The X-Files Season 3, Episode 24: Talitha Cumi

We've reached the end of all thingsseason 3. And it's another cliffhanger. They're going to do this a lot, aren't they? Like, every season, right?

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 23: Wetwired

DO IT! DO IT NOW! DO IT AGAIN! KILL 'EM ALL!

When I first saw 'Blood', I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought that was a great episode. And now they've remade it and called it 'Wetwired' and instead of Mulder being the one affected, it's Scully, and the paranoia runs much deeper than before, and the violence seems much more real.

And this episode is significantly better than the already outstanding 'Blood'.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 22: Quagmire

This is not a boat accident! It wasn't any propeller, it wasn't any coral reef and it wasn't Jack the Ripper. It was an alligator.

Oh right, SPOILER ALERT.

It was an alligator.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 21: Avatar

Well, I was not expecting a Skinner episode. I especially wasn't expecting him to be that heavily involved in any case of the week episode, let alone the prime suspect.

While this is another one with a bit of a shaky resolution, the basic plot is rather solid and certainly makes Skinner a more sympathetic character, and really helps explain a lot about the way he works at the FBI.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 20: Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'

How does one write a blog post about an episode of a science fiction television show that completely deconstructs the entire premise of the series?

'Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"', another Darin Morgan penned episode, is framed in quite possibly the most interesting way of any episode up to this point, and while it does focus on aliens and generally similar mythology to the long arc episodes, it doesn't appear to actually be connected to them.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 19: Hell Money

OK, so here's yet another episode that, like 'Teso dos Bichos', depends at least a little bit on a tenuous interpretation of cultural or religious mythology.

And, like 'Teso dos Bichos', pretty much falls flat on its face.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 18: Teso dos Bichos

The good episodes are easy to write about. The bad ones, not so much. I make no promises about the quality of this post about 'Teso dos Bichos', which was incomprehensibly bad.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 17: Pusher

Please explain to me the scientific nature of the Whammy.

'Pusher' was yet another brilliant and disturbing episode, ending with one of the tensest and most unsettling scenes in the series so far.

The X-Files Season 3, Episodes 15/16: Piper Maru/Apocrypha

Another two-parter! Third one of season 3! Best one of season 3! Also the densest. There are about a million plot and character threads in these two episodes, and I wish I could say we learned something from it, but I'm afraid it just opened up more questions without at least closing something.

But that's obviously the show's Thing, so I don't really expect to get any real actual answers until, I don't know, probably the second movie. Either way, 'Piper Maru' and 'Apocrypha' are two very good episodes that at first appear to diverge from the season's initial plot regarding the human experimentation and focus more on just aliens, but eventually come full circle and continue the plot threads started in 'Anasazi'.

The X-Files Sesaon 3, Episode 14: Grotesque

Nightmare fuel alert: people being murdered and covered in clay as if they are sculptures. That's horrifying. But also leads to a pretty interesting episode in 'Grotesque'. Oh, and Mulder becomes delusional and paranoid. Well, more than usual, I mean.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 13: Syzygy

Sure. Fine. Whatever.

I admit I enjoyed 'Syzygy' when I first watched it, minus the hideously uncomfortable out of character behaviour from both Mulder and Scully, but as I watch it again, I find there's less to like and more to be disturbed by.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 12: War of the Coprophages

When I first saw the description of 'War of the Coprophages', I was rather concerned about the notion of killer cockroaches. I'm not good with bugs. Like, at all. I've been known to unload entire cans of RAID on stink bugs and spiders before. I think the presence of actual cockroaches in my home might induce a desire to use a small nuclear device.

But then the episode turned out to be really really ridiculous and funny?

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 11: Revelations

Religious mythology plus typical X-Files mythology equals an interesting role reversal for Mulder and Scully in 'Revelations'. And some fantastic character development for Scully.

But this is also a difficult episode for me to watch and comment on, due to my intense non-religiousness and general lack of religious knowledge.

The X-Files Season 3, Episodes 9/10: Nisei/731

This seems to be becoming a pattern. Aliens to start the season, then a mid-season two-parter, then ... well, then I don't know, but probably complete abandonment of anything related to the main series alien mythology storyline until the season finale. We'll see.

Either way, they know how to create tension in these two part episodes, and I think '731' is a pretty amazing followup to the otherwise kind of meh 'Nisei'.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 8: Oubliette

'Oubliette' was intensely creepy, and extremely tense. And really dark, but that's what you get when you name an episode 'Oubliette', I suppose.

What seems like a fairly run of the mill kidnapping story is complicated by a past victim, who is experiencing Amy's kidnapping along with her, but also giving Mulder and Scully a chance to solve the case using somewhat unconventional means.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 7: The Walk

Well, we're back to the disturbing episodes. Wait, did those ever really take a break? 'The List' and '2Shy' were pretty disturbing, too, but somehow 'The Walk' seemed even more so.

The whole idea of people being made specifically to suffer is pretty revolting. And while I get the idea that Rappo has suffered plenty himself, the idea of inflicting it on others is pretty uncool.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 6: 2Shy

'2Shy' was a pretty mediocre episode, and while it's definitely creepy, I think that apart from the unusual physical condition of the perpetrator of these horrible crimes, this kind of story was better told in 'Squeeze' and 'Tooms' and 'Irresistible'.

Plus, there are some really uncomfortable implications in this episode. Not one of the show's finer moments.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 5: The List

'The List' was an episode I kind of liked with an ending I really hated. Way to leave us hanging.

The plot, though, centering around a condemned man making his final threat from the electric chair, was compelling at the beginning, and initially I thought everything was just a coincidence, but then I remembered this is The X-Files.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 4: Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose

Holy shit, this episode was amazing. I have no problem declaring 'Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose' to be the absolute best episode of The X-Files I've seen so far. The dialogue, especially the banter between Mulder and Scully (or really anyone and Scully) is enjoyable and often hilarious.

The X-Files Season 3, Episode 3: D.P.O.

In a very abrupt shift from 'The Blessing Way' and 'Paper Clip', 'D.P.O' is the most case-of-the-week of case of the week episodes. I think the contrast probably makes this episode seem worse than it actually is.

Because the episode is not bad, and despite the overall creepiness and violence of Darin Peter Oswald, manages to highlight the loneliness he felt throughout his life and later as a result of his condition.