Makers:
Chris CarterMuziek:
Mark SnowActeurs:
Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, Mitch Pileggi, Robert Patrick, Annabeth Gish, William B. Davis, Tom Braidwood, Bruce Harwood, Dean Haglund, Nicholas Lea (meer)Streaming (1)
Seizoen(11) / Afleveringen(217)
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Season 1 (1993) - 24 afleveringen
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Season 2 (1994) - 25 afleveringen
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Season 3 (1995) - 24 afleveringen
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Season 4 (1996) - 24 afleveringen
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Season 5 (1997) - 20 afleveringen
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Season 6 (1998) - 22 afleveringen
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Season 7 (1999) - 22 afleveringen
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Season 8 (2000) - 21 afleveringen
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Season 9 (2001) - 19 afleveringen
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Season 10 (2016) - 6 afleveringen
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Season 11 (2018) - 10 afleveringen
Samenvattingen(1)
This long running FOX drama lasted nine seasons and focused on the exploits of FBI Agents Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, John Doggett and Monica Reyes and their investigations into the paranormal. From genetic mutants and killer insects to a global conspiracy concerning the colonisation of Earth by an alien species, this mind-boggling, humourous and occasionally frightening series created by Chris Carter has been one of the world's most popular sci-fi/drama shows since its humble beginnings in 1993. (officiële tekst van distribiteur)
(meer)Recensie (6)
For me, The X-Files are a religion. I loved the show when I was little (I could watch it only occasionally, when I didn’t misbehave) and I still vividly remember stuff that happened around several of the episodes, like what I had that day for dinner, what I was playing with before, etc. Back then, I even named my hamsters Dana and Fox… I simply loved it. And I still do (I’m planning to go through all the seasons), even though I now watch it with a more critical eye than 12 years ago. Season 1: It has very memorable episodes and several duds. The mythology at the beginning is only hinted at, it is much better in the following seasons. Best episodes: Squeeze, Ice, Darkness Falls. Season 2: The episodes have a very high level, with only few that are weak. The mythology is already well developed. Best episodes: Die Hand Die Verletzt, Død Kalm, Humbug. Season 3: The number of good and bad episodes is balanced, and there are more with humour (which I don’t like much). The mythology is very good. Best episodes: Grotesque, Pusher, Oubliette. Season 4: Very good quality episodes and a good atmosphere in most of them. Mulder’s wisecracks aren’t a hindrance, they are like a spice in parts that are not precisely funny. The mythology remains very good. Best episodes: Home, Small Potatoes, Leonard Betts. I’m working on the remaining seasons :) Edit: After several years I’ve finally watched it all. I won’t comment individually on the seasons, all of them have great episodes, but it’s not like at the beginning. The mythology, in particular, becomes too contrived, confusing and boring, with one conspiracy over another, and God knows whether any of that makes sense. Otherwise, the weakest season is the seventh, I watched it at a pace of one episode a month and I really felt like giving up on it. The addition of new characters in the eight season gives the show a breath of fresh air, and that season is also great. Unfortunately, however, in the ninth and final season, the quality drops again.
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The X-Files oscillate in quality from one episode to the next and are a sort of “lucky dip". Because you never know if you’ll like the candy you pull out; it might be a mediocre sci-fi, the most atmospheric horror you have ever seen, a quite entertaining dark thriller or a side-splitting comedy where the creators pick fun at themselves and their colleagues. And it is absolutely irrelevant if you are watching season one or season nine; you are just as likely to pull out an episode of genius as an episode that belongs in the trash. Approx. one third of the episodes move the overall story along, while the rest are all-in-one self-standing stories. Although the first season contains some of the best episodes of all, it also has a couple of the worst ever and really it is still finding its feet. Seasons two, three and four are the X-Files that we all have nostalgically stuck in our minds. Seasons five and six are the absolute zenith. Season seven means a drop in quality, a change of filming location and instead of many dark episodes with a lighter episode here and there, we primarily get comedy.
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Season 1 – 65% – Watching the mysterious men behind the scenes herd Scully into the spooky Mulder's office after all these years is almost a sacred moment for me. It's just that "my" X-Files origins don't start until the very end of the season, when it's definitively clear that something isn't quite right behind the curtain. And even though Tooms still scares me years later, and Darkness Falls will never make me want to go into the woods at night, there's still something missing for me here. Maybe it's because this first batch has been served up on TV many times and I've never missed it, so it's ingrained in my memory pretty firmly and can't surprise me with anything after reruns and knowing the reveals. Fortunately, the scripts are so unmissable several times that even the first steps towards Truth deserve some respect. Season 2 – 75% – The Awakening. From the very beginning of Little Green Men, it's clear that we're a level up. Mulder is back in even smokier form (which escalates in the mythological bomb in Colony+End Game and even more markedly in the finale Anasazi) and Scully is already much more personal in her relationship with him, giving the viewer a noticeably greater appetite to embark on more and more investigations. And that we're in for a much more varied set of cases this time around. Whether it's the typical Chris Carter specialty The Host, the atmospheric climax of Die Hand Die Verletzt, or the perfectly bizarre standalone Humbug. It's a shame that there are still episodes where the viewer doesn't suffer, but unfortunately they feel almost forced. Otherwise, however, there is a rising satisfaction and enthusiasm over the graduating skeleton of a story. Season 3 – 85% – With critical success and high ratings, of course, come higher budgets, and Carter and co. have managed to make the most of it. Especially in the first half, there is no shortage of bloodied or mutilated bodies and more believable effects. But the basic improvement is the story. The government backstory has definitely become an impenetrable web of intrigue, and we get clear clues from the alien hints that the main storylines just won't let go of. What the spectacular Paper Clip, the paranoid Wetwired, or perhaps the best episode to date, the legendary Apocrypha, offer are matters that even amidst the avalanche of TV series nowadays would be talked about for weeks. Routine-to-bad episodes like Oubliette or Hell Money are still present, but as filler among the ilk of Smoker, Black Oil, perfect atmosphere or surprising humor, I'll happily forgive them. Season 4 – 90% – Welcome to the golden age. Mythology reigns supreme, standalone cases ooze with original ideas, and bad episodes don't even exist, just an occasional experiment gone wrong. Scully fights with herself, Mulder fights with everyone else, and I've definitely seen a season with no room to pause. Flashbacks to the Cigarette Smoking Man are interspersed with the cruelly realistic yet hypnotic episode Paper Hearts, a disfigured family comes knocking, and maybe the oil will flow. Season four, in short, was all one small, backwater office could have wished for. Season 5 – 90% – The expansion continues, and with it comes a wealth of creative ideas. This time there's something for everyone – lovers of paranoia in the oppressive Folie a Deux, fans of more action-packed cases in the woodsy Detour or the terroristic The Pine Bluff Variant, and the humorous mood is satisfied by the top-notch Bad Blood. The criticisms are hardly criticisms at all. As much as I have to build a monument for one episode (the opening double episode Redux made it to the very top of my imaginary ranking), others applaud the ones that didn't appeal to me (namely Stephen King's unconvincing Chinga or the all-too-routine Mind's Eye). But even despite that, it's easy to see how much they were thinking of their fans. Thanks for that. Fight the Future – 100% – As a standalone film, the first full-length adventure of the most amazing duo in FBI history is a great adventure experience, but it wasn't until I saw it as part of a larger whole that its brilliance truly overcame me. Almost immediately after the end of the fifth season, Fight the Future functions as a deep catharsis. Scully, just like Mulder, definitively carries the burden, the Syndicate reveals the origin of its operations, and in between the lines, the Truth we have been searching for all these years is hidden. The X-Files movie serves as a tribute to the series, a greeting to all the fans, but also as the best bait for future seasons. The heart of a true shipper couldn't be happier. Season 6 – 90% – The opening episode of season six is entitled The Beginning, and it's not just a new beginning in a plot sense, but also in the sense that the crew has moved pretty far south from inhospitable Vancouver, and it's immediately apparent in the plots. It's all sunshine, desert, and an entirely more positive visual atmosphere. And most importantly – qualitatively, it's still the pinnacle of the series. There's a lot of closure in the alien story (One Son) and the episodic plots hint at such archetypes as a body swap or a time loop. There are still brilliantly written and punctuated thrillers (Milagro, Field Trip), nostalgia (Three of a Kind and the ghost-written The Unnatural) and, more than ever, humor. After all, every once in a while there's an episode that, while poking a little fun at the premise, also gives the series something extra. Out of that barrel, one of my all-time favorite episodes, How the Ghosts Stole Christmas, leads the pack. And as the finale suggests, there's still plenty to go on and flesh out. As I've always liked the system of planting diverse ideas into episodic plots, there are a few themes in season seven that are unusual in a way that doesn't sit well with me on principle. Especially in the second half, there are themes that just ooze with wanting to be different at all costs on the surface, and First Person Shooter, Theef, or Fight Club are anything but great episodes. Suddenly the writers are unexpectedly keen on those, and successful cases like Amazing Maleeni or Je Souhaite hide a lot of sweat behind them. So why an 80% season? Because of the main story, Samantha, and the final Requiem. Everything featuring the main characters behind all the conspiracies and conflicts are all golden X-Files adventures, and then the final episode is one big treasure that would work perfectly as the complete end of the series. Except that I don't want it to be over. Season 8 – 75% – I'm glad I can still peek into the secret files, but the rollout of the new era was a bit jarring at first. Agent Doggett as an unapproachable tough guy works perfectly, it's just that the return to his roots in the form of gritty episodic cases doesn't really work for me. The individual mysteries are severely mediocre, and even audience favorites like Roadrunners fail to snap me out of my jaded lethargy. Fortunately, it doesn't change the fact that the mythology marks a step up, and the great Per Manum or the nerve-wracking DeadAlive return the series to safer realms. Then again, after one fancy return, the eighth season somehow kicks into gear at a literally cosmic rate, making the final impressions more positive than I would have dared to even hope for somewhere in the middle of the season. But the central plotline is clearly exhausted by now, and I'd hate to see my favorite conspiracies take the form of forcibly maintained filler. So it's good that the ending and the truth are very close. Season 9 – 85% – Easily the finish line. There were a hundred and one answers to the question "where could the last season go wrong" and it's a huge relief to me that it didn't. Doggett has found his permanent place and Monica Reyes had already established herself as a newcomer by the end of last season. Much is made, of course, of Annabeth Gish's deep eyes, but even more pleasing is the fact that Monica, unlike Scully or Doggett, doesn't need to be convinced that she can "believe". The scripts abandon the concept of unnecessarily frequent dark episodes and aren't afraid to experiment surprisingly successfully (4-D, Audrey Pauley, or the extreme Improbable). As a result, the standalone stories are, with a few exceptions (the unnecessary Underneath and the tiresome-to-death John Doe) a level above the past two seasons, and the series as a whole at times reaches for the same ratings as the golden days of seasons four through six. The mythology, however, sends it down a notch. There are still some above-average or thrilling episodes, but Nothing Important Happened Today and the two-parter Provenance/Providence are unfortunately the weakest of the main story of the entire series. Fortunately, bits like the poignant William and the perfect Release are there to wrap up almost all of the side-stories of recent years. Still, one big answer was still left hanging. The Truth – 90% – Many gave up on finding it during the long years and hundreds of episodes, but it's still here. The truth revealed itself in all its beauty at the very end and proved one crucial fact – Fox Mulder belongs to The X-Files. Of course, I can't overlook Dana Scully, and I also fell in love with Doggett and especially Monica. However, the most interesting threads regarding the syndicate, colonization, abductions, black oil, and Samantha simply suit that inconspicuous geek who enjoys sunflower seeds. The final installment shows that super soldiers or William undoubtedly captured attention, but they were qualitatively one step below. The Truth itself is thrilling, liberating, and above all nostalgic in its recapitulatory mood. The amount of familiar faces never ceases to amaze, and personally, I was most pleased with Krycek and most moved by The Lone Gunmen. And as a true shipper, I can only say about the last minutes, "Maybe there's hope..." I Want to Believe – 90% – A pure gift for the fans, disguised as a movie that even uninformed or semi-informed individuals will appreciate. It will not be appreciated. Paradoxically, those who watched the series years ago and have it in their memory as a series of monster cases from forests, channels, or polar regions mixed with extraterrestrial chasing, will be the most disappointed. However, those who spent nine television seasons with Mulder and Scully and understand the bond they have developed, or references to William, will appreciate this winter odyssey more. The series offered several dark episodes where paranormal phenomena were not the central point of the script. But here, everything is two or three levels more personal. Thanks to that, the underrated film is not only a thrilling thriller but above all a mental cleansing for both main characters. In short, a (literal) wave to an unforgettable phenomenon, which the series undoubtedly deserved. It will be remembered beautifully.
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The X-Files was a huge cult and exceptionally successful television product in the 90s, which quickly sold practically in all corners. The whole world adores mysteries, dreams of extraterrestrial civilizations, and enjoys playing. The series came up with a concept of playing with its audience, which new projects successfully imitated in the new millennium, such as the series Lost. It works similarly to the tales of Princess Scheherazade. You slowly uncover individual puzzle pieces, but still discover new clues about the mysterious conspiracy of the presence of aliens on our planet. Conspiracy theories pile up, and here and there a partial fate or case is resolved in the tangle of riddles. It has the unpleasant effect that sooner or later, knowing that the point is out of reach, this game stops being entertaining. As the commercial success continued with new seasons, the ideas started running out for the screenwriters, and the quality of episodes inevitably declined. The X-Files met a shameful death - it rotted to the core. In the late stage of the project, both stars who made a name for themselves in The X-Files wisely withdrew from further collaboration. Today, the series seems quite worn out to me, but there were times when I eagerly awaited each new episode. Overall impression: 55%.
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When the X-Files were running on TV, I missed more episodes than I saw and so I decided to right the situation. After season one I am utterly thrilled and I will definitely continue watching. The alien episodes are simply delicious. Now I understand why such a cult has built up around it. Season two continues in the footsteps of season one and the first few episodes are the high points of the series so far. A bit of a shame that Mulder wasn’t left without Scully for a little longer. The episodes with the little green men are still my favorites. Season three is already a little creaky. Here and there a lame episode, one is a parody of itself, but there are many that are jam packed with really nice snappy lines (the phone calls in the episode with the cockroaches were priceless). But the mythology is still very strong and the important episodes are always worth watching. THE SURGEON GENERAL WARNS: SMOKING CAUSES LUNG CANCER. Season four offers a couple of fascinating answers, including one episode about a smoker. Otherwise it retains its quality overall, but the “we’ve been here already" syndrome is beginning to set in unpleasantly. But I am still enjoying myself immensely. Season five has several key mythological episodes that are really good to watch, on the other hand there are more lame episodes than I would like. But I was pleased with the episode that Stephen King was involved with and the episode with several viewpoints of the same case. The ending prepared the ground nicely for the movie that I completely missed in the day and that I am very intrigued about now. So we’ll see... Season six is about the same as the one before in terms of quality. I gave myself a good rest between the movie and the first episode of season six, because the movie made for a nice ending, but hunger for more cases with Mulder and Scully won in the end. What’s with these move-along episodes that are crowned by the final episode. The other episodes are there just to fill space, sometimes they’re entertaining, sometimes scary, sometimes superbly surprising. And the reference to Homer Simpson was also nice to hear. Season seven is one big ending of a chapter. Although the episodes have less and less substance to them, the last episode is superb. A classic example of creators having ideas, but not many, so they have to be frugal with them. I wonder if I’ll ever get round to watching another season. I want to leave this “ending" to mature inside me.
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The X-Files used to be a big deal. The series used to have great guest appearances and standalone movies, and many books were also published. As with Twin Peaks, new series were created much later. The memories will yet be vivid for a long time to come.
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