The X-Files (1993)

Watchseries; Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is a marginalized loner FBI agent stuck in the basement. He's been ostracized because he's a true believer in the paranormal. Dr Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is a skeptic, a woman of science, and assigned to keep Mulder under control.

The X Files represents a breakout for the sci-fi genre. Its success gave it license to put on more paranormal shows treated as reasonable. It also became a benchmark by which these shows are measured. There are amazing episodes with some less so. The best is the chemistry between the two leads. It broke new ground with great writing from some future notable names. It lasted 9 seasons. It may have gone on too long but it was great while it lasted.

Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is a marginalized loner FBI agent stuck in the basement. He's been ostracized because he's a true believer in the paranormal. Dr Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is a skeptic, a woman of science, and assigned to keep Mulder under control.

The X Files represents a breakout for the sci-fi genre. Its success gave it license to put on more paranormal shows treated as reasonable. It also became a benchmark by which these shows are measured. There are amazing episodes with some less so. The best is the chemistry between the two leads. It broke new ground with great writing from some future notable names. It lasted 9 seasons. It may have gone on too long but it was great while it lasted.

The X-Files watchseries. The writing, the acting, the production values, the continuity, the heart of The X Files all secure a reputation for this show as the best in its class. It has no peers. The story of two FBI agents working in a small office in the basement of the FBI to uncover, prove, disprove supernatural and unexplained phenomena and alien presence builds beautifully in the nine seasons the show existed. And having seen every episode in chronological order, they build with purpose, continuity, and innovation. Sure, there were set-backs when one actor didn't do most of a season, or another actress was pregnant, or whatever might have arisen, but the show's writers and creator - and make no mistake here that creator Chris Carter and his staff of writers/directors are the reason for this show being what it is - always met each and every set-back with a creative, engaging response. When Fox Mulder's character was gone for most of two seasons, they created two new characters that were every bit as solid as Mulder and Scully. Robert Patrick's Doggett and Anabeth Gish's Reyes were equally compelling characters. There are so many good things to say about this show. The two leads, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, grew as characters and thespians before our very eyes. They honed their crafts and became stronger screen presences. These characters were characters that we learned to like and wanted to follow. Duchovny brought some much needed wry humour to an otherwise serious subject. He was able at one moment to convince you that the world was one big conspiracy and in the next moment comment on the lack of movement from a dead person with lighthearted appeal. Anderson softened each year, becoming less rigid and inflexible. The cast of supporting characters was always first-rate with Mitch Pillegi as Skinner and William Davis as the antagonistic Smoking Man never giving a bad performance. The three Lone Gunmen were excellent light diversions in bloody cases or cases involving alien invasion or what not. The first season will always be my favorite. Mulder and Scully are finding themselves as characters and the idea of conspiracy is all too real. Jerry Hardin plays Deep Throat, the man feeding Mulder news of government conspiracy, with strength and a true believability. But before I get too compartmentalized, The X Files was able to be two series in one - perhaps its greatest achievement. One the one hand, we had Mulder and Scully battling conspiracy, aliens looking to invade Earth, Mulder finding his sister that had been abducted by aliens, and other plot strands of a similar nature. But the show would also show totally unrelated episodes that were very scary and horrifyinfg. We saw worm men, killer insects, a man that sucked the fat out of his victims, cannibalistic cults, and the list goes on and on. I love the myth episodes, but these horror episodes are my favorites because they are so creative. I cannot remember how many times, having just watched and episode, saying how does someone think this stuff up? Whether The X Files is spoofing the Brady Bunch or alluding to Moby Dick or creating a homage to Frankenstein and movies of its ilk or just trying its best to scare you or disgust you(the episode Home - a favorite of mine), it is always true to itself in terms of the creativity that courses through its proverbial veins. Yes, sometimes, it is a bit full of itself, and, yes, sometimes, the creativity falls right down on its face(as when the show combined the X Files with Cops). But the show has far more, far more hits than misses. I

Forget alcohol, this absolutely incredible show is quite possibly more addicting. The acting is to say the least amazing, and the characters are so real it's a bit spooky. The first fours seasons are the best, combing sci-fi, horror and reality drama into a most satisfying combination. I find the show fearlessness when showing gore is refreshing (no i do not have a gore fetish)and ability to back up the most wild theories is almost unimaginable. The scripts are so unbelievable, that you might laugh them off at first thought, but they draw you in making you want to believe. Most episodes in the first 5 seasons are phenomenal, though there are some duds, after all, nobody can have perfection. The chemistry shared between the two main characters, Mulder and Scully is at times choking, they seem so connected that you can help but momentarily forget, they aren't real. Splitting them up pretty much wrote the epitaph for the show, bringing them back together for the series finale did boost it ever so slightly. Even before I watched the show I knew half the catch phrases, Trust no one, the truth is out there, i want to believe and characters names, now what does that say? The show will forever be remembered hopefully when it was strongest, not toward then sad end it had.

The X-Files is one of the best shows ever. The show has great episodes dealing with something paranormal and/or conspiracy. The characters have a great chemistry, especially Mulder and Scully. It's not as good as it was a few years back, but it's still way above most shows on today. Many episodes have dealt with this alien conspiracy recently, but the neat thing about it is how not everything is explained, leaving the door open for further episodes. The X-Files is a very excellent show.

According to my friends, I am not a true X-phile (don't ask why). Oh well.

The X-Files ranks as one of the most intelligent and brilliant shows on television. It is a cinematic show, using techniques that are more associated with movies than the tv show (like the long unedited sequence in Triangle). Admittedly it was once a better show than it is now, but most episodes are minor masterpieces. But when it peaks, like with "Redux", "Triangle", and "One Son", it peaks like no other show has before.

It is completely unclassifiable. It is a mystery, a sci-fi, and sometimes self parody, and the show has several markedly sexual overtones (the cigarette smoking man). The sexual tension is what probably has attracted the most people. The byplay between Mulder and Scully is cool and reserved, yet you wonder exactly what there really thinking.

It pays homage to old shows, and movies as well ("Duel in the Sun", "Rope"). This show doesn't always give you what you want.

Though it has gotten more Hollywood-ish, it's a testament to the creators and writers that they haven't put Scully and Mulder together (will they or won't they? Probably. It is Hollywood, after all).

This show is a thinking person's show. Sometimes it does get slow, but it always remains interesting.

Well I have been putting this off for a while because really I can't figure out how words can really express just how amazing of a show this is. I think I was 11 or 12 when the Pilot first aired. I didn't watch the show then because I was afraid of it after I saw episodes like "The Jersey Devil" and "Born Again" when they first aired, which is really funny because theses are some of the tamest episodes to me now. So unfortunately I wasn't quite ready or prepared for the X-Files during it's running. Later I remember watching TV one Saturday and there was a Chris Carter double feature. First "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" and then the Millennium episode "Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense". Both episodes had me in tears laughing at the dark humor.

I later found out that FX had an episode every night at 9 and so every night for an entire summer I got to watch an episode and I quickly became immersed in the mythology of the alien conspiracy. Some of the most memorable episodes for me from this period are "Bad Blood", "The Host", "Darkness Falls", "E.B.E", "Little Green Men", and countless others. I quickly became a fan but I had yet to see every episode and I avoided watching it new airings for fear of spoilers. So I began to buy the seasons on DVD. Over two years I was able to purchase and watch every episode. Interesting to me was the fact that I had already seen most of the episodes through syndication but there were many that I hadn't.

Anyway enough about my history with the show. The elements of the show that I think make it a great are simple. Likable characters, psychopathic bad guys, enough dark comedy mixed in with the horror and drama to give the viewer a healthy balance. The writer's of the show have a wonderful talent of leaving certain stories hanging only to the extent that does not make the viewer feel betrayed but wanting to watch more.

The X-Files defined an era of television and opened the way for other Sci-Fi related shows as well as helping define the crime drama shows that are all over the place now. If the 60's/70's gave us Trekkies for decades on, the 90's gave us the X-Files which will continue to create X-Philes for decades on in suit.