Customer Reviews

X Files, The {Pilot (#1.0)}

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In the fourth season of The X-Files, X is killed, we find out a little of CSM's background, Scully comes down with brain cancer, Skinner confronts CMS and Krycek is back (he was entombed in a Silo in the 3rd season).

All 24 episodes are on 7 discs, with documentaries, deleted scenes, etc.

Episodes:
-----------

1) Herrenvolk - Continuing from the cliffhanger of season three, Mulder and Jeremiah Smith escape the alien's assassin. They go to a farming community, Mulder sees a clone of his sister, Scully finds a number of Jeremiah look-alikes, and X is killed.

2) Home - Mulder and Scully investigate the Peacocks that practice inbreeding.

3) Teliko - Mulder and Scully investigate a Teliko that must consume the fluid of the human pituitary gland.

4) Unruhe - Mulder and Scully investigate Gerry Schnauz who has the ability to imprint images on film he is near.

5) The Field Where I Died - The FBI investigate a cult called the Temple of the Seven Stars after allegations of child abuse.

6) Sanguinarium - Mulder and Scully investigate doctors that go "crazy" and murder their patients.

7) Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man - In this episode, we find out a little background of CSM as told by the Lone Gunmen. Who killed President John F. Kennedy? Who killed Martin Luther King?

8) Tunguska - Krycek is back! Mulder again retrains from killing him. Krycek and Mulder travel to Russia and Black worms are released from a "Space Rock" and Mulder is injected with the "Back Cancer."

9) Terma - Mulder and Krycek escape from Russia. A KBG assassin is sent to the U.S. to kill people that know about the Black Cancer.

10) Paper Hearts - Mulder has a dream that leads him to the body of a murdered child and believes that the killer is John Lee Roche who he arrested and put in jail years ago.

11) El Mundo Gira - Mulder and Scully find corpses infested with a strange fungus.

12) Leonard Betts - Mulder and Scully investigate Leonard Betts, who has the ability to "re-grow" body parts (e.g., he grows a new head).

13) Never Again - In this episode Scully is investigating a man, Ed, with a tattoo that has the words "Never Again." Ed hears voices from his tattoo.

14) Memento Mori - Scully learns that she has brain cancer.

15) Kaddish - Isaac Luria is killed in his store by a few teenager boys. One by one the boys turn up dead.

16) Unrequited - Mulder and Scully investigate the killing of Lt. General MacDougal. The strange part is it is done in the back of his limo and no one saw it happen, not even his driver.

17) Tempus Fugit (part 1) - Mulder is informed that Max Fening (from "Fallen Angel" episode) has died in a plane crash. Fox goes to the crash site and discovers that the wristwatches stopped 9 minutes before the crash.

18) Max (part 2) - Mulder is taken into custody and bailed out by Scully. They find a videotape with evidence that the government is using alien technology.

19) Synchrony - Mulder and Scully investigate a man who seems to have the ability to predict when someone is going to die. The man is actually from the future.

20) Small Potatoes - Mulder and Scully are called to investigate a town where babies are being born with tails.

21) Zero Sum - Mulder investigates a mailman that was killed by bees and Skinner makes a deal with CMS to save Scully's life.

22) Elegy - Scully investigates the murder at a bowling alley but the strange part is that a number of people see the same woman at the same time in different places.

23) Demons - Mulder wakes up in a motel, he has no idea how he got there, where he has blood on his shirt that belongs to a couple that were murdered.

24) Gethsemane - Mulder travels to the north with someone that believes they have found an alien. When they arrive at the camp, they find everyone dead except for one person.

While the fourth year of THE X FILES does not inhabit the Olympian heights of its immediate predecessor, the 1996-97 season is without question superb. It is also very likely the "darkest" season of THE X FILES. The prodigious, brooding intelligence of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully's continuing conflict of faith and purpose convey a tension culminating in a series of crises, with dramatic ramifications that extend through all of the following seasons. The consistency of the writing, expansion of characterization ( Anderson and Duchovny in their most intensely committed acting ) , the complexity and interest of the "mythology arc", the ever greater feats of craftsmanship on the part of an amazing production team; all these aspects lead me to believe that the crucial 4th Season, along with the 3rd and 5th seasons are the real "glory years" of THE X FILES, the crème de la crème of the greatest television show in history.

The season opener "Herrenvolk" doesn't quite keep up the level of quality exhibited in the previous years cliff hanger ( "Talitha Cumi" ) but does effectively link to the conspiracy storyline which would shortly be taken up in the first series of myth-arc episodes. According to a tradition that had been established in the two prior years, the 4th Season contained a couple of these two-part scripts, airing in the early and late season respectively. This well planned bit of strategy helped balance the "stand alone" episodes while maintaining a forward momentum leading to the cliff-hanger at the very end.

"Tunguska"/"Terma" are action oriented episodes, featuring both the return of the ever-treacherous Alex Krycek and Mulder's chilling imprisonment in a Siberian gulag. The late season two parter, "Tempus Fugit"/"Max", skillfully reintroduces a beloved and eccentric character not seen since Season 1. The prevailing mood is one of darkness, where Mulder and Scully face yet another series of losses. A technical note: the re-creation of the plane crash is mind-bogglingly good, even in a show where miracles of production are common. The overhead, wide angle cinematography conveys a grim, documentary style realism that is very disturbing.

The "stand alone" episodes, while not as brilliantly quirky as those of the 3rd Season, are of a high quality and originality. In the infamous "Home" humor is mixed with gruesome violence in a manner that makes one understand why the television censors were, to put it mildly, "concerned". A lesser (though entertaining) bloodletting episode in the same vein, "Sanguinarium", is the 4th season representative of what could be termed "Exorcist Files" (there are numerous scripts of this type throughout the history of the show ).

"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" is a take, somewhat whimsical, on the Cigarette Smoking Man's background. In an interview Chris Carter gave in response to this episode, he made it clear that this story was more a type of fantasy than the true history behind the mysterious arch villain played by William B. Davis.

"The Field Where I Died" is a mixed bag; a very good performance by David Duchovny but the "reincarnation romance" script strained after a dramatic effect that didn't seem to fit his character.

"Paper Hearts", written by Vince Gilligan, is rightly acclaimed for its interweaving several strands of plot: Mulder's quest for his sister ( and her then unknown fate ) and yet another unstinting look at human evil ( great guest actor ). Mark Snow's score is particularly memorable.

Mid season is the literal and figurative "center" of Season Four, the point where the dramatic action really heats up. The folks at Chris Carter's "1013" productions arranged the airing of several mid season episodes with a mind to showcasing Gillian Anderson's superb acting ability. "Leonard Betts" (4X14) was, as the episode number indicates, the 14th episode put in the can, but it was aired before "Never Again" (4X13) in order to build up the suspense regarding Dana Scully's physical and psychological state, reaching a climax in "Momento Mori" (4X15). Following the latter episode, a distinct and pervasive sense of gloom fell over the shows imaginative landscape, a melancholia reflected not only in Scully's ongoing "condition" but also in the subject matter unique to the episodes subsequently aired: "Kaddish", "Unrequited" and the two-parter previously mentioned ( "Tempus Fugit"/"Max" ).

In the myth arc episode titled "Zero Sum", F.B.I. Assistant Director Walter Skinner is forced into a nefarious scheme due to the Faustian bargain he made in "Momento Mori". Mitch Pileggi turns in a customarily fine performance that adds another layer of substance to Skinner's character and at the same time represents the latest link in the "conspiracy chain" ( which arguably unraveled when the show moved from Vancouver to Los Angeles for its 6th Season ).

Writer John Shiban is the unfortunate creator of Season 4's worst episode ( "El Mundo Gira" ) but to his credit the episode doesn't take itself too seriously. As with Vince Gilligan's clever, lighthearted comic episode "Small Potatoes" ( featuring former X FILES writer Darin Morgan in an onscreen role ), Shiban's script lends an air of levity that is welcome relief in a predominantly dark year. In fact, both episodes seem almost out of place when considering the season in its gloomy totality, which reaches its zenith in the tragedy of the cliffhanger, "Gesthemane".

In closing, it is necessary to point out yet again what has been oft said; that the success of THE X FILES is shared amongst many talented and dedicated individuals, most applying their craft off screen. Mark Snow's custom tailored music is simply gold: consistently excellent, moving work ( with the occasional sly quote from classical composers woven in ). The directors frame their shots in very interesting ways. The lighting, sets and camera work are redolent of high quality film making ( television standards are left in the dust ). The writers ( truly the core of the show ), most especially in Seasons 3 thru 5, created layered, complex scripts that challenged the considerable talents of Duchovny and Anderson ( not to mention the numerous excellent guest actors chosen by superb casting agents ). Finally, regardless of what some embittered fans may opine, Chris Carter deserves credit for continually guiding his creation through the years. His labor of love was especially evident during the "glory years" of 1995-98, of which Season Four is an inspired testament.

Despite the loss of fine writer Darin Morgan, this may have been the best season of this very underappreciated series? Honestly, I think this season & season five are tied as the best two of the entire series. At least Twenty of the Twenty Four episodes were excellent. After moving from Friday night to Sunday night the X-Files placed in the top Nielsen Twenty & often the top Ten on a regular basis. It was Fox's top rated show.

For me this season had the most imagination, action, suspense, fine acting, & special effects. The following exchange between the two main characters beliefs in episode "Herrenfolk" were the "soul of the series." Mulder{David Duchovny}, "You put such faith in your science, Scully{Gillian Anderson}, but... the things I've seen science provides no place to start." Scully: "Nothing happens in contradiction to nature; only in contradiction to what we know of it. So, that's a place to start. That's where the hope is." Season Fours "Mythology" episodes continued the storyline that was the heart of the series. It created new questions which added more depth since many of the old questions were often left unanswered as loosends.

This season saw more clones, shapeshifting aliens, black oil aliens, & Mulder's old enemy, Alex Krycek. The newest plot thread was Scully's battle with Cancer, which was a side effect of her season two abduction. The soul searching angst brought out the best in both the actors & characters as their bond grew. Gillian Anderson certainly deserved her Emmy award.

The most Classic episodes of this season were, "Home"- Mulder & Scully try to unravel the mystery of a deformed infant. This had some fun moments despite it's grisly subject matter. "Tunguska"- A Martian Meteorite gives the agents plenty of clues about the Black oil, while Krycek leads Mulder on a chase in Russia. "Paper Hearts"- a serial killer with the ability to influence dreams leads Mulder to question his memories about his sisters abduction. David Duchovny should have won the Emmy for this one. "Memento Mori"- Scully finds out that she has inoperable Cancer, as do other women who were abducted. While she undergoes an experimental treatment, Mulder hunts to find a cure & answers. "Small Potatoes"- A series of bizarre pregnancies lead Mulder & Scully to investigate a man who can change his appearance. This episode was included in TV Guide as one of the top one hundred greatest episodes of all time, I agree. "Demons"- Mulder has blackouts & memory loss while being accused of a double-murder. Did he do it, or will he be cleared? "Gethsemane"- Scully fights her Cancer, while Mulder fights to protect what he feels is undeniable proof of alien life. The tearful climax was worth the wait. This season should get nine out of ten stars.

"The X-Files" continued on a roll with a stellar fourth season with the exception of one or two episodes. The show continued to be one of the best on TV even when it went into a sharp decline with season 7. "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" remains one of the wittiest and funnest episodes of the show while "Paper Hearts" remains one of the most moving. In this episode a serial killer that Mulder put away prior to being assigned to the X files contacts him. He tells Mulder that there are more victims than have been found. He also tells Mulder that his sister wasn't abducted by aliens at all--this is a memory that Mulder fabricated to deal with what really happened. The killer took his sister and he'll reveal more about all of this if Mulder will agree to provide him with his momento book. It's a brilliant, tragic and ultimately moving episode that does everything that the series did best. It's also one of the finest hours of TV you'll ever see filled with suspense, powerful acting and imaginative direction that rivals a feature film. "Leonard Betts" managed to have the gross out factor of "Home" with more imagination. We literally have a "Cancer Man" in this episode. Betts is a paramedic. He's kiled in an accident but somehow his headless corpse manages to walk out of the morgue. The worst episode has got to be the horrible "The Field Where I Died"; good performances as usual and direction but surprisingly its badly written by Morgan and Wong. I take issue with "El Mundo Gira" being the worst episode of season four--at least it had a sense of humor to it. "Small Potatoes" remains a delight with writer Darin Morgan (who wrote "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" among other classic episodes)as a guy who just wants to have kids. Lots of them with tails. It's whimsical in the best sense. "Momento Mori" is another fine and powerful episode. Roy Thinnes (ironically cast as an alien when he was the "Mulder" on the Quinn Martin TV show "The Invaders") appears in a great story arc where Mulder finds his sister in an unexpected place. "Max" features the return of a character abducted by aliens from the first season. It's a fascinating episode that, again, does shows why at its peak this was THE BEST show on TV.

This will feature the exact same transfer as the previous set with deleted scenes, commentary and international clips included. What's missing is the booklet, deluxe packaging (some people hate it)and the final disc with all the featurettes, documentaries, etc. Some of the special features include commentary tracks by writer Frank Spotnitz on "Momento Mori" and by Vince Gilligan on "Small Potatoes". There are also deleted scenes throughout the set. Go to special features prior to watching the episode and select the deleted scene option to add it back into the episode. An X will appear in the corner alerting you to its appearence. Missing are the promotional spots, the documentary, the "Behind-The-Truth" spots from when the show was being aired on F/X and the DVD-ROM game "Urbs Tertia".

Many point to the show's move to Los Angeles as the reason the show lost creative steam--the reality is simpler--the show had reached it's peak by the sixth season with a slow gradual decline. While I enjoyed every season, season seven saw a marked drop in the quality of the show despite some appealing episodes. I enjoyed every season of the show but the last three presented a ship without a rudder--the show seemed less directed and focused than before. Unlike some fans I liked when Robert Patrick came on board--his new character brought conflict and focus back to the show even if for a brief period. Patrick's character Dogget provided a nice foil to Anderson's Scully during these seasons as more of the main characters became "believers" in Mulder's ongoing crusade.

Welcome to the fourth season of The X-Files, where this masterpiece of episodic television just keeps getting better and better. This season also continues to show that as a television series, The X-Files is more than just a TV series, it's a genre. This season is brimming with so many excellent episodes and a whole new and somewhat scary character arc for Scully. We are treated to an even warmer relationship between Mulder and Scully. It doesn't quite get as close as all of the loyal fans were hoping for just yet, despite Fox and Scully's first on screen kiss that was impromptu and edited out. "X" is killed and Fox gets a new and quite beautiful "insider" to help him further his cause.

The mythology episodes:

"Herrenvolk" is the wonderful season opener that gives us a few answers and even more questions about the government conspiracy. "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man," This show, in my opinion, is one of the best with the CSM and is a "must see" for all X-Files fans. "Tunguska" Agent Krycek is back and so are the Black Oil aliens. "Terma" the conclusion to "Tunguska" which includes a trip to Russia by Mulder and Krycek where Mulder ends up having the Black Oil Aliens in himself for a while as part of an experiment stemming from the multi government conspiracy. "Memento Mori" Scully confirms that she has cancer. Mulder seeks to find a cure and AD Skinner makes the deal with the devil (CSM) to get her the cure. This episode is what the X-Files are all about! "Tempus Fugit" and "Max" a previously seen character, Max is killed in a plane crash. Mulder believes that plane was frozen in place and aliens were abducting Max when the government shot down the UFO and the plane. Another great X-Files mini movie! "Zero Sum" CSM is back and so are the small pox carrying bees! AD Skinner is in it up to his neck with the CSM as well. "Gethsemane" The season finale and Fox is "dead." I distinctly remember this being a long summer between this episode and the season five opener.

Stand alone episodes:

"Home" is an odd episode that deals with incest. Strangely enough, according the interviews on the last disk, this one had a very hard time making it past the network censors, huh! "Teliko" is great episode about an African man who has no thyroid gland and kills others for theirs. "Unruhe" is a well thought out episode about a man who kills people believing he's killing demons; when he does this, undeveloped photographs nearby portray strange visions. "The Field Where I Died" I believe is one of the best episodes of the entire nine year run. It's about a cult leader that is attempting to have all of his followers kill themselves and a woman in the cult who has multiple personalities that is tied to Fox through a previous life.

"Sanguinarium" is about a doctor who has been taking patients lives for many years all for the purpose of extending his life. "Paper Hearts" In this stunning episode Tom Noonan does a wonderful job of playing a convicted murderer, caught originally by Mulder. The episode begins with Mulder having dreams about and confirming the locations of this murderers victims. He also puts doubts into Mulder's head as to whether his sister was abducted by aliens or him. "El Mundo Gira" is an odd and intentionally humorous episode about a poor illegal immigrant that somehow survives being in the vicinity of a comet strike and suddenly begins spreading a fungus that kills everybody but him and his brother. "Leonard Betts" is mostly a stand alone except that this is the episode where Leonard Betts tells Scully that she has something he needs. Mr. Betts is a strange sort that can re-grow any portion of his body that he might lose, to include his head. Part of the reason he can do this is that he eats cancer cells, which coincidentally gives him the ability to see cancer in anybody.

"Never Again" a great episode that includes a super star voice over by none other than Jodi Foster. Dana Scully being frustrated with her life has a one night stand. Unfortunately her pal also happens to be going a little whacky, killing women because Jodi Foster in the guise of his new tattoo is telling him to. "Kaddish" is a touching episode about a Jewish woman whose husband is killed by bigots and she brings her husband back in the form of a golem. "Unrequited" is about a Vietnam vet who was previously thought dead. He apparently spent the twenty some odd years in a POW camp and has been freed. He has a strange ability that allows him not to be seen and he's using that ability to kill everybody he felt was responsible for leaving him in Viet Nam.

"Synchrony" is just plain great science fiction. A man from the future has come back to kill certain people by injecting them with a chemical that freezes them solid. "Small Potatoes" is clearly another one of the best. A small town suddenly has several children being born with a tail. We later find that the father is one man and he's essentially a shapeshifter. This episode includes some extremely telling scenes between Scully and the fake Mulder. "Demons" is an outstanding episode where Mulder wakes up in a strange hotel with blood on his clothing, no memory of how he got there and two rounds missing from his weapon.

Another fantastic season with some great extra features and good cover art on the box set!

Episode list:

Herrenvolk
Home
Teliko
Unruhe
The Field Where I Died
Sanguinarium

Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
Tunguska
Terma
Paper Hearts
El Mundo Gira
Leonard Betts
Never Again
Memento Mori
Kaddish
Unrequited
Tempus Fugit
Max
Synchrony
Small Potatoes
Zero Sum
Elegy
Demons
Gethsemane

What a difference a year makes! A year ago I was ranting and raving that Twentieth Century Fox was bringing out the four-volume Mythology sets of THE X-FILES, something for which there was minimal demand, while what we really needed was an edition of the show that was actually affordable. And here we have it! Moreover, they aren't dawdling with the release dates. In only a few months we will have all nine seasons out at prices that the average individual can afford. Not just that, but far better packaging than in the original sets.

There are a host of opinions concerning when THE X-FILES was at its highpoint, but while I love all nine seasons, including the wildly reviled seventh and ninth seasons, I do think that from the second season until somewhere in the sixth the show was at its creative peak. Because story lines spill over from one season to another, contrasting Season Four with either Three or Five doesn't really have much of a pay off. Let's just say that here we see the show in the middle of its creative peak.

This season contains some of the show's most memorable moments, none more haunting than the opening image in "Memento Mori," as the camera seems to travel through a tunnel to look upon a woman in a hospital gown looking at an X-ray, only for us to discover that it is Scully looking at the evidence that she has a brain tumor. Or the deeply disturbing "Unruhe," which is truly nightmarish and demonstrated how scary THE X-FILES could be at its best, unlike most shows that even at their scariest are rather tame affairs. The season also contains an episode that many think may have gone too far, the genuinely upsetting "Home," in which Mulder and Scully discover a profoundly inbred family that keeps their limbless mother under a bed on a skid. I will confess that while I have watched THE X-FILES all the way through three times, I have never been able to rewatch "Home." The Fourth Season also has a host of outstanding Mythology episodes, beginning with "Herrenvolk" and continuing with "Tunguska," "Terma," "Tempus Fugit," "Max," and "Gesthemene." There is also the famous episode "Never Again," in which Jodie Foster provided the voice for a tattoo that drove a man to commit murder. It is also an important episode for showing Scully's growing sense of self-doubt about what she is doing with her life.

of THE X-FILES broke into two unequal parts. The first two thirds tended to drop many of the ongoing development of the series story arc to focus instead on individual stand-alone episodes. Now, these were largely great episodes, but THE X-FILES was always at its best when it focused more on the longer story than on individual stories. There were some major plot developments in the first two-thirds of the season, however. Most importantly, we learn that there is a deep and shocking connection between Mulder's mother and Cancer Man aka The Smoking Man, to the extent that one even wonders if he an

Season Four does not have as many great comic episodes as Season Three, partly because Darin Morgan ceased writing for the show (or any show, with only minor exceptions, a situation I hope changes because the man is clearly one of the great writers in television). Morgan does, however, appear as an actor in "Small Potatoes," as a man capable of altering his shape at will, a skill he employs to change himself into a physical copy of the husbands or lovers of women he would like to sleep with, and in once instance as Luke Skywalker. He very nearly achieves a moment of bliss with Scully by changing himself into Mulder, her willingness hinting at plot twists in future seasons. Another great comic episode is a wonderful parody of FORREST GUMP, with the Cigarette Smoking Man (who my daughter and I like to call the HCSM, since he actually does not smoke, and uses herbal cigarettes onscreen). The Smoking Man ending up as one of the driving forces of modern history, yet privately yearns more than anything to become a professional writer. In one of the most poignant moments in the entire run of the show, he manages to get a single short story published in what turns out to be a soft-core porn mag, and when he reads what they have done to his story, he agonizingly is forced to destroy the letter of resignation that he had planned to submit. It is a brilliant episode in part because he adds enormous complexity to all of his future appearances on the show.

There is no more somber plot line in THE X-FILES than the Scully cancer arc. The last third of the season is dominated by the sense that she is a dying woman, a fact the viewers are reminded of by her frequent nosebleeds. During the last third of the season the plot thickens considerably indeed. The year ends with a host of questions. Will Scully die? Did Mulder really die in the final episode? If not, why did Scully identify the corpse as Mulder's? What is the connection between the CSM and Mulder? Could he be Mulder's biological father? And will more develop out of that big tease moment in the episode where there Mulder-lookalike comes within an inch of kissing Scully? And was she as willing to kiss him as she appeared? In fact, although Mulder and Scully are have a great interpersonal chemistry and both are ridiculously gorgeous looking, the first four seasons are remarkable for the lack of romantic interest they express towards one another. In Season Three there are a couple of episodes where they express considerable jealousy towards others who get close to their partner (e.g., "Bambi" in the great cockroach episode from Season Three), but the show never lingers over this or expands this. Clearly Mulder and Scully love each other and are deeply committed to the welfare of the other, but there is little or no romantic element in this.

Season Four also illustrates some of the problems that plagued the show, in fact the only problems that plagued the show until the very end when it lost some of its creative energy. This was the tendency both to develop parallel plot lines that somewhat contradicted other plot lines and before a prior plotline had been fully developed. For instance, by the end of the season there was the clear implication that the X-Files were a gigantic scam on the part of nefarious forces within the industrial-military complex, that they had "created" Mulder. In fact, the first episode of Season Five would take this a step further, in a very funny episode in which the gents who would form The Lone Gunman pooled their resources for the first time and at the same time met Mulder, who at the time was not interested in the X-Files. The episode represents Mulder as being exposed to a powerful drug that would cause extreme paranoia and a tendency to conspiratorial thinking. This was all enormously funny, but it also undercut the show's own mythology. This lack of internal consistency was, in my opinion, the only thing that kept THE X-FILES from being as superb overall as BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. While BUFFY got its mythology straightened out, THE X-FILES never did. Speculating further along these lines, one wonders if this illustrates the difference between Chris Carter and Joss Whedon. Carter tends to be more tactical as a creative talent, whereas Whedon is a strategist who thinks seasons ahead. The Carter versus Whedon factor is especially crucial when one considers that several key figures on THE X-FILES, including David Greenwalt, Howard Gordon, Tim Minear, and Jeffrey Bell, would serve as producers on ANGEL (and in the case of Minear, FIREFLY) as well. Or perhaps Greenwalt, Gordon, Minear, and Bell learned the mistake of not under girding a show with a consistent mythology.

Nonetheless, THE X-FILES managed a consistency despite the inconsistent mythology behind the episodes. This largely stems from two things: the absolutely magnificent writing on individual episodes and the astonishingly good cast. Few characters in the history of TV have held a show together as well as Mulder and Scully. BUFFY, to keep that parallel going, was always held together more by the writing than by the cast (though the cast was good also). David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson (by the way, a natural blonde who is impossible to imagine without her red dye job) are not merely the glue of the show, but the nuts and bolts as well. I believe Anderson especially is outrageously underrated as an actress (though if everyone saw her in THE HOUSE OF MIRTH their minds might be changed). In episode after episode I marvel at how both of them bring so much more to their roles than can possibly be contained on the page).

But this is nitpicking. By any standard this is one of the highpoints in the history of television. And I am just grateful that I am now going to own these sets instead of being a frequent renter.

I was just as pleased with the Season 4 Box Set as I was with the previous three... well, to be honest, since it's my favorite season, I was slightly more excited this time around.

FOX does a great job of packaging these box sets, in a sleekly designed case that follows the pattern of the first three. Altogether, the four sets make a nice little presentation on the shelf. <g> The accompanying booklet helpfully lists episodes from each season, and describes exactly what can be found on each disc.

The nicest aspect of this set, imho, is that all of the deleted scenes can be found on the last and seventh disc *as well as* interspersed throughout the episodes themselves. So if you are a junkie fan like me, you could tear open the package, plunk Disc 7 in the DVD player, and watch all those nifty deleated scenes at once.

I think it's great that X-Files fans are being offered such a nice collection of every single episode, season by season. The earlier VHS "Waves" were frustrating and left too many episodes out; similarly, "The Best of Friends" collections coming out on DVD are also selective. Why not release them all, the way FOX is doing with The X-Files?

On that note, FOX, all I have to say is: keep these box sets coming, at least through season 8!

Season 3 was definately the best of at least the first three seasons, and the fourth season follows in the shadow of this colossus. Fortunately, Season 4 of The X-Files is still a great season of TV. Starting right off with a continuing episode the storyline will pull you in as it did in the last season. The mythology in this season is largly dedicated to the plot development concerning Scully's cancer, but deals with other things such as a short stint with Krycek and the return of Max Fenig from Season 1. We also see the end of Agent Pendrell, and a special appearance by Darin Morgan, the emmy winning writer of "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose". Season 4 also holds claim to one of the scariest, if not the scariest episode in the seried, Home: the only episode on the series to be banned from TV. And as usual there are episodes that fall short (The Field Where I Died, Sanguinarium, Kaddish, etc.) but most of the episodes are excellent. Season 4 features one of the most poignant character studies of the series: "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man". Continuing in the footsteps of the Season 3 slim set there are a few commentaries, deleted scenes on assorted episodes, and speciel effects clips & international clips.

Notably Good Episodes:
Herrenvolk (2)
Home
Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
Tunguska (1)
Terma (2)
Paper Hearts
Never Again (feat. the voice of Jodie Foster)
Memento Mori
Tempus Fugit (1)
Max (2)
Small Potatoes
Zero Sum
Elegy
Gethsemane

As usual, if you enjoyed previous seasons of X-Files, than I recommend this to you after you've seen the previous episodes.

Season Four of the X-Files has many interesting twists and turns! We see an evolving relationship between Mulder and Scully and an increasing variety in the cases they investigate. The show continues it's brilliance in presenting the strange and unusual in a format that could only be the work of creator Chris Carter. My personal favorite episode of the season would have to be "Never Again," a story where we see the characters in conflict with the meaning of their journey together and the role the quest takes in each of their lives. There are so many good tales to tell in this series that I await each new season release with much anticipation!!

For three years, which spanned Seasons 3 through 5, "The X-Files" was Chris Carter's baby. Seasons 1 and 2 were good in their own right, building up the show and setting the stage for what was to come. Season 6 was still good, although the move to Los Angeles no doubt killed off some of "The X-Files" atmosphere. Season 7 was a definite improvement, although episodes like "Chimera" and "Fight Club" were showing just how much the show was starting to age. And Seasons 8 and 9 were okay; the former still had the ability to deliver the goods on occasion, while the latter has just been a disaster.

Season 4 was right smack in the middle of "The X-Files" sky-rocketing popularity. Ground-breaking episodes seemingly popped up almost every week. Just a few worth mentioning include: "Tunguska"/"Terma"; "Memento Mori"; and "Gethsemane." But every season of "The X-Files has had its share of bombs, and Season 4 is no exception: "Sanguinarium"; "El Mundo Gira"; and "Synchrony."

The DVD set is just awesome - you get all 24 episodes in as clear a picture as you will ever find. Where I come from, the channel "The X-Files" airs on isn't exactly clear, so to watch these episodes again in all their picture-perfect glory was quite the shock. There are seven disks in this set, the first six housing four episodes each. The seventh disk hosts a set of extras, including interviews with the cast and crew, special FX spots and all the promotional spots you saw on FOX back during Season 4's run.

This set may be a little pricey, but it's well worth it, in my opinion. Here's hoping that Seasons 1 though 8 make it to DVD and allow us to relive the memories of our favorite TV show all over again.

Don't even get me started on Season 9. I've given it one too many chances, and even a die-hard fan like me doesn't want to remember what the show has become. If you want classic Mulder and Scully, if you want "The X-Files" that delivers the goods, pick up the DVD sets for Seasons 1 through 8, especially Season 4.

The Truth is Out There - you just need to go out and buy it.