The X-Files Season 3 & 4 Review
The Jacked Up Review Show PodcastOctober 12, 2026
1391
01:16:3870.17 MB

The X-Files Season 3 & 4 Review

The next grouped together reviews of The X-Files seasons continues for another themed week:

 

What surprises are earned in the gritty Season 3?

 

What monsters and stand-alone mysteries are truly jawdropping in Season 4?

 

And why did every show wish they could employ all the writers at their staff back in this day-and-age?

 

GUESTS:

Sohan Sahoo & John Holman

[00:00:00] This podcast is a production of Unfiltered Studios. If you would like to know more about joining Unfiltered Studios, please visit our website at unfpod.com for more information. Welcome all once again before we get into the thick of it. You're gonna hear more awesome tales by beloved fans, first timers, newcomers, people who've grown up with it, people who immortalize it. Everyone will be validated on all these X-Files reviews, whether they liked or hated a season.

[00:00:29] But there's plenty of love to go around. So, again, before we get into the thick of it, I try to just remind everybody, I really want to just, the goal of just summing up the reviews, the pop culture perception of it.

[00:00:44] So, with Season 3 of the X-Files, there were seven mythology episodes. They're getting bigger on doing all the serialization. And again, you know, just we're back to Scully and Mulder are together investigating stuff. And already in possession of potentially groundbreaking information, Scully and Mulder find themselves hunted by not only the government, but Cigarette Smoky Man and his sinister anonymous group.

[00:01:12] This leads the two to certain moments in human history that might carry more startling truths behind the experimentations on humans or aliens. With their losses rising and their lives being in more danger than before, the feds must be wary of who they can trust and the glimmers of salvation they find, dead or alive.

[00:01:34] So, again, critical reviews. Based on eight official reviews, it's got an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 97% user score. On Serialized, it ranks as a 4.36 out of 5, one of the higher rated seasons, that is for sure. And again, it was one of the most watched series of the 1995 to 1996 television lineup.

[00:02:01] Many of the episodes were written by writer Darren Morgan, and they received critical acclaim, including Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, which got Peter Boyle and Amy Wynn as the guest star. And Jose Chung's From Outer Space, which was basically a satire on just Scientology, just people pretending to do fake religion. And, yeah, it's going into some serious commentary.

[00:02:27] We're finding, again, more alien conspiracies like who killed Scully's sister, an alien autopsy video that Mulder obtained, the first elder becomes a recurring character, the alien virus called the Black Oil is introduced here, and then we go back to the usual monsters of the week.

[00:02:53] And more of the mystery surrounding Mr. X, played by 21 Jump Street's Stephen Williams. And then we, let's go into season four. So there's nine mythology episodes in that the following year. And this focuses on Mulder and Scully's trying to find out more stuff that the syndicate of cigarette smoking man is protecting.

[00:03:22] Scully is diagnosed with terminal cancer. That is a callback to her being previously abducted. And Mulder begins to lose his faith in the idea of extraterrestrials. And, again, this was the Fox lead-out program following the Super Bowl for that year. And mostly positive reviews. Let's go to those reviews. It's a 4.35 on Serial Lies.

[00:03:50] Still pretty current today. It's got a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's based off six reviews and 97% user score. Can't argue there, man. Can't argue there. Enjoy the rest of the show, gang. You're really not going to be let down at all, because we wouldn't go to all this trouble to give you a shitty show. We're going to give you a wonderful show. Enjoy. Enjoy. Now for the first time on DVD,

[00:04:18] experience the entire third season of The X-Files. What more is there to know? With exclusive features, deleted scenes, and an all-new documentary. They just found your bleepin' UFO. The ultimate DVD collector's edition of The X-Files. Now on DVD, The X-Files, the complete fourth season. Every truth we live by would be shaken to the ground. There is no greater revelation imaginable. Including the most controversial episode, Home. Only The X-Files, season four on DVD.

[00:05:32] Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to the show. As Sohan, Sohan Sahoo, and I navigate the remainder of The Supernatural Cold Case Files, known as The X-Files. But great having you back, and glad we could do this chat again. And overall, yeah, season three and four, we're talking about a whole different layer, a whole different kind of show.

[00:06:01] And it's just interesting how, again, at this point, we're not only just seeing just an evolution, but an acknowledgement of every season, a... All these factors are coming into play, and... I've already given the intro, but, I mean, it really is just wild how... just... Season three, we assume Mulder's dead. And Scully loses her credentials. Season four, we cut to that,

[00:06:30] and they're back to, you know, looking for people with supernatural powers who have some, if not all, the answers, you know? It's... It's just wild. And... It's such a different kind of show, like, all of them. Like, every single kind of season. And... John Holman is also joining us here, but... So, Han, so... You know,

[00:06:59] I've given the intro to both seasons, but... As well as before we started, but... Do you have a personal favorite season? Oh, yeah. Sure. I... I believe season three is the best 20-odd episode show that 1030 never did. Oh, perfect. Season three and Millennium season two. The reason I say it, because season three, at this point, the show doesn't... It's just, like, hit this point right now. It's just with every one of these episodes, you know? Like,

[00:07:28] something like Aubrey's and Brie Rowland Obliant, you know, episodes that... It has just established a formula in season one and two, and just put into it, like, honed it in season two. Like, each episode, you have this, like, quality that just, you know, that never really fluctuates. Yeah. It's just a high bar quality. Like, you know, it's just when the show just figure out, you know, what kind of problems we had in the first two seasons. Because in the second season, you have this more emphasis on high sci-fi. It's like, it's just show figure out, like, oh, then it's not something that works here.

[00:07:58] So season three, you know, it drops it down. You have four... You have three Darren Morgan episodes, which I generally consider to be one of the best episodes of the X-Files. Yeah. There's a lot of reinvention here at the same time. Darren, as beloved as Darren is by genre fans and for his work on this show, for some reason, his other work isn't as well known. And it's like, how and why? It's like, he and James Wong think outside the box. Go ahead.

[00:08:28] I think Jose Shang, Jose Shang's, you know, Jose Shang's from Outer Space is, like, one of the great episodes of the X-Files, which is, like, doing the conspiracy culture of the X-Files. Season 3 is generally, for me, it's like the high watermark of the show because if you look at the production history of the show, this is probably the last time Chris Carr is full-end about attention from the X-Files because Season 4, you have Millennium coming up, so he's like... And they bring Jose Shang back. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Exactly. That is, again, that's another great episode in Season 2.

[00:08:58] So when people say it's not a spinoff, I'm like, well, it's still a sister show. There's people in the same universe. How about you, John, before we get into it? Do you have a particular favorite season looking back at it now or is this at all kind of run again? Oh, man. I really like 3. I really like Season 3. Season 3 and 4. And it was so funny when re-watching this, I was like, oh, Season 2 just amped it up, but I kind of like Season 3 more. But then Season 2 kind of...

[00:09:26] I still enjoyed how it's not sitting around, it's fast-paced, but then it was like, but Season 3 had some real bangers, so I was kind of beside myself. I personally think Season 4 is where you get the five-star seasons, but these ones were like... Season 2 and 3 for me were both like a four and a half out of five. It was like, yeah, there's no denying... I have an interesting... Go ahead. I think Season 4 is an interesting piece. Well, sure, Season 4 is like many great episodes.

[00:09:56] But at the same time, for me, it's really... while it doesn't have the same consistent quality of Season 3, it has this more... it's more provocative, more brave, more experimental, but it's not as... quality-wise, I think it's a bit lesser than Season 3 because the way... because it goes from an episode like Holmes, to an episode like Teleco, from an episode like Teleco, you go to the Amuses of Cigarette Smoking Man, then you go to Unrequited, or, you know... So it's like this very ping-pong with quality.

[00:10:26] But at the same time, you know, you have these four Glenn Morgan Wong episodes that just... that just push the quality of the X-Files, that just, you know, push against the brain. For example, if you look at Home. Home is pretty much the logical extension of what a mean, nasty, nasty, and without Phil, people like to treat it like an NYPD Blue or Sopranos moment where, oh my God, they did something I didn't know you could do on TV. I'm like, guys, again, it's more than that. It's more than that they got away with

[00:10:55] a mature audience-rated program. It was more that, again, like, they examined some of the most scummiest people on the planet and made them want you to know more about them just like... And it was no different than any of the other aliens or supernatural serial killers or cultists. So it... Yeah, I don't have any bad episodes listed for season four. I do have one dud for season three, but that's for a different discussion. But, man,

[00:11:24] just strong, strong outcomes. This is like... Like you're saying, they're building on the mythology more and they're actually acknowledging more of the episode by episode basis instead of one-off again. And to their credit, they're not treating it like James Bond. Like, it's not Scully has a new replacement partner or Mulder's flirting with a new civilian who is just as crazy as him. It's like, they're past that now. Now it's like, they must acknowledge it's like, what do they hope to gain?

[00:11:54] What do they hope to do differently? How are their solving skills changing for better or worse? Season four, season two, he has a clear system of the mythology for sure. Like, you know, you go all the way on Zazie's cliffhanger where you see Mulder literally die and then you see Blessing Way and the paper which, you know. What a great free partner and way to start the show. Like, it was just like, whoa, okay. He's off the grid. He's back to life. He's getting acknowledged

[00:12:24] by both his dad and Deepfroat and I'm like, and you gotta be paying quick attention and the Navajo, the fact that they will always kind of be the unofficial whistleblowers that was icing on the cake. I was just like, okay, cool. And they're giving them a voice without, and it's cool that they're saving the white man for once so they have no business in this fight, you know. I'd be like, get off my territory that you're gonna

[00:12:53] burn down eventually, dude. Again, that's the X-Files playing on memory, you know, like, as you all know. Total memory. Because, you know, this kind of, you know, historically, you know, how the Navajo have been, you know, exterminated, or, you know, racially, they've been so manipulated by the white, by the American white settlers, right? So that's the issue. And then as we go on to season four, one of my big problems with season four is, I love season four at the same time, but I do have

[00:13:22] problems with it. Season four doesn't have a clear sense of, it feels like the mythology is stalling a bit, like I'll explain to you. mythology at season four is more about, you know, a personal, is more personal rather than, you know, giving a sense of arc. Because it has to lead into, because at this point, you know, the show, the show's pretty much going into the movie, right? Like, you have Fight the Future that's being commissioned right now. So it's somehow lead to it. And also, at this point in season four, you sort of feel like, because Chris Clark original always said, like, the X-Files was going to have five seasons, right?

[00:13:52] But by that time season three came out, the popularity of like, you have to shift it, you have to change it. So there's a lot of, you know, shifting and changing going around, you know, trying to, you know, convolute it a bit. That could be, like you say, the production industry is building into that. It's like, give them enough of what they want, but don't not be creative. But also, we can't fully solve this, because we still got to elongate it and keep going. And so,

[00:14:22] yeah, it is a weird mixture. Yeah, it's like, what we're doing. But I think I'd give it a, get out of jail free card on this compared to other shows, which, you know, I've had my fair share of watching stuff that even when I love it, it's like, okay, and this is the cutoff point, and this is where my tap out season is like with this, this is like, okay, so I guess because you change it up enough, I, I, I'm just,

[00:14:52] I'm still loyal instead of, oh, but they're just going to solve it again anyway. It's like, well, I don't know that they might still kill someone along the way. And they really benefit from all the backstory on Cigarette Man, you know, his being responsible for both the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. And it's like, and I knew that growing up, but re-watching it is like, whoa. And even though, but like you say, season four has some one-offs, especially with

[00:15:22] like zero sum and paper hearts and even, yeah, the field where I died, as we were talking earlier and Leonard Betts is interesting, is like, at that point is like, like, I don't like it, but it's halfway decent. And we're still showing, like, you still are just having just very memorable villains where you're just like, man, like they, at this point, is like, just put the kids to bed, there's gonna be some gore

[00:15:51] on TV. It's not too R-rated, but it's also, I mean, we're getting everything from, you know, haunted prisons to, again, just more hospitals. Yeah, hospitals and second area. Oh, man, there were even some other ones which I saw where it was like, they kind of reminded me of the season two episode with the orderly gal who's not a good person who

[00:16:21] unfortunately was also touched inappropriately by a haunted, perverted spirit. That's right. And I just thought of it. That was, and I don't think that's a bad episode by any man. It's Excelsis Day, but I did count probably maybe two episodes in each season where it's like, that was worth a watch, but that was like some Criminal Minds or SVU level stuff where it was like, ugh, you know, now I got to take a shower and

[00:16:50] forget about all that suffering that person went through. Season three and season four. Each of them, you know, these two seasons represent the show creatively and by popularity. Also season four is like, one of the bigger things about season three is like, because at the time season three was being produced and you know, being aired out. the American had the second world war's legacy winning the

[00:17:20] second world war after 50 years, right? Just the 50th year anniversary of the second. So there's, if you look at the episode paper clip, if you look at the Nase 731 episodes, it's pretty much about America's legacy in the second world war and how it's not as shit, it's not as, you know, it's not as good versus evil as the American government likes to make you believe that considering how the American government took those tactics often from Nazi regimes or, you know, fascist regimes as well. That's what was really neat too,

[00:17:51] is like, and like you said, unfortunately there are some conspiracy buffs who are way over the top to where it's like, if they were to watch X-Files we would have to point out, guess what guys, they're talking about you, you Alex Jones types, you know, and it does help that unlike the idiots who are taking good movies or controversial movies, like out of context, like the agents in the Matrix or the good guys, I'm like, that makes zero sense that those guys are exterminators,

[00:18:20] and we've seen people try to say defense is a good guy and falling down, you're like, hell no, he's a bad guy who thinks he's doing the right thing, that's how you make a good villain, that doesn't mean he's a good guy, and so X-Files, like you say, with some of the unpleasant histories of S-Files, as well as the Nazi regimes, they would really have to struggle to make any conspiracy be out of context, like the most they could probably do is, yeah, but it was all by

[00:18:50] aliens, is like, yeah, no, I can't argue with history here, this is a real thing, on the docket, on the books, so, like you say, they're giving Scully Mulder some new stuff, even when it's a side quest, I just feel relieved, though, that they're at least, I mean, just even other stuff, like the walk, that was so sad, having people trying to mysteriously all trying to kill themselves at a military hospital, but it was worth a watch because there was just some

[00:19:19] uncanny take on it, and how they introduced it all, season four, Phantom Soldier, yeah, Phantom Soldier, and they went to town, like, they're doing, they're like giving Jag a run for its money, it's like, you want a military mystery, we got one for you, yeah, yeah, Tolico had various deaths of several African-American men, and then

[00:19:50] things like absolutely, yeah, it's fair enough, me, I think it's a bit too, it's a bit problematic even if it's a fiction of African-American men, and it's stereotyping as them, creatures, et cetera, like, the X-Men always, you know, being part of the international Second World War, like, you know, America is only a couple pounds, it does otherize it. No, I figured it could have been probably

[00:20:20] rewritten a little better since it is outdated, I just kind of dug the whole, kind of, that dude was like a real life candy man, kind of, just, there's a pulpy aspect to it, for sure. But, but I'll give you this, yes, it is outdated, unfortunately, you would have to remind people it's like, hey, it's 90s, you gotta look at it with 90s eyes, but. Exactly. We'll return after these messages. Hi folks, how's back here? We got a 90-minute

[00:20:49] weekly Shaq stop. It's growing all over the world. Find it at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Mondays, then 3 p.m. on Wednesdays, then 7 p.m. on Thursdays. You can catch it on many more radio stations, 99.9 KERB, 1 p.m. Central Time, 2 p.m. Eastern on Mondays, then catch the Encore on Thursdays at 5 p.m. Central Time, 6 p.m. Eastern, then catch it Wednesday mornings

[00:21:18] at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, 10 a.m. Central, 1077 K Twins, then hang out with us Wednesday afternoons on MXTR and House Hack Radio, 3 p.m. Eastern Time, then Thursday, get up bright and early with us on 95.7 Web Radio at 6 a.m. Pacific Time, 9 a.m. Eastern. Of course, we've got the Friday covered as well, 12 p.m. Eastern Time on MXTRFM

[00:21:48] and 10 p.m. Eastern Time, 9 p.m. Central, 1077 K Twins. Find everything on HouseHack.com. HouseHack. If you like small town mystery, crazy news, and wild history, then the Florida Men on Florida Man podcast is for you. Each week, Josh Mills and Wayne McCarty bring you the absolute best Florida has to offer. So if you're looking for a show that's safe for the family

[00:22:18] but funny enough to help you escape everyday life, then listen to the Florida Men on Florida Man podcast. That's Florida Men, plural, on Florida Man podcast. Do you ever find yourself thinking about who would win in a fight between Goku and Superman? Hi, I'm James Gavsey and on the Who Would Win Show, me and my co-host Ray ignore anything important happening in the outside world and debate fictional battles between characters from comics, movies, and video games. We got a new show every week and almost always am I the winner. Yeah, not true, Ray.

[00:22:48] In the past, we've discussed such matches as Captain America versus Darth Vader, Solid Snake versus the Iron Giant, classic matchups like Robocop versus Terminator, and even the Muppets versus Sesame Street. That one was crazy. So if you're a fan of geek culture and love a spirited debate, check out the Who Would Win Show wherever you get your podcasts or check us out at who would win show dot com. And the fact that again, Krychek is screwing

[00:23:17] it up for everybody. He's such a fantastic villain and over. And Howard Gordon did say in an interview is like, you know, the future, you know, craftsman behind Homeland and accused, you know, he takes British programs he loves and does his own take on it and does some of his That's a cat of right? Howard Gordon. Yeah, that should totally be a definition of quality. Like just he's like the most independent

[00:23:47] politically minded guy on TV. He's like he's going to justify everybody from gay rights to wrongful, you know, interrogations to everything. And he did say when casting terrorist General Juma on 24, he's like, I was just looking at people I've worked with before written for and it's like Tony Todd in the sleepless episode. I got to use them. And you're getting more of that with his X-Files season. You're seeing people who are going to end

[00:24:16] up on like Tom Noonan or rest in peace are going to end up on hell on wheels. and but it is interesting too, though, is they they don't play around with just throwing you for a fool. I do like how Mulder is getting wiser is like I shouldn't believe everything I hear. I just need to investigate while also it's like, yes, there's a disturbance. It's just the

[00:24:45] reason behind it is a lie being fed by the killer or the demon. And but yeah, Krijuk has some good arcs here. Those are some good two-parters again, like all those camps and you're just like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it just makes you go, man, like he is Krijuk is just so much fun to hate. And again, we thought he was out of the loop and

[00:25:15] I knew he was coming back because I had and it was so funny just because I was a little blurry on how this all happened. I was like, yeah, that can't be the end of it. It was like he either has to have come back later on or something. He's kind of the Krijuk is the Q from Star Trek of this X-Files like he yeah, although Q you could argue is meant to be dark comedy relief. He's just he's like a rude party guest who's kind of funny or like Dr. Cox and Scrubs.

[00:25:45] And he's he's more of a sociopathic antihero when he's not a villain opposing force. But yeah, and this yeah, Krijuk is always like friends, close enemies, closer guy. He is the Frito of the Godfather. You're like, ah, you backstabbing son of a bitch like you and the horse you rode in on. And it is so funny, though. I had to remind people is like, guys, remember, this is the plant by cancer man. He is, you know, we hated him when he

[00:26:15] was the mole. Now we hate him even more because like he is leading mold around these goose chases and they keep getting captured and interrogated. And it's amazing. Any of them are alive. They do. The one thing I would have liked done a little better is just kind of explaining how they mysteriously. They kind of rushed over it and it's like, yeah, we gave this other thing we never tried before and it's mysteriously going to get the black oil out of molder skin. I was like, you could have could have explained that a little more. I would have liked a little

[00:26:44] just I didn't have time to breathe. Yeah, look and try. They revisit it later when it matters again. But I was like, I would have liked a little. I know you had X amount just like one extra scene like him explaining it so I could follow a little bit and kudos though to the prompt editing on all these shows like anyone with ADD or severe just impatience is going to be happy, hard pressed to not be blown away

[00:27:14] by all these shows. Yes, obviously everyone's using pagers they're not using cell phones, but it's the same equivalent is like in this case, no cell phone can help you and all these places are literally off the map never been explored except by wandering strangers. So a GPS will not help you. There's no cell phone pinging or I did used to I used to know these douche bags who were unprofessional filmmakers I worked with and they were big

[00:27:43] ex-police junkies and so that's as close as I got to people wanting to take shows out of context, but I will give them credit for this one hysterical theory where they're I've joked about this on every other show that uses a cell phone and it's like, yeah, the government kind of like people joke how there wouldn't ever be a jet used for the federal agent unit on the behavioral unit on criminal mines and how Jack Bauer always has a working cell phone on 24. Same deal here is like they always have great

[00:28:13] reception in all the mountains is like they had special kind of phones or pagers. That's where the government budget's going over time. It works anywhere, anytime. But I do to its credit compared to other shows where it's like there's no way anyone would just leave their phone alone, especially nowadays. It's like I love how they just have the phones just not matter. It's like someone always loses it or gets stranded or goes into a tunnel. It was like, yeah, that works for me. And or

[00:28:43] especially when Mulder was getting on the train and that two-parter is like how brilliant is like I'm going to meet a member of the syndicate. I'm going to meet some other mysterious deadly assassin. And by the way, there's there's a bomb on here that we cannot diffuse in time. It's like, man, you've got free things going nonstop. Scully's struggling to meet him. Mr. X is the unofficial rescuer. And then Mulder doesn't remember because

[00:29:13] he was knocked out by the explosion. So he's back to square one of I still don't understand. I think that's why I give it credit is like it's kind of like when Tony Sopranos tells a lie. We the viewer know, but that's why we hate it even more because we know all the other characters are being deceived. The same deal here is like we know you're being deceived. We want to make sure it gives me a reason to check clock in next time to see it because I hope that they can finally, you know, get caught up on what we the viewer

[00:29:42] have been hinted at so far. But it also helps that. I mean, especially with the list is like and a nice hole and is like that about the death row kind. Yeah. It's like we open up. There's a headless corpse or like this is not a prison. The warden is Mr. Golly. We think he's kill them. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:30:13] We think he's so nice and it's played by GT Walls. It was like, hold on a minute. This is character actor JT Walls. He never plays a good guy. What are you talking about? And so yeah. And unrequited. Once again, we're back to military and invisible and you're just like, whoa, whoa, whoa. And you're just like so many great one-off characters. It's like, I want to know more, but it also helps that Skinner is finally getting some skin in the game.

[00:30:42] No pun intended. It's like, okay, now do you believe they're on a hunch? And he's finally letting in. It's like, I'm restricted on what I can let you guys have access to, but that's okay. Like, there's going to be some other factors to this. And again, they're traveling around the globe more. They're making the settings actually stand out. I mean, well, yes. At this point, even the show's production at this show, it's like polished.

[00:31:13] It's definitely more confident of itself. I mean, you talk about the list, and I think that's a great, I think Chris Conrad directed the episode, right? I think so. I could be wrong. Yeah, I think, but I'll just look it up. the list great with Chris Conrad, it looks really good. I mean, it's really, it looks good. And you start remembering the witnesses as much as you do all the other guys, because for a while they were just doing the whistleblowers or the unhelpful or sometimes

[00:31:42] crooked sheriffs covering up the things. And then it's like Holm was brilliant at it's like, let's just say for argument's sake, the sheriff did cover it up, but it's also because he wants to keep the towns in a way safe from this, you know, disturbance. Yeah. Yeah. You can call that. Yeah, it's been a nostalgia. And you're giving a voice to

[00:32:12] these inept people while also realizing is like, yeah, and this is why they're, you know, the shit's going to hit the fan soon before square one. And I mean, quagmire. What, what a way you're, you're getting almost done with the season as like, we got, you know, I still want to secretly think, hey, it's a crocodile, but it's a great episode in that it's both a

[00:32:42] cool original monster storyline and it's also an awesome Jaws homage. It's like, you're not going to see this sucker until the very end. And it's like, Mulder in his mind is like, that was one unusual vicious crocodile. And then we see Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, come out and is like, no, no, no, thank again. And it's a great Mulder story. And Scully is just like beside herself. And sorry, animal lovers. I'm a, I'm a dog and cat guy too,

[00:33:11] but it's not, they don't make it be darkly humorous, but they also show that Scully is not going to get attached to any animals anytime soon. And that two episode featured dog and they did it in a dispensable is like, yeah. And yeah, Rob is getting really good with the action episodes. Daniel Sackheim is good with the mystery ones and Kim. I never know where he's going to go, but I always know

[00:33:41] he's going to begin the episode atypically. and Frank Spottnitz is getting in on the fun. Kim Newton is getting something to do. And like you say, Wong and Morgan, John Scheiben. Yeah. I mean, if you look at, yeah, I give a lot of credit, even when it's an episode I don't care for is like, yeah, that was a good idea on paper. It's just it needed one more rewrite or there were too many cooks that

[00:34:10] episode. And, but he definitely likes a mixture of just kind of ancient evils. And I mean, all these guys, I just have nothing but respect for even it's much like all the Twilight Zone authors. It's like, yes, Richard Matheson probably had an episode you didn't care for. Yes, some of those other guys have some hits. They have some others that you might not care for, but objectively they did do their best with everything and it's their own

[00:34:40] original voice regardless of how it turns out. It's like, yeah, they, and that then they always find a way to turn it around is like, and let's have Cancer Man come in at the very end to cover this up or some of these other mysterious assassins who, and again, we're getting back into is this cry check is a lone gun gunman, no pun intended. He's working for himself, basically blackmailing anybody, just so he can get

[00:35:09] both Cancer Men's forces and the X-Files off of his tail and then slowly expose the evil when it suits him or gives him a payday. It's, but yeah, man, they're, I mean, that cockroach episode is so uncomfortable season three, but I was blown away by it and I don't know why I was laughing so uncomfortably the whole episode, especially when you have B-movie starlet Bobby Phillips as the sexy scientist and it

[00:35:39] kind of adds both camp value as well as just, I mean, how original they're metallic killer cockroaches and even then there's still some craftsmanship and how they don't show all the deaths or they imply it to your imagination and then it makes you realize, I mean, this show is kind of making you realize our own insecurities in a way. it's doing it with shock value, but it's also kind of making us realize it's like, well, I didn't actually see it on screen. That was me,

[00:36:08] you know, connecting the dots, you know, but man, yeah, I mean, there was religious wounds and revelations. I was like, whoa, okay, we're back to again, that's what I'm noticing too. Howard Gordon, I know he had a strict upbringing, but he's doing so much of the much like with season one and two. He is back to square one and I'm going to do all the religious and sacred episodes. The,

[00:36:38] you know, the others can do all the dysfunctional families and serial killers, but I'm going to do all the taboo stuff that still to this day, people will disown each other. Oh, how dare you bring that up? I'm like, really? We're going there in 2026 and so forth? I guess so. Sorry, you were going to say something but I didn't mean to cut you off. No, like, just my point is season four, like, as you said, season four is like basically handing the baton from

[00:37:08] one generation to the X-Files, Nothing. Just being the first generation being Morgan, Wong, Gordon, and Gordon because at this point, each of these three writers are going to leave the shop season four, right? gone from these people, right? So in season four, you have both, all of these know, right? You're just coming in and, you know, just making the job of

[00:37:38] season four. That's where you see a lot of quality is just so consistent. Season four is quality, consistent, yeah, consistent in a way that's not unified exactly, but on episode on episode basis, it's much stronger than season three as unified. You know what I'm saying with season three? Totally. Because season one, unfortunately, even when there was a cool episode, you would still have some basic dialogue or you'd still have to kind of do what you see in both a good or a bad crime show. You would have

[00:38:07] to see the inevitable victim who was trying to sue someone or in an illicit situation doing a gun exchange and there's, you know, about to get killed or something. And so predictability is unfortunately setting in because you're like, at this point, they're doing a mixture of their knowing when to be artistic and cut away or imply enough, as well as just speed through the exposition. It's like, this might read boring on paper, but I'm gonna

[00:38:36] get even more further into the point and I'm not gonna start at atypically anymore. I'm not gonna do the, you know, Sarah killer gets killed. Yeah. Also, the fact is about season three, season three, so I think at this point we talk about Darren Morgan then, like all his three episodes, if you know.

[00:39:06] Yeah. Like, so yeah, like, you know, Darren Morgan and this, like these three episodes, you have Jose Shang's, Jose Shang's final. That is just so funny. And isn't it funny? Future conspiracy theorists. I know you'll love this, Jesse Ventura. Oh, wow. This is like, who would have thought? And again, that is a breaking bad moment. That is Vince Gilligan. That is his origin story. Yes, there's other episodes he's done beforehand,

[00:39:36] but I'm sorry. This is, this is a breaking bad moment. This is a better call Saul moment. And you have the pusher as well, but pusher is such a good episode. Oh my God. And a lot of people hate when they brought that character back. I was cool with it, actually, but I'm not going to lie. The first appearance is the better one. But, and this is where Roger Cross, you know, who later has recurring roles on 24 continuum dark matter and what have you.

[00:40:07] He makes, you know, about seven different appearances on the show. And this is like one of his first, you know, he'd already been one of the soldiers earlier on. And now he's getting to be is like, okay, I'm the head SWAT team lieutenant, you know, like, and but man, I also love how everyone is just they're not stupid. There's like I the guy saying stuff that makes me angry. And at the same time, it's just showing is like, okay, yeah, seven and

[00:40:37] sons of the lambs are being ripped off. We'll give you one hell of a serial killer pursuit movie. There's going to be explosions, but there's also going to be mind games. And again, like, they don't know what's happening. All they can do is just say, I guess I'll hang up the phone, but he can still get into my mind or, make me see stuff I don't actually see or set me on fire because I just imagined it. He makes our fears become real. It's like, that's really hard to combat when fear you kind of can't combat it. You would

[00:41:07] have to be like the most callous person, like maybe a torturer to just like be like, oh, nothing. It was like you would have to be just a scumbag with maybe another serial killer to just be like. Yeah, John, what was it like? I just again, they're continuing the trend of Fox every night after the Super Bowl or after another show is like, we're going to start the day. I mean, I looked at some other

[00:41:36] classic commercials and this is where again, the unofficial sister show with D.B. Sweeney Strange Luck is also coming on after this. So, I mean, Strange Luck, huh? Yeah. And what is Strange Luck? What is Strange Luck? That's the D.B. Sweeney private eye show that was supposed to cross over with X-Files, but never got a chance. But it's like everybody's experimenting. Everybody, every channel

[00:42:06] has their own Seinfeld knockoff as well as their own Equalizer or next Miami Vice type show. But yeah, at this point Fox still has, you know, NBC is starting up their other new shows like Profiler, which is so funny in the documentary. The editor worked on both that and Millennium and his often the same thing he got was like, yeah, I think so. He's like, get make it look like Homicide, make it look like Millennium for Profiler episodes. And then The Pretender is totally

[00:42:35] still in some of that same X-Files thing, but it's a little more part funny, part Indiana Jones type adventure. But yeah, I mean, New York Undercover at this point is kind of the modern day Miami Vice. It's so diverse and making up for its basic crimes with just speaking to both the Latino and Black community and having just a killer just banging R&B and hip-hop soundtrack every episode. And so it was like, yeah, Fox is,

[00:43:06] you know, they got married with children, they got all of these other shows, but X-Files is their baby. It's like, okay, after you're done watching The Simpsons, tune into The X-Files the same week, you know? Oh, the best one? Geez. I would,

[00:43:35] for the 90s, that's tough because, you know, this same year, Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, who already made a campy version of X-Files called Independence Day, which the creators notoriously hate and diss of the first movie by having Mulder urinate at a urinal with the poster as a funny diss. But, I mean, they have their own inspired show called Dark Skies and actually, no, that was a different show, but similar

[00:44:04] definitely was their show was called God, what was the name of that show? It was interesting. The Visitor, that's what it was. It had Peter Graves and, you know, I think when you get into the 2000s, my personal favorite, you know, Oreo's favorite, on the show is the 4400, which is a pretty good take.

[00:44:33] I personally love Jericho. That's like going back to the Twin Peaks or Erie Indiana thing. You have a backwards town beset by even more dangerous forces and then you got it only gets X-Files in that there's the conspiracy. The best longest running one, it would probably be how Gordon uses some of the same magic on here on 24, but how about you, John? What is your favorite kind of inspired by? Because every, like, man, because I mean, it's so funny. Season 4 is like where

[00:45:03] X-Files really is X-Files, but funny, coincidentally enough, season 4 of Stargate, that's where it becomes very X-Files-esque, you know. No, I think it's honestly, I've been, I've been just, I've been learning so much by listening to you guys during this whole sequence. I just realized how out of touch with all of this I had been. I thought I, you know, like I said, I watched everything and then never touched it again and forgot everything. And that's why when you guys are talking about it, I'm like, it's coming back to you

[00:45:32] like PTSD. Oh my God, man. So I'm just like, you know, I'm sitting here trying to learn more and looking out on my computer as well, trying to be like, man, what the hell are they talking about? Okay, here we go. But as far as the other shows that you're bringing up, I haven't watched most of them. Millennium and 24 and most of them.

[00:46:02] Twin Peaks I did. I'm looking forward to the Twin Peaks. How about some of the, I mean, Star Trek Deep Space Nine kind of becomes a little bit like that with Section 31 being introduced. Right. Yeah, Star Trek, Star Trek, like you and I heard. And it was clear, Rick Berman was on the record as make this. He was always like with every new track show is like be a darker version of Empire Strikes Back or have an X-Files type subplot because we got to get those same kind of, you know, crazy ratings.

[00:46:32] And every other UPN show was basically, if it wasn't another take on Martin or 227, they were almost always having some kind of X-Files or Twin Peaks or Twilight Zone show. have a new Twilight Zone. Rick Berman said that. I mean, from what I see, it was always like trying to be ever since TNG ended with always about trying to be can't TNG. This is more recent. I never heard about the X-Files part. It was basically, it was admitted on

[00:47:02] the Delta Flyers and around the time he was making Enterprise. But like you say, yes, then he retracts it and does the whole, oh no, no, we're just making it like Gene's show. I'm like, dude, we can't make it like Gene's show. Gene's not here anymore and you don't know what makes it awesome. How about you, Sohan? What's your favorite inspired by or knockoff show, do you think? Oh, I haven't seen. There's always

[00:47:32] something to watch. I get it, but it's always interesting. Like, I mean, there's an okay show like that medium, but at the same time, that was just so grim. It's like, it's okay, it's watchable, but it's not Millennium, it's not X-Files, but everyone had their own take. Everyone had a gentler version of people who conceive visions or people who solve supernatural stuff, you know. Speaking of supernatural, you know, like,

[00:48:01] I have seen, look, I don't know, I don't know if you know this, do you know about the others? Yes. Yeah. It's got her, what's her name? I'm not forgetting. That was produced by Spielberg, you got the X-Files writers and yeah, one of Gabriel Max, part of that. Juliana Nicholson was on there years before. Yeah. And Gabriel Mack, John Belinsky and Bill and Bill Cobbs and yeah. I like that. I mean,

[00:48:31] yeah, pretty good. Sadly forgotten. It just didn't have a chance in hell, but it wasn't the last time Spielberg would almost always or even Joe Dante would end up producing shows like these is like, yeah, it's going to be have the production values of an X-Files show and it's going to have some Twilight Zone type, you know, monkey's talk. TV show for that TV show I prefer the more Morgan Wong episodes over the Michael Ferris episodes because you can see the quality was a

[00:49:01] I think the quality in the Morgan Wong episodes was significantly up a notch than the other non-Morgan Wong episodes. Oh, totally. And they're doing a good job though at every writer, you kind of have their voice in your mind now when you look at it more constructively, but you also are letting you're looking forward to. I accept that it's not going to be the same thing anymore. It's not going to just be another unusual car chase opener

[00:49:32] or a shocking death. Now it's going to be, there's no telling and I'm here for the shit show to start. You know, I don't know what I'm going to get and I'm glad it's avoiding predictability. I don't know if they're going to do a two-parter again where Mulder is suspended and goes on the run or if Scully has another scare and they go into that again. But man, like it, it does, it is easy to forget what happens in which season because you are trying to

[00:50:01] compact so many details but it only makes for better rewatch value. I find just no kidding. But yeah, like season one was like a, I guess a three and a half to four out of five range. just in like these, these are like four and a half to five out of five star range. Like they're really just dynamite. Like this is kind of what I remember season five. Up until season five, that's the goal of the Asia. I could say

[00:50:31] that for sure. After, from season six onwards, it's a bit dicey. Season seven and nine are not. I mean, season nine is pretty bad, in my opinion. Season seven is okay. Like, I mean, at this point, season seven is more built by Julian Anderson to company's chemistry. Like more than anything, that's what helps season seven. They're not allowing them to have any chemistry anymore. And I will give you this. Season nine is definitely the weakest season for me. I like some of the standalone episodes, but some of the mythology outside of the

[00:51:01] two-parters just really bites. But I don't worry, we're going to I'm going to have some positives later on. But it's also cool that they're at this point deciding, let's let's go into all kinds of fears. Let's let's, you know, go around the globe. Let's you're going to remember again, just I mean, that Chupacabra episode and

[00:51:30] X-Files was hysterical. Any other episode that ended that way, I would have been angry that you didn't give me some closure. But I love how, again, it's a Chris Carter, John Chabon script, but they are complimenting each other and it's surprising, you know, Raymond Cruz, there's former, there's future Tuco from Breaking Bad. Yeah, he's going to be on the closer. He's already been another stuff like he's been. I've always admired him as an actor because he's avoided doing gangster stuff like Blood In, Blood

[00:52:00] Out. He's also done military stuff like Broken Arrow and The Rock and even being the delivery guy in Gremlins 2. But, you know, his, yeah, and Ruben Blades is as awesome as the detective. But, man, like, I love how it was started by a deadly rainstorm. The migrant workers are, have known about this and they don't know how to explain it and the girlfriend

[00:52:30] is beside herself is like, oh, you know, the Chupacabra happens to be the man I'm in love with and, and I just, what a kick-ass ending. Like, it ends with that, spoiler, spoiler, guys, if you don't want to hear, just fast forward five seconds. I love it. They go, I just love it. It's like, you know, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. Like, they just go past it. Like, it was intended that way and they go and do it even a little more. It's like,

[00:53:00] and the makeup effects are their skin just kind of slowly morphing into a beast with some yellow blood. It's like, wow, I, it's, instead of being concerned with being gross, it's actually concerned with being just connecting it to aliens and then having some other just wacky stuff. And much like Jose Chong, like, you remember the effects and motion technique just as much as you do all the guest characters.

[00:53:30] And again, it's like, yeah, we're getting deeper. Not every episode is going to involve Mulder or Scully even, and that's okay because they're going to come in and kind of be a voice of the two voices in the room giving another interpretation and Skinner again, they are getting him out of angry boss mode and being like, I, you know, he's already along with the paperclip episode been like, it's like Scully put the gun down. I'll put my gun down. Oh,

[00:54:00] yeah. Treat me like, like an agent. If you don't want to treat me like your boss, but don't fucking shoot me. I'm not a mole. I'm not working for cancer, man. And I like how we're showing all these indigenous personas on here. It's not just the Navajo who are going to be the whistleblowers. It's like, yeah. And we're getting away from all the family drama because truth be told, the family's kind of out of the picture on this. You know, it's she'll have her mom, but you know, she's still

[00:54:30] getting over her losing her sister and Mulder's learning, getting suspicious about his family. It's like, yeah, there's a lot of stuff. Mom and dad did not tell me why am I finding cancer in some photos? It's not good. Because, well, spoiler alert, guys. So, because Cancer Man is Mulder's father, I feel. The biggest plot twist since Empire Strikes Back. Yeah. But no, but like, but like, yeah, like, you know, again,

[00:55:00] as I've said this many times over here before, the X-Files is essentially a story of the younger generation come to terms with the misdeeds of their fathers. This case, you know, with the Falcum's Mulder's father and his dealings with Cancer Man, you know, how those three fathers are juxtaposed, you know, at this point. So you like him, you have Tina Mulder, and like, you know, all, like, at this point, was it season three's finale? I mean, it gets even more confusing to jump on that. How, I mean, we're not going to talk about

[00:55:29] in the next discussion, but, you know, we're even gonna, some people like to even distort it as like Cancer Man's manipulating events is like, it's kind of both. He manipulates a lot of it's, but, yeah, there's no doubt that Mulder's mom cheated in some capacity. Yeah, and it kind of also explains in a way why he's not much like his

[00:55:59] dad, you know, he's a conspiracy theorist, much like Cancer Man, even though Cancer Man's part of the conspiracies, but, yeah, man, I like how it's hinting at the bigger things to come and like, if you're gonna introduce just standalone stuff, this is definitely a highlight. The episode with the town that pressures people to kill each other.

[00:56:29] Oh, man. That was a good one. That was a total Twilight Zone. Our town. Well, actually, that goes back to season two. That's season two. That's a great episode. But season three even had some other ones kind of carrying on to that. It was like, just, oh, man, what was the one with? That was a good episode. They had, yeah, DPO. I mean, like, I knew Jack Black was on here. He'd already coincidentally

[00:56:59] is on. That's right. That's right. Giovanni Rivas. What episode was that? DPO. That's on season three, episode three, but like, man. That's right after the that's right after three part. So three part of season two and three and then you have to deal. Oh, man. The people get struck by the lightning. That's right. Great stuff. Good old Oklahoma. And Kim Winners, I mean, and this is a Howard Gordon episode and he's working with both Spott and Nitz and Morgan on this. So it was like,

[00:57:29] you're getting all their strengths in one episode. It doesn't. And like the Star Trek guys, it's a really closed off room. Well, the biggest critique they got, and I think this is a valid one, was that there weren't any females or people of mixed or other races on the writer's room. It was still cool that they're breathing and living in the same water. So that really does. I never, even when I feel like an episode might need not this one, but if I ever

[00:57:59] feel like an episode needs a rewrite real fast, I never get to the point of, but they're thinking a different thing. It never gets to that point where it's like they had, even if they had a different ending in mind, they all settled on one that they could all live with. It's not getting to, oh, we're against the clock. We've got to get an episode filmed before the next month. You know, it's like, no, it's that they have planned this all. They have written, agreed on this all. They are consistent with it all.

[00:58:28] And this episode is just really a highlight. And it's so funny. You'll love this, Sohan and John. I every once will see a photo of Jack Black being used as a meme where he's counting the quarters and looking like, hold on a minute. They'll use it for stuff like that and people don't realize that's not from High Fidelity or School of Rock. That's from the X-Files episode. And it's so awesome too. It kind of reminds me of Terminator 2.

[00:58:57] You enter in, you see him playing an arcade game, but it's different. It's closed down after hours. You're like, something smells, something's wrong here. And Kim matters. This just has a knack for getting beyond the unpleasant trees. You want to know more about this morbid thing. It's gross and disgusting how a young man with a terrible mother and no dad, you know, who electrocutes cows and everything and other people who he hates.

[00:59:27] he is unable to you know, Scully is beside herself. You know, gas and that straw is trying to explain it. And Mulder has trouble proving it because it happens when he's not able to prove it as you as you do with an X-Files. But it is like Kim matters gets beyond the gross deal where it's like, yeah, this guy wants to basically be like an incel or something, basically just kidnap his high school teacher who he always had the hots for. And it's like, OK, cool. We're that's never going to happen because

[00:59:57] Scully and Mulder aren't in the case, but we're going to you know, it's not about even just the controller that is like it's just giving our bad guy an out. And once again, like we're the episode is so strong because like, again, the psychiatrist and sheriff and all the other people are going to be useless in this stupid town. Even the traffic cop is going to be terrible. It's like so we're still going to have on Kenny ways in which we introduce each mystery and finding

[01:00:26] and just show how at the end of the day, I just need smarts. Like Scully has a fun one up on the guy at the end. It's like, yeah, this is how you get even with him. When I run out of people to protect and when Mulder's trying to reason with the guy is like, yeah, there's no reasoning with this guy. And at the same time, I'm going to need more than a gun to do it. Now, Kim Manners directed almost half of the episodes. He is listed as

[01:00:56] the godfather of it. He unfortunately left us in 2009 and had a similar role on Supernatural where, I kid you not, people would come up to it and be like, he's our dad. He's our TV dad. Wow. Okay. Just as a look back though, what a career. I'll show you just other stuff that he's constantly worked on. He started out as the assistant director and then main director on Charlie's Angels.

[01:01:25] But then from that point on, he was involved with Matt Houston, Heart to Heart, did one Star Trek next-gen episode. Fans really like him also just listening to his commentary tracks because he just opens up. Other credits include just one episode each. The most thing he did probably after this was then Millennium writer Chip Johansson asked him to do a miniseries

[01:01:55] event for ABC, which is really, really good. It's Emily Blunt's first role. It's Empire. No relation to the music record show. This was ABC trying to do their own take on Gladiator in Rome, and it was really so good. Okay. But, yeah. You know, he's done some other Stephen J. Cannell stuff like Broken Badges and 21 Jump Street, but like, yeah, kind of like a lot of these guys, like, they're coming out of the

[01:02:25] syndicated primetime TV. Hunter, Stingray, Simon and Simon, he did five episodes of, but yeah, Street Hawk. He also did the Adventure of Briscoe County Jr., though. Have you seen that? That's a wonderful show. That should have been a, you need to. Even other shows that the X-Files writers like Darren Morgan got their start on like 100 Lives of Blackjack Savage.

[01:02:55] Like, pretty much, if you haven't seen any of these on YouTube, go for it. The Hat Squad. But yeah, seven episodes of Briscoe County, that is like as close as he probably gets to X-Files. And what do I mean by that? What I mean is, is like, he is having to balance out, you know, instead of car chases, you know, get the second unit guys over there filming this while he films an intense interrogation scene with the two leads. Like, he is having the two comedic duos on Briscoe County,

[01:03:25] you know, rattle off clever dialogue while having them, you know, their stunt doubles, you know, ride on horses and then introduce some steampunk type sci-fi. It's like, yeah, he's used to blending genres together and, but fans have grown to love him even more because he just had some of the best commentary tracks. He gave you some deep trivia while just being a very easygoing storyteller. And I think it shows with all these guys, they're just as interesting

[01:03:55] as their ideas. They don't overthink it. Very rarely, even when they lose their train of thought and go, uh, like they are just so patient, kind of like a Spielberg or even a, even as Robert Zemeckis and they're not much different than in a good way than the tells from the of their own podcast, uh, how not to make a movie. And that is like, they know how to wax poetry as well as they do suspense and comedy. And when they do a

[01:04:25] typical sci-fi or horror thing, it's still atypical. The genre is like they're, they're beloved by pretty much all kinds of different people. and it's like having that moment in the sun just like that, that was great. And, and he, uh, died from lung cancer, huh? Oh man. Yeah. And so where was I at that point? I was graduating high school and I didn't really know his name, but I, I knew there was a bunch of people who were just like big,

[01:04:55] big, big. And so Thomas J. Wright was the godfather coincidentally in Millennium where he helmed most of it and had the style down and he did a lot of supernatural as well. And even he was like, uh, just if you want me to tell stories about how this is done, I'm happy to tell you, you know, it's all these guys were like Thomas was hoping to do a movie career that didn't pan out. So he became just the TV movie guy who did some freaky unusual

[01:05:24] premises of the week. And all these guys same for Rob Bowman, same for Kim Madden. I mean, Rob was devastated having to deal with the ratings board, Fox, execs. And he's like, he had some cult movies like Reign of Fire, but yeah, after that he kind of, he. Oh, that's right. Bowman, yeah, that's right. Yeah. Much like Zack Snyder, he had stupid arguments with how you could show a gun on screen, how intense fights,

[01:05:55] what to cut in and cut out. But he just kept his head down. He did a bunch of Castle episodes producing and writing for the rest of his career. He's kind of semi retired, kind of he just does conventions and interviews now, but he can live with that. He's like, hey, I'm the guy who did, who used a lot of the same producers, writers, and stunt guys,

[01:06:46] even on paper, or even on your small screen. They've done a wonderful job remastering on widescreen. Each time I've looked at it on Amazon or Hulu, I'm like, man, that is Blu-ray level quality there. I never got that on a free by four-inch TV growing up. I just had the channel logo. Yeah, good. Yeah, like for

[01:07:16] people like me, you know, we're just catching up with the X-Files now. That's great. You know, like this, I think the TNG remasters are some of the best remasters you've ever seen. They redo the effects. Yeah. It makes me wish, even though I don't think it's feasible now, it makes me wish Deep Space Line got that. Trust me, everybody wants that and it's just always so stupid how because you're the third or fifth most popular, we can't redo you. I'm like, oh, Paramount.

[01:07:45] We all would, but it is dumb how, you know, Fox just cancels stuff while Paramount has so many movies that people want to see director's cuts and they so conveniently are like, oh, well, all the frames of that have been destroyed. I'm like, let's contact the German or Swedish unit of your company. Let's see what we got. You know, I'm sure Vice President Programming has a different story, but yeah, Paramount has been kind of the king of we're just

[01:08:15] not interested even though that's what you want. We'd rather just take stuff down and get angry that you uploaded stuff of it onto YouTube. So, yeah, Fox is always trying to develop new stuff and I hope they, I just wish they would do more tribute specials. Like, I love it when someone does on TV, like, they'll do a special like best moments and TV or a fun countdown. It's like, yeah, you need to do more of these hit shows

[01:08:44] or maybe replay them once in a while. Instead of, you got to produce new stuff, I get that, but you might just have a lazy suburb where you just like, kind of like sci-fi on rare occasions would do a Xena or Boundstark Galactica marathon. Yeah, Farscape, yeah, it's like, why don't you guys just take one of your classics, remaster them and heavily advertise it like, by the way, because kind of like, the closest I can think of is NBC will air an earlier Saturday Night Live episode just as a throwback. It's like, how about you guys

[01:09:14] do that too? Like, how about you, you give us the summer where there's no new programming on the reality shows and then you just play some of the classics. Standards be damned. Like, it would just be like seeing a remastered movie at a drive-in double feature. It's like, people would shell out money for that. It's like, yeah, I'm seeing it the way it's meant to be seen with people who will always re-watch it. It's like, you should totally do that. They should totally have a summer where it's like,

[01:09:44] we're going to do a marathon of some of our big episodes. You know, the closest I can think is PBS will play just a classic miniseries once in a while. And even with the viewer discretion advice thing, and it's like, it can be done and there is a budget for it. I just, it's just stinks having to remind people. It's like, people kind of want to see the classics, give them a reason to just stay at their folks who still have cable's

[01:10:14] house instead of just stuff they read or yeah, what's cable? Everything's making a comeback and everything's being escorted out the door. Oh, I know. I hear about everybody getting VHS now. It's like, what are you doing? Yeah, I don't understand that one, but I know others who swear by it. I'll do DVD. I'll do VHS if that's the only format it's on. Oh,

[01:10:44] 100%. You know, maybe beta, right? But, you know. Yeah, once in a while, not all the time. It's got to be on my, you know, player that plays any kind of disc or what have you. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And X-Files is more than just a disc. It's everywhere. It is. You know what, the one thing that I'm looking forward now from Ryan Cooler and his X-Files video is I love to see X-Files take, like, I know

[01:11:14] the rival seasons do that for sure. Right. I'd love to see someone, you know, take on a modern day conspiracy and be like the far right wing conspiracy extremist aspect of the show that's big. Not of the show, but for real world, it's just, you know, being mainstreamized and, you know, talk about it, talk about, you know, the globalization, how it's affected the United States, et cetera. the, I'd love to, you know, like, I think Ryan is the best person for this job. But if you've seen Queen, you know what I'm talking about, you know,

[01:11:44] how he's going to bring, how he'll use the legacy to tell interesting stories, all right. So yeah, I'm interested. I'm only for the X-Files. I'm with you. And even before all the buzz they were talking about, I was just like, yeah, they're going with someone who's atypical. Anyway, go ahead. Sorry. What? What? You said something about an X-Files reboot? It's coming out. Yeah. When is that coming out? Very soon, this year. Are you serious? I think it's next year or next year,

[01:12:14] but they're filming around summer and as is like, yeah, expect it. Wow. It's going to be more than anthology. It's going to be the TV show, right? It's going to be kind of, think of it like kind of all the Star Wars anthology kind of shows. That's kind of what they're doing with this. It's like, yeah, we're going to expand the world. We might have a cameo from one of the characters, but I trust me. It's going to be on, I'm sure it'll be on Hulu the

[01:12:44] next day, but like it's going to be on Fox too. You know, they're not going to turn it down. Yeah. I mean, they know it's their baby. It made them big. Oh my lord. Yeah. Every 20 years we're going to have, we're going to have an intellectic property. Enough people have gotten a complaint or, and I'm sure some of the programmers have had to have some cousin or some nephew showing the tape saying, why did you guys take this off? You know? And so I'm sure when you get to that point, like, yeah, I got to listen to the people in the room. What are they still talking about?

[01:13:14] Kind of like how it took them years to talk to the guys at HBO and say, give us a movie already. You know, give us a wrap up. It's a good standalone movie, but I'm glad I saw it all back to back. I could have, I would have been so bummed had I seen it when it was on and been like, and season free just got canceled. What? What? Are you talking about Deadwood? Yeah. And oh, yeah, I'm so glad I saw it when it's all done. But I was like, man, I could not I

[01:13:44] would have been beside myself had I started it and back in the day and been like, you know, so there's so many things that need endings. And I did see Chris Carter hint that he might have FBI agent. He might have a grown up Jordan, Frank Black's daughter from Millennium, show up as a federal agent in one tell. So what we'll see. I mean, everybody's OK. And so I'm sure there'll be some room for everybody. There's there's

[01:14:14] definitely going to be an Easter egg. And like you were saying with conspiracies, we see some of that in the later seasons. I mean, if anything, we're just going to be at that point where it's like just let's just see what happens. You know, it's like I welcome it. The worst thing they can do is they'll be like, OK, didn't work. And we'll still bring it back again in some other capacity. Yeah, the exhaust will

[01:14:43] always be one more good. We'll see. I think Gillian Anderson said that she's going to be back the show, which is surprising to me since I didn't think that she would come back. They're going to have to pay her better. They're going to have to pay her better because I don't think Gillian Anderson's all bad. she's not too comfortable in the way David Duchovny's. She always was like, Scully's one aspect of her while she's always sought a more different acting career than Duchovny. Duchovny's fine with it, but even

[01:15:13] in the revival season, when she was being interviewed, she said, you know, it took me a bit of a while to get back to Scully. You can't do it to death and you don't want to be pigeonholed. The caliber that she has, yeah, sure. Makes sense why she would personify what kind of roles. So, yeah, feel free.

[01:15:40] Follow us on the web on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The podcast is available on Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Anchor, Apple, and anywhere else podcasts are available. Feel free to review our show and leave comments on any of those sites. Thanks a million for listening. It's a jacked up review show.