Case 07, File 16: Chimera

AKA: Should I Watch Full Metal Alchemist So I Can Make A Reference To It Here?

I talk a lot about the themes of this or that X-Files episode, but honestly, a lot of that is just subtext. Sure every so often you end with an episode like Clyde Bruckman that takes a big idea and explores it with heart and nuance, but more often you get a general concept and maybe some subtext or small character arcs that build on it. That's not a criticism, the format of a 40 minute Monster of the Week storyline is not really built to explore heavy themes, but it's nice when the theme is at least central to the episode.

Case 07, File 15: En Ami

AKA: The Devil and Ms. Scully

Scully has been an important part of many of the Myth Arc episodes, but she's never really had any personal interactions with most of the conspiracy, so even though she's been victimized by them a lot (a lot a lot) she's never gained the personal enmity with them that Mulder has with say, the Cigarette Smoking Man or Krycek. But with Duchovny's exit coming down the line like a freight train, and with no idea of what the story of the series is going to be going forward, I think it's about time Scully got some personal antagonism with the Conspiracy.

Case 07, File 14: Theef

AKA: It's A Psychobilly Freakout

One of the things that can make horror age so quickly is that it can take shortcuts to be frightening, and those shortcuts can be insensitive, if not abhorrent, to more modern sensibilities. The X-Files, for the most part, avoids race and class based horror, so it does manage to avoid a lot of that stuff. But, one of the few things it has indulged in, is in indulging in horror based around lower income people from rural areas. And while that's not usually enough to sink an episode, it can be...awkward.