Review of X Files, The: Season 2 Boxset

Introduction

The second season of The X Files arrives on DVD. Just to put that in perspective, the seventh season is currently airing on BBC 2, and the eight season is currently airing on Sky One. When the second season aired on Sky and then BBC 2, it was trendy to like The X Files. Now it`s become trendy to knock The X Files, but some of the criticism seems to be well founded. When you sit down and watch the second season it was definitely a defining era, with some excellent writers and directors on board.

Recent seasons have been a let-down by comparison, as some of those early writers and directors have gone on to bigger projects, and their replacements haven`t been able to live up to the quality of earlier seasons. It`s fair that Fox should take some of the blame, as they seem to want to keep squeezing as much life out of The X Files as possible.

But back to the second season. All 25 episodes are presented here, and whilst the season on the whole was a good one, there is still some huge variation in the quality of the episodes themselves. So let`s run through them briefly.

Little Green Men

The season opener written by Glen Morgan and James Wong (who wrote some of the best episodes), and directed by David Nutter (who directed a lot of the first season). An excellent way to open the season, and plenty of insight into Mulder`s character. Very well written and directed, and kicks the season (and the set) off on a high.

The Host

Written by creator Chris Carter and directed by Daniel Sackheim. An unsubtle monster romp, featuring a nasty big worm thing that lives in the sewers. Not the best of episodes, but there are still some classic XF moments.

Blood

Directed by Darin Morgan (one of the show`s best writers) and written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. A classic episode which sets the season back on track. Possible government conspiracies, rational scientific explanations and the return of The Lone Gunmen.

Sleepless

Sleepless is an important episode, as it introduces us to Alex Krycek, who you will come to know and love during the following seasons. Initoally he starts out as Mulder`s new partner, but things don`t always turn out the way you think they might. An interesting idea behind the story itself, and it works well.

Duane Barry and Ascension

Two more important episodes, as they were the first X Files two-parters, with that first glimpse of "To Be Continued..." Written and directed by Chris Carter and then Michael Lange and Paul Brown, this is the beginning of the X Files "mythology", with events unfolding. Had Gillian Anderson not been pregnant and therefore unavailable for several weeks, the show might have taken a different path. There are several holes to be found here, but the importance of what transpires will be felt more and more in subsequent seasons.

3

The X Files suddenly goes vampire. With Andersen away, the boys will play, and we get the Mulder-centric "3". Directed with some style by David Nutter, we get an excellent distraction from what has happened in the previous episode as we meet blood-suckers, people who bake loaves of bread filled with blood, and Mulder even gets a shave from a blood-sucking vampire. Whatever happened to "Trust No-One"? Adding spice to the mix is the fact that this vampire was his partner at the time. An excellent episode.

One Breath

Directed by Bob Goodwin and written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. From the Mulder-centric "3" we now go into full-on Scully mode, as "One Breath" concentrates on the return of our other favourite agent. We get conspiracy theory, layers of characters and difficult choices. One of the strongest episodes and a good conclusion (if you can have such things in The X Files) to what "Duane Barry" started.

Unfortunately my review copy was missing disc 3, so I was unable to view the following 4 episodes. I`ll still give you a rundown though.

Firewalker

This takes us back into season one territory, borrowing heavily from some of the episodes there. Loads of flashlights, hints of "Alien". Scully is back at work and it probably seems like she`s never been away. A little formulaic, but quite a typical episode of the show.

Red Museum

Directed by Win Phelps (who was never seen again if memory serves) and written by Chris Carter, and it has many Carter hallmarks. There`s some conspiracy, some self-reference (it`s almost part of the mythology arc, but not quite). It also leaves a lot of loose ends which have still to be tied...

Excelsius Dei

A bit of a mess of an episode, let down by bad direction and a lot of holes in the writing. Drugs, magic mushrooms and ghosts did not make a good combination for an X Files. A similar theme is revisited with more success in season three.

Aubrey

Written by Sara Charno, and a good first episode for her. More great direction from Rob Bowman adds to the story, as it twists and turns from murders in the past to murders in the present day. A classic X File.

Irresistible

Thank goodness that this was not one of the episodes missing from my review copy, as it is one of the best ever stand alone X Files. Thank goodness for studio executives (for once) as this episode was originally pitched rather differently, but Carter couldn`t get them to back it. So he changed the slant on it, and delivered a story about fear. An excellent villain, a great beginning, middle and end and subtle visuals add up to a must-see piece of television.

Die Hand Die Verletzt

The last episode of the season from Morgan and Wong - they went off to work on "Space: Above and Beyond" - brings a humorous take on some subtle horror. It seems that an experience with a nasty supply teacher at school must have had a lasting effect on them. There are some good moments, but perhaps a let-down on the whole.

Fresh Bones

A mid-season lull is continued with "Fresh Bones", a story of zombies and army camps, and one of Howard Gordon`s weakest.

Colony/End Game

David Duchovny gets his first writing credit, working with Carter and mythology writer Frank Spotnitz on this two-parter. New layers of the mythology are thrust into the mind of the viewer, with shape-shifting alien bounty hunters, human/alien clones. Acting, writing and directing combine to give two excellent episodes, with overtones that are returned to many times in later seasons.

Fearful Symmetry

After the highs of the previous episodes, we drop into another low, with debutants directing and writing. The Lone Gunmen make a brief but welcome return, but the whole Noah`s Ark style plot just doesn`t fit in well with the episodes. Easily missable.

Dod Kalm

Just when you thought it couldn`t get worse, it does. Dod Kalm is an incredibly weak episode, stranding our heroes on a Norwegian trawler and trying to prevent them from leaving it alive. A very bad example of The X Files.

Humbug

Another episode from the pen of Darin Morgan. This time we get "circus freaks", and a mix of horror and humour (Morgan`s trademarks). Away from the traditional darkness we even get a Bond-like scene in a hall of mirrors. Whilst it is amusing, it doesn`t fit in with the season as a whole.

The Calusari

A second outing for Sara Charno gives us an Exorcist style episode, with Omen overtones. After a promising start it does suffer from being a bit formulaic. An interesting episode, without reaching the heights that you might expect.

F Emasculata

A classic episode, with a nasty virus, more government conspiracies, nasty drugs companies and big boils that explode from the skin. This definitely falls into the classic category, and casts more seeds of doubt about some of the recurring characters who we will see more of later.

Soft Light

Some more weird science, this time from a man with a killer shadow. Lots of physics-babble here, with quarks and dark matter heavily discussed. Government conspiracies raise their little heads again, and whilst it is flawed this is still a good X File.

Our Town

We`re nearly at the end of the season, but first there`s the episode that will change the way you look at chicken forever. With references to BSE and CJD (still topical today of course), we get cannibalism and fast food, and Scully in danger once more. The calm before the storm as we lead up to...

Anasazi

The season finale, so you just know you`re in for a cliffhanger. One that had fans talking for a whole summer. And one of the best episodes of the show, followed by two good but weaker concluding episodes. Further layers of mythology are peeled away (and some instantly discarded), more conspiracy (poisoned water, murdered relatives). Even Chris Carter gets screen-time as an FBI big-wig. A total classic, and you`ll be rushing to find your season three tapes to watch how it all concluded.

Video

A 4:3 transfer is on offer here, and this is how the season was originally shot. The quality is excellent throughout, with no noticeable artefacts and no problems to be seen. There are a lot of dark scenes (often with torch beams cutting through them) and these all look good.

As you would expect for a science-fiction drama, there are plenty of special effects used throughout the season, ranging from simple make-up effects to full-on morphing. Almost all of the effects look good and add to the quality of the shows. Some of the make-up effects used in certain episodes don`t quite come up to scratch, but it`s mostly all good.

Audio

A DD2.0 stereo soundtrack (the same as first broadcast) is on offer and does its job well. If played through a home cinema amp with surround mode on, you`ll find some work for rear speakers and some interesting audio effects.

It`s good to be back in the second season when Mark Snow`s scores for each show were fresh and exciting, with little recurrences here and there, and real tension-building moments. The scores were definitely integral to the success of the show, and it`s a shame that they have become rather jaded during the later seasons.

Features

I must admit to being very disappointed by the extras here. A mere handful of deleted scenes (surely there were more than a few minutes of them given that over 1000 minutes of the show are presented on the disc). A few behind the scenes shots leave a similar feeling of disappointment - there must have been so much more. For example, the "blooper reels" have become things of legend amongst online fans - it would have been nice to see some of those out-takes here.

You also get some "international clips" which are just short dubbed scenes from various episodes. These are interesting but not of lasting value.

All of these extras can be accessed on the relevant individual discs, and most of them are also collated on the final disc, where you`ll also find several short documentaries about the second season, several 1-minute "featurettes" which were shot quite a bit after the second season for the re-runs on the FX network plus 10 and 20 second trailers for each show, all of which end with "The X Files, Fridays at 9 (8 Central)" which becomes tedious after a while. The short interviews with Chris Carter which appear here also appeared on the VHS box set of the second season.

It`s a reasonable package of extras, but there could have been so much more, and it doesn`t offer enough over and above the VHS version.

Conclusion

A tricky decision here. In its own right this is a great set, with great picture and sound and a nice selection of extras. But quite a few fans might already own the VHS box set of the second season. And if you do I can`t really recommend that you shell out another 70 or 80 pounds for the DVD edition. Yes the picture and sound are better. Yes there are more extras. But I don`t feel that there are enough to justify more expenditure.

If you didn`t splash out on the VHS set though, then this is definitely for you. A chance to enjoy some of the best episodes of the show in fantastic DVD quality.

If you`re not a fan you`ll be unlikely to want to pay 70 or 80 pounds for this set, no matter how good it is!