Case 09, File 16: William

AKA: The Conquerer?

Despite his conception being a huge massive plot point, the show has struggled to figure out what on earth it was doing with William. William's existence is a huge shift in the show's normal, and the show wasn't always on board with those changes, and they clearly had no idea where they were going with the idea that he has psychic powers. But with the finale barreling down on them like a proverbial train, the time had come to come to a decision point with his story, to as the saying goes, shit or get off the pot.

Case 09, File 15: Jump The Shark

AKA: You Said It, Not Me

Between Millennium's finale, The Lone Gunmen's finale and its own two separate finales, The X-Files might be the only show with 4 separate series' finales in its own run. Thing is, series finales are actually quite hard, having to tie up all of its loose plot threads (or as many as it can gather) while still delivering a thematically coherent and satisfying ending. And when the series you're ending is a spin-off show, with a very different tone and style to the main show, some gears are going to end up grinding in a way that causes problems.

Case 09, File 14: Scary Monsters

AKA: And Super Creeps, Yeah I Gotta Name It That, Sorry

There is a tendency, when criticized, for an artist to get defensive, and I have to admit I understand the impulse. You worked hard on something and here comes someone else to give you some feedback, which depending on the critic and fanbase, can often be uh...let's call it less than constructive. But the flipside of that is that the response to criticism often comes across as petulant and even childish, especially if you feel the criticism is warranted or constructive. So there has to be a delicate balance in a response. And there almost never is.

Case 09, File 13: Improbable

AKA: Never Tell Me The Odds

As the series progressed into its new cast in Season 8, one of the things that got left by the wayside was the comedy episodes. There were a couple of reasons for this, Robert Patrick is just not very good at comedy and the main outlet for that energy being the more straightforwardly comic spinoff chief among them. But with the cast expanding out to include Annabeth Gish, whose previous credits include stuff like Mystic Pizza, and The Lone Gunmen folded back into the main series, there was room to try and bring back the comedy episode.

Case 09, File 12: Underneath

AKA: I Could Hide Out Under There, I Just Made You Say Underwear

Outside of broad strokes and one or two specific details that come up now and again, The X-Files doesn't really have concrete backstories for its characters. This is a good thing though, it allows them go digging into those broad strokes to find seeds to grow stories from. And from that angle, Doggett's years in the military and the NYPD seem like they would be a fertile ground to go digging into. I may have lost the metaphor a bit there, but I think you get what I'm going for.

Case 09, File 11: Audrey Pauley

 AKA: Wasn't There An Episode Named Audrey Already?

One of the core issues with The X-Files' tension is that the leads are FBI Agents, giving them a degree of power and authority that can occasionally cause issues. Villains can't just make our leads disappear without consequence; Someone knows where they are and will miss them, pretty quickly, and they are both armed and capable of summoning law enforcement without issue. This doesn't come without benefits (since it provides a lot of storytelling shortcuts) but it is an issue that each episode has to navigate.

Case 09, File 10: Providence

AKA: So It's About Rhode Island, Right?

At what point did The X-Files lose control of its storyline. Arguably it never had control, it is very clear in retrospect that the plan for the story was functionally nonexistent and they had been winging it long before everyone figured out they were. But that doesn't need to be a problem, lots of decent stories weren't written with a game plan in mind, and they can work out. No, I think that the problem is a lot stranger and more interesting than a simple lack of a long term plan.

Case 09, File 09: Provenance

AKA: It Cannot Be THAT Hard To Kill A Baby

Thus far most episodes of Season 9 have been surprisingly good, or at least not bad enough to justify getting upset about. The exceptions have mostly been the Myth Arc episodes; It's very clear that the series lost any control it had over the tv show's long term direction ages ago, and is spinning in circles trying to find a plotline that'll stick. The super soldier plotline has been pretty inconsistent so it turns out the best way to move the plot forward is to grab plots from like 3 seasons ago.

Case 09, File 08: Hellbound

 AKA: Wasn't That The Subtitle To Hellraiser 2?

While The X-Files is supposedly a horror show, it rarely has the desire to be horrific, so to speak. That doesn't make it not-a-horror-show, lots of horror movies and tv shows don't try to be horrific. The X-Files' vibe tends to hover more towards the spooky or creepy end of the horror spectrum, in keeping with its Twilight Zone roots. This makes the brief bouts where it does go directly horrific, like Home or Irresistible all the more notable.

Case 09, File 07: John Doe

AKA: Honestly A Supernatural Cartel Sounds Pretty Rad

It wouldn't be clear by how much until much later, but by January of 2002, the media landscape was changing rapidly underneath The X-Files' feet. The first episode of 24 premiered 5 days before the first episode of Season 9 and ride the wave of paranoia and xenophobia in the aftermath of 9/11 to become one of the biggest shows of the 2000s. Season 9 therefore is, at least partially, the story of a series trying to adapt to the changing world while in motion, a tricky proposition at the best of time, but even more difficult for a show that's already clinging to life by its nails.

Case 09, File 06: Trust No 1

AKA: Nothing Compares 2 U

The problem with Season 9 isn't Doggett and Reyes. While perhaps not as good as Golden Age Mulder and Scully, they're both perfectly cromulent actors and they have decent chemistry, they could easily coast for a Season on that until people got to like them. The problem is, the show is not fully committed to them; Not only is Scully still hanging around (despite Anderson very visibly having one foot out the door), but the show keeps obsessively talking about Mulder. It's the TV show equivalent of trying to start a new relationship while your ex is still crashing on your couch.

Case 09, File 05: Lord of the Flies

AKA: No, Like, Actual Flies

With a show as long running as The X-Files, it's very hard for concepts and ideas to not repeat themselves. Coming up with a new monster every week is incredibly difficult, and if you need to sacrifice either having a unique monster or having a solid unique story, you're letting the story slide into cliche to work on the monster, so you'll probably end up copying elements from older episodes. But hey, if those episodes weren't very good, you might end up doing a better version of them,

Case 09, File 04: 4-D

AKA: Hey Cause 4th Dimension And His Apartment Number! Clever!

I've gotten asked by people in the past what elements make a good Monster of the Week episode and the honest answer is, there's no specific elements that an episode needs. There are things that help; Unique monster, solid central performance, good hook, on top of the usual things an episode needs (directing, acting, script). But the lack of any one of those central elements won't sink an episode, and frankly having any one won't make it work. If I had to say what an episode needs to be, it's more than the sum of its parts.

Case 09, File 03: Daemonicus

AKA: Anyone Seen The Exorcist III?

For the first seven seasons of The X-Files, the team was just Mulder and Scully, and that made for an easy dynamic; Mulder believed in weird shit, Scully would be skeptical, semi-romantic banter, rinse and repeat. Making the dynamic built around a trio, even if Scully feels more like a side character than one of the core group, means they need to work out how this going to function as a unit, and how they're going to bounce off each other.

Case 09, File 02: Nothing Important Happened Today II

AKA: It's A Bad Reason To Be Called That

It's very clear, in retrospect, that there was no particular plan for The X-Files larger plot, but a lot of people were fooled because the show FELT big. But if you were paying attention and knew what to look for, the signs of the show's inconsistency were always there, and one of the big ones is Alex Krycek. I've made jokes about Krycek's constant betrayals, but the painful truth at the core of those jokes is that Krycek was written like that because they didn't have a solid idea of what Krycek actually wanted. And with Krycek dead, they needed a new guy who betrays people constantly.

Case 09, File 01: Nothing Important Happened Today

AKA: You Find Out Why It's Called That Next Episode

9 Seasons is, in tv terms, a goddamn eternity. Lots of incredibly iconic shows never got to that number or called it quits right around there. And by the time The X-Files arrived at Season 9, it was already limping, from the loss of Duchovny (who is completely out this season) to the recent failure of its spinoff, to the simple fact that Season 8 was kind of uneven and still hasn't figured out how to best utilize Robert Patrick. Add in to that that they were already deep into 2001 and the political ground was shifting beneath their feet, and we all know The X-Files was in for a rough year.

Case 8.5, File 13: All About Yves

AKA: How Many People Have Actually Seen All About Eve?

Season finales for shows like this are tricky, especially if you're unsure if you're getting another season. You want to leave enough plot to pick up next season if you get another, but definitive enough to be a proper ending if you don't. That's a hard needle to thread, but it's one that the first season of The X-Files managed to thread really well, in my opinion. And it's one that the first and only season finale of The Lone Gunmen dramatically fails to thread.

Case 08, File 21: Existence

 AKA: No, Not The Cronenberg Film, That Has A Z In The Title

One of the things about a TV show this late in the game that's trying to hold itself together, is that you basically get to see them working stuff out in real time. Watching the writing shift around Doggett as they try to get a handle on his character and Robert Patrick's strengths as an actor was entertaining but awkward. And as the series enters its final stretch (or its final original stretch), the series seized in on a concept that no show, trying to hold itself together has ever thought of; Why not just add in a whole new character?

Case 8.5, File 12: The Cap'n Toby Show

AKA: Not Even Bottom Five Worst Children Entertainers Scandal

That The Lone Gunmen is more focused on being a comedy show than The X-Files is, I think, pretty self evident at this point. And this is a good way of covering for some shortfalls; No one complains that the plots of a later season of Seinfeld isn't perfectly tight, because if it makes you laugh, it's 80% of the way to being a good episode. But this critical lens is a double edged sword, because if an episode doesn't make you laugh, all of its flaws are much more obvious.

Case 08, File 20: Essence

 AKA: He's Not Exactly Captain America Here

Since the death of the Conspiracy, The X-Files' overarching plot has lacked a certain sense of urgency. It's not that the series actual stakes have gone anywhere, the invasion is still theoretically impending. But without the human players working in and around that, those stakes have never seemed more nebulous, and I think the series knows it. They needed a new hook to build their Myth Arc episodes around, and with only a little bit of digging, they found one.

Case 8.5, File 11: The Lying Game

 AKA: Oh Boy That Title Does Not Inspire Confidence

One of the core appeals to making a spinoff as opposed to an original show is that existing in the same universe as the show allows you to drag in characters and elements from the show you're spinning off from without having to introduce or establish them, making for fairly efficient storytelling, as well as cross-show appeal and easy marketing. It sure would suck then, if you went to all that effort and then the reviewer of this episode got completely distracted when talking about the episode by a personal tangent.

Case 08, File 19: Alone

AKA: Till Now, I Always Got By On My Own

While The X-Files has some meta jokes and commentary, it is not, as a rule, a very meta show. It has a handful of episodes that have meta elements, but outside of Hollywood A.D. it's not really something they do very often, they're not Community. But, well, as I've noted, Duchovny is only back for a few episodes and is preparing to wander back away, with no guarantee he'll do any more appearances outside of myth arc episodes. This was, as far as anyone knew, the last Monster of the Week with Mulder in it (and indeed it was, until the revival). So perhaps understandably, the series wanted to take a moment to have a bit of a victory lap.

Case 8.5, File 10: Tango De Los Pistoleros

 AKA: Did They Coordinate Having Two Spanish Titled Episodes At The Same Time?

The Lone Gunmen are idiots. They may be brilliant hackers and decent reporters, but they are also massive dumbasses. And I don't consider those two ideas to be contradictory; If I can believe that Mulder is a soulful genius at the same time I believe he's a complete moron who would die if Scully left him alone for 20 minutes, I can believe the Lone Gunmen are dumbasses at the same time as they're genius computer experts. Yves, on the other hand, is not a dumbass, she actually knows what she's doing, so one of the most solid character dynamics they've seized upon is letting the Lone Gunmen fuck up her plans. By being dumbasses.

Case 08, File 18: Vienen

AKA: Maybe Don't Name An Episode "Coming"

The series has been so busy bringing Mulder back into the show, and so giddy that he's back that they've by and large forgotten that he's not going to be around for that long. Duchovny was only signed on to be in a handful of episodes in Season 8 and while Season 9 was basically assumed at this point, it wasn't certain if Duchovny was going to be willing to pop in for that season. So with limited time with him in the show left, they needed to do something they hadn't actually managed to do yet; Pass the torch.

Case 8.5, File 09: Diagnosis: Jimmy

AKA: Prognosis Negative!

The core strength of the Lone Gunmen (the characters, not the show) is the same thing that I think makes it hard to base an entire show around them; Their group dynamic. While they can be quite an entertaining trio, bouncing off each other and bickering, the additions of two new characters will, definitionally, alter that dynamic. I would say the dynamic has been altered for the better, but I can imagine the writers, who were probably fans of the characters on The X-Files, might want to see the original dynamic play out a little bit.

Case 08, File 17: Empedocles

AKA: Empedocles Sucks, In This House We Love Diogenes

I've made it clear in the past that I think the Monster-of-the-Week episodes are the core appeal of the series, but I don't always think the series agrees with me. Season 8 has more Myth Arc episodes than any season since 4, and even a lot of the Monster-of-the-Week episodes have the Myth Arc woven into them. I think having that many Myth Arc episodes is a function of having a lot of ground to cover. Season 4 had the complex cancer storyline for Scully, while Season 8 is tasked with introducing two new agents and having to hit the ground running with their characterization and backstory.

Case 8.5, File 08: Maximum Beyers

AKA: So We're Just Naming Episodes After The Gunmen Even If It Doesn't Make Sense Huh?

One of the problems with making a move to direct comedy is that it limits the subjects you can realistically cover. That's not to say that comedy can't address certain themes, it definitely can. It just means that, the more serious the issue you're address, the more difficult a tightrope walk you're on. If you fuck up a serious subject in a serious movie, eh at least you're taking the subject seriously, and you can usually skate on by (unless you REALLY fuck it up). But if you fuck up a serious subject in a comedy, then you're not just fucking up, you're "Making light of it."

Case 08, File 16: Three Words

AKA: No, Not The Three Words You're Thinking Of

As the 8th season hit and Mulder disappeared into space, the series' story arc episodes shifted from being about the Conspiracy to being about finding Mulder, or just learning about (read: backfilling) what happened to him before he was abducted. But with Duchovny back in the series (sorta) and Mulder back in the game (again, sorta) they're left with a new question to ask: What the hell do we do with this team now?

Case 8.5, File 07: Planet of the Frohikes

AKA: King Kong Vs. The Lone Gunmen

There are handful of comedy maxims that, despite being critically regarded as "Lowbrow" remain broadly true across all mediums. Among them is the fact that, monkeys are always funny. Plenty of movies, tv shows and comics have hung an inordinate amount of faith on the idea that a monkey's very existence can make any scene inherently comedic. And they're right, for a very limited amount of time, but after that, you have to have something to back up the monkey or people are gonna start feeling ripped off.

Case 08, File 15: Deadalive

AKA: Okay But I Have Seen Dead Alive...It's Called Braindead In The US

The possibility of Mulder's death, in the middle of Season 8, is one of those things that prompts a knowing roll of the eyes from the fans. Maybe this was a little less obvious in 2001, but there was absolutely no way they were going to kill off the central character (and yes, despite his absence, he is still very central to the series in Season 8) and certainly not in the middle of the season. No, the question was never "Will Mulder live?" It was "How will Mulder live and will that be satisfying?"

Case 8.5, File 06: Madam, I'm Adam

AKA: You Think They Named The Episode Or The Dude First?

One of The X-Files' pieces of quiet brilliance was its decision to have its leads be FBI Agents. In a Monster-of-the-Week format, you need to have the leads find out about the monster, have a reason to get involved and then travel to the monster before you can get to actually dealing with the monster; Having Mulder and Scully be FBI Agents instantly gives them access to knowledge, motive and transportation, so you make your life very easy that way. The Lone Gunmen on the other hand, don't have any of that stuff so the episodes have to contrive a reason for them to get involved, with varying degrees of contrivance.

Case 8.5, File 05: Three Men and a Smoking Diaper

AKA: I Haven't Seen Three Men And A Baby Either

As The Lone Gunmen settles more naturally into a comedy mindset, it's going to have to start figuring out what kind of stories it wants to tell. Sure it could lean into The X-Files stuff and have the characters chase monsters and conspiracies, but the more overt comedic tone of the show makes those kinds of episodes feel incongruous, and besides, feeling too similar to the show it's spinning off from is how spinoffs sink. As such the show has two major directions it can go; Either lower the stakes so they can fit more nicely into the style or raise them to ridiculous levels to make the whole thing feel like a parody.

Case 8.5, File 04: Like Water For Octane

AKA: Oh Shit, I Just Realized I've Never Seen Like Water For Chocolate

One of the core issues The X-Files (and by extension, The Lone Gunmen) has to work around is that the heroes can't actually win, which is a bigger problem than you might think. Mulder and Scully (or Doggett or Reyes) can't actually get proof of aliens or monster, and the Lone Gunmen can't get real proof of their various conspiracies, or the world will change in ways the show isn't willing to deal with, so the series has to walk the line of having a satisfying story, while still maintaining the status quo, which is hard to maintain.