X-files reboot?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Mirrorblade.1, Jan 18, 2015.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Lownote30

    Lownote30 Bass Clef Addict

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    I thought last night's episode was great! Classic X-Files to me. As a standalone, it stood up to the older episodes of the same nature IMO.
     
    kevywevy, parman and MikeInFla like this.
  2. marblesmike

    marblesmike Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    I liked it too.
     
  3. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central
    I liked the Episode, but one Caveat.

    The lighting was SOOO Dark, it was hard to make out faces or anything in most of the scenes.
    Details? What details?
    I felt like my eyes were physically straining to see the picture, and I have a calibrated plamsa, and checked a couple other channels to make sure even.
    My wife thought I had intentionally messed with the picture in some attempt to intentionally make it really contrasty and dark!
     
  4. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    It really does suck, this dark, murky picture. . . and it's not even matching the content in any important way.

    I'm entertained by the series, just. . . I'm going to keep watching. But it's not "compelling" in any way.
     
    Higlander likes this.
  5. NickCarraway

    NickCarraway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gastonia, NC
    No lie: I was tempted to add "or a character named Judy" when I originally posted this. My TV is spared.
     
  6. NickCarraway

    NickCarraway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gastonia, NC
    Great premise, meh resolution.

    Trivia #1: The song Arkie body-surfs to was written by Duchovny.
    Trivia #2: Judy is played by the actress who was Mother in the "Home" episode.
     
    Mazzy, parman and Lownote30 like this.
  7. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central
    It was like the just saved electric by not lighting the show well at all.
    And sadly it took away from my enjoyment a big amount.

    It was not moody, realistic or anything, just DARK for the sake of dark.
    No modern day hospital would ever have hallways that dark.

    The one black nurse, had her face literally vanish several times, while walking down the hall....sad.
     
  8. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    i caught that right a way. along with the brother's house being a clear homage to the peacock's from that episode.

    therein lies my problem with the series now: even what we're apparently calling a "good" episode nowadays is leaning heavily on been there, done that territory.

    this episode felt like it was written/filmed without the idea of commercial breaks in mind and edits made forced the plot pacing to suffer. the only show i can think of that has a consistently worse script is the walking dead. bummer.
     
  9. parman

    parman Music Junkie

    Location:
    MI. NC, FL
    I thought episode 3 was a good one. The brother and sister were creepy and weird, way out there. Able to communicate with each other. It appeared they were responsible for their parents death. Sort of unexplained how they conjered up the doppelgangers but I liked the idea.
     
    smilin ed likes this.
  10. balzac

    balzac Senior Member

    That probably describes at least 50% of the episodes of the show's entire run. Indeed, the weird anti-climactic non-resolution resolutions to episodes was one of Chris Carter's and the show's signature moves.
     
  11. balzac

    balzac Senior Member

    I've been alternating between the new season and older seasons.

    I have to say, one of the big problems with the new season is that it just feels too frantic and rushed, in terms of moment-to-moment action and editing and story structure.

    Even the "meh" episodes in the original seasons left some room to breathe usually.

    As for Episode 3 of the new season, I wasn't impressed. As someone else said, it was a good premise I suppose, but it wasn't executed that well and indeed had a "meh" resolution. I'd say it might have been better than Ep1 and Ep2, but not by much.

    The show still feels rushed and kind of lazy. It's like they do an outline of what it's going to be about, and then make sure they his certain story points at certain moments, but nobody takes a step back to actually look at how compelling it is.

    Again, watching the older seasons in tandem with this new season is *very* instructive. I just watched the Season 7 finale and the opening two episodes of Season 8. These were not A-grade "X-Files" episodes, but in comparison to the new season they had urgency (but still breathing room), poignancy, and true thrilling and tense moments that the new season hasn't had at all. The shape-shifting "bounty hunter" may not have been the most original, perfect idea, especially as time went on, but it creates a ton more tension in the show and a true desire to want to find out what happens next. I really don't care when the new season episodes end.

    And yes, the show is WAAAAYYYY too dark. I don't know what the deal is. No offense to Gillian Anderson, but I don't think they're darkening it to hide age, as she's had significant work done on her face.

    I appreciated the actress doing the dual roles of brother and sister, but it still came across as too goofy (people, not *every* X Files episode is supposed to have goofy, dumb moments!).

    Chris Carter continues to prove after 25 years that he can't figure out how to write the weird Mulder/Scully sort-of romantic relationship. He can't settle on any course. It doesn't help that Duchovny and Anderson never had *amazing* chemistry, but used to have solid chemistry in the olden days but have little now in 2018.

    If this script had been used in the old seasons, it would have been, at best, one of those "well, that was an episode I guess" sort of episodes that's quickly forgotten.

    With the possible exception of the British guy doing the "Were Monster" thing last year, the standalone episodes in this new run have had none of the memorably bad guys/monsters of the past like Eugene Tooms or Donnie Pfaster.
     
    Ghostworld likes this.
  12. And there was probably a climax at the very end :tiphat:
     
  13. AJH

    AJH Senior Member

    Location:
    PA Northern Tier
    Well, I'm a person with a new calibrated OLED TV, and I couldn't believe how bad a large portion of these episodes look. Also for me, at the beginning of this episode, the sound level was again really low, but it seemed to get better as the episode went along- probably my local Fox affiliate is at fault for some of it.
     
  14. Best episode to date. The broadcast transfers have not been the best. I agree that they are too dark even on a properly calibrated set. Yes, Gillian had work done but she had work done way before this episode. Her hair style does elongate her face but she's had quite a bit of botox as well.
     
  15. DigMyGroove

    DigMyGroove Forum Resident

    And this is why I NEVER watch live network TV. Any network shows are viewed via my Hulu Plus subscription; no commercials at all, most definitely worth the $3 extra per month.
     
    Galley and Spitfire like this.
  16. Spitfire

    Spitfire Senior Member

    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    We never watch these kind of shows live anymore. We DVR them and watch them the next day usually and skip the commercials. Only way to go.
     
    kanakaris and DigMyGroove like this.
  17. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I agree the new series is MEH. David Duchovny seemas barely alive. Dana is still fine. Chris Carter is trying to goose the show with all these useless, ridiculous action scenes.. Particularly bad as this last episode which made zero sense. What was the brother and sister's power. Telepathy, thought beings, what a mixed up confusing episode. The old shows used to wind up with Mulder or Scully giving the best explanation of what went on. There was no explanation in this show because I don't think Chris Carter had any idea what the %^&*( it was about, either.
     
  18. Alternative4

    Alternative4 One of These Days I'll Get an Early Night

    Location:
    New Zealand
    I 100% agree with this. The music I find particularly overwhelming, cluttering the dialogue a lot of the time. That said, the latest episode was fantastic and had a lot of room to breathe as there was little in the way of music.

    I for one always enjoyed the slightly anti-climatic endings and felt they worked because there was often enough circumstantial evidence to support the weird things (although often only seen by Mulder) were true but never enough hard evidence to prove the x-file. Therefore supported Mulder's believe everything approach but gave Scully enough evidence to think he may be right (in her skeptical way), while never supporting one side or the other.
     
    Encuentro likes this.
  19. Encuentro

    Encuentro Forum Resident

    Interestingly, in the show's initial run, there are those rare moments in which the roles of skeptic and believer are completely reversed. Cases involving religious phenomenon turn Mulder into the skeptic and Scully into the believer. Scully's religious background is a recurring theme in the show. It's interesting that, despite being a skeptic, she always wears that cross around her neck.
     
    marblesmike likes this.
  20. NickCarraway

    NickCarraway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gastonia, NC
    Now THAT'S more like it. Bravo, Darin Morgan.

    [​IMG]
     
  21. Alternative4

    Alternative4 One of These Days I'll Get an Early Night

    Location:
    New Zealand
    I can't remember the last time I laughed that much. What a great episode.

    The Alien's voice and screams were classic.
     
  22. misterbozz

    misterbozz Senior Member

    Location:
    Nerima-ku, Tokyo
    Unexpectedly great and timely episode.
     
    vince and chrischerm like this.
  23. marblesmike

    marblesmike Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    I like how even though current political themes were explored, it wasn't an outright bashing of either side nor was it too heavy-handed. I wish the rest of TV and Hollywood would follow suit. Well-written and acted episode.

    I know (almost) everyone here will disagree, but this new season has been pretty much good all the way so far with fewer missteps than last season.
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2018
    chrischerm, smilin ed and MikeInFla like this.
  24. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    And once again I forgot to watch last night and will have to catch up tonight via streaming. I've done it every week so far, except for the first.
     
  25. balzac

    balzac Senior Member

    Episode #4 by default was almost surely the best so far. I still don't think it was anything approaching great, with far too much emphasis on being funny. They would do goofy episodes now and then in the original run, but I think they're milking the sarcastic, meta, jokey stuff far too much this season.

    This episode actually had some good premises, but they kind of too quickly made it super goofy.
     
    GentleSenator likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine