Rodent Rates The X-Files... An Ongoing Thread

S2: Ep20: “Humbug”

Monster of the week episode.
A series of murders in Florida point toward a nearby circus and some sideshow “freak” attractions. Mulder believes it to be the “Fiji Mermaid” but Scully thinks it’s simply a circus “freak” playing on people’s fears by using his appearance.
One of the first I ever saw again. Yep, my original viewings were sporadic thanks to British telly in the 90s being crap.
Still though, one of my favourite episodes. Plays out nicely with the duo and their usual differing theories and is a relatively fun episode in that you get to meet a different circle of people for Boulder and Cuttlefish to play off against.

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Onto the last 5 episodes of season 2 now...


S2: Ep21: “The Calusari”

Monster of the week episode.
A 2 year old boy called Teddy is killed in an “accident”, and it appears a photograph taken just before his death shows a possible supernatural occurrence, and a little later another death in the family occurs, Mulder and Scully put in some research and uncover something strange about the older brother of Teddy, possible poltergeist activity, and an ancient society of Romanian Cultists.
Not a bad episode, but stems back to the ghostly/psychic/evil-kid stuff we’ve seen before and it feels kinda samey and there’s some plot discrepancies after Chris Carter was forced into recutting it after completion.
Still, unfolds ok if a bog-standard sort of X-Files episode especially with the “weird kid” thing going on too. Lilyan Chauvin is a nice addition to the cast though.

S2: Ep22: “F. Emasculata”

Monster of the week episode.
A mysterious illness kills some prison inmates and two other inmates escape, and they are possibly spreading the disease across the country.
Mulder and Scully are brought in, with Scully doing her medical thang to discover what the disease is, and Mulder is tracking the escaped convicts.
Yummy episode to watch while eating
Pus-filled boils and exploding cysts all over the place and some decent horror behind the disease and excitement with the chase as well while the duo are doing their separate investigations.
Charles Martin Smith is a guest actor in this one, great addition.

S2: Ep23: “Soft Light”

Monster of the week episode.
When a number of disappearance is reported, but there are absolutely no clues left behind, Scully is called in by an old student called Kelly. Scully of course brings Mulder along, who starts throwing around his outlandish theories of spontaneous combustion. The truth though, is far more outlandish.
Great episode, one of my favourites and one of the first I ever saw.
Brilliant concept as well with the shadows and stuff and unfolds nicely as the duo conduct their investigation. Pretty cool as well with the idea/cause behind the incidents.
Tony Shalhoub guests in this one as well and is pretty good as the desperate “monster”.

S2: Ep24: “Our Town”

Monster of the week episode.
Mulder and Scully investigate a disappearance/murder in a small Arkansas town, but what appears initially as a case of secret society, small town cultism, and a handful of sightings of strange lights in fields, turns out to be something much more disturbing.
Another bog-standard episode with the usual small-town-inner-circle thing going on. Mulder and Scully doing the regular investigations and unfolding in the usual X-Files manner. Really a sort of non-episode tbh, more of a filler than anything else. Still, the story unfolds ok with only a couple surprises and has an interesting theme in a Soylent Green sort of way
Probably the weakest of the entire series so far tbh due to being a case of seen-it-all-before.

S2: Ep25: “Anasazi”

13th in the Alien Mythology of the series.
Mulder’s mental health is on the brink again, and our favourite duo Moody and Scummy come into possession of a tape containing Top Secret information… and an odd corpse, possibly (probably) an alien, is discovered in New Mexico in a Navajo Reservation.
El ‘Aaniigoo ‘Ahoot’e.
Huge episode that shows how widespread some of the Mythology goes in the shady underworld of conspiracies, and The Syndicate, and adds huge weight to Mulder’s arc.
Mulder even loses his sh*t and belts Skinner!!!!
Great ending episode for season 2, and a nice change from the Monster episodes too as they were getting a bit tiresome and worn-out.
There’s also a near ensemble cast on this one with the regular guests of William B David, Nicholas Lea, Mitch Pileggi, Chris carter himself as an FBI Agent, The Lone Gunmen… and Bruce Harwood, Bernie Coulson and Byron Chief-Moon and Floyd Red Crow Westerman also making a showing.


Season 2 Roundup.
Nice to have a few more Alien Mythology episodes this time round. They bumped it from 5 in season 1, to 8 in season 2. Makes season 2 more interesting than just a series of unconnected stories.
The other thing, is that “we have a friend in the FBI” called “X” first seen in “The Host” is a nice connector that ties most of the episodes together even though some are separate stories (monster of the week).
Scully’s abduction arc over 4 episodes and what will be a continuing arc is a great piece to the stories.
What was good with the monsters of the week in season 2, is they were more realistic and mysterious, rather than paranormal stuff like ghosts, psychics and fiery people with exception to the episode The Calusari.
I guess the X-Files department being shut down allowed for scope into more realistic “monsters” this time round with proper investigations rather than way too much weirdness.


My Top 10 favourites in order:
1. The Host
2. Duane Barry
3. Anasazi
4. Colony
5. Humbug
6. Ascension
7. Soft Light
8. One Breath
9. End Game
10. Irresistible


Shout outs to “Aubrey”, “F. Emasculata”, “Sleepless”, “Blood”, “Red Museum” and “Little Green Men”

Yesterday, I watched some of the first episode of the brand new season that just started.

Have you watched any of the new season yet?

No not yet. I missed it last night.


Might wait for the DVDs tbh as I'm sort of rediscovering the original 9 seasons.

I found it not really my kind of thing anymore, though it didn't seem terrible. It made me feel glad that I didn't buy the first season the other day. What's kinda cool about the new season is that it looks like they kept the exact same opening credits that they had in the past. Like nothing had changed.