![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tropiaveraRemember that thing where allchildren, ![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
rawles.livejournal.com, and I are rewatching The X-Files? That's still going on! I know that for a lot of people, season two ranks highly when compared to the rest of the seasons. I am not one of those people! Before this rewatch, I would have probably put it on par with season one: somewhat uneven, still getting its bearings, but with a lot of really well executed episodes. At this juncture, I am not so generous!
Little Green Men: I'll be frank: this was not a strong episode, let alone a strong season opener. I really like the business at the beginning between Mulder and Scully, their little post-its code and meeting in secret just to say hi, but overall this was kind of a mess of an episode. I particularly dislike the retcon of Samantha's abduction as compared to Mulder's version in Conduit. As a companion piece to Beyond the Sea this really does not hold up, in part because the story itself is less compelling, and in part because Duchovny is just not the actor that Gillian Anderson is.
The Host
Blood: This was an effective and creepy episode marred by both the ending and the realism of the crimes. Watching a guy go about the business of planning a shooting spree skeeves me out in the same way that the graphic depictions of child kidnappings do: it's too grounded in things that actually occur to enjoy them (for any value of "enjoy") as fiction. The ending is just too abrupt for me, as well: the goofy cell phone message to Scully, and then we're finished? Was that supposed to be ominous? Not the best ending beat we've ever seen.
Retrospectively Hilarious Supporting Cast: William Sanderson! Maybe that's only interesting if you watch True Blood.
Sleepless: Secret military experiments on soldiers! On the one hand: Krycek! Mulder and Scully being super exclusionary to Krycek even as they are three feet away from each other! X!! On the other hand: sketchy voiceless unidentified dead probably-Vietnamese groups.
Duane Barry: Hooooo boy. I remembered this two-parter as being really tightly plotted and intense, and, well. Wow. Putting forty minutes in the hands of one dude's monologues and charisma is a risky bet, and it really did not pay off with Duane Barry. There's an interesting story in here somewhere, but it just draaags until the big surprise at the end, which at this point is not yet a cliché, having the monster go for Scully. Seventeen years later, Mulder's swimsuit scene is as hilariously gratuitious as it ever was. PS: heyyy, Krycek.
Ascension: Equally as interminable as Ascension! I'm sympathetic to the fact that it is a difficult task making a gondola lift ride tense without making it ridiculous, but if it is that difficult a task maybe don't hinge all of the drama of an episode on that gondola ride.
3: PAST TROPIE, WHAT IS YOUR DEAL? I remembered this episode as being, like, a really interesting way to demonstrate Mulder's angst over Scully's disappearance (and I still like that "I don't sleep" line, delivery be damned), and maybe a little bit sexy, but oh sweet jesus it is just not. The storyline makes almost no sense, even for an X-File. By the end you're still like, but seriously, is she a vampire though? I'm seriously asking here.
One Breath: This is the rare Scully-centric episode that I don't find particularly compelling, potentially because it's secretly a Mulder episode, and because it's deeply derivative. The Nurse Owen plot, my god. I enjoy the interactions between Melissa and Mulder, but I wish they had made Melissa less of a New Age-y cipher, and as an extension of that, featured more depth in her conversations with Mulder. Mulder and Scully's disagreements tended at times toward more broad statements and less actual debate, and this would have been an interesting contrast to that (though Mulder's intensely negative frame of mind at the time puts in a different perspective).
Firewalker: Between this and Ice, it's like a bizarre series of extreme environment containment vignettes. Next time, trapped in a cave! Underwater! In a train car! Oh wait, that's season three. It's surprisingly solid, though less so than Ice, and also features some absolutely disgusting sound effects.
Retrospectively Hilarious Supporting Cast: Bradley Whitford! Unfortunately obscured most of the time by the lack of adequate volcanic lighting, but we still know you're under that ludicrous bandana, Bradley.
Red Museum: Man, what the hell was this episode? Hypothetically an interesting look at meat industry paranoia, in practice a convoluted mess with some bizarre side Hindu-appropriation business? Also has the distinction of being called one of the most confusing episodes ever by James Wong.
Excelsis Dei
Aubrey
Irresistible: THE NIGHTMARES OF YOUTH NEVER DIE. I have never forgotten Donnie Pfaster's name, and everything about this episode is still traumatic as shit. I have already talked somewhat (too much) about my feelings regarding this episode, so I will just say it's bizarre that the FBI counselor Scully visits doesn't seem to remember anything about how she was missing for months, but I like that Mulder's increased concern and awareness of Scully's emotions were really transparent from the beginning of the episode.
Die Hand Die Verletzt: JESUS. Mixed into this are occasional moments of levity and some genuinely real horror that would be unrelenting if this episode weren't such a mess. On the plus side, Gillian Anderson makes one of the all time top ten faces when it rains frogs, so that was an enjoyable thirty seconds.
Retrospectively Hilarious Supporting Cast: Dan Butler (maybe you have to have watched a lot of Frasier for this to be hilarious? On the DPO scale of Hey, It's a Guy to OMGWTF this is clearly an "…Oh?", but I still enjoy it.)
Fresh Bones
Colony: Heyyyy, it's the first of the Samantha OR IS SHEs! Despite having a decent amount of interesting clone business and exciting new mytharc business, it remains overall kind of stultifying. But: heyyy, alien bounty hunter, nice to see you! For certain values of "you".
End Game: Oh my god, you guys, do you think Mulder is going to survive his green blood poisoning from the last episode? I just don't know! I find a lot of these two parters frustrating in retrospect because the plot of the show was always fairly nebulous in terms of what constitutes advancement – it's more about the information they gather, but they don't really learn anything new here.
Fearful Symmetry
Død Kalm: This strike is not entirely accurate, as I made allchildren and rawles.livejournal.com watch the bit where Duchovny and GA clearly flub their lines a little bit and almost ruin the take:
Duchovny: You're lucky you inherited your father's legs.
Anderson: (incredulously) What?
Duchovny: His sea legs.
Seriously, skip to around 10:25, it's worth it for GA's attempts to keep it together.
Humbug: Darin Morgan, ladies and gentlemen! I feel like, much more so than any of Morgan's other episodes (Clyde Bruckman, Jose Chung), this holds to the MOTW format while experimenting with humor. I do also find it interesting that despite being known as the funny episodes (and they are), they're also pretty dark, Clyde Bruckman in particular. But that's season three. Humbug! Scully eats a cricket and everyone makes fun of Mulder for being too mainstream! That's the stuff.
The Calusari: I remembered this as being about Orthodox Jews, but apparently that was just Kaddish. Some problematic use of the "oh you know those old ladies from the Old Country, with their absolutely real superstitions and murdering chickens, and their magic", exciting reuse of the evil-looking child from Conduit, because why not, and some legitimate creepiness to close us out.
F. Emasculata
Soft Light: This was actually a compelling and tragic little vignette. Tony Shalhoub does heartbroken pathos so well, and it's a nice reminder of how a good supporting actor can elevate otherwise forgettable MoTW episodes. It's also a great X episode, reminding you that he has his own agenda and his harsh attitude is not just an act.
Retrospectively Hilarious Supporting Cast: Tony Shalhoub. Hey Monk, how's it going? Oh, super rough, huh? That sucks.
Our Town
Anasazi: So okay, Albert Hosteen is an interesting character and I find the inclusion of Navajo coding to be an interesting nod to the WWII business the show was always invested in, but there's always a sort of underlying sketchiness to the treatment of the Navajo in my mind. There's not anything specific in this episode that I can recall, but I spent a lot of the episode frysquinting. The plot about the water contamination in Mulder's building is actually super well executed, though, and that scene when Scully shoots Mulder is incredible. Also, hey: it's the first season where we close on Mulder being dead, or is he??
Percent watched: 68%.
allchildren, rawles.livejournal.com, and I are rewatching The X-Files? That's still going on! I know that for a lot of people, season two ranks highly when compared to the rest of the seasons. I am not one of those people! Before this rewatch, I would have probably put it on par with season one: somewhat uneven, still getting its bearings, but with a lot of really well executed episodes. At this juncture, I am not so generous! Little Green Men: I'll be frank: this was not a strong episode, let alone a strong season opener. I really like the business at the beginning between Mulder and Scully, their little post-its code and meeting in secret just to say hi, but overall this was kind of a mess of an episode. I particularly dislike the retcon of Samantha's abduction as compared to Mulder's version in Conduit. As a companion piece to Beyond the Sea this really does not hold up, in part because the story itself is less compelling, and in part because Duchovny is just not the actor that Gillian Anderson is.
Blood: This was an effective and creepy episode marred by both the ending and the realism of the crimes. Watching a guy go about the business of planning a shooting spree skeeves me out in the same way that the graphic depictions of child kidnappings do: it's too grounded in things that actually occur to enjoy them (for any value of "enjoy") as fiction. The ending is just too abrupt for me, as well: the goofy cell phone message to Scully, and then we're finished? Was that supposed to be ominous? Not the best ending beat we've ever seen.
Retrospectively Hilarious Supporting Cast: William Sanderson! Maybe that's only interesting if you watch True Blood.
Sleepless: Secret military experiments on soldiers! On the one hand: Krycek! Mulder and Scully being super exclusionary to Krycek even as they are three feet away from each other! X!! On the other hand: sketchy voiceless unidentified dead probably-Vietnamese groups.
Duane Barry: Hooooo boy. I remembered this two-parter as being really tightly plotted and intense, and, well. Wow. Putting forty minutes in the hands of one dude's monologues and charisma is a risky bet, and it really did not pay off with Duane Barry. There's an interesting story in here somewhere, but it just draaags until the big surprise at the end, which at this point is not yet a cliché, having the monster go for Scully. Seventeen years later, Mulder's swimsuit scene is as hilariously gratuitious as it ever was. PS: heyyy, Krycek.
Ascension: Equally as interminable as Ascension! I'm sympathetic to the fact that it is a difficult task making a gondola lift ride tense without making it ridiculous, but if it is that difficult a task maybe don't hinge all of the drama of an episode on that gondola ride.
3: PAST TROPIE, WHAT IS YOUR DEAL? I remembered this episode as being, like, a really interesting way to demonstrate Mulder's angst over Scully's disappearance (and I still like that "I don't sleep" line, delivery be damned), and maybe a little bit sexy, but oh sweet jesus it is just not. The storyline makes almost no sense, even for an X-File. By the end you're still like, but seriously, is she a vampire though? I'm seriously asking here.
One Breath: This is the rare Scully-centric episode that I don't find particularly compelling, potentially because it's secretly a Mulder episode, and because it's deeply derivative. The Nurse Owen plot, my god. I enjoy the interactions between Melissa and Mulder, but I wish they had made Melissa less of a New Age-y cipher, and as an extension of that, featured more depth in her conversations with Mulder. Mulder and Scully's disagreements tended at times toward more broad statements and less actual debate, and this would have been an interesting contrast to that (though Mulder's intensely negative frame of mind at the time puts in a different perspective).
Firewalker: Between this and Ice, it's like a bizarre series of extreme environment containment vignettes. Next time, trapped in a cave! Underwater! In a train car! Oh wait, that's season three. It's surprisingly solid, though less so than Ice, and also features some absolutely disgusting sound effects.
Retrospectively Hilarious Supporting Cast: Bradley Whitford! Unfortunately obscured most of the time by the lack of adequate volcanic lighting, but we still know you're under that ludicrous bandana, Bradley.
Red Museum: Man, what the hell was this episode? Hypothetically an interesting look at meat industry paranoia, in practice a convoluted mess with some bizarre side Hindu-appropriation business? Also has the distinction of being called one of the most confusing episodes ever by James Wong.
Irresistible: THE NIGHTMARES OF YOUTH NEVER DIE. I have never forgotten Donnie Pfaster's name, and everything about this episode is still traumatic as shit. I have already talked somewhat (too much) about my feelings regarding this episode, so I will just say it's bizarre that the FBI counselor Scully visits doesn't seem to remember anything about how she was missing for months, but I like that Mulder's increased concern and awareness of Scully's emotions were really transparent from the beginning of the episode.
Die Hand Die Verletzt: JESUS. Mixed into this are occasional moments of levity and some genuinely real horror that would be unrelenting if this episode weren't such a mess. On the plus side, Gillian Anderson makes one of the all time top ten faces when it rains frogs, so that was an enjoyable thirty seconds.
Retrospectively Hilarious Supporting Cast: Dan Butler (maybe you have to have watched a lot of Frasier for this to be hilarious? On the DPO scale of Hey, It's a Guy to OMGWTF this is clearly an "…Oh?", but I still enjoy it.)
Colony: Heyyyy, it's the first of the Samantha OR IS SHEs! Despite having a decent amount of interesting clone business and exciting new mytharc business, it remains overall kind of stultifying. But: heyyy, alien bounty hunter, nice to see you! For certain values of "you".
End Game: Oh my god, you guys, do you think Mulder is going to survive his green blood poisoning from the last episode? I just don't know! I find a lot of these two parters frustrating in retrospect because the plot of the show was always fairly nebulous in terms of what constitutes advancement – it's more about the information they gather, but they don't really learn anything new here.
allchildren and rawles.livejournal.com watch the bit where Duchovny and GA clearly flub their lines a little bit and almost ruin the take:Duchovny: You're lucky you inherited your father's legs.
Anderson: (incredulously) What?
Duchovny: His sea legs.
Seriously, skip to around 10:25, it's worth it for GA's attempts to keep it together.
Humbug: Darin Morgan, ladies and gentlemen! I feel like, much more so than any of Morgan's other episodes (Clyde Bruckman, Jose Chung), this holds to the MOTW format while experimenting with humor. I do also find it interesting that despite being known as the funny episodes (and they are), they're also pretty dark, Clyde Bruckman in particular. But that's season three. Humbug! Scully eats a cricket and everyone makes fun of Mulder for being too mainstream! That's the stuff.
The Calusari: I remembered this as being about Orthodox Jews, but apparently that was just Kaddish. Some problematic use of the "oh you know those old ladies from the Old Country, with their absolutely real superstitions and murdering chickens, and their magic", exciting reuse of the evil-looking child from Conduit, because why not, and some legitimate creepiness to close us out.
Soft Light: This was actually a compelling and tragic little vignette. Tony Shalhoub does heartbroken pathos so well, and it's a nice reminder of how a good supporting actor can elevate otherwise forgettable MoTW episodes. It's also a great X episode, reminding you that he has his own agenda and his harsh attitude is not just an act.
Retrospectively Hilarious Supporting Cast: Tony Shalhoub. Hey Monk, how's it going? Oh, super rough, huh? That sucks.
Anasazi: So okay, Albert Hosteen is an interesting character and I find the inclusion of Navajo coding to be an interesting nod to the WWII business the show was always invested in, but there's always a sort of underlying sketchiness to the treatment of the Navajo in my mind. There's not anything specific in this episode that I can recall, but I spent a lot of the episode frysquinting. The plot about the water contamination in Mulder's building is actually super well executed, though, and that scene when Scully shoots Mulder is incredible. Also, hey: it's the first season where we close on Mulder being dead, or is he??
Percent watched: 68%.
no subject
on 2011-03-08 09:13 am (UTC)no subject
on 2011-03-08 10:13 am (UTC)no subject
on 2011-03-12 08:00 am (UTC)WAS SHE A VAMPIRE??
no subject
on 2011-03-10 10:25 pm (UTC)