Reviews Series / The X Files

The Truth is out there...

Back in 1994, Chris Carter brought the paranormal TV show a new breath of life in the series "The X-Files", and TV experienced a shift of strange proportions. It was new, it was strange, and everybody loved it. First, the Mytharc episodes.

Now, at first, the Mytharc started strong. It's episodes could be stringed together, or could stand along very well, so new viewers could easily jump in on what was happening. If you missed the strange alien abuduction story last week, you could jump in with the government cover-up the next. Later on, though, the Chris Carter effect crawled from the Fox Network womb, despite all attempts to keep it hidden. Mytharc episodes felt strained, and people just lost interest in the series.

Now, to be honest, I love Mot W episodes in any series, and the X-Files was probably a gold mine for them. Many of the creatures do, in fact, have some basis in myth and folklore, and Carter and the director of the episode did their best to make it an interesting story. But, along with the Mytharc, the Mot Ws took a dive at around season 6. Every so often an interesting one would appear, but it the show was trapped in the downward spiral, never to return.

The supporting cast ran a wide gammut of types, from the Lone Gunmen's geeky flipside to Mulder's seriousness, to Krychek's machinations behind the scenes. Deep Throat's kindness against X's pragmatism. And of course, everyone's favorite Well-Intentioned Extremist, the Cigarette Smoking Man. Out of all the support, his was probably the most memorable.

The villains were actually three dimensional, instead of just being evil for evil's sake. The mix of well-intentioned extremist and knight templar in The Syndicate was a nice twist, along with their all too human weaknesses being revealed. They succeded, as long as they didn't fight each other too much, which makes it seem all the more appropriate that they failed in their own tasks, though the invasion is still going to commence.

Despite what happened at the end of the series, the X-Files still broke a lot of TV ground. If you want to believe, remember to trust no one, and remember that the truth is out there.