Case 07, File 19: Hollywood AD

AKA: Everybody Goes To Hollywood

The creation, evolution and eventual oversaturation of the comedic episode in The X-Files history is an interesting one, because on the surface it doesn't seem like something the series would be interested in doing. The X-Files is a horror show, why would it want to do comedy (we are, for the moment, ignoring how much DNA The X-Files gets from Twin Peaks, which was as devoted to its bizarre flights of comedic whimsy as it was to its deeply disturbing horror sequences). But against the odds, the comedic episode not only appeared by flourished. And since the last run of Monster of the Week episodes leading into the season finale are all comedy slanted, we get to examine them from several different angles.

Case 07, File 18: Brand X

AKA: Actually Not The Grossest Anti-Smoking PSA

Cigarettes are a big part of The X-Files' identity, but they ended up getting pigeonholed in an odd sort of way. Our main villain (or the face of the main villains, if we want to get pedantic) is so identified with his smoking habit, it was his name for most of the series (I still call him that in these very reviews, because Spender is someone else). This led to a paradoxical inability to let any other character smoke (I guess Fletcher smoked?) which incidentally made a lot of episodes set in the 50s historically hilarious. So I guess it made sense to eventually let the anti-cigarette sentiment that was huge in the 90s and 2000s, permeate an episode, but it does seem weird that it took them so damn long.

Case 07, File 17: all things

AKA: No I Don't Know Why It's Capitalized Like That

Scully's staunch skepticism is and was her primary character trait for much of the first big chunk of the series. Early in the series, they went to great (often comical) lengths to keep Scully from witnessing the supernatural goings on so as to keep them from affecting her skepticism. But as the series went on they relaxed that standard and now, with Mulder's exit speeding toward the series, it was time for Scully to be prepared to take over his role as "Believer in the weird shit."