Well I've been thinking about it for a long time and finally decided to pull the trigger. With this review I hope to take on my most ambitious IMDb project yet, that of reviewing every single episode of the X-Files. It's been a while since I've seen the entire series, so in a way, I'll be revisiting some memorable characters and episodes, as this quickly became one of my favorite TV series of all time, right up there with Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone".
The opener for this show got right to the point with Fox Mulder's (David Duchovny) intense involvement with UFO's and extraterrestrials, almost as if he knew they existed but was just searching for the proof to convey to the rest of the world. Joining Mulder in the lower recesses of the FBI's paranormal investigative unit, Agent Scully (Gilliam Anderson) is given the task of reporting on Mulder's activities, though we all know she was tasked with the job of debunking his outlandish theories. How long before she would become a true believer herself?
The story kicking off the series had to do with the unexplained deaths of high school classmates in Bellefleur, Oregon. An exhumed casket reveals the corpse of a non-human subject with a gray metallic implant in the subject's nose, and with that, Mulder is off and running. Background information planted in the story reveals that Mulder, when he was twelve years old, had an eight year old sister that mysteriously disappeared one night, never to be heard from again. Watching Scully try to process the information, along with the unusual circumstances surrounding the Oregon victims, helps establish the tone of the series and point to where future investigations might go.
Without naming him, this very first episode introduces a character that we eventually come to know as The Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis). He seems to be part and parcel of the FBI community, and it would take many subsequent episodes to reveal who and what he means to the X-Files universe. It's really very intriguing the way writer Chris Carter developed his characters, with enough foresight to string the viewer along to keep coming back for more.
Although the ending of this story wound up being somewhat inconclusive, it did create that aura of mystery and intrigue that X-Files fans came to appreciate and enjoy. Agent Scully prepared us for future episodes with her grounding in science, so that at any point along the way, she could challenge both Mulder and the audience by stating - "There has got to be an explanation"."
The opener for this show got right to the point with Fox Mulder's (David Duchovny) intense involvement with UFO's and extraterrestrials, almost as if he knew they existed but was just searching for the proof to convey to the rest of the world. Joining Mulder in the lower recesses of the FBI's paranormal investigative unit, Agent Scully (Gilliam Anderson) is given the task of reporting on Mulder's activities, though we all know she was tasked with the job of debunking his outlandish theories. How long before she would become a true believer herself?
The story kicking off the series had to do with the unexplained deaths of high school classmates in Bellefleur, Oregon. An exhumed casket reveals the corpse of a non-human subject with a gray metallic implant in the subject's nose, and with that, Mulder is off and running. Background information planted in the story reveals that Mulder, when he was twelve years old, had an eight year old sister that mysteriously disappeared one night, never to be heard from again. Watching Scully try to process the information, along with the unusual circumstances surrounding the Oregon victims, helps establish the tone of the series and point to where future investigations might go.
Without naming him, this very first episode introduces a character that we eventually come to know as The Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis). He seems to be part and parcel of the FBI community, and it would take many subsequent episodes to reveal who and what he means to the X-Files universe. It's really very intriguing the way writer Chris Carter developed his characters, with enough foresight to string the viewer along to keep coming back for more.
Although the ending of this story wound up being somewhat inconclusive, it did create that aura of mystery and intrigue that X-Files fans came to appreciate and enjoy. Agent Scully prepared us for future episodes with her grounding in science, so that at any point along the way, she could challenge both Mulder and the audience by stating - "There has got to be an explanation"."