Random Thoughts Thread

[o.pwuaioc]

Started watching the X-Files for the first time. Can't help not notice the effect of the mysteries pre-internet. Sure the internet makes you more aware and well informed, but the joy of mystery "What if..." and "Maybe.." is gone . I wonder if adults back then were just as aware as we are today.

Even ProWrestling used to be sold as real and now they actually tell you in your face "Its fake and staged"

By coincidence, I fired up season 1 of the X-Files last week. The "monster of the week" format did not age well at all, but there is still some interesting things going on in the mythology episodes.

It's certainly dated. Are there many shows these days that try the "right before our very eyes yet we can't see" topos?

[marurun]

There seem to be a couple different types of X Files fans (writ broadly), those that prefer the mythology stuff and those that prefer the monster of the week. I’m in the latter category, though I’m not real big on X Files in general. I find the mythology gets too messy and doesn’t hold itself together well.

[o.pwuaioc]

There seem to be a couple different types of X Files fans (writ broadly), those that prefer the mythology stuff and those that prefer the monster of the week. I’m in the latter category, though I’m not real big on X Files in general. I find the mythology gets too messy and doesn’t hold itself together well.

It's all messy. My issue with MOTW early episodes is that they're oh-so in Scully's face all the time. Neanderthals, poltergeists, fire-benders, there's no real mystery about it. I prefer more of the unknown, the search for what's out there.

My favorite parts of the show are where we don't know exactly what's going on, it's all unexplained, but it *leads* you somewhere. This is why season 1 of Lost was so amazing.

I know later seasons got better at it, but it's disheartening to see every tabloid monster verified week in and week out.

[Golgo 14]

The mythology was interesting to begin with, but The X-Files' continued success eventually revealed that Carter had no place to go with it.

The show peaked here.

[Anapan]

I watched the X-Files often back when it was syndicated. I loved the blu-ray re-releases and cherry-picked the episodes to see what I missed, and have now watched the entire old series. If you watch them back-to-back the whole Scully debunking the supernatural falls completely apart. I think it only worked because it happened once a week.

It all fell apart in season season 9 when they jumped the shark and made the smoking man a villain - I was fully convinced he was the good guy because of the ambiguity until then. Then the new reboot started and was awesome - Mulder actually fought well in an action scene - he was trained as a government agent would be so the scene in episode 10 would be accurate. but it all fell apart after the ending was all a hallucination.

Too bad, this was one of my favorite shows.

[RCBH928]

By coincidence, I fired up season 1 of the X-Files last week. The "monster of the week" format did not age well at all, but there is still some interesting things going on in the mythology episodes.

do they have these mixed or they went into phases ex... first 3 season monster of the week then mythology?
I am only 3 episodes in.

My favorite parts of the show are where we don't know exactly what's going on, it's all unexplained, but it *leads* you somewhere. This is why season 1 of Lost was so amazing.
.

Ture...but

People watch the mystery because they await a satisfying conclusion. Starting a mystery then adding time machines and people stuck in a limbo and creating unknown and unexplained worlds with plot holes... yeah... anyone can just make up events and call it a day. We were looking for a satisfying ending and an explanation to the mysteries.

Its like starting a whodoneit film, and the film ends with no one knowing who done it. So why watch it in the first place?

The mythology was interesting to begin with, but The X-Files' continued success eventually revealed that Carter had no place to go with it.

The show peaked here.

I read this once on the internet, I don't remember it but was something like any series that last more than 5 seasons starts to lose quality.

Thats why I get scared to see a series of 8 or 11 seasons, I feel like its just fillers to make more money. Yet sitcoms tend to last better, I remember Friends last episodes are as good as the first ones but it becomes just too much of a good thing. It gets boring after 10 years.

[isiolia]

do they have these mixed or they went into phases ex... first 3 season monster of the week then mythology?
I am only 3 episodes in.

Mixed in. Similar to how plenty of shows of that era are reasonably self-contained. Makes more sense when most viewers aren't able to catch up via on-demand viewing, and the ideal thing is syndication. There's still a lot to like with the show, even if later offerings iterated on the formula.

[o.pwuaioc]

I watched the X-Files often back when it was syndicated. I loved the blu-ray re-releases and cherry-picked the episodes to see what I missed, and have now watched the entire old series. If you watch them back-to-back the whole Scully debunking the supernatural falls completely apart. I think it only worked because it happened once a week.

It all fell apart in season season 9 when they jumped the shark and made the smoking man a villain - I was fully convinced he was the good guy because of the ambiguity until then. Then the new reboot started and was awesome - Mulder actually fought well in an action scene - he was trained as a government agent would be so the scene in episode 10 would be accurate. but it all fell apart after the ending was all a hallucination.

Too bad, this was one of my favorite shows.

Ah, see, I never bothered with the later stuff. Once Mulder left, I think I only watched a handful of episodes. I wasn't even aware that they had picked it back up until this year.

[NotLuke]

You would think Saruman's Tower would be swimming with female orc action. Or at least I thought about that today for a minute for some odd reason.
Saruman is perpetually building armies which constantly need additional troops, and although they have amassed numbers en masse...where are all the orc women to produce the orc babies?

[PretentiousHipster]

My partner is a lord of the rings expert who told me that some orcs were originally elves that were twisted and tortured by evil people, and apparently it happens to humans too. From what I remember in the movie they were born out of mud.