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Special Features
- 6 Disks in new thinpack packaging
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The show also continued to take breaks from the dizzying, heavy mythology to serve up standalone episodes with the show's unusual blend of sophisticated humor and creepy paranormal explorations. In "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man," the show parodied the scope of the public's conspiracy paranoia, implying that Cigarette Smoking Man was involved in everything from JFK's assassination to the Buffalo Bills' four straight losses in the Super Bowl. The three previous seasons had not exhausted the list of popular paranormal phenomena to tackle, and season four covered a wide range of topics from invisibility ("Unrequited"), past lives ("The Field Where I Died"), and inbreeding ("Home") to shape-shifting ("Small Potatoes") and golems ("Kaddish"). The X-Files proved, again, to be that rare science-fiction show that could both frighten and touch its audience, telling intelligent stories that resonated with the skeptic in each of us, all the while sprinkling in a few laughs. --Eugene Wei
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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.
All 24 episodes are on 7 discs, with documentaries, deleted scenes, etc.
Episodes:
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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.
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.
