Seasons - DVD

TVdvds.FarmerMike.net

Page 1 of 3 - Go to page: 1 2 3

The X-Files - The Complete First Season (Slim Set)

The X-Files - The Complete First Season (Slim Set) Amazon Price: $32.99
List Price: $49.98
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: Twentieth Century Fox - Model: FOXD2232250D
Amazon Marketplace: 86 new & used starting at $16.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 388 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Very Good Season, Not THE Best Though... 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

X-Files season 3. Ah, bliss. The show had not yet become overly complicated, and the dismal days of Doggett and Reyes were far off. Just Mulder and Scully and some good old fashioned recurring conspiracy characters for ya!
I like this season. It is one of the top four I would say, and many people will disagree, calling it the best set of episodes the series has to offer. I couldn't argue with that, it just all has to do with personal preference.
Season 3 is actually pretty lighthearted, with some interesting twists and turns intertwined throughout. The mythology episodes in this season, however, are some of my least favorite, dealing with the alien healer Jeremiah Smith, the black oil, and a digital recorder with evidence of an alien conspiracy. This does have an exception, however. "Nisei" and "731", especially the latter, are two of the most exceptional episodes ever created. It is also a delight to witness Alex Krycek under control of the black cancer, towards the end of the season. Let's just say that when it leaves his body in the abandoned missile silo, chills ran up my spine. Truly haunting!
As far as monster of the week episodes go, I have to say I wasn't a huge fan of this bunch. "Avatar" wad particularly annoying for me, adding a convoluted Skinner plotline and just throwing out the paranormal element in the middle of the episode. There are also many comic elements to these MOTW episodes. Jose Chung is possibly the most famous comic X-Files episode. Personally, I like the darker, more frightening episodes the best, but nontheless these are all a delight to watch.
"Quagmire", while not scary in the least, is a very fun episode because it almost tricks you into thinking that Mulder is wrong just this one time, but then again the truth is never what it seems. Keep an eye out for this one, there is a great balance of chemistry between Mulder and Scully.
The special features are in abundance here, with deleted scenes, behind the scenes, commentary, interviews, and promo spots. It will keep you busy for hours.
Any X-Phile must pick up this set. Hell, I think any fan should own at least seasons 1-6, as they are terrific, all of them. But season 3 is a terrific investment, and some of the best hours of the best sci-fi series of all time.

Editorial Review:

Get reacquainted with Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), and all the clever plots dealing with the occult, monsters, urban legends, conspiracy theories, and the rest that made this show an uncanny hit.

The X-Files - The Complete Second Season (Slim Set)

The X-Files - The Complete Second Season (Slim Set) Amazon Price: $32.99
List Price: $49.98
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: 20TH CENTURY FOX - Model: X-FILES: 2
Amazon Marketplace: 73 new & used starting at $20.89

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 143 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good Season, No Missing Episodes 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

My review is simple. I just received my copy of this season and "Anasazi" the episode that many claim is missing, is included on Disc 6 and plays without difficulty. For any non-fans out there, I will put in my two cents and say that The X-Files is a good show and as most of the reviews below state, this is a pretty good season. If you're looking for great science-fiction, here it is, just make sure to start with the first season (as if that wasn't obvious anyway).

Missing Episode 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I've read here that only Amazon.com sold or still sells the season with the last episode missing, I just want to let people know that I bought this season at Best Buy a couple months ago and the season finale is missing. I was very frustrated. I am going to take it back next week and exchange it. I am going to have them put the new 6th disc in a dvd player to make sure it contains the final episode. Great season, though!

Editorial Review:

In this second season box set, Mulder and Scully get glimpses of the global conspiracy as they investigate UFO's, alien abductions, genetic engineering, and ominous government agents.

The X-Files - The Complete Fourth Season (Slim Set)

The X-Files - The Complete Fourth Season (Slim Set) Amazon Price: $35.99
List Price: $49.98
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: Twentieth Century Fox - Model: FOXD2232855D
Amazon Marketplace: 71 new & used starting at $19.40

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Gorey, bloody, and really dull. 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I love The X-Files. It's a fantastic show. Season 4 is a huge let down. I gave season 4 one and a half stars out of pity. The acting is ok and a few episodes are interesting. Most of the episodes are more like something you'd see from the show Tales From The Crypt. They substitute plot for gore and blood. A lack of imagination, lame plots, no humor, lack of creatures, and redundant themes make up Season 4 of The X-Files.

Season 1 was good. Season 2 really good. Season 3 average. Season 5 average. Season 6 awesome. Season 7 fantastic.

Continuing its greatness 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Even though the episode Avatar from season 3 was the first episode I watched on TV, it wasn't until this season that I started to get heavily into the show and it's continued ever since, barely missing a single episode. It's this continued success and type of stories they told that make it one of my favorite shows ever, if not my absolute favorite. While season 4 had a couple of uneven parts, it's still largely one of their best years.

Herrenvolk: A pretty good premiere as Mulder investigates a colony looking after bees while protecting Jeremiah Smith. 8.5/10
Home: A controversial, violent and genuinely unsettling episode of a bunch of deformed family members trying to conceive. 8.5/10
Teliko: Rather average episode of a man absorbing the pigmentation of African-Americans. 6/10
Unruhe: Incredibly creepy and the first episode that made me a fan of a killer who projects his thoughts into photographs. 9/10
The Field Where I Died: Great premise but bad execution as Mulder is hinted of sharing a past-life with a cult member. 7/10
Sanguinarium: Another decent episode of medical doctors being possessed for a ritual. 6.5/10
Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man: Excellent episode as we see the past of everyone's favorite chain smoker. Best chocolate monologue ever. 9/10
Tunguska: Intriguing mythology episode as a rock carrying the Black Oil is found and an old enemy resurfaces. 8.5/10

Terma: Part 2 as the agents try to locate the rock and further questions into the mythos. 8.5/10
Paper Hearts: Great episode as Mulder tries to deal with the fact Samantha may not have been abducted but kidnapped by John Lee Roche, a serial killer.
El Mundo Gira: Meh episode of a love story involving 2 brothers, a woman and a Mexican legend. 5.5/10
Leonard Betts: Disgusting and funny all at once as an EMT doctor shows signs of regenerative abilities. 8/10
Never Again: It's either weird or funny but an episode with a tattoo voiced by Jodie Foster who wants to kill is...neat. 7.5/10
Memento Mori: Along with One Breath as one of the best X-Files episodes ever as we discover Scully's medical condition and Mulder's search for an answer. 10/10
Kaddish: Back to meh status as the agents investigate a murdered Jew seemingly brought back from the dead. 6.5/10
Unrequited: Cool episode of a Vietnam vet capable of invisibility hunting down military officials. 8/10

Tempus Fugit: Part 1 of one of their best two-parters as Max Fenig from Season 1's "Fallen Angel" is killed during a plane crash with a possible UFO and military interference. 9.5/10
Max: Part 2 as the hunt for Max's "proof" continues. Intense crash sequence. 9.5/10
Synchrony: Iffy but good episode of a time traveller capable of fast-freezing a team of scientists.
Small Potatoes: Hilarious episode of a shape-shifter impregnanting women with tails. Some funny Mulder business. 9/10
Zero Sum: Good mythos episode as Skinner tries to cover up a crime that involved the bees introduced in Herrenvolk. 8/10
Elegy: Creepy episode of a mentally challenged patient and his connection to apparitions of victims just recently killed.
Demons: Intriguing episode of Mulder trying to uncover the circumstances behind Samantha's disappearance. 8.5/10
Gethsemane: Great finale as Scully seemingly betrays Mulder and his faith and life is rocked by a terrible truth. Big cliffhanger. 9/10

Overall, season 4 is similar to season 3 as some of the best episodes of the entire show's run are inbetween episodes that are just simply good. While a couple miss, more often than not, these episodes are supremely entertaining and evidence of a show still in its stride.

Editorial Review:

Now you can own the entire fourth season of THE X-FILES?. ALL 24 classic episodes are availale for the first time in this exclusive 7-disc collector's edition. From "Herrenvolk," "Home," "Tunguska," and "Terma" to "Memento Mori," "Max," "Small Potatoes," and "Gethsemane," these Season Four episodes are a must for every X-Files fan.

The X-Files - The Complete Fifth Season (Slim Set)

The X-Files - The Complete Fifth Season (Slim Set) Amazon Price: $37.99
List Price: $49.98
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: Twentieth Century Fox - Model: FOXD2232860D
Amazon Marketplace: 68 new & used starting at $16.30

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 75 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

4.5; a good hit-and-miss season 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The fifth season of the X-Files is one of those kind of seasons where if there's any moments that aren't as stellar as previous years gets at least a bit excused. Reason is that this was mainly the time when the crew were also working on the X-Files feature film, "Fight the Future". As such, certain episodes were either entirely centered on one of the agents, or they appeared in a support kind of way and not actually directly involved with the case. So trying to get a big-budget movie up and going plus a season's worth of episodes can cause some strain but instead of a lackluster season mainly being blamed for bad writing, is this a season that indirectly suffered or is it good while also being a little flawed.

Redux: Taking place after the shocking cliffhanger from "Gethsemane", Mulder tries to find clues to Scully's illness in a government building. Great opener. 9/10
Redux II: Scully's health continues to get worse, a bizarre cure is found, a surprise guest returns and a mole is revealed (intense scene this one). 9.5/10
Unusual Suspects: Intriguing but okay episode about the first start of the Lone Gunmen and their introduction to Mulder. 6/10
Detour: In the spirit of "Darkness Falls", the agents are lost/trapped within the woods by a group of near-invisible creatures. 9.5/10
The Post-Modern Prometheus: Quirky, bizarre episode of a demented town with a Cher-loving Frankenstein. 6.5/10
Christmas Carol: Scully investigates a case that has her finding a young girl and also revisiting memories of her sister. 9/10
Emily: One of their best episodes as Scully tries to find what's wrong with Emily and Mulder tries to find a cure. 10/10
Kitsunegari: One of the series' best villains basically gets whipped and becomes a pansy and somebody new is introduced. Disappointing. 5/10

Schizogeny: Meh episode in a trio of meh episodes about an abuse sufferer who uses a strange method to get her revenge...and it involves trees. Yeah. 5.5/10
Chinga: Written by Stephen King, this possessed doll episode is alright but could've benefited from additional writing. 6/10
Kill Switch: Intriguing but almost forgettable episode about a particularly violent A.I. system. 6/10
Bad Blood: Along with "War of the Corpophages" and "Humbug" as one of the funniest comedies in this Rashomon vampire tale. 9.5/10
Patient X: Cool mythology episode as a strange alien race is found and Scully is introduced to a fellow abductee. Mulder's shift to super skeptic is jarring to say the least. 8/10
The Red and the Black: Another cool one as Scully tries to remember what happened on the bridge at the cliffhanger of "Patient X". 8/10
Travellers: Slightly forgettable, slightly good episode about an FBI agent in the 1950's investigating a case that involved Mulder's father. 7/10
Mind's Eye: Great episode about a blind woman somehow able to see through the eyes of a killer. Awesome performance by Lili Taylor. 9/10

All Souls: Another good one that explores Scully's faith, closure from "Emily" and girls who are targeted by dark forces. 8/10
The Pine Bluff Variant: Good concept but slow episode about Mulder undercover with a terrorist cell in possession of a nasty virus. 6.5/10
Folie a Deux: "madness shared by two" in French, Mulder is suspected of being delusional when he keeps seeing visions of a creature. 8/10
The End: A young boy who was the apparent target of an assassination attempt uncovers a new addition to the mythos, returning characters and new ones and a surprising end to the titular files (sadly spoiled on the menu). 9/10

For all the meh and bad episodes that sometimes show up on this season, it's hard not to fault it entirely because of the filming of the film as well as this was the end of the Vancouver era and soon started the Los Angeles era. So while there's some definate goodies on here, there's also the occasional clunker.

Editorial Review:

Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 12/02/2008 Run time: 820 minutes Rating: Nr

The X-Files - The Complete Third Season (Slim Set)

The X-Files - The Complete Third Season (Slim Set) Amazon Price: $32.99
List Price: $49.98
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: Twentieth Century Fox - Model: FOXD2232260D
Amazon Marketplace: 74 new & used starting at $20.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 388 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Very Good Season, Not THE Best Though... 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

X-Files season 3. Ah, bliss. The show had not yet become overly complicated, and the dismal days of Doggett and Reyes were far off. Just Mulder and Scully and some good old fashioned recurring conspiracy characters for ya!
I like this season. It is one of the top four I would say, and many people will disagree, calling it the best set of episodes the series has to offer. I couldn't argue with that, it just all has to do with personal preference.
Season 3 is actually pretty lighthearted, with some interesting twists and turns intertwined throughout. The mythology episodes in this season, however, are some of my least favorite, dealing with the alien healer Jeremiah Smith, the black oil, and a digital recorder with evidence of an alien conspiracy. This does have an exception, however. "Nisei" and "731", especially the latter, are two of the most exceptional episodes ever created. It is also a delight to witness Alex Krycek under control of the black cancer, towards the end of the season. Let's just say that when it leaves his body in the abandoned missile silo, chills ran up my spine. Truly haunting!
As far as monster of the week episodes go, I have to say I wasn't a huge fan of this bunch. "Avatar" wad particularly annoying for me, adding a convoluted Skinner plotline and just throwing out the paranormal element in the middle of the episode. There are also many comic elements to these MOTW episodes. Jose Chung is possibly the most famous comic X-Files episode. Personally, I like the darker, more frightening episodes the best, but nontheless these are all a delight to watch.
"Quagmire", while not scary in the least, is a very fun episode because it almost tricks you into thinking that Mulder is wrong just this one time, but then again the truth is never what it seems. Keep an eye out for this one, there is a great balance of chemistry between Mulder and Scully.
The special features are in abundance here, with deleted scenes, behind the scenes, commentary, interviews, and promo spots. It will keep you busy for hours.
Any X-Phile must pick up this set. Hell, I think any fan should own at least seasons 1-6, as they are terrific, all of them. But season 3 is a terrific investment, and some of the best hours of the best sci-fi series of all time.

Editorial Review:

This season, series creator Chris Carter expanded the mythology with plots like the alien black oil and Scully's implant, but also further developed the show's trademark humor and continued to explore paranormal possibilities.

The X-Files - The Complete Sixth Season (Slim Set)

The X-Files - The Complete Sixth Season (Slim Set) Amazon Price: $37.99
List Price: $49.98
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: DUCHOVNY,DAVID - Model: 024543228639
Amazon Marketplace: 59 new & used starting at $16.29

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 78 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The X Files Light 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Maybe the last "classic" season for some purists, this is where The X Files tried to expand their horizons after the movie, and the result was more emphasis on the comedic episodes. And while we dont have any trouble with that, the main problem this season had was in programming: they put the majority of the comedy episodes right in the beggining, one after another, and that made the season pretty uneven. But please don't get me wrong, most of the episodes are really great as usual, and for the whole series is the turning point after the whole Conspiracy mithology is definitely exposed and given a resolution, and some of the stories are given a Twilight Zone mood (this will be fully applied in Season 9).

In my book two of the episodes dont work that well, and those will be "The Rain King" (good in its own, but way too light for The X Files), and "Agua Mala" (which starts ok, but seems that for the ending they didn't know what to do). The rest of the eps are quite solid, so is definitely a must in your XF collection.

Editorial Review:

Two FBI agents investigate paranormal events and the cover-up of extraterrestrial contact.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 28-MAR-2006
Media Type: DVD

The X-Files - The Complete Seventh Season (Slim Set)

The X-Files - The Complete Seventh Season (Slim Set) Amazon Price: $37.99
List Price: $49.98
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: Twentieth Century Fox - Model: FOXD2234417D
Amazon Marketplace: 65 new & used starting at $20.40

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

one of the very best of the series 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Ive been trying to keep some kind of record of each episode of the x-files (of which there were nine seasons) for some time now but with little success. This is a geeky thing for me to do firstly because of the series itself (sci fi, alien abductions anyone?) and also just trying to provide a summary for a show that had some 180 plus episodes is a little bit obsessive. The problem seems to be that I put on an episode (I have alot of time because I am now unemployed yes?) and then I potter around, fix a coffee, my hair, my lunch and have no idea as to what's gone on with the aliens. I can just about remember whether what Ive seen is either a 'mythological' or 'stand alone' episode. Mythological tales begun with Fox Mulder's sister being abducted by non- humans when he was a child and then general alien related stories which always effect Mulder and Dana Scully is some emotional and physical way. Stand alone episodes are about everything elses and can be silly, funny, ironic, frightening, complicated, dull; you get the point. They are always resloved in the same episode.

I'm currently watching Season 7 and have worked my way here starting with season 1 in season order. I watched the first 5 seasons when they originally aired. Looking at them now they seem dated and crude; the chemistry between Mulder and Scully which is really the defining point of the show, undeveloped. By season 6 I'd begun to actually stop experimenting with my hair and was sitting down watching the show. When I took out season 7 from the box I realised that I already knew many of the episodes from title and was very familiar to the plots and had enjoyed many of the episodes already. See our heros had really begun to fully inhabite their charaters and the emotional dynamic between the two had well truly taken off. I think this season is also the one in which Mulder leaves, to come back only for those 'Myth' episodes and the series final. So a beautifully acted season, funny and engaging and fully realised.

Editorial Review:

Various

The X-Files - The Complete Ninth Season (Slim Set)

The X-Files - The Complete Ninth Season (Slim Set) Amazon Price: $37.99
List Price: $49.98
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment - Model: FOXD2234427D
Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $19.79

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Seeing the 9th season through the lens of time 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I have finally compiled the entire nine seasons of X-Files on DVD, a goal I have had for some time, mainly in the interest of completeness. I was pleased and surprised when viewing seasons 8 and 9 this year to be impressed by the excellent casting of Robert Patrick (John Doggett) and Annabeth Gish (Monica Reyes) and riveted by the increasing intensity of the storyline.
When I watched the original shows on TV, like most people, I was still focused on "Mulder's not here, and the show is not as good." Now, years later, instead of Mulder's absence being a negative, it is a strong tension-builder that drives the intensity of the remaining actors, especially the underrated Robert Patrick.
I plan to re-watch season 9 soon! I highly recommend it.

Editorial Review:

Now you can own the entire ninth season of THE X-FILES?. All 19 classic episodes (including the 2-hour series finale) are available for the first time in this exclusive 7-disc collector?s edition. From the revelation about Scully?s baby in ?Nothing Important Happened Today? and the mystery surrounding the murder of Agent Doggett?s son in ?Release? to Mulder?s final confrontation with those who would deny ?The Truth,? these Season Nine episodes are a must for every X-Files fan!

The X-Files - The Complete Eighth Season (Slim Set)

The X-Files - The Complete Eighth Season (Slim Set) Amazon Price: $37.99
List Price: $49.98
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT - Model: 2234420
Amazon Marketplace: 61 new & used starting at $20.50

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

PUT IN THE CHECK BOXES SO IT CAN BE BOUGHT! 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I REALLY WANT TO BUY THE 8th SEASON OF THE X-FILES BUT EVER SINCE IT WAS UPLOADED, THERE ARE NO CHECK BOXES TO BUY EACH EPISODE. NO ONE HAS BOUGHT IT YET BECAUSE YOU CANNOT BUY IT, IT IS NOT WORKING. PLEASE AMAZON, FIX THIS! ADD THE CHECK BOXES SO EPISODES CAN BE PURCHASED (USING BOTH ie AND FIREFOX THERE ARE NO CHECK BOXES).

The X-files recreated for 2 final seasons! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

While the 8th season limits Mulder to only a few bit parts, it strengthens Scully to a sharp point. Gillian's performances remove any doubt that she is a capable actor. She carried the last 2 seasons with strong supporting roles from Patrick, Pileggi, and Gish.
While many see the 8th and 9th season as the [...] stepchildren of the X-Files, I see them as genuine extensions of a truly great television series.

I am disappointed that Chris Carter did not use Patrick and Gish in his latest movie. I feel that their contribution would probably have increased it's viewership. But then again, maybe many of the X-Files viewers were just fair weather fans to begin with. This could be the reason so many disliked the last 2 seasons and then vilified the "I Want to Believe" movie, which I felt was a very well written, if not a swan song, to a most memorable show.

I am one of those fans who watches the season over and over...and even though I have seen them 3 times each, I gain more insight into the world that Chris Carter created!

Editorial Review:

Various

The X-Files - The Complete Seventh Season

The X-Files - The Complete Seventh Season Amazon Price: $96.99
List Price: $99.98
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment - Model: FOXD2006977D
Amazon Marketplace: 57 new & used starting at $19.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 54 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Unparalled Excellence 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

There has been an enormous amount of revisionism concerning the seventh season of the X Files. And it must be said, the seventh season was when many of the X Files' so-called fan community on the Internet began to irrationally attack the show. This is to be expected. For a show to be as challenging, popular and emotionally charged as the X Files was, many people naturally found themselves unable to keep up as the show continued to break more ground. Others were stymied by the breakneck changes in tone that the seventh season reveled in. Others were intimidated as Chris Carter broke off from a predictable and easily digestable good guys-bad guys narrative with the Alien conspiracy and dug even further into the far theoretical reaches of Paranormal and Conspiracy research. The X Files very much charted the intellectual and metaphysical journey of its creators, and in the seventh season the black and white hats were left behind forever, replaced by disruptive and unsettling shades of gray.

But for those familiar with the ground Carter and Co. were travelling, season 7 was a mind-blowing journey that kicked at the doors of consciousness itself. In it, HG Wells and Richard Matheson were replaced by Carlos Casteneda and Zecharia Sitchin. Simple answers and tidy resolutions were no longer forthcoming, because the real-time source material that the show's writers were plundering didn't offer any either. All that was offered was more questions. And questions within questions, and so ad infinitum. What the X Files was doing had not been seen on television before.


The series kicked off with the landmark "Sixth Extinction" two-parter, a hallucinogenic journey into the world of alien astronaut origin theory, clairvoyance, deep parapsychology and radical eschatology. How a show that claimed that human and religious origins can be traced to alien intervention ever got aired is a mystery to me. It certainly couldn't be aired today.

After the rocket ride of that two-parter, we got a light-hearted critique of self-improvement psychology and 12 step programs with "Hungry". But maybe the change wasn't so radical as one might think. As Mulder and Scully struggled with the reality of their fundamentally altered genetic structure in Sixth Extinction, "Hungry" tells us that maybe there are things about ourselves we can't change.

"Millennium" wrapped up the loose strands of that eponymous series and offered a biting yet subtle critique on what level of morality and consciousness the dogmatic Biblical literalists striving to usher in Armageddon really possess.

"Rush" is an homage to the superhero the Flash, and shows the horror of great power put in the hands of moral pygmies. "The Goldberg Variation" is an attack on the very idea of randomness and causality, and the cinematography is bathed in warm, golden tones, as if illustrating the presence of a divine watchmaker unbeholden to our limited physical concepts.

"Orison" is a meditation on the limits of our moral concepts and the impotence of our religious strivings in the face of true evil. It posits that sometimes evil must be fought with evil. Or at least with ruthless clarity.

"The Amazing Maleeni" is a light-hearted puzzle piece about stage Magic, and somewhat of a tribute to the 70's classic film, the Sting. Magicians Ricky Jay and Jonathan Levit bring an air of authenticity to the proceedings. "Signs & Wonders" is a jarring defense of pure belief against hair-splitting rationalizing, with the message being: believe or don't. Don't stand in the middle of the road. In hindsight, this subversive episode was simply a setup for the leaps Chris Carter would ask the viewer to make in the following two-parter.

"Sein Und Zeit" and "Closure" are perhaps the most radical and unsettling episodes of the entire series, and pack a bone-crushing emotional wallop that one would expect more from cinema. The central question of the X Files was always the whereabouts of Mulder's sister, whose disappearance started him on his quest to begin with. With seven years of questions and heart-breaking red herrings, Carter could not simply have her re-appear again. So he put all his chips in and raised the stakes.

In these exquisitely rendered episodes, Carter introduces a concept torn from the farthest reaches of metaphysical speculation and not only makes it work in context of the story, but makes you utterly believe in the story's central premise. Anthony Heald guest stars and puts in one of the greatest performances of the show's history.

Allowing the viewer to catch their breath, "X-Cops" brilliantly satirizes Fox's police verite series and also manages to make a statement on the nature of fear. "First Person Shooter" is a throwaway, however. William Gibson's script rehashes his early 80's riffs and the episode is notable only for being one of the few showcases for the Lone Gunmen in Season 7.

"Theef" is a throwback to Season 2 metaphysical horror and is a perfectly enjoyable standalone. "En Ami" is written by Cigarette Smoking Man William Davis himself, and is a tightly constructed story of a double cross, with a subplot questioning the origin of religious faith. "Chimera" explores the rage and lust lurking beneath the pleasant facade of Suburbia.

"all things" follows "Chimera's"exploration of marital infidelity with a story written by Gillian Anderson about Scully's torrid affair with her mentor/teacher from medical school and the effect it had on his family. The episode also continues the path of Scully's journey from die-hard skeptic to reluctant believer.

The next four episodes are standalones. "Brand X" is the X Files take on the Russell Crowe film, "the Insider." "Hollywood AD" is a hilarious satire on Hollywood phoniness, written by David Duchovny. The subplot seems to posit that Hollywood is the new Vatican. "Fight Club" is a mess and stars Kathy Griffin, an actress whose voice is like fingernails on a blackboard pumped through a stadium PA to my ears. "Je Souhaite" is a wonderful recovery and is a humorous meditation of the futility of trying to interfere with the Divine Plan.

"Requiem" brings the series full circle, back to Bellfleur, Oregon, the site of the series' pilot. This powerful episode is filled with the jarring shocks and unsettling imagery Chris Carter trades in, and is a good jumping off point for those who don't have the taste for the post-Duchovny X Files. In its way it's similar to "the End", the last episode of the fifth season. If you didn't like the post-Vancouver era of the show and wanted to end your experience on a suitably downbeat note, you could stop there.

So, where do you stand on the X Files? Was it simply a good, solid dose of pulp fiction for you, or did you appreciate the exploration and manifestation of deep left field concepts it offered? The answer to that question will determine your enjoyment of this season. But I think on any level, Season 7 delivers and is worth your time. If you think you don't like it, try it again and see if you are willing to go to the uncharted terrain the show's creators want to take you.

Editorial Review:

Now you can own the entire seventh season of THE X-FILES™. ALL 22 classic episodes from David Duchovny's last full season as Agent Fox Muler are available for the first time in this exclusive 6-disc collector's edition. From Scully discovering the alien spacecraft in "The Sixth Extinction" and Mulder finally learning the truth about his sister in "Closure," to Mulder's own disappearance and Scully's miraculous pregnancy in "Requiem," these Season Seven episodes are a must for every X-Files fan!

Page 1 of 3 - Go to page: 1 2 3


This page was created in 1.5711 seconds.