Spooky Sunflower Seeds: An X-Files Review Blog

Shadows is a MOTW episode that centers on a poltergeist fixated on a young woman named Lauren Kyte. The agents are called in when two men are killed under mysterious circumstances after a mugging attempt on the woman gone awry. Monster of the week episodes can live or die based on the supporting cast. In this episode the agents are almost put into a supporting role as a bulk of this episode follows Lauren as she uncovers a scandal surrounding the death of her boss, Howard Graves. As it happens the poltergeist protecting Lauren is Howard Graves, who is also directing her in uncovering that he was in fact murdered by his former business partner and new company boss, Robert Dorlund. There's a whole things with weapons deals too. What works against this episode is how ineffectual the agents are. More often than not, Mulder and Scully are there to react to the events rather than play a proactive role. This episode centers on Lauren and Howard's relationship, two characters we

The premise of this episode is Mulder goes to investigate attacks on the outskirts of Atlantic City, New Jersey that stir up rumblings about the Jersey Devil urban legends.  As far as positives goes for this episode there is some fun stuff involving Scully going on a date with a man who winds up being more interested in Mulder's work. Poor Scully. While Scully is trying to have a social life, Mulder is hitting the streets of Atlantic City trying to get information about the homeless man who was supposedly attacked by the Jersey Devil. This episode isn't subtle in its messaging about the police/city brass seeing the homeless population as monstrous as the beast preying on them.  Notorious fun-haver Richard Dawkins once critiqued that X-Files using pseudo-scientific analysis to explain the show's phenomena is "insidious". While I think critiques like that are a bit silly considering X-Files makes it clear from the beginning that this show leans hard into sc

" You know when I was a kid, I had this ritual. I closed my eyes before I walked into my room because I thought that one day when I opened them my sister would be there...just lying in bed like nothing ever happened. You know, I'm still walking into that room...every day of my life."  Conduit is in my opinion a mythology episode as it hits the most basic criteria for connecting to the larger story arcs: 1. Does it involve alien abduction? 2. Does it invoke the name of Samantha Mulder? 3. Is there any sign of a cover-up or various government obstruction? 4. Does an F.B.I. official give a stern and/or ominous warning to Mulder or Scully? 5. Does Scully deny obvious signs of extraterrestrials despite having them in front of her face? Conduit hits all of these beats and oh man does it hurt. In this episode the agents investigate the disappearance of Ruby Morris, a teenage girl who was abducted while camping with her mother Darlene and younger brother Kevin at Lake

"Do you think I'm spooky?" Squeeze is the first official Monster of the Week episode in X-Files. Monster of the Week episodes are disconnected from the show's larger mythology. There are a few exceptions where they'll tie in but for the most part they have little to no bearing on the larger narrative. And boy, does the first MOTW crush it. Squeeze is one of my favorite episodes of the series, period. In this episode the agents investigate a serial killer whose ability to stretch his limbs and dislocate his joints allow him to use tight spaces -- vents, chimneys, air ducts -- to attack his victims. The agents discover the killer attacks every 30 years and are in a race against time to solve the case before he disappears again. The episode begins with Scully having lunch with an old colleague Tom Colton, a highly ambitious agent who begins to tease Scully about working with "Spooky" Mulder. If there's a weak point to this episode it's definit

"Mr. Mulder, why are those like yourself, who believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life on Earth, not entirely dissuaded by all the evidence to the contrary?"  "Because...all the evidence to the contrary is not entirely dissuasive."  In this episode Mulder and Scully make their way to Ellens Air Base in Idaho to investigate a possible cover-up involving test pilots flying experimental aircraft. However before they leave Mulder is confronted by a mysterious man who warns Mulder to drop the case. (Look out for the Seth Green cameo, too!) This is the episode where X-Files truly kicks off. Pilot did a sufficient job in setting up some important elements but Deep Throat really hammers home what the show is all about: trust no one. The introduction of Deep Throat -- a high ranking government official that aids Mulder -- adds so much to not only the scale of which Mulder and Scully are up against but the stakes as well. Everything is set up so well and is b

Welcome to the first episode of the X-Files! Note: "Pilot" does not have any correlation to the actual episode. A "pilot" is the name of the standalone episode that is created to pitch the show to a network. In other words, think of this first episode as the commercial Chris Carter used to pitch the show to FOX. In this episode, the agents are tasked with investigating the unusual death of a teenager in rural Oregon. Upon further investigation the agents discover the deaths are linked by graduating class and these strange identifying bumps on their lower backs. Mulder believes the teenagers are victims of alien abduction. There are plenty of things this episode does very well. The introduction of Mulder and Scully are handled masterfully. When Agent Dana Scully is brought into Division Chief Scott Blevin's office we immediately take note of the ominous and ever-present Cigarette Smoking Man lurking in the corner. Scully is assigned to the X-Files to debunk