WHY I LIKE DOGGETT & REYES

The X-files was an amazingly strong show for a an amazingly long time, and the first movie, Fight the Future, was perfectly placed. The exposition, the tension, couldn;t have been duplicated in series format, even by 2 or 3 continuing episodes. It also brought in a lot of new viewers (I know, I was one of them). It was brilliant in every way. And a lot of people think that The X-files peaked with the first movie. In a way, I agree.

I'm not saying that there were no good episodes after FTF. There were, many of them. But after FTF the series changed. Some say for the worse, but I disagree. It was not worse, nor was it better, it was just changed. The mythology episodes became a little more "out there," the budding  romance between Mulder and Scully became a little more pronounced, all because that's what those new viewers wanted to see. But the change was really more fundamental than this.

A couple of years before the movie came out Chris Carter mounted a show called Millenium (if you haven't seen it, you owe it to yourself to at least try it), which lasted 3 (incredible) seasons: in fact, the 7th season Xfiles episode "Millenium" could actually be said to be the final episode of that series. To me, that episode signaled the real change. The show, excellent from the beginning, revealed its true nature by the end of the first season: it was, quite simply, nothing more or less than Chris Carter;s exploration of the nature of good and evil. With the Xfiles episode the two shows merged, spun on an axis, and diverged in another direction. The introduction of Doggett and Reyes created the opportunity to carry on that exploration of good/evil that Frank Black revealed in Millenium, an opportunity that was at the same time even more down to earth AND even more "out there" than the original xfiles mythology. I think that, in many ways, the popularity of the Xfiles mythology and the dynamics of Mulder and Scully kept that from happening, because the fan base just wanted to see more of the what they had grown to know and love. That's not a bad thing, but where could a little more willingness to really embrace the change have led us?

Don't get me wrong: I love the xfiles mythology, I love Mulder and Scully, I love where it went, and I love that it's back.  I just feel like we kind of missed something and we may never know exactly what.

Saturday, October 31: Season 5, episode 20 "The End"

A brilliant young chess champion has a rather unnatural advantage...

Friday, October 30: Season 5, episode 19 "Folie A Deux"

And you thought YOUR boss was a monster!

Thursday, October 29: Season 5, episode 18 "The Pine Bluff Variant"

The government doesn't have bioweapons!...do they???

Wednesday, October 28: Season 5, episode 17 "All Souls"

You've got to have faith in something...

Tuesday, October 27: Season 5, episode 16 "Mind's Eye"

A blind murderer...now there's a neat trick...

Monday, October 26: Season 5, episode 15 "Travelers"

Is it just me, or does Arthur Dales not look A LOT like Carl Kolchak?