Case 02, File 24: Our Town

AKA: Cannibal Summer

I've mentioned before that The X-Files is a very subjective show. There are episodes that we all know are good, there are episodes we all know are bad, and there is a rainbow of a hundred different quality levels in between, and how you feel about individual episodes can be up to a myriad of different factors. This is my long form way of saying, I really like this episode, but I have trouble quantifying why.

Case 02, File 23: Soft Light

AKA: This Watchmen Fanfic Kinda Goes Off The Rails

There are a lot of reasons to like a specific X-Files episode. An interesting character, a cool concept or even just a fun effect. Less often cited are genuinely great performances, outside of our two leads. Oh a lot of people give solid work (Tony Todd in Sleepless or Brad Dourif in Beyond the Sea), but they're usually paired with a great script, so they don't have to carry the whole episode. There are, as you may have guessed, exceptions.

Case 02, File 22: F. Emasculata

AKA: No One Is Getting Emasculated, I Don't Know Why It's Called That

The X-Files is a paranoid show. I don't really know how to defend or elaborate on that premise, it's just so blindingly obvious to me. The premise of the show is literally that the government is, in fact, out to get you (although the cognitive dissonance that is the fact that the two leads are government agents is something the show consistently fails to deal with). What I do wish it did more of though, is spend some time acknowledging that, while the government can be evil sometimes, it has nothing on what the private sector can do.