The X-Files Friday Feature: Midpoint

What incredible timing. By watching four episodes a week and pairing the two part episodes, I've managed to finish season four on a Thursday.

More importantly, I've very nearly reached the halfway point (the actual halfway point will be after S5E4 or S5E5, depending on how you count the movies) of the series. It's time to revisit a few things.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 24: Gethsemane

I refuse to believe the lie. That would be too easy.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 23: Demons

So it looks like it's time for the annual game of "Did Mulder murder someone?" Only this episode is a lot better than 'Grotesque', because in addition to being a good mystery, it explores some more of Mulder's backstory and his memories involving his sister's abduction.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 22: Elegy

Does this remind anyone else of 'Irresistible'? That's kind of the vibe I got from 'Elegy', especially when Scully herself became involved in the case and experienced a strange connection to it that she wasn't entirely able to explain or deal with.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 21: Zero Sum

Scully is absent, the bees are back, and Skinner is trying to have Mulder implicated in a massive coverup on the orders of the Cancer Man. Oh, and also it turns out that the Cancer Man is working with Marita Covarrubias, Mulder's latest informant. Of course.

The X-Files Friday Feature: Technology

It occurred to me that I haven't really talked much about the technology on the show, and that I've been intending to ever since I saw those giant bricks of cell phones in the first season.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 20: Small Potatoes

Another hilarious episode, this time starring Darin Morgan as opposed to being written by him. Still, he's involved in a lot of the really great episodes, isn't he?

'Small Potatoes', which from the title I was expecting might literally be about, well, small potatoes, was already a pretty amusing episode, and then about halfway through it reached a point at which it became both unbearably hilarious and actually rather uncomfortable.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 19: Synchrony

Hey, a time travel episode. With lots and lots of apparent paradoxes, except that they are explained by, of all things, Scully's graduate thesis that she wrote when she was 23.

'Synchrony' has a lot of good points, but maybe made the plot a little too obvious at times.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 17/18: Tempus Fugit/Max

I never thought taking Latin in high school would be relevant two decades later, but here we are. Time flies. This is the first non-English episode title I could translate.

And 'Max', well, that would just be a person's name.

A lot happened in these two episodes, and they were two of the better mythology arc episodes we've seen in a while.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 16: Unrequited

'Unrequited' was kind of a retread of 'Sleepless', wasn't it?

A soldier subject to some kind of experimentation, or in possession of a natural ability, was mistreated by the military, and now wants his revenge, which he exacts by killing generals. Eh.

The X-Files Friday Feature: Shipping

Whenever I watch a show, I have a tendency to put characters together that I think would really be compatible. That's kind of hard on The X-Files, because there are really only two main characters.

But there are enough secondary characters to provide for at least some variation.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 15: Kaddish

Oh, hi, we're in a stretch of really really good, but really really depressing episodes, apparently.

Also, for some reason, it seems this show, along with a lot of shows, are pretty horrible at depicting myths and legends from say, Spanish speaking countries or parts of Africa, but when it comes to depicting Jewish culture, they actually do a reasonable job. Can't imagine why that is.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 14: Memento Mori

And here's the real continuation of Scully's cancer storyline started in 'Leonard Betts'. And it's about as depressing as you'd expect.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 13: Never Again

Well, this was an uncomfortable 45 minutes, wasn't it?

In another, "Hey, it's that guy!" moment, I realised that the main villain was played by an actor I'd seen in several episodes of Veronica Mars and an incredibly creepy episode of Angel. Actually, I guess this guy must often play creeps, because his character here is not exactly the most upstanding kind of person, either.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 12: Leonard Betts

Oh. My. God. How can I talk about this episode? How can I even discuss the first 40 minutes of it when the last five throw that at me? How? How is this happening?

The X-Files Friday Feature: Meta

Whenever I get into something, I can't help but look for external information about it. I find it enjoyable to learn behind the scenes information, things about the writing process, influences, and so on.

Of course, there's also a slight risk to that.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 11: El Mundo Gira

As soon as I saw the description of this episode, I had a feeling it would go nowhere good. The killings did not at all resemble anything that has reportedly been related to the legend of the Chupacabra, and I'm not sure the depiction of undocumented immigrants was necessarily the fairest, either, but this turned out to be a better episode than previous cultural appropriation episodes like 'Teso dos Bichos' and 'Teliko' and 'Fresh Bones'.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 10: Paper Hearts

When I get to the end of The X-Files, I will probably look back and consider 'Paper Hearts' one of the best episodes of the entire series. True, there are over a hundred episodes I haven't yet seen, but seriously, this was an amazing episode.

The X-Files Season 4, Episodes 8/9: Tunguska/Terma

In Soviet Russia, Alex Krycek betrays everyone (seriously, he is the worst triple agent ever), as always, and loses his arm for his troubles. Maybe he should get together with Lindsey McDonald. They'd make a great team of pompous double crossing assholes with a grand total of two hands between them. Maybe Wolfram and Hart can give Krycek an evil hand, too!

And Mulder makes some epically bad decisions, one of which is trusting Krycek for even half a second, and nearly pays with his life, while Scully makes some questionable decisions and pays with her freedom.

Well, this is a huge disaster already, isn't it?

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 7: Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man

For an episode titled, 'Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man', this was remarkably more obtuse than a lot of previous episodes. I kind of expected that maybe we'd learn something about him, and while we did, I don't know that we really learned anything particularly useful.

Either way, I think this was clearly an unusual episode, both in its presentation and its content, as compared to the rest of the series so far.

The X-Files Friday Feature: Death Eaters

Why Death Eaters? Well, that's a good question, really. Why, indeed.

Yeah, I've been throwing this term around, and I don't know if I've fully explained my insistence on it.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 6: Sanguinarium

Don't say no to the Incredible Medicine Show!

Cosmetic surgery gone horribly wrong in the most bloody and gory way possible? And witchcraft? Must be The X-Files.

The X-Files Season 4, Episode 5: The Field Where I Died

I think we're in a stretch of episodes I don't really get?

This one is pretty bizarre, and as in some others, ends with a complete failure by Mulder and Scully to actually save any potential victims (and there are a LOT in this one) but only a lot of philosophical poetry recitation on Mulder's part.

Actually, it starts with the philosophising, doesn't it? (And ends with it.)