THE X-FILES A TO Z: I is for IMMORTALITY

Kelechi Ehenulo continues our alphabetical breakdown of The X-Files as I is for IMMORTALITY...

The rock group Queen famously once said, "Who wants to live forever?"

The notion feels tempting, right?  The ability to see the world beyond its years as it evolves.  When it comes to The X-Files, the concept of immortality is expansive.  Just like how the show finds balance in Mulder and Scully, the same can be applied to the subject.

Immortality (as designed on the show) can be viewed in two ways.

Firstly, there’s the literal sense.  The desire or ability to live longer or extending a natural life.  Whilst the show has always shone a torch into the darkness by exploring the paranormal and alien conspiracies, this concept is not unfamiliar.  In fact, it goes as far back as the first season.

In 'Young at Heart', criminal John Barnett defied the odds, which became one of many catalysts that defined Mulder's behaviour in regards to FBI procedures.  Barnett's supposed death in prison was a smokescreen.  He became a scientific experiment in which he could age backwards.  Like a wolf in sheep's clothing, his rejuvenated youth allowed him the perfect cover to re-commit the crimes he was famous for and terrorise the agent who incarcerated him.

In season two, 'Our Town' looked at immortality not through scientific experiments in which the government took a keen interest in.  The exploration came from food consumption.  The town of Dudley, Arkansas lived a secretive double life where everything on the surface seemed normal but in fact, lived a dark, cultural underbelly.  By resulting to cannibalism, the townspeople indulged in their own twisted version of "the fountain of youth".  Their culinary delights slowed down their aging, allowing them to appear youthful, defying the laws of nature.  The only way to understand their truth is if you discovered their actual birth certificate, they fed on someone suffering from a disease or the town got sloppy, battling their own interests over their tight-held secrecy.  All the above happened and Special Agent Dana Scully was nearly the next victim.

The show also looked at immortality in terms of genetics.  Leonard Betts was a human anomaly.  His body riddled with cancer to the point where not only he could diagnose it in other people but they also became his next target and victim.  Driven by compulsion and the help of an iodine solution, Betts fed off it to regrow lost body parts which included his severed head.

The episode 'Trevor' went a step further, combining genetics and supernatural phenomenon brought about by the weather.  Wilson Pinker Rawls gained the uncanny ability to pass through objects.  How?  By changing the composition and turning objects into carbon.  Besides an obvious weakness to glass, he was almost indestructible.

And living a longer life has gone as far as granting a person a wish.  In 'Je Souhaite', Jenn came across an ifrit.  Feeling intelligent, she spoke up and said “Je souhaite un grand pouvoir et une longue vie" (I wish for great power and long life).  Like a prison tattoo, she was given the mark of the Jinn and became a genie, granting wishes to those who unroll her from her rug.  In her own words, she should have been specific.

But can immortality be looked at in the spiritual sense?  That’s the second examination.

The bible has always inhabited the idea of life after death or an afterlife.  Our spiritual journey is everlasting as we take our next step into the next world.  In The X-Files and for the characters affected, the intentions are often emotional and self-serving.

Some have gone to the lengths of using their spiritual immortality as a revenge mechanism.  In 'Shadows', Howard Graves haunted his secretary Lauren Kyte.  Murdered by his work colleague and refusing to let Lauren suffer a similar fate, he did what was necessary to protect her from harm, including murder.  It was a relationship built on respect and parental-like affection as highlighted in a confession to Mulder and Scully where Lauren openly viewed Howard like a father.

In 'Born Again', Michelle Bishop was described as being a “disturbed child”.  But the investigation brought to light that she was possessed by Charlie Morris, a police officer drowned in his tropical fish tank by his colleagues.  Isaac Luria, a Hasidic Jew came back to life on the wishes of his wife to be in 'Kaddish'.  While it was her intention just to see her husband again after he was brutally murdered in a racially motivated attack, Isaac took on the form of a Golem, an emotionless man-made monster and murdered those involved in his death.

On the other hand, the opposite of the revenge mechanism are spirits finding newfound purposes or roles.  Some are based on the classic good vs. evil battle, transporting souls to where they will be safe and out of the hands of the devil, as displayed in 'All Souls'.  In 'The Field Where I Died', it was reincarnated souls, soulmates reuniting.  And in 'How the Ghosts Stole Christmas', the star-crossed lovers Lyda and Maurice just wanted to have fun.  Forming a lovers’ pact, every Christmas Eve their home and their Halloween style antics tormented anyone who dared to venture on their property.  In their own words, they didn’t forget the true spirit of Christmas.

But the biggest question in regards to immortality belongs to a certain FBI agent.  Is Dana Scully immortal?  There’s evidence to suggest that.

In the clever and hilarious episode 'Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose', Scully curiously asked the psychic on how she would die.  “You don’t” Clyde suggests.  Fast forward to season 6 in 'Tithonus', Scully is accidentally shot by Special Agent Ritter as he tried to apprehend Alfred Fellig.  While Ritter frantically rushed to get emergency help, Fellig guides Scully not to look at death, thus “transferring” his gift unto her and stealing her death.  Even in the new revival series, Scully casually remarks to Mulder that she’s immortal after surviving a precarious situation in 'Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster'.

Do I believe Scully is immortal?  I don’t know because it can be viewed either way.

The beauty about The X-Files was never to prove or disprove a theory, if that makes sense.  We are presented with some truths but the show was always an aura of mystery and ambiguity.  It invited you into the debate and tested your beliefs.  Ultimately it came down to the show’s core theme of faith, adopting the same balance principle as you would come to expect from Mulder and Scully and their investigations.  But whatever that result is on what you believe, it doesn’t take away how awesome the character is or the impact she continues to make.

The question is, is there an overall benefit to living forever?  The answer is not that straightforward.

The show treats it as a blessing and a curse.  John Barnett saw his extended youth not as a new beginning to start a new life but as a venture into payback.  He became a figure stuck on a loop, unable to change his addictive and remorseless nature.  The townspeople in 'Our Town' ultimately wanted a change of leadership, losing their faith in the man who introduced the culture to them.  Other examples such as 'Aubrey' and 'The Calusari' showcase the pain inflicted onto others by an unescapable past coming home to roost.

The Syndicate abused the idea by creating alien-human hybrids ('Two Fathers'/'One Son') as an alternative to survive the alien invasion.  Even cloning wasn’t beyond their reach ('Colony'/'End Game').  In 'Je Souhaite', Jenn being witnessed to 500 years of human history, became tired of watching the stupidity in humanity in asking for the same indulgent wishes.  “Give me money. Give me big boobs.  Give me a big hoo-hoo. Make me cool like the Fonz.  Or whoever's the big name now.”  In her eyes, humanity has not changed but has led to greediness, shallowness and self-destruction.

However, the ultimate feeling belongs to Alfred Fellig.  Despite his own misdemeanors and numerous attempts to end his own life, eternal life was hell.  Unable to pass over, he spends his time capturing the death of others in his photography.  Psychologically punished and tortured, photography was his way of coming close to experience what death felt like, to stare at its face.  By explaining this to Agent Scully, he paints an ugly picture, killing all aspects of romanticism or any idealist hope.  There’s no such thing as too much life, love or things yet to experience. When your time is up, that’s it.

Maybe that’s the point.  Maybe immortality is something you shouldn’t take in the literal sense.  Given whatever time we have, maybe the true essence of immortality is achieved through actions and sincere acts of integrity.  Through interactions of others and remembrance, they transcend and become something else entirely.  They become stories.  They become examples.  They become legends.

What Mulder and Scully have done is the definition of that.

Next time... J is for JOSE (CHUNG)

You can follow Kelechi on Twitter @geekmindUK.

REVIEW: The X-Files: Origins (Season 1 comic)

Matthew, son of Carl, Sweeney makes his reviewing debut for The X-Cast blog by taking a look at The X-Files: Origins...

Hi, my name is Matthew and I’ve been watching The X-Files for a while now with my dad. I started reading The X-Files Origins comics a few months ago. I am 9 years old.

These comics are 2 in 1, which is great. On one side is Scully’s story and, if you flip over, on the other side is Mulder’s. By the way, these stories are about an event in their childhood.

Scully’s Story

Her story is about the murder of her Sunday school teacher. She wants to find out who the killer was but is her father involved? I thought it was interesting because I never knew what was going to happen next. Was her father going to betray the Navy or was he going to help the Navy?

I admire Corin Howell’s artwork and Monica Kubina’s colours because they made the pictures look well designed.

I would give Scully’s story 5 files out of 5.

Mulder’s Story

Mulder’s story is about him and his friends sneaking into the woods trying to find a UFO. But is Eric’s dad involved?

I thought it was a good story but it wasn’t as good as Scully’s. As I said before, I appreciate the beautiful designs of the pictures. For Mulder’s story the art and colours are by Chris Fenoglio.

I would give Mulder’s story 4 and a half files out of 5.

Conclusion

I thought it was a very good comic overall but I preferred Scully’s story because it was more exciting. I believe other children would like these stories because they are interesting. I would like more of these fantastic tales. I hope the new books coming soon about young Mulder and Scully are as good as these comics.

Matthew is watching selected episodes of The X-Files for the first time. So far, his favorite episode is 'Ghost In The Machine' and his favorite character is Dana Scully.

THE X-CAST #82 - Fresh Bones

THE X-CAST continues with host Tony Black investigating Season 2 Episode 15, 'Fresh Bones'...

When a former US Marine dies suspiciously, Mulder & Scully investigate when suggestions are made that he was involved with voodoo practices that lead back to a Haitian refugee camp, where the agents discover a sinister history of riots, potentially concealed deaths, and a powerful voodoo priest who may, in particular, put Scully's life in jeopardy...

Joined for the first time by Jim Beard, one of the co-writers of IDW's anthology The X-Files: Secret Agendas, Tony explores one of the show's creepiest efforts.

Jim also discusses his Secret Agendas short story, 'Desperately Seeking Mothman', and how he came to write for the project.

Listen to find out more, just remember... trustno1...

Listen/Download here:

Next time on The X-Cast... join Tony and a Roundtable of guests as they put four X-Files episodes in a head-to-head battle to see who progresses to Round 2 of The X-Files Episode Tournament...

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION #12 - What are the funniest moments in The X-Files?

For our next roundtable chat based on a key X-Files question...

What are the funniest moments in The X-Files?

TONY: "This is easy. "Who's that black private dick who's a sex machine with all the chicks? 

SHAFT! Can you dig it?" "I DID NOT!!!""

ANDREW: "'Theef'… Mulder mocks Scully, pursuing his lips, “Mulder, why are we here?”

'Syzygy'… Mulder mocking Scully’s short, little legs

'Bad Blood'… Too many to list!

'Jose Chung'… Mulder’s girly scream

'Hollywood A.D.'… Scully showing Tea Leoni how to run in heels"

SARAH: "It might not be the most hilarious moment of the series, but my favorite funny moment is in 'Quagmire' after the boat crashes and M&S end up on the rock. They hear a sound and realize it's a duck. Mulder says, "I'm still tempted to shoot." And Scully gives him that little nudge. It's the nudge that gets me every time. Also in that same scene when they're discussing cannibalism (because what else do you do when stranded in the middle of a lake?) and he asks if she's lost weight--that classic Scully eye roll is everything.

'Triangle' --when past Scully punches Mulder and he says he expected the left.

When Scully kisses Skinner and the elevator door opens to reveal Spender and Kersh staring

.

Scully in a bib eating BBQ.

Mulder in a tree.

'Small Potatoes', 'Bad Blood', 'Je Souhaite'-- everything

Pie.

Bleeping aliens.

Every scene including the waterbed.

Okay, I'll stop now.

PAIGE: "Of course, Mulder's girlie scream was the first thing coming to mind. Eddie Van Blundht practicing F-B-I in the mirror. Mulder and Morris doing their underwear dance a la I Love Lucy in 'Dreamland'. Scully showing Tea Leoni how to run in heels in 'Hollywood A.D.' is righteous. Scully throwing water in Doggett's face at the start of the eighth season, because it just had to be done at that point in time. The reveal in 'Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose' that they're talking about Yappi and not Mulder, and then Mulder being tossed out of the room for his negative vibes. Scully eating the cricket in 'Humbug' and then the human pin cushion telling her the future looks like Mulder as he poses on the steps. Mulder eating piece after piece of pie in 'Jose Chung'."

JONATHAN: "Scully performing the autopsy in 'Three of a Kind' and the cigarette scene. All of 'Bad Blood', the Mulder and Scully married scenes in 'Arcadia'. When we hear Diana Fowley has been shot in 'The End'."

CARL: "The moment that never fails to make me laugh is Mulder's yelp in 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space'. Duchovny's pose towards the end of 'Humbug', which Paige mentioned, is another good one. There's a moment I love in 'Mulder & Scully Meet The Were-Monster', too. I've only seen the episode once, so I may be misremembering it slightly. Mulder says that he's now a middle-aged man, and leaves a pause for Scully to disagree with him. She says nothing, but he presses on anyway: "No, no, I am!" Made me laugh a lot."

BAZ: "Yes, far too many to mention. Mulder doing the dance in the wardrobe mirror of Morris Fletcher's bedroom in 'Dreamland', fake Mulder seducing Scully in 'Small Potatoes', Scully's sex scene with Guy Mann and Mulder trying to get a photo of the monster on his phone in 'Mulder and Scully Meet The Were-Monster', Clyde Bruckman telling Mulder he's going to die from autoerotic asphyxiation 'Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose', all of 'Jose Chung's from Outer Space' (particularly the description of Mulder and Scully, his yelp and Lord Kinbote), Scully's infatuation with the hick version of the sheriff in 'Bad Blood', Mulder's"get me a sandwich woman!" from 'Arcadia', Scully's ability to dismiss all of Mulder's theories in 'War of the Coprophages' and while not technically The X-Files, Mulder's red underpants pose FBI badge from The Simpsons episode 'The Springfield Files.

The great thing about The X-Files, is that for all the moments of horror, there are some truly wonderful comic moments. The show's ability to take the mick out of itself is what kept it fresh and funny for years. it's no coincidence that 'Mulder and Scully Meet The Were-Monster was the most loved episode of the revival'."

What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know your choices in the comments below or on social media!

IN DEPTH: The Truth (and all its consequences)

Andrew Blaker goes in depth on the original series finale, now Season 9 finale 'The Truth'...

'The Truth' brought to an end a landmark sci-fi TV series but was tasked with the impossible task of satisfactorily concluding nine years of uber-convoluted mythology, as well as propelling Mulder and Scully into the future, when the question of whether we’d ever again see them was very much unknown. It would, in fact, be six years before I Want to Believe hit theaters, and the series finale could very well have been the end for the beloved franchise.

Focusing on the final minutes of the episode, Mulder and Scully are last seen in a motel room in Roswell, New Mexico, echoing an intimate conversation the duo held in the pilot episode. Their fates are unknown: Mulder, and maybe Scully, are wanted by the FBI, and the toll their quest for the ever-elusive “truth” has taken on the duo—professionally and personally, including the “loss” of their son, William—is apparent. Their fates are left unresolved, but the viewer is nonetheless satisfied knowing they are reunited and protective of one another. Mulder’s final words, “maybe there’s hope,” have never sounded so wistful and promising.

But there are nearly 90 minutes before we get to that final scene. The series finale is not a perfect episode, but in this writer’s opinion does a solid job of summarizing the nine years of convoluted and at times oblique mythology that has consumed (and threatened) Mulder and Scully’s lives. For a significant chunk of the episode, it plays like a clip show, or “greatest hits” montage.

There are some solid moments throughout. Skinner finally gets a meaty role, cast as Mulder’s impromptu defense attorney. A.D. Kersh is thoroughly despicable for most of the episode, but proved himself a semi-decent guy by aiding in Mulder’s escape. And bringing many of the key players into the series finale to testify on Mulder’s behalf—Marita Covarrubias, Jeffrey Spender, Gibson Praise, and even Doggett and Reyes—while certainly adding credo to the “greatest hits” vibe, does hit on key aspect of the show’s history.

There are, however, plenty of disappointing moments throughout. First off, you can tell Chris Carter wrote it. The episode is chockful of the vague, pseudo-spiritual dialogue that weighed down the Chris Carter-penned episodes of Season 10 ('Babylon' anyone?) that really doesn’t reveal anything new in 'The Truth'. Every one of Mulder’s witnesses are “discredited” with a simple question, and this is just sloppy, lazy writing on Chris Carter’s part. Yes, the FBI lies to protect itself. Nothing earth-shattering here. Mulder’s trial very much feels contrived and awfully desperate (which it was), but the way this plays in the series is a bit anticlimactic. Was anyone surprised Mulder was found guilty, and sentenced to death? Did we expect anything different? And what happened to Skinner and Kersh? Skinner’s called into a meeting between Kersh and Toothpick Man just after Mulder’s escape, but we don’t learn what was discussed. This is a pretty jarring thread to leave hanging.

Doggett and Reyes are not given any real closure, despite helping Mulder and Scully escape the abuelos. And the confrontation with CSM is a nice touch, and there really is no other way the series villain should have gone out. Did anyone really believe a tumble down the stairs would finish him?

Ultimately, the series finale is anti-climactic but faithful to the mytharc. Hardly the worst episode of the series, and certainly not among its greatest episodes. 

One small mercy here: a final scene filmed between Toothpick Man (Alan Dale), who was poised to become the new CSM, and a George W. Bush look-a-like, was cut and relegated to the DVD bonus features. Best decision Chris Carter made for the episode: it’s a cringe-worthy and completely pointless scene, trapping the finale in the geopolitical issues of the day, and would have completely usurped the great ending scene between Mulder and Scully.

You can follow Andrew on Twitter @andrewblaker620.

THE X-CAST #80 - Chris Carter's The After

THE X-CAST continues with host Tony Black investigating, in the first Spotlight episode on one of The X-Files' writers, Chris Carter's recent 2014 pilot, The After...

A group of strangers become trapped in a parking lot lift in Los Angeles on what appears to be a normal day, until upon working together to escape they emerge into a world devastated by some kind of unknown event which has caused mass panic. What they find as they explore this new landscape is a truth none of them could have imagined...

Joined once again by The Irish M0vie Blog's Darren Mooney, Tony explores the Amazon series, Carter's characters and story, and the themes of what he was trying to create with this brand new show - one which didn't get past the pilot episode.

Listen to find out more, just remember... trustno1...

Listen/Download here:

Next time on The X-Cast... join Tony and his guest, Wayne Talbot of The Irish Pubcast, to talk Season 2's Die Hand Die Verletzt...

THE X-FILES A TO Z: H is for HEALING

Jonathan Hargadon continues our alphabetical breakdown of The X-Files by looking at the history of healing on the show…

The phenomenon of healing has featured in The X-Files many times over the course of its duration. The season one episode Miracle Man introduced us to the faith healing character Samuel Hartley (Scott Bairstow - later to be seen in Harsh Realm). Hartley performed many miracles and brought a man named Leonard Vance back to life by praying and laying hands on him after he was found dead in a fire. The creator of The X-Files, Chris Carter stated that for this episode he was basically trying to create the image of the Son of Jesus. 

"Samuel was a kid who had been given a gift. Our premise was, what if a prophet or certain someone with special powers was sent down to Earth? What would happen to him?".

In the season three episode 'The Blessing Way', FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is found near death on a Navajo reservation, and is nursed back to health by the tribe, led by Albert Hosteen (Floyd Red Crow Westerman). The episode's title The Blessing Way is a Native American concept and refers to a ceremony to awaken one to the natural order, choosing constructive and life-affirming choices; healing from intentions and decisions that destroy oneself and others. The four phases of the blessing way ceremony is a healing process that leads to curing.

In the final episode of season three, 'Talitha Cumi', the character of Jeremiah Smith (Roy Thinnes) was introduced. In this episode a man draws a gun in a cafe and shoots three people before being shot by police snipers. Smith revived the gunman and his victims by touching them with the palms of his hands. It transpired that Smith not only had healing abilities but also shape shifting abilities. In this episode it is also has revealed that the Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) is dying of cancer.

In the first episode of season four, 'Herrenvolk', Mulder's mother Mrs Teena Mulder (Rebecca Toolan) is healed by the bounty hunter (Brian Thompson) who places his hand on Mrs Mulder's forehead who proceeds to open her eyes. The bounty hunter was summoned to the hospital by the Cigarette Smoking Man whom once had an affair with Mrs Mulder.

In the season seven episode, 'All Things'. which was written and directed by Gillian Anderson, Scully enlists the help of a healer to provide alternative treatment for her ex-lover Dr. Daniel Waterson  (Nicolas Survoy) whom she had an affair with whilst at medical school who is recovering in hospital following a previously undiagnosed heart condition - Waterson fully recovers from this alternative treatment given to him.

In season eight, Jeremiah Smith re-appears in the episode 'This is Not Happening'. Smith has been helping a cult based on the beliefs that an apocalypse is coming and that aliens are taking over. Smith works with the cult's leader Absolom to heal abductees who have been returned, whose bodies  have been left in a battered and mutilated way by the aliens. Mulder who was abducted in the season seven finale returns and FBI Special Agent Dr. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) asks Smith for his help to heal Mulder. However, this is not possible as Smith is abducted by the UFO.

In another season eight episode, 'The Gift', we learn that Mulder was slowly dying of a brain disease. In a series of flash-backs we discover that Mulder visited a soul eater creature, who subsists off human disease, to heal Mulder of his brain disease. Mulder however, took pity on the soul eater. The soul eater does heal Marie Hangemuhl (Natalie Radford) of renal failure, at the hospital, her kidneys are described as "spontaneously healed". FBI Special Agent John Doggett (Robert Patrick) is also resurrected by the soul eater after he is shot dead, however, in resurrecting Doggett the creature has eaten death and subsequently dies.

In conclusion, healing plays a very important theme in The X-Files and had introduced new characters into the mythology of the show such as Jeremiah Smith and the bounty hunter. Healing has saved Mulder several times from the brink of death, the bounty hunter has saved Mulder's mother and the soul eating creature resurrected Doggett back to life. Scully (previously a skeptic) also went down the alternative healing route to save her ex-lover and also attempted to get Jeremiah Smith to help her to heal Mulder.

Next time ... I is for IMMORTALITY

You can follow Jonathan on Twitter @believer1013.

THE X-CAST #79 - Irresistible

THE X-CAST continues with host Tony Black investigating Season 2 Episode 13, 'Irresistible'.

After a series of corpse mutilations in Minneapolis, Mulder and Scully arrive to investigate what Mulder soon comes to believe is an 'escalating fetishist', someone with a powerful compulsion to desecrate the dead who may be preparing for his first kill. At the same time, the fetishist--seemingly normal delivery man Donnie Pfaster--undergoes a transformation as his disturbing compulsion grows. As Mulder closes in, Scully becomes increasingly unnerved by a case which gets truly under her skin...

Joined by fellow X-Cast blogger and huge X-Files fan Carl Sweeney, Tony breaks down the beats of 'Irresistible', while also discussing its influences, including Chris Carter's series Millennium. Carl also answers the 5 Questions of X.

Listen to find out more, just remember... trustno1...

Listen/Download here:

Next time on The X-Cast... join Tony and his guest, Darren Mooney, for a bonus episode discussing Chris Carter's most recent series pilot, The After...

THE X-FILES RANKED: 209 - Miracle Man (0 votes)

Sarah Blair begins the ultimate X-Files countdown of all 209 episodes, starting from the very bottom to the top as voted by you, with Season 1 Episode 18, 'Miracle Man'...

Here we have it, the one and only episode of The X-Files to come through with zero votes. To be quite honest, I thought there would have been more episodes to surface empty-handed. I most definitely never would have guessed the one to obtain this dubious honor would be ‘Miracle Man.’

Certainly, there are many endeavors over the course of the show that didn’t quite pan out the way Chris Carter and crew might have liked. Not all of them can be winners. With a breakneck production schedule, as well as monetary and network challenges, honestly, it’s a wonder The X-Files was able to pull off as many spectacular episodes that it did. But out of all of them, I feel like ‘Miracle Man’ is deserving of at least one vote.

As episode 18 of the first season, this marks the first ever writing collaboration between the show’s creator Chris Carter and producer Howard Gordon. In this standalone, agents Mulder and Scully travel to a small town in Tennessee to investigate a death in a popular tent ministry. The son of the minister is said to have the power to heal the sick, but his gift of life seems to have turned into the touch of death. Upon a re-watch, it seems there are a lot of ideas trying to be dealt with in a short amount of time. And isn’t that somewhat typical for the episodes penned by Carter? A great man with big ideas and not enough time and space to flesh them out properly. There’s the overarching theme of faith, along with Samuel’s struggle with his gift, and Mulder’s search and longing for his sister thrown in for good measure. All topics which could have been singled out and honed in on to craft a more memorable viewing experience.

One of only four episodes in the series directed by Michael Lange, it’s relatively straightforward, focusing mostly on the story rather than any spectacular visual effects. Not to mention, there was the giant hurdle of trying to make-over several Vancouver locations meant to represent Tennessee, and the fact that the Canadian actors all had a different idea of what a Southern American accent sounds like. (Side note: As a girl born and raised in Tennessee, I can tell you not one of them came close to sounding like a true Tennessean, but I applaud the effort.)

The moments where Mulder clings to the idea of discovering more about what might have become of his sister, and Scully rushing in to prevent him from having the wool pulled over his eyes are strong in establishing the foundation of each character and the relationship between them as partners and friends. Overall, this is where I believe the episode obtains most of its value.

Is ‘Miracle Man’ an outstanding or memorable episode? Not particularly. But it doesn’t entirely lack merit, and it deserves at least one point—if only for participation.

Memorable Quotes:

Sheriff Daniels: “99% of the people in this world are fools, and the rest of us are in danger of contagion.”

***

Mulder: “I think I saw some of these same people at Woodstock.”

Scully: “Mulder, you weren’t at Woodstock.”

Mulder: “I saw the movie.”

***

Scully: “You’ve got that look on your face, Mulder.”

Mulder: “What look is that?”

Scully: “The kind when you’ve forgotten your keys and you’re trying to figure out how to get back in the house.”

--

Our blog team also decided to rank the show based on their own lists, so here's what they picked in 209th place:

Tony: "BABYLON. For years it would probably have been 'Fearful Symmetry', but this was just absolute indefensible guff. Rampantly pretentious, borderline offensive in its approach to racial politics, and nonsensical while trying to be profound - Mulder's acid trip is just about the worst idea the show ever did, and this show did invisible elephants and space ghosts. This episode can fuck the fuck off until the end of time."

Andrew: "BABYLON. Shallow, terrible, terrible dialogue, terrible characterization, just terrible on absolutely every single front. No mystery here. Just Chris Carter at his absolute worst. This episode makes 'Fight Club' look like a Marx brothers’ masterpiece. Warning: The Mulder dance sequence may induce vomiting."

Paige: "3. It's an easy target -- an early ep without Scully. But there's just nothing remotely likeable about this one. It utilizes dozens of standard vampire conventions with the added hubris of casting David Duchovny's then-girlfriend so Mulder can get some."

Carl: "FIGHT CLUB. Mulder gets sucked into a storm drain and misses part of the action during this episode, and to be honest I was somewhat envious. It's a screechingly unfunny, tonally incoherent mishmash of an X-File with nothing to recommend about it. Doppelgängers are clearly something that interest Carter, but he found much better ways to incorporate them into other episodes."

Sarah: "THE TRUTH 1 &2. A ridiculous and unfulfilling finale as far as series finales go. It's the one and only episode on the show I've taken a solemn vow to never watch again. I'd like to live in my little bubble and pretend it doesn't even exist. It was a great relief when we got the second film and a much more satisfying ending."

Do you agree with this episode ranking? Let us know what you would put in this spot on Facebook, Twitter or via comments below!

THE X-FILES A TO Z: G is for GHOSTS

Paige Schector continues our alphabetical breakdown of The X-Files by looking at the history of spectres on the show…

 

Mulder: "Tell me you're not afraid."
Scully: "All right, I'm afraid. But it's an irrational fear."
--How the Ghosts Stole Christmas (Season 6)

The X-Files tackles the subject of ghosts in the same out-of-the-box manner we've come to expect from our show. While many of the atrocities witnessed on the show can be attributed to actual beings -- human or alien -- there are an array of phantoms sprinkled throughout the run.

The Season 1 episode "Shadows" doesn't top a lot of fan favorite lists. According to show lore, at this time the show had a directive for Mulder and Scully to investigate and "help people." So our heroes do their best when inexplicable -- and violent -- things start happening around a secretary and Mulder determines her late boss is dealing with things on her behalf with telekinesis. We don't see him at all, but witness the full brunt of his anger. Strangely enough, the very next episode "Ghost in the Machine" isn't really about a ghost at all. It's just a pesky old computer trying to take over the world.

Ghosts also stand -- or should it be hover? -- front and center in "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" from Season 6. This one stands as almost a polar opposite to "Shadows," with sparkling guest performances from Ed Asner and Lily Tomlin as the two spirits in a haunted house trying to talk Mulder and Scully into carrying on a holiday tradition they started, some kind of variation on a murder/suicide pact.

These aren't your average entities and they have our heroes behaving somewhat out of character. It's kind of nice to see them off their game for the balance of this one. Scully's definitely shaken. She's got detailed explanations for all of it at the ready, but the ingrained cliches from 1,000 horror movies still give her pause:.

"The whole idea of a benevolent entity fits perfectly with what I'm saying. ... That a spirit would materialize or return for no other purpose than to show itself is silly and ridiculous. I mean, what it really shows is how silly and ridiculous we have become in believing such things. ... That we can ignore all natural laws about the corporeal body ... that we witness these spirits clad in their own, shabby outfits, with the same old haircuts and hairstyles, never aging -- never in search for more comfortable surroundings. It actually ends up saying more about the living than it does about the dead." -- Scully, 'How the Ghosts Stole Christmas'

Mulder, usually enthralled with evidence of the supernatural, isn't so thrilled this time around. Maybe it's the shots Asner's Maurice takes at him, which probably hit a little close to home when he deems our FBI guy "a lonely man chasing para-masturbatory illusions that you believe will give your life meaning and significance, which your pathetic social maladjustment makes impossible for you to find elsewhere. You probably consider yourself passionate, serious, misunderstood."

The resolution to the show's biggest question -- what happened to Mulder's sister Samantha -- happens during Season 7's "Closure." In an emotionally charged moment Fox sees her cavorting with many children who died far too soon. They're still young and beautiful and seemingly unaffected the tragedies that befell them. Are they ghosts? Are they starlight? They certainly fit the textbook definition of ghosts -- souls or spirits appearing to the living. It gives Mulder something he (and we) have been awaiting for the longest time. Not only does he accept her fate, but he also attempts to help the psychic aiding the investigation do the same with his own long-lost son.

"You see so much, but you refuse to see him. You refuse to let him go. But you have to let him go now, Harold. He's protected. He's in a better place. They're all in a better place. We both have to let go."  -- Mulder, "Closure"

Apparitions appear in episodes such as Season 1's "Space" -- an other-worldly ghost inhabiting the body of a former Gemini astronaut -- and Season 2's "Excelsis Dei," in which a nurse is sexually attacked by an "invisible 74-year-old schizophrenic." Later in the second season, there's an unsettling amount of spooks seemingly caused by voodoo in "Fresh Bones" and some poltergeist activity that lures a toddler to his death in "The Calusari." Was there human involvement or did an executed inmate make good on his threat to kill those he considered responsible in Season 3's "The List"? Similar questions arise later in that season after Skinner is continuously victimized by an apparent

succubus in "Avatar,".

Similar questions arise later in that season after Skinner is continuously victimized by an apparent succubus in "Avatar," and then in Season 4, when ghosts of victims form the basis of Mulder and Scully's investigation in "Elegy." Later, it's Doggett's turn to be befuddled when an abducted child returns in Season 8's "Invocation" and a Gulf War casualty gets murderously metallic in "Salvage."

Cases could be made for a number of other X-Files in which there is clear and present evidence of manifested legends, but ghosts often have the biggest impact in small moments for our leads on the show -- like in Season 1's "Beyond the Sea" when Scully sees her father, apparently at the moment he has passed away, sitting in a chair. He's moving his lips and trying to tell her something, but she can't hear it. But she can hear her late sister, Melissa, in Season 5's "Christmas Carol," when a mysterious phone call eventually leads Dana to her daughter. Mulder often thinks he's seeing spirits from the past, be they past informants or members of his family. In the Season 9 finale, the show rounded up ghosts from the great beyond -- Krycek and X and the Lone Gunmen -- to aid Mulder when he needed them most.

There wasn't time for much ghostly presence in the six-episode revival (can't quite count Mulder's hallucinogenic Lone Gunmen dream), but here's hoping for Season 11!

Paige co-writes the Sibling Cinema X-Files rewatch blog with her sister and you can find her on Twitter @maxtuneage.

THE X-CAST #77 - Aubrey

THE X-CAST continues with host Tony Black looking back at The X-Files Season 2 episode 12 - 'Aubrey', written by Sara B. Charno, and directed by Rob Bowman.

In the small town of Aubrey, Missouri, a detective named BJ Morrow in a delirious outburst uncovers the long buried remains of two FBI agents missing since the 1940's. Mulder & Scully arrive to investigate BJ's strange discovery, and how it links to a historic series of violent murders in Aubrey, in which the word 'SISTER' was carved on the female victim's chests. When a new murder occurs, and BJ begins slipping into a strange madness, Mulder & Scully must face the question - nature or nurture?

Joined once again by Trek FM's Melodic Treks podcaster Brandon Shea-Mutala, Tony examines a much deeper and more fascinating X-File than people often remember. Plus Brandon, for the first time, takes on the X-Quiz this week - can he make a top score?

Listen to find out, just remember... trustno1...

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Next time on The X-Cast... join Tony as he examines the brand new book, The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos, with Secret Agendas contributing author George Ivanoff...

THE X-CAST #76 - Scott Bellis aka Max Fenig

THE X-CAST takes a break from episodes this week as Tony Black interviews, for the very first time, an actor who has appeared on The X-Files - guest star Scott Bellis, aka Max Fenig from S1's 'Fallen Angel' & S4's 'Tempus Fugit' & 'Max'.

In this conversation, Scott discusses how he came to be cast on The X-Files during the early days of its production, his working dynamic with David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson, and his experiences filming 'Fallen Angel' and then returning for a pivotal role in S4's two-parter. Scott also discusses his wider career in TV, movies and especially theater, including what he's up to right now.

Listen in for this exclusive chat with Scott, and just remember... trustno1...

Listen/Download here:

Next time on The X-Cast... join Tony for the show's first exclusive interview with a cast member, Max Fenig himself, Scott Bellis...

X-FILES TOP TEN: Season Finales

Carl Sweeney returns to once again deliver a top ten viewpoint, this time on The X-Files season finales...

I will, eventually, rank something with more than ten possible options. However, a few people got in touch after reading the Top Ten Season Openers piece and requested a follow-up looking at the Season Finales, and who am I to disappoint?

Overall, I think the season-ending episodes are a stronger bunch than the season-opening ones. A low position on this list, then, isn’t necessarily a condemnation in and of itself, with the exception of…

10. The Truth (Season 9)

This is fantastically exciting until Mulder sees his first ghost. Sadly, we’re only a few minutes in by that point. The Mount Weather sequence is promising, but that’s about as good as it gets. The kangaroo court is a poor premise that not even the great Kim Manners can breathe any life into, and it’s all undermined when the gang manage to break Mulder out incredibly easily. It picks up a bit towards the end, but not enough.

9. My Struggle 2 (Season 10)

There’s the basis of a great episode here, but things don’t quite come together. The Tad O’Malley interludes are quite inelegant and don’t really work, for a start. Secondly, the threat feels a bit abstract. Compare this near-apocalyptic scenario with the one that ends the second season of Millennium, then tell me which one feels more compelling and real. On the plus side, I think the way that Scully takes control of things is rather captivating.

8. The End (Season 5)

A curate’s egg of an episode. I really like the sequence where Krycek retrieves the Smoking Man from the snowy cabin, and the last few minutes are stirring. I’ve never much cared for Gibson Praise or Diana Fowley, though, which drags this one down for me. CSM speaking in chess metaphors throughout wears thin, too.

7. Biogenesis (Season 6)

This feels like a bit of an outlier in terms of the finales, but the turn the mythology took here is one I’m quite fond of in retrospect. It’s flawed, certainly. CSM and Krycek feel a bit crowbarred into this one. Mulder’s descent into madness is executed well, though, and the final image, of Scully having found a whopping great alien ship in the sand, is excellent.

6. Talitha Cumi (Season 3)

I probably would never have read Dostoyevsky if Carter (and Duchovny, who assisted on the story) hadn’t named the fast food restaurant in this episode after ‘The Brothers Karamazov’. For that, I’m grateful. The CSM/Jeremiah Smith interrogation is modeled after a sequence in the aforementioned book, a reminder that The X-Files was often a very literate show. I like this episode but I don’t think it’s in the same league as the earlier Season 3 mythology outings. The cliffhanger is a bit perfunctory, too, especially when compared with some of the others from the run of the series.

5. Existence (Season 8)

This would have been a nice place to leave things. The final scene, with Mulder, Scully & baby William, is very sweet. The rest of the episode goes by at a fast-enough pace that it just about papers over any cracks in the story. Krycek’s demise is indelible. So, too, is Reyes breaking into whale song, though not perhaps in quite the same way. The series never got closer than this to ending with a satisfying degree of closure. Of course, the ill-fated Season 9 was around the corner…

4. Gethsemane (Season 4)

'Gethsemane' has an impressive sweep to it, coupled with an intimate exploration of faith. It’s Chris Carter at, or close to, his most confident. Duchovny and Anderson have great material to work with her, and are reliably superb. The last scene continues to pack a real punch, no matter how many times I see it. I’m not sure the summer spent waiting for Season 5 could have felt any longer.

3. The Erlenmeyer Flask (Season 1)

This is a great episode because, after a hit and miss first year, it broadened the canvas for the types of stories the show could tell. It’s an episode that has held up fantastically well and never fails to quicken the pulse. The highlights, for me: Mulder finding the men in tanks at the storage facility; Deep Throat’s execution; and the phone call where Mulder informs Scully that the X-Files have been closed down. Carter concludes by going back to the beginning, by reprising a scene from the pilot. He would do something similar later in the series, on a number of occasions.

2. Anasazi (Season 2)

This is brilliant. I don’t think there’s a false note here, really. I take that back, I’ve just remembered Chris Carter’s cameo as an FBI agent. Duchovny deserves particular praise for his performance here. The first half of this episode, where our protagonist is under the influence of poisoned drinking water, offers a convincing portrayal of what Mulder would be like if he was even more paranoid. There’s a lot of other good stuff here, too, but especially terrific is the scene where Scully shoots Mulder to stop him killing Krycek. The final scene is a doozy. 'The Blessing Way' doesn’t necessarily follow up on the cliffhanger particularly well, but that’s another matter.

1. Requiem (Season 7)

I’ll confess to finding much of Season 7 quite underwhelming (with some very honorable exceptions). It ends magnificently, though, with 'Je Souhaite' and then 'Requiem'. It’s back to the beginning again, as Mulder and Scully return to Oregon, the scene of their first ever investigation. Some of Season 7 feels very tired, and not in a good way, but here the episode is imbued with a sense of weariness that is, paradoxically, rather wonderful. Your mileage may vary as to how successful the series was after this, but the place our protagonists are left in at the end of this episode was fitting and dramatically promising.

It’s an episode that has great material not only for Mulder and Scully, but also for some of the ensemble who had often been underserved. CSM’s death at the hands of Krycek here (Smokey’s 2^nd demise, of the 3 to date) is low-key and entirely effective. Mitch Pileggi is excellent, as well. I’m not sure he was ever better than he was here. This episode was written at an uncertain time for the series, by all accounts. Carter was unsure whether the future of the series was on the small screen or the big screen (or, indeed, whether it had much of a future at all). Given the circumstances, 'Requiem' is a bit of a miracle.

I’m very interested to hear other opinions on the finales, so please get in touch via the comments or on Facebook if you have an alternative view.

You can find Carl on Twitter @csweeney758.

THE X-CAST #75 - Excelsis Dei

THE X-CAST continues with host Tony Black looking back at THE X-FILES Season 2 episode 11 - 'Excelsis Dei', written by Paul Brown, and directed by Stephen Surjik.

Following the violent sexual attack on a nurse by what seems to be some kind of spirit being, Mulder and Scully head for the Excelsis Dei elderly care home after the nurse files a lawsuit against the Federal government, alleging one of the elderly patients raped her. What they find is a conspiracy among the patients to conceal a remarkable truth about how their chronic illnesses are receding, which may be tied to a sinister spiritual force...

Joined once again by Failed Critics & Character Unlock podcaster Andrew Brooker, Tony takes a scalpel to what he and Brooker come to believe may be one of the worst X-Files of all time. Brooker also takes on the X-Quiz this week - can he equal his previous top scores?

Listen to find out, just remember... trustno1...

(DISCRETION ADVISED: this episode features a heavier amount of profanity than usual and discusses some sensitive topics around the subject of sexual assault)

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Next time on The X-Cast... join Tony for the show's first exclusive interview with a cast member, Max Fenig himself, Scott Bellis...

1013 RADIO: Over the Rainbow

Carl Sweeney returns for another 1013 Radio, talking a classic from Season 6's 'The Rain King'...

In the early days of The X-Files, it was almost impossible to imagine an episode ending with ‘Over the Rainbow’ playing on the soundtrack. By Season 6, though, the series had changed considerably, and ‘The Rain King’ does indeed conclude with Judy Garland’s Oscar-winning song.

The song itself is one of the most famous American songs ever recorded. ‘Over the Rainbow’ (referred to by many as ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’) was written in 1939 by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, for MGM’s The Wizard of Oz. It’s an emotional ballad, sung in the first few minutes of the film when Dorothy is daydreaming about a better place than Kansas. The song won the Oscar that year for Best Original Song, and would remain Garland’s signature tune throughout her career. It’s not, however, a natural fit for The X-Files.

‘The Rain King’ is a sweet little episode, perhaps most memorable for a scene where Mulder dodges a flying cow.  It’s a romantic comedy, really, about not just Mulder & Scully’s investigation in the local resident apparently able to control the weather for financial gain, but about the unrequited love meteorologist, Holman Hardt feels for Sheila Fontaine. Unusually for The X-Files, there’s even a happy ending. Holman & Sheila get together, and normal weather patterns are restored to the town. There’s a short postscript, set one year later: we hear ‘Over the Rainbow’ as we see Sheila cradling her newborn baby. Your mileage may vary, but I think it’s a nice little scene. But the question remains: how did The X-Files, renowned for its scares and its chills, get to the point where it could use a Judy Garland song?

The X-Files moved production to Los Angeles between Seasons 5 & 6. The move had an immediate effect on the series. Gone was the atmospheric drizzle and mist that were such a hallmark of filming in Vancouver. LA’s warmer climate was reflected in the brighter, warmer look of the series. ‘The Beginning’ would open the season with an image of the baking desert sun. ‘Drive’ and ‘Dreamland’ would make notable use of the different types of location that the series now had at its disposal. The show as a whole now had a generally lighter feel than before, which would last until Season 8 attempted to go back-to-basics. If the series hadn’t moved to LA, ‘The Rain King’ may have ended up a very different episode in look and feel.

The move to LA, in my view, not only changed the look of the series but also broadened the types of music that could be appropriately used on the show. Mark Snow’s scores for Season 6 are more varied and more comedic than before (listen to the music that accompanies Mulder’s mirror dance in Dreamland for a particularly stark example of this), and songs which would once have felt out of place now warrant inclusion. ‘Over the Rainbow’, which is very difficult to imagine being used in the early years of the show, feels suitable when used in ‘The Rain King’.

* ‘The Rain King’ wasn’t the first time that the series had tipped its hat to The Wizard of Oz, of course. ‘Triangle’ is heavily indebted to the film, and in ‘Fight the Future’, Mulder jokingly refers to The Lone Gunmen as “Cowardly Lion…Scarecrow…Toto” (Frohike is the one who was unfairly compared to Dorothy’s canine companion).

You can follow Carl @csweeney758 on Twitter.

THE X-CAST #73 - Red Museum

THE X-CAST continues with host Tony Black looking back at THE X-FILES Season 2 episode 10 - 'Red Museum', written by Chris Carter, and directed by Win Phelps.

In the small town of Delta Glen, Wisconsin, Mulder and Scully investigate the mysterious disappearance of a teenage boy who reappeared bearing the words 'HE IS ONE' on his back, who the local sheriff believes may have been possessed. Drawn into probing the new age Church of the Red Museum as suspects, Mulder and Scully soon discover something far more insidious is happening in this town, something that may connect back to the death of one of Mulder's closest allies...

Joined once again by friend and TV watcher Matt Latham, Tony reconceives an episode strangely tied into the greater mythology of the show, while Latham takes the X-Quiz - can he get full marks once again like he did with 'Space'?

Listen to find out, just remember... trustno1...

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Next time on The X-Cast... join Tony & writer Sarah Blair as they deconstruct the first ever X-Files tie-in novel, Charles Grant's 'Goblins'...

IN DEPTH: The X-Files and its Influence on Modern Television

Baz Greenland talks about The X-Files and how it's influenced popular modern television...

While it is easy to cite the influences of shows like Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Twin Peaks on the creation of The X-Files, it is also interesting to note just how much of an influence The X-Files has had on modern television. While it is known for monsters and aliens, its ability to tell varied stories week by week is what kept the show fresh year after year.

One week Mulder and Scully would be hunting a gruesome monster, the next involving themselves in a political thriller in the highest reaches of the US government. The week after that they would find themselves profiling a serial killer and the week after that a comedy drama involving absurd aliens and characters. It was never just one genre.

Ir is easy to see just how much of  an impact on TV the show has had in the years since Mulder and Scully began their long quest for the truth. It opened a window to the FBI, which was largely shrouded in mystery in the years before. FBI-based shows have taken crime procedurals to another level, from criminal profilers in Criminal Minds (a show I will discuss in much greater detail shortly), to Fringe, which was largely seen as The X-Files' successor and now shows like Bones, The Blacklist, Blindspot and Quantico.

Let's talk about Fringe first, a show that began as an obvious The X-Files clone, as FBI agent Olivia Dunham and her team investigated 'Fringe' cases that sat outside the norm. In the first season we had a plane full of people dying mysteriously, a baby that aged 80 years with ties to a serial killer, a man with the ability to manipulate electricity, people with liquified brains, parasites wrapped around their victim's hearts, a man that can predict the future, people killed by dreams and murder victims who died by having every orifice sealed. These all sound as if they have been ripped straight out of The X-Files (in fact there are many similarities with classic episodes). But the ironic thing is that it only went from good to great when it moved away from this formula and expanded its own mythology; the concept of a war between alternate realities.

But just because a show follows The X-Files formula, that doesn't mean it can't be successful. If Fringe tried to be The X-Files, then Supernatural was the true successor. By changing the setting - two brothers who hunt supernatural creatures - it felt a lot less obvious but it does follow the pattern Chris Carter established with a mix of mythology episodes (usually centred around an upcoming apocalypse) and monsters of the week. In fact, the narrative of the first five seasons was about the end of the world, culminating in the rise of Lucifer, but like The X-Files, Supernatural  struggled the more it went on. Both shows wrapped up the majority of their myth arcs (The X-Files with 'One Son' in season six) and both struggled to continue it after the natural end. In The X-Files we had super soldiers, in Supernatural we had Leviathans, the Darkness and angels falling to Earth.

Supernatural was arguably more successful on the mythology front in its early years as that show had an end game. The X-Files meanwhile has produced more memorable monsters like Tooms and the Flukeman. Interestingly, where they both excel are the comedy episodes. If The X-Files classics like 'Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"' and 'Mulder and Scully Meet The Were-Monster' are considered comedy gold, then Supernatural has proved itself in its ability to provide equal hilarious episodes like 'Changing Channels' and 'The French Mistake'.

At the other end of the scale, The X-Files ability to delve deep into the dark psyche of terrifying killers like Donnie Pfaster, Luther Lee Boggs and John Lee Roche has led to another facet in television crime drama. Fox Mulder was a criminal profiler before his time investigating the supernatural and that experience led to audiences meeting some truly chilling monsters.

Episodes like 'Irresistible' led to retroactive-spin off Millennium, but the show was also responsible for dramas like the long running Criminal Minds, which focuses on a specialist FBI unit's attempts to understand and capture some of the US's most deadly serial killers. When Criminal Minds is at its best, it can deliver some truly horrifying storylines, killers that can chill the audience to the bone. Would it be as accessible without The X-Files introducing audiences to the worst of humanity? 

Perhaps. But The X-Files brought serial killers into the mainstream; not all of them were supernatural, but they were just as terrifying as the likes of the Mothmen or Eugene Victor Tooms.

Shows like Person Of Interest, which deal with a deep distrust of the government, owe a lot to The X-Files too. Even in the much derived season nine, episodes like 'Trust No 1' created the idea of an ever watching secret government watching our every move and knowing our deepest, darkest secrets. Person Of Interest is all about the concept of a government that has the untapped power to surveil the lives of every citizen, while using those secrets to predict crime and save lives.

The X-Files also gave us writers like Vince Gilligan, who would go on to produce Breaking Bad, Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, the masterminds behind 24 and Homeland and Frank Spotnitz (The Man In The High Castle). Most importantly, it gave is David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. While both would do well, it is Anderson who is arguably the critical star of modern television, with prominent roles in Hannibal, The Fall and American Gods. 

The X-Files may not be at its height but its popularity continues, with many desperate for season 11. Most significant is its influence on modern television; without Mulder and Scully TV might look very different...

You can find Baz on Twitter @bazgreenland.