Search Movie Review Archives

Season 8 is definitely a standout within the long run of 'The X-Files'. It's a season of many changes, and for many it's the season that began a downward spiral from which the show could not hope to recover. The season begins with Mulder already abducted by aliens. That's not even much of a statement for a show like this, but it's a tricky road starting your season with one of the two main stars out of the action. I would say that Robert Patrick ('Terminator 2') stepped into Mulder's shoes right from the first episode, but he actually stepped into Scully's shoes. After the two-parter that starts the season and revolves around the search for Mulder, Patrick, as Agent Doggett, pretty well becomes Scully, which leaves Scully to become the new Mulder. ***

That's a tricky sort of game for a show with such an incredible cult popularity. Doggett takes over the role of skeptic, and Scully becomes the 'believer'. Of course, Scully has to shift roles, and she already had really. After all, she's had seven seasons of this stuff going on. But, Doggett doesn't get much chance to really be a skeptic, despite the fact that he demands facts throughout the season. He talks a good game at being a skeptic, mainly because the writers, oddly enough, believe in sticking to a good formula, but he can't pull it off. In the third episode (or second, depending on how you count) he's actually attacked by the batperson, and in the third he cuts a slug creature out of Scully's body. Little room for doubt there. ***

Keep in mind that Scully is pregnant this season, which results not only in her mentioning the fact in every episode, but also in a season finale where, obviously, she gives birth. Suspicion is everywhere in this season that, left with not so many ideas for individual episodes, and none of those all that great (the batperson...come on), plays up to the great alien conspiracy as much as possible. Old characters are revived, no one is ever sure just who they can trust, and aliens are everywhere... and everyone. ***

It's hard to make any attempt at comparing this season with any of the others, being that things have changed so much. After a few episodes we also introduce another new character, Agent Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and pretty soon we realize that we just aren't in Kansas anymore. Still, some things never change. The show is still a host of darkness, with virtually everything happening at night, or in dimly-lit offices, or both. The directors still cling to their wild camerabatics, trying to make things more suspenseful (I suppose) by showing us quirky angles, weird camera positions, and rapid pans. ***

There are definitely some good episodes in this season (an Emmy-winning one even, if that means anything to you), but the seasonal arc is so tied to the central story it becomes difficult to take the 'stand-alone' episodes seriously. It's hard to believe that Doggett and Scully just move on to this next case, and go about their business with all we know is going on in the background of their world. ***

Ultimately, it was a weird season of massive upheaval (even the opening sequence was changed, which had not been done before), and calling a season of 'X-Files' weird is pretty weird in itself. There has probably never been a season of a television show that included so many potential irritants to the show's own fans.

This is really quite an amazing DVD transfer, though I was surprised to have to put up with the occasional compression artifact. The widescreen format is a nice touch, and the show certainly lends itself well to it. My surprise at the artifact flaws is mainly due to how clean the presentation is overall. 'The X-Files' is a whole world of darkness and effects, and nothing was lost in the translation. There are no flaws in the form of shadow or edge loss that I could detect, and black is, for a DVD, remarkably black. The palette is gorgeous, when you get a chance at color, and the contrast levels are right on target. ***

The sound is pretty nice even if it is only 2.0. There is certainly some play to the different channels, though it isn't exactly stunning, and some thought obviously went into sound design. Flyovers and such come through, and in certain episodes there is a clear depth of field. The score is nicely worked, and if it is too far in front in certain episodes (like the first two), it isn't the fault of the DVD. Dialogue is crystal clear, and this being what it is, there's a lot of whispering and elements that might play havoc with it. It's not exactly fancy sound quality, but it is definitely above par.

Just as previous seasons, Season 8 is loaded with extras. Some are rather more interesting than others. They are spread around a bit, with each disc offering something, but the final disc contains only the last episode in order to accommodate the lion's share. ***

Each disc offers a few minor special features by way of international clips and episode specific credits. The international clips are just what they sound like. Approximately one-minute clips (with some variance, as each language will be a different clip) of select episodes are given to you with their German, Italian, and Japanese language tracks. The theory behind this being an interesting special feature eludes me completely, but here they are. ***

There are seven deleted scenes from the episodes: 'Sure Kill', 'Badlaa', 'Per Manum', 'Empedocles', and 'Existence'. The majority of these come from 'Existence', it being the season finale, and they are not the greatest of deleted scenes. These are not scenes that really give us much, or show a potentially different angle the show might have explored. Most of them are very brief, hardly 'scenes' in their own right, and were lost for time rather than any artistic theory. ***

The big feature, once we get to the last disc, is the documentary "The Truth About Season 8". This is a 30-minute feature which mainly has the various producers talking about the season while we're shown clips from the shows and Behind-the-Scenes footage. Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish chime in for brief segments, but mainly this is just one producer or writer after another. This is largely a feature detailing how certain ideas came to be, and what the logic was behind certain choices. Of course, it's only too obvious that this feature is going to be about the thought process behind all the changes, especially the additions of the new characters. There's a bit about the effects, naturally, as well. The documentary then moves on to talk specifically about various episodes, with writers and producers chiming in to relate the particular highs and lows unique to that episode. Overall, this is an above-average documentary for a season, even if they might have cut some of the less interesting talk about weather and such. ***

The 'X-Files: Profiles' as they are so named on the disc, are rather interesting. It seems that these features were originally created as part of an international DVD release. On this disc we get the features themselves, as well as promotional clips for that release. There are three of these profiles: Gibson Praise, John Doggett, and Alex Krycek. Gibson Praise is featured in the first two episodes, and was on the show in previous seasons. Doggett, of course, the new character. And, Krycek is the show's longtime stooge/villain. Each character is given a several minute rundown, with their background fleshed out including details on their importance to various events. These are interestingly done, and solid fan material. ***

There are seven scenes of especially noteworthy effects that are shown to us with commentary by Paul Rawin. This is a bit of special feature sleight-of-hand really. Though there are glimpses of what goes on in the development of these special effects, there isn't much, and the 'commentary' is a little closer to narration. We see the scenes, but we don't really get much more out of this feature than we did when we simply saw them in their respective episodes. ***

Finally we have the TV spots. 10 sec and 20 sec versions for each episodes.

Two episodes have optional commentary tracks, each by the director of that episode, and they vary in interest in easy to understand relation to the director. Frank Spotnitz provides commentary for 'Alone'. This is one of only two 'X-Files' episodes he's directed, and though he also has producing credits for a lot of 'X-Files', other credits in the industry are sparse. His is not a terrible commentary, but it certainly isn't overly interesting either. ***

Kim Manners, industry veteran and person given the reins for the finale, provides commentary for that finale, and though there is far too much dead air, it is otherwise just the sort of commentary one would hope for. He gives us a lot of insight into his thought process on many decisions including how various sets changed his ideas, how and why particular shots are the way they are, and how certain effects were managed. He also gives us a bit about how the story came to be, and how things fit together with the rest of the season and the show in general. This has just about everything a fan could hope for in an episode commentary.

In the initial run, 'The X-Files' lost me long before the eighth season, but going back now, this is at the very least a season worth watching just to see how the changes are approached, and even how making so many changes in such a short time is itself approached. Though a lot of fans were put off by this season, a lot of people liked it as well, and it is certainly one of the must own DVDs no matter where one ends up on the love/hate spectrum. For good or ill, this is a standout season. The DVD release has a generous helping of features, and by and large they are aimed right at the heart of the show's fans.

Marc Eastman

www.movieroundtable.com