports that it picks up are keeping me watching tonight.

CramCycle

alchemist33 wrote: »

the lab in Scully's hospital seriously needs to be looked into if it comes up with two completely different results when running the same test on the same sample.

I think the point was that the results were tampered with, so that they just sent back that the DNA was human. The implication being, the sample went back, but whoever had changed it, hadn't expected it to go back and never kept an eye out on it.

From a sciencey point of view, it was a bit stupid, it looked like a western blot, but then Scully said she got her whole genome sequenced.

First of all, she did in her eye get her whole genome sequenced without anyone saying, really, what for?

Secondly, what test could she have done to tell it was alien DNA in such a short space of time. Any tests that would even remotely be related to sequencing would be specific locus targets, and all that would happen was they wouldn't work or the PCR would look messed up. At which point the lab tech would have flagged that it wasn't working right and ask to send another sample.

Maybe she could have a specific locus with a human specific sequence, but all that would tell her is, no its not human or no, the PCR failed.

Not expecting perfection but that bit was very CSI like in its BS.

hotshots85

CramCycle wrote: »

I think the point was that the results were tampered with, so that they just sent back that the DNA was human. The implication being, the sample went back, but whoever had changed it, hadn't expected it to go back and never kept an eye out on it.

From a sciencey point of view, it was a bit stupid, it looked like a western blot, but then Scully said she got her whole genome sequenced.

First of all, she did in her eye get her whole genome sequenced without anyone saying, really, what for?

Secondly, what test could she have done to tell it was alien DNA in such a short space of time. Any tests that would even remotely be related to sequencing would be specific locus targets, and all that would happen was they wouldn't work or the PCR would look messed up. At which point the lab tech would have flagged that it wasn't working right and ask to send another sample.

Maybe she could have a specific locus with a human specific sequence, but all that would tell her is, no its not human or no, the PCR failed.

Not expecting perfection but that bit was very CSI like in its BS.

Shhhhhhh don't ruin it with logic....

My take was Scully actually said there was no alien DNA to shut them up as eh thought they were all going a bit far on a rant and she wanted them to drop it for their own sakes. She knew it was the key to their theory.

alchemist33

CramCycle wrote: »

I think the point was that the results were tampered with, so that they just sent back that the DNA was human. The implication being, the sample went back, but whoever had changed it, hadn't expected it to go back and never kept an eye out on it.

From a sciencey point of view, it was a bit stupid, it looked like a western blot, but then Scully said she got her whole genome sequenced.

First of all, she did in her eye get her whole genome sequenced without anyone saying, really, what for?

Secondly, what test could she have done to tell it was alien DNA in such a short space of time. Any tests that would even remotely be related to sequencing would be specific locus targets, and all that would happen was they wouldn't work or the PCR would look messed up. At which point the lab tech would have flagged that it wasn't working right and ask to send another sample.

Maybe she could have a specific locus with a human specific sequence, but all that would tell her is, no its not human or no, the PCR failed.

Not expecting perfection but that bit was very CSI like in its BS.

Ah, good thinking on the tampering. I know a bit about labs too and did think it too simplistic.

conorhal

RobertKK wrote: »

I would argue to believe in aliens in 2016 makes more sense than ever given we know that planets exist around other stars and some of them are in the goldilock zone, even the Vatican who have an astronomy observation station don't rule out the possibility.

So back to the X files, I enjoyed it, it was my favourite program and it brings me back watching it, I don't care for reviews, I loved having it back.

This is what NASA has to say about aliens life:
https://www.nasa.gov/content/finding-life-beyond-earth-is-within-reach


I tend to believe, and as Stephen Hawking has said, he believes it is dangerous sending messages into space as intelligent alien life could be hostile.

The X files probably makes more sense as a program more than ever.

It might be more credible that Aliens are out there, but let’s be honest, it's far less credible these days that they're here and not just here, but kidnapping hicks in Arkansas without ending up on YouTube courtesy of another hick with an iPhone.

The other problem with the show is that, culturally, the existential threats that our collective psyche cowered under the covers from have changed since the 90's. The X-Files was popular after the cold war had ended and economically things were looking up and so we looked outward for a threat. In these uncertain times it's Daesh and home grown, low tech terrorism that frightens people.
Conspiracy theories are also out of favour. Frankly I suspect that people would be impressed with a government that could exert a degree of control amidst the anarchy of this world or cobble together a conspiracy theory that reddit users didn’t comprehensively uncover within a week..

One of the most depressing aspects of watching the Snowden documentary 'Citizen 4' was how big a difference all involved imagined his revelations would make and how little they actually did. 'The government are spying on us all!' they cried, collectively we shrugged and said, 'so what, we know. Even with all their surveillance powers chances are the government still know less about us then Facebook and Amazon'.
What Snowden had failed to appreciate was just how much the concept of personal privacy has changed in a generation.

Chris Carter has become a bit of a George Lucas, somebody the needs badly to be kept at arms length from the cultural phenomenon of his own creation.

Elessar

Hmm, I dunno how I feel about these two episodes. Like others have said, they feel like rush jobs (I literally had to slow my player down a fraction!). And the scripts are weak, nothing like the original series'. Weren't the original episodes longer aswell (i.e. closer to a hour?) these are like, 40 mins. Everything is just too....rushed. I feel the only person giving it credence is Anderson, she is still a terrific actress but the material she has to work with is an affront to her abilities, and to Dana Scully as a character (she NEVER would have said 'sons of b*tches' at the end of EP1!).

Still, the kid in me is absolutely delighted Mulder and Scully are back!

The Black Oil

conorhal wrote: »

Chris Carter has become a bit of a George Lucas, somebody the needs badly to be kept at arms length from the cultural phenomenon of his own creation.

There is a little bit of that, yes. However, at the same time, I think some are inclined to overblame him and forget it was he who built the show and wrote very good episodes in the past, including the less traditional ones. I have interacted with one fan in the past who has a hatred for him/his work like you wouldn't believe. I don't have an issue with criticisms of his writing, but maybe it's time he was kept to largely in a consultant role. People love Darin Morgan's episodes, he's not exactly set on the world on fire since. Vince Gilligan who is not involved here is obviously another matter.

I've only seen the first episode. I didn't find it rushed, though I would have liked more a memorable character introduction for the Mulder in particular. What did bother me was the injection of visuals of conspiracy/globalisation/abduction, it was done a little too often in accompanying the dialogue, imo.

Marje

Episode 2 was a lot better than episode 1.

Still has that feeling (I felt) that they're trying to fill in as much as they can (

they didn't show us what happened to the brother and sister after their dad died, thought they could have tidied the story up a bit in the end

)

On the lookout for a box set to buy atm and looking forward to watching in all over again.

aziz

Is it just me or is David duchovney starting to look more like Walter Matthau:eek:

ixoy

A definite improvement on all fronts: pacing was better, dialogue was less clunky, Anderson and Duchovny emoted more and seemed more comfortable. Occasional directing bits jarred (particularly the jump from Scully discovering the boy in the barn to him suddenly being put into the car). More like a standard episode-of-the-week so no classic but more like the original.
Still not a big fan of the myth arc they're pulling out of their rear ends here (where it's now suddenly visible in every case).

Couple of small things:
- The Vancouver casting pool struck here when there were two actors from 'Continuum' in this episode (or one from 'Arrow' if you don't watch 'Continuum').

- Horrible forced advert for a car's camera system. I hate it when producers shove this into a show as it takes you right out of the episode.

velo.2010

ixoy wrote: »

- Horrible forced advert for a car's camera system. I hate it when producers shove this into a show as it takes you right out of the episode.

Actually, I took that as a mickey take on modern technology. Scully is using the camera system to look out for pedestrians and while looking down at it nearly runs over a guy!

Very good episode - a vast improvement on the first one - with good humour in the early scenes. The dialogue was smoother though you get the feeling its almost a competition between the actors to knock out as much verbosity as possible. We'll see how it holds up next week.

Arghus

aziz wrote: »

Is it just me or is David duchovney starting to look more like Walter Matthau:eek:

Really uncanny resemblance at times - particularly in episode one, when he looked particularly hangdogish.

Episode two was a total nonscencsial mess but it was at least a step up from that atrocious opening episode.

Some of the comments about David Duchovny no longer looking or sounding just like he did almost 20 years ago are quite laughable. Those pointing it out is one thing, those complaining about it is another.

As for my own thoughts on the new X-Files:

The first episode worried me with its flaws, which were abound for all to see IMO. Too much story to try to cram in is forgivable considering what the show is trying to do after 15 years off the air, but the dialogue I cannot forgive. At times, it felt like Carter said to himself "What's the most dramatic thing I can write for the characters to say here...even if there is absolutely no build-up and those dramatic lines are not earned?"

"She is the key...Svetta is the key to everything. She is the key Scully, Svetta, to everything, did I mention the key?"

That whole scene bothered me. So Mulder is abandoning everything he believes in because of some person with a story he just met 5 minutes ago? Has he not been around the block enough to know that there is a twist or turn just around the corner? Or at least secure enough in his own beliefs to at least question this? It was just a bit too quick and convenient for me.

Episode 2 was much stronger. Straight away I'm going to credit that to James Wong who wrote and directed the episode. In fairness to Chris Carter though, Wong didn't have to write an episode that tried to appease old fans, pull in new fans and reestablish the world of the X-Files. Carter did this in episode 1, now Wong is able to just play in the sandbox without having to worry about how high the walls are or how deep the sand is. Because of that, the episode had a more classic X-Files flow to it. Did it have flaws? Yes, but it demonstrated that this show has solid entertainment to offer, and hasn't just returned for a money-scooping victory lap.

RobertKK

I like the little jokes that are thrown in.

kyeev

CramCycle wrote: »

I think the point was that the results were tampered with, so that they just sent back that the DNA was human. The implication being, the sample went back, but whoever had changed it, hadn't expected it to go back and never kept an eye out on it.

From a sciencey point of view, it was a bit stupid, it looked like a western blot, but then Scully said she got her whole genome sequenced.

First of all, she did in her eye get her whole genome sequenced without anyone saying, really, what for?

Secondly, what test could she have done to tell it was alien DNA in such a short space of time. Any tests that would even remotely be related to sequencing would be specific locus targets, and all that would happen was they wouldn't work or the PCR would look messed up. At which point the lab tech would have flagged that it wasn't working right and ask to send another sample.

Maybe she could have a specific locus with a human specific sequence, but all that would tell her is, no its not human or no, the PCR failed.

Not expecting perfection but that bit was very CSI like in its BS.

Was thinking about this at the time.
New sequencing technologies like 454 pyrosequencing and Illumina synthesis technologies do allow massive and rapid DNA reads. With a few machines going in parallel, it is just about possible to read 3 billion bases in 24 hours.

You could rapidly analyse this data for "alien" DNA too, simply compare the newly sequenced genome against the "normal" human genome librarys. Again, probably need multiple computers and operators on the job to achieve this in 24 hours. Inserted genes would be easy enough to spot. Although substituted gene versions would not.

I think your point about asking Scully, "are you sure you want us to spend 50 grand sequencing this sample?" is probably accurate though...

golfball37

Mulder has been on this journey before where he dismissed alien abductions and claimed it was govt sponsored cover up.

Why is it being treated as a new departure.

syklops

Am I the only person who liked the first episode?

Skerries

Is Mark Snow doing the music for this because it feels all wrong?

CramCycle

RobertKK wrote: »

I like the little jokes that are thrown in.

i am still trying to figure out what the jokes about getting a lift / hitch hiking were in the first one. Does anyone know?

Is it one of those supposed Hitchhikers guide references or are they making fun of Duchovny for not being upto much and he has no idea how he got there?

kyeev

I liked the first episode too.
Although being a fan meant they had me at the opening credits.
I think the mistake they made in episode 1 was actually showing us too much hard evidence. 2 x UFOs in one episode? Unheard of.
X files always worked best when they explained nothing and showed you even less...

The Black Oil

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

I just couldn't get over Gillian Anderson's face, she looks terrible and must have spent a fortune on Botox and plastic surgery.

She denied this in a recent interview with the Guardian. You'll see that the interviewer felt her face, ya know, moved. Also,

https://twitter.com/ILC_IOE/status/689491900668211200

ixoy wrote: »

- The Vancouver casting pool struck here when there were two actors from 'Continuum' in this episode (or one from 'Arrow' if you don't watch 'Continuum').

- Horrible forced advert for a car's camera system. I hate it when producers shove this into a show as it takes you right out of the episode.

The nun in the hospital was in some past episodes too. Recognised her straight away. I didn't like the camera thing, either. The show has always used Fords, right back to the Taurus, so there's probably near contractual obligation at this point. They have never done a 'hey, look at this cool product' before, so yeah, it really stood out. I did fear that overuse iPads would be a regular feature to make the show up to date, we haven't seen that so far. If they're keeping it to an LCD screen in the basement and high quality CCTV, I'm pretty happy with that. As said in the second episode, old school.

conorhal wrote: »

The other problem with the show is that, culturally, the existential threats that our collective psyche cowered under the covers from have changed since the 90's. The X-Files was popular after the cold war had ended and economically things were looking up and so we looked outward for a threat. In these uncertain times it's Daesh and home grown, low tech terrorism that frightens people.
Conspiracy theories are also out of favour. Frankly I suspect that people would be impressed with a government that could exert a degree of control amidst the anarchy of this world or cobble together a conspiracy theory that reddit users didn’t comprehensively uncover within a week..

The problem I have with many blockbuster films now is most involving hacking some sort of data or list. I'm not talking about Mission: Impossible as that's a fairly lightweight franchise and I'll give it an easier time on this particular point. I would like to see something more old fashioned, a throwback to the Cold War because hacking centred plots are getting a little repetitive, imo. TV is doing well with The Americans and Deutschland 83 re the Cold War. 24 and Homeland have addressed more contemporary threats in the post Sept 11th environment, including to soft targets like public transport. I think it's harder for film as the production time means it can quickly fall behind current events.

irishchris wrote: »

Really hope they reorder a full series after this

There isn't a hope of this, both Gillian and David said they just don't have the energy to do 24 episodes again. It remains to be seen whether these 6 will compliment the original show or feel ultimately detached from it. If it's the latter I'd be happy if they left it there.

Elessar wrote: »

Weren't the original episodes longer aswell (i.e. closer to a hour?) these are like, 40 mins. Everything is just too....rushed. I feel the only person giving it credence is Anderson, she is still a terrific actress but the material she has to work with is an affront to her abilities, and to Dana Scully as a character (she NEVER would have said 'sons of b*tches' at the end of EP1!)

They were always 42-43 minutes. Typical network TV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7ZpxhwddC8

10.02 was a lot close to the mark tonally, visually and in keeping with the show's overall style. I was not a big fan of the William storyline, but the scene with the rocket was wonderful.

Wolverine359

Did anyone see this outtake from the second episode? It's the scene where yer one throws the apple at the cat, except this time it goes off target... :pac:

https://www.facebook.com/gilliananderson/posts/776984269112013

ScumLord

golfball37 wrote: »

Mulder has been on this journey before where he dismissed alien abductions and claimed it was govt sponsored cover up.

Why is it being treated as a new departure.

I get the feeling this time around she's dismissing it all because she knows there's something behind it and wants to keep her loved ones away from it.

PropJoe10

I've really enjoyed the first two episodes. Not ground breaking by any means or even classic X-Files but what were people expecting at this stage really? Thought episode one was decent and the second one was really solid. Any X-Files is better than no X-Files at all, in my book!

Mr.Nice Guy

I liked the episodes but what bothers me is that (and I haven't watched the original episodes in over a decade) but from what I remember there was a constant battle to close the X-Files and they had to fight hard against the Bureau, yet it seems in this series there is much less resistance.

CramCycle

Its not even clear why they reopened them. If everything was taken at face value, surely they should have just left them closed.

The only far fetched theory I can think off is that they want the X files as its easier to keep an eye on Mulder which can only mean that everything he discovers is exactly what they want him to uncover.

Dandelion6

I always felt you had to suspend disbelief a bit when it came to the subject of the X-Files relationship to the Bureau's powers that be. If this was real life they would not only have closed down the X-Files immediately but also ensured Mulder never got anywhere near them.

Am I the only one that was somewhat confused over Mulder's revelation that everything they held true was wrong? Where exactly did that come from? It just seemed a bit rushed.

TonyD79

The same kind of storyline was used back at the end of season 4 and ran through season 5 just before the first feature film. Its probably the only option Carter had after the shambles the mytholgy arc became.

CastorTroy

Remember the resolution to the Samantha storyline? A lot of people seem to forget/choose to forget it was resolved.

ScumLord

CramCycle wrote: »

Its not even clear why they reopened them. If everything was taken at face value, surely they should have just left them closed.

It is odd that Fox has been off the radar all that time, yet still has a job at the FBI, and he can then just show up one day as if nothing had happened and continue where he left off.

I was half expecting they'd be basically working as private investigators, seeing as they both apparently moved on from the FBI in the first episode.

Marje

Clip of episode 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isPl0qs7TAs

Civil Joe

CastorTroy wrote: »

Remember the resolution to the Samantha storyline? A lot of people seem to forget/choose to forget it was resolved.

What was that now? It's a bit hazy

alwaysadub

Civil Joe wrote: »

What was that now? It's a bit hazy

She's been dead since she was a child.
There were Walk Ins who turned her into a spirit or something to stop her suffering ,but left no body to find. Something like that anyway, it was all very confusing at times!

The Black Oil

The Samantha arc was concluded in the second half of season 7.

FloatingVoter

Marje wrote: »

Clip of episode 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isPl0qs7TAs

Reminds me of the Amazing Three Legged Dog with A FOURTH LEG....pay yer money to Mr. Barnum and BE AMAZED.

Ah...the good old days when ya had to make your own internet.

Standman

Watched the first one, it felt like I was watching a SyFy movie. Pretty disappointing.

CramCycle

alwaysadub wrote: »

She's been dead since she was a child.
There were Walk Ins who turned her into a spirit or something to stop her suffering ,but left no body to find. Something like that anyway, it was all very confusing at times!

I really don't remember it, I thought he met her as an adult and that CSM was her Dad, don't remember anything else

CastorTroy

The woman he met was a clone of his sister, if I remember correctly, and we see more clones later

krustydoyle

That was a really odd episode

Macker1

krustydoyle wrote: »

That was a really odd episode

There's another term I would be inclined to use


Sh**e :mad::mad::mad::mad:


Limited episodes so don't be putting in this type of fluffy feel good crap.

irishguitarlad

I really enjoyed it and laughed a lot throughout.

It's a bad sign when everyone else is hilarious and brilliant, but Mulder and Scully are terrible.

Walter E GO

That was terrible. I get that the x-files every now and then, takes a stab at light comedy. One of my favorite ever episodes of the x-files was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Chung%27s_From_Outer_Space, but this episode was just awful.

the_syco

Well, I'm reminded of when they brought back Red Dwarf, and all these silly nods to the original series. The first two gave me hope, but holy crap, the latest one was a load of crap!

CastorTroy

I enjoyed it, and not just because of Sexy Scully. :pac:

But as I said last week, I was expecting a 6 episode story and not standalone episodes. So it's a fun standalone episode but shouldn't be part of a limited series.

omahaid

I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I always loved the funny episodes

Dandelion6

I thought it was great and I'm not a big fan of the monster of the week episodes, especially the ones with non-human monsters.

thesultan

Pretty poor episode

Grab All Association

Is this a joke?