Case 07, File 22: Requiem

AKA: Does Motzart's Requiem Have Words? Pretend I Put Them Here

Part of me assumed I'd never get here.

I'm serious, I'd always thought in the back of my head that I'd just never get to the end of Season Seven, that something would come up, I'd get bored or my hilariously low view counts would get to me and I'd stop for long enough that I'd just never go back. I didn't even buy The Lone Gunmen on DVD until a few months ago. But here I am, staring down 2 full, Mulder-less seasons with no reason to stop and everything urging me on. All that's left is to jump in.

Case 07, File 21: Je Souhaite

AKA: If I Made A Wishmaster Joke Here, Would Anyone Get It?

What exactly is it that makes an episode a comedy episode instead of a regular Monster of the Week. One could argue that it has to do with how scary or not it is, but that's not it. Humbug is way scarier than Teso dos Bichos. There is a character to the way the plot moves in a comedy episode, good or bad, that gives them a distinct flavor from the regular Monster of the Week episodes and which can, when properly utilized, make what could be a horrifying episode warm and funny.

Case 07, File 20: Fight Club

AKA: No, Seriously, Don't Talk About Fight Club

In retrospect, it's hard to explain how the comedic episodes got as big as they did, because they're always walking a fine line. Bad horror is merely kind of dull, bad comedy is often actively irritating. That The X-Files managed to not only create so many comedic episodes without getting one that was teeth gratingly annoying (never mind making some of the best, most heartfelt episodes of the series) is nearly a miracle. It also meant that they were overdue to fuck up that average eventually.

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."

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.