Case 03, File 05: The List

AKA: Orange Is The New Dish Best Served Cold

You know, when I first entered the second season, I assumed The X-Files would leave the 'Revenge From Beyond The Grave" in the first season, but more and more I've found that to not be true. And I think I know why; They're easy to write and produce. They basically function like X-Files madlibs; You have your basic structure, you just come up with your hook and your reason for revenge, and you can knock the script out in a week. Unfortunately this means they start to feel a little samey after a while.

Case 03, File 04: Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose

AKA: How To Psychically Save A Life

Addressing death and mourning is always going to be difficult in the context of a TV show, especially a show that isn't geared to give those issues the weight they deserve. I'm already not the biggest fan of The Office, but I found the bird funeral in Grief Counseling exceptionally cloying and the less said about How I Met Your Mother's attempt to make us feel grief in the final season, the better. But, when a show does it right, it becomes legendary, like Scrubs' My Old Lady, Buffy's The Body and, indeed, Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose.

Case 03, File 03: D.P.O.

AKA: 'Electric Slackers' Would Be A Good Name For A Rock Band

I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: One of the things that makes The X-Files so lasting is that, for the most part, it was pretty unstuck in time. It was a show that was at the pinnacle of cultural relevance at the time, but never really tapped into the cultural mentality of the time the way Seinfeld did. But that doesn't mean it can't be influenced by the way the culture was feeling at the time, and thereby tap into the zeitgeist, even accidentally.