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.