The X-Files - The Complete Seventh Season (1993)

Various

Excellent series

One of the best TV series ever filmed. Every episode is intriging. I love it... :-) October 6, 2008

A few great episodes, a few good ones, a few that make you go huh?

I've been rewatching some of the old X-Files episodes in anticipation of the movie. These slim pack versions of the X-Files finally came down enough in price for them to be within my financial reach at one of the discount chains. As ever, I find myself doing a lot of skipping around. I never did much care for the myth-arc episodes or the dreadful, pretentious voice overs at the beginning of those episodes that I presume Chris Carter wrote. I liked even less the lack of attention to character continuity from episode to episode. What was bad about the X-Files was bad in this season and what was good about the show was very good here. We have awful, pretentious voice overs and confusing, muddled myth-arc stuff in "The Sixth Extinction" and "Amor Fati" and somewhat in "En Ami." I think the writers had written themselves into a corner and were scrambling to tie up loose ends before David Duchovny was no longer under contract. It showed, particularly in the way they tried to wrap up the Samantha story arc in "Sein Und Zeit" and "Closure." No one knows what the heck happened to Samantha and the walk-in story line didn't make any more sense on viewing six years or so after I last watched it. It does make a certain amount of emotional sense and it was nice to see Mulder embracing the ghost of the 14-year-old Samantha in the final scene. Just try not to think too hard while watching this episode or see all the holes in the plot. I ended up fast-forwarding a lot through that episode to the scenes I liked and ignoring the ones I didn't. There are a few gems in this season. "X-Cops" is still hilarious, almost as good as "Bad Blood" from the fifth season, which I still rewatch when I need a boost in mood. "Hollywood A.D." and "Je Souhaite" are also very nice stand-alone episodes. "Millennium" is great, if only because I liked the TV series and it was nice to see Frank Black in that last scene with his little girl and the Mulder-Scully kiss. No, the world didn't end. Too bad Chris Carter didn't figure that out a few seasons before that. Best of all is "all things," the episode written and directed by Gillian Anderson. The amount of thought that went into every scene, every sound, into every move made by every character, was very evident. I also appreciated the comments made by the actress that accompany this episode. I remember thinking "Yeah, that's probably why she did such and such" when I first watched it eight years ago and it's nice to know that I was right. It also helped that the music was easy on the ears and the decor was easy on the eyes. I liked her take on Scully as a complete human being, one who acted in certain ways and had conflicting feelings about spirituality and religion and Mulder and her old love Daniel. It's really a pity that Anderson wasn't given a chance to write more episodes. And of course this was the episode where Scully and Mulder slept together and probably where William was conceived. Since I watch more for character development and the relationships between the characters, this episode is a real jewel, but this DVD is worth purchasing for fans of all persuasions, those who like the myth-arc and those who don't. July 24, 2008

An Emotional Season

The Seventh Season of the X-Files is all about emotion. Whether taking the form of developing the Mulder-Scully romantic relationship or providing long-awaited closure to key plotlines, this season packs an emotional punch. Though perhaps beginning to stretch themselves a bit thin in the stand-alone episode department, this season still receives five stars from me due to its handling of some of the show's most intimate topics. Let's quickly look at how emotions played a big role in this season:

Mythology: In the two-part ("The Sixth Extinction" and "Amor Fati") season premiere, Agents Mulder and Scully are separated from each other both physically and mentally. While Scully works to decipher the mysterious held by the object found in the ocean, Mulder is tempted (ala "The Last Temptation of Christ") by the Cigarette-Smoking Man (who we find out is more intimately involved with Mulder than previously thought) with a life of familial bliss, away from all the worries of reality. Many emotional reunions (including the return of a character last seen in Season One) make this episode a classic mythological X-Files tale.

Mid-way through the season (as the writers/producers of the show again thought that this may be the final season), the episodes "Sein Und Zeit" and "Closure" bring resolution to the exact fate of Samantha Mulder, the driving force behind Mulder's desire to pursue X-Files cases. The finale of this plot-arc will have long-time fans wiping tears from their eyes.

Also, in "En Ami", the Cigarette-Smoking Man again shows up, this time tempting Agent Scully with an item that, as a medical doctor, she cannot resist. In this episode, we also find that Old Smokey's days may be numbered.

Stand-Alone: As I mentioned earlier, the quality of the stand-alone episodes in this season diminished from previous efforts. Cross-overs with the shows Millenium ("Millenium") and COPS ("X-Cops") produced less than thrilling episodes, while "Rush", "Brand X", and "Fight Club" were nowhere near standard X-Files quality. However, it was also clear that the writers still had some ability to churn out quality scripts (fans just had to, for really the first time in the show's history, weed out a few bad ones to find the good): "Orison" brings back a "favorite" past villain, "Signs and Wonders" is a great religious-themed episode, and "Theef" is a genuinely creepy story. Also, the comedic episodes "Je Souhaite" and "Hollywood A.D." were strong efforts that would have fit in to any previous season.

To conclude, the Seventh Season of the X-Files has its strenght in the emotion of its episodes. While, for the first time in the show's history, some episodes dragged, the ones that worked pulled on the heartstrings like never before. The season finale, "Requiem", personifies that emotion. As the screen fades to black, viewers are also left in the dark as to the fate of certain key characters, as well as the entire future format of the show. June 8, 2008

X-Files Season 7

An outstanding season for an outstanding series. Still one of the most creative series ever to appear on TV. January 5, 2008

one of the very best of the series

Ive been trying to keep some kind of record of each episode of the x-files (of which there were nine seasons) for some time now but with little success. This is a geeky thing for me to do firstly because of the series itself (sci fi, alien abductions anyone?) and also just trying to provide a summary for a show that had some 180 plus episodes is a little bit obsessive. The problem seems to be that I put on an episode (I have alot of time because I am now unemployed yes?) and then I potter around, fix a coffee, my hair, my lunch and have no idea as to what's gone on with the aliens. I can just about remember whether what Ive seen is either a 'mythological' or 'stand alone' episode. Mythological tales begun with Fox Mulder's sister being abducted by non- humans when he was a child and then general alien related stories which always effect Mulder and Dana Scully is some emotional and physical way. Stand alone episodes are about everything elses and can be silly, funny, ironic, frightening, complicated, dull; you get the point. They are always resloved in the same episode.

I'm currently watching Season 7 and have worked my way here starting with season 1 in season order. I watched the first 5 seasons when they originally aired. Looking at them now they seem dated and crude; the chemistry between Mulder and Scully which is really the defining point of the show, undeveloped. By season 6 I'd begun to actually stop experimenting with my hair and was sitting down watching the show. When I took out season 7 from the box I realised that I already knew many of the episodes from title and was very familiar to the plots and had enjoyed many of the episodes already. See our heros had really begun to fully inhabite their charaters and the emotional dynamic between the two had well truly taken off. I think this season is also the one in which Mulder leaves, to come back only for those 'Myth' episodes and the series final. So a beautifully acted season, funny and engaging and fully realised.

January 4, 2008

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