The X-Files (Page 3 of 7)

To be honest, I'd rather you canonized SLIDERS REBORN first.

I didn't even think of that! I thought of the killer as representing the alien conspiracy: compelling and splashy but now incoherent, insane, outdated, obsessed with the past at the expense of the future, explosively unstable -- and for the good of THE X-FILES and everyone in it, the alien conspiracy plot is locked in a vault, isolated from anyone it might harm and left to blow itself up as we always knew it would, freeing THE X-FILES to focus on what actually matters.

But yes. All the elements you point out are indeed there. Albeit unintentionally.

I didn't really think of any characterization for the killer, although I do like yours. I think, also, the killer should have a dated, oversized Nokia dumbphone; a G-Shock wristwatch; cargo pants; a solid gray shirt under a blazer -- all these fashion trends of the 90s. And the killer should be holding that phone and wearing these clothes when Mulder throws him into a bank vault and lets him detonate himself.

I don't know if this is a good way to approach stories.

http://tvline.com/2017/01/11/the-x-file … -episodes/

“A lot of conversations are going on. As you can imagine, these conversations are complex. We hope to be able to announce something shortly.” (The exec later confirmed that goal is to order more than Season 10’s six episodes but less than 22).

http://www.superherohype.com/news/39475 … ew-project

This sounds like a better idea for season 11 than what we got.

An audio book?  Ehhhhhhhh.  At least a video game.

Informant, Slider_Quinn21, RussianCabbie, Grizzlor -- I am mildly irked by your posts in this thread regarding the audiobooks. I spend a lot of time crafting my contributions to this Bboard, many of which were in this thread regarding the IDW published Season 10 - 11 comics. The audiobooks have been announced as adaptations of the SEASON 10 - 11 comics on which I wrote extensively. Despite this, none of you seem to know anything about them even though I've described them in lavish detail in previous posts in this thread.

I am fractionally upset to the point where I shall refuse to talk to any of you ever again for the next thirty seconds or so.

..............................

Alrighty then. So, the comic book SEASON 10 - 11 are being adapted into audio productions with the banner title of COLD CASES with the actual actors. This is both interesting and confusing in that the IDW comic books and the FOX revival are completely irreconcilable, yet the press release is presenting COLD CASES as set between I WANT TO BELIEVE and the Revival.

From a continuity standpoint, that's impossible. SEASON 10 had Mulder and Scully rejoining the FBI in 2013; the Revival had them rejoining in 2015 with no reference to an earlier and abortive return to the FBI. SEASON 10 had Mulder and Scully as a settled, permanent couple; the Revival shows them having broken up. SEASON 10 has Mulder and Scully discovering that William Mulder has gone missing and his foster parents have been murdered; the Revival has them believing William is safe. SEASON 10 has promoted Skinner to Deputy Director; the Revival has Skinner still an Assistant Director. SEASON 10 has Mulder and Scully reopening the X-Files in 2013; the Revival has Skinner saying nobody's been in the Basement since the show got cancelled.

The main discrepancy: SEASON 10 treats Colonization as genuine. The 2012 invasion doesn't seem to have happened, but the comics indicate that the invasion has been delayed due to different alien factions warring over who will dominate the Earth. The faceless rebels return; there's buried spaceships, the black oil makes a comeback.

Confirming the Colonization plot is also the revelation that all Syndicate members periodically had their memories and personalities copied into clone bodies to carry on their work should the originals be killed, and a mysterious figure creates a new Syndicate comprised clones of all the deceased members, including the Cigarette Smoking Man. This is impossible to fit with the Revival's reveal that Colonization was a hoax to distract from the Smoking Man's Spartan Virus endgame. In fact, when reading the comics, one gets the sense that the Revival is set in an alternate continuity and it's the comics that take place in the TV show's universe.

This sense that the Revival is not set in the same reality as the original TV show is further deepened in the SEASON 11 finale: Mulder and the mystery man, revealed to be a now adult Gibson Praise, confront each other in the desert. It's revealed that Gibson has distributed the alien-repelling magnetite mineral throughout the Earth, making the planet a decidedly inhospitable place for the Colonists. As a spaceship comes at Gibson's beckoning, reality is briefly ripped open and Mulder sees a glimpse of alternate universes -- and one glimpse shows Scully with her Revival hairstyle and Mulder in his "My Struggle" costume -- determinedly separating the continuity of the comics and the TV show as taking place on parallel tracks.

I really don't know how an adaptation of SEASON 10 and SEASON 11's comic books can serve as a middle chapter that bridges I WANT TO BELIEVE and the Revival. SEASONS 10 - 11 end by declaring themselves apocryphal and offering a gentle finale to the alien myth-arc. That said, audiobook director Dirk Maggs has a history of adapting what seems initially unadaptable. The HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE radio series had finished two seasons and ended on a cliffhanger where Arthur Dent discovers that his friend, Zaphod, had allowed Earth to be destroyed. Arthur stole Zaphod's ship and vowed revenge. The novels, however, had adopted the material from the radio show and then gone well past it with original material that didn't incorporate this revelation or cliffhanger. And then Maggs was hired to do a radio series that would adapt the latter books into the radio format despite the mismatch.

Maggs, clumsily but perhaps unavoidably, declared that the cliffhanger had been a bad dream. In addition, the fifth and final book of the series, MOSTLY HARMLESS, ended on another cliffhanger where most of the characters were killed off and the author died before he could finish it. Maggs adapted MOSTLY HARMLESS faithfully but with an additional end-scene where the characters were shown to have survived.

So, could Maggs do something similar and retrofit his adaptation of SEASON 10 and SEASON 11 for an in-continuity approach? I don't know, because the problem isn't really the comics; if anything, it's the TV Revival that's out of step with continuity. However, SEASON 11's final issue ended the storyline with a reality warping event caused by an alien spacecraft, so I guess Maggs could alter the story to have reality rewritten with the aliens retroactively having never existed and the stage cleared for the Revival storyline... ?

Yea, I was familiar with the existence of the comics (and some of the other X-Files media being put out). It's great to see Gillian and David voicing some of these stories.

And 10 is the magic number...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f … fox-996132

If anyone had any sense at all, they would have been thinking about stories and scripts before the details were hammered out. Fox always wanted more. We all knew there would be more.

But really, they start filming this summer, when all of the other shows start filming. It isn't really rushed, it is just standard TV scheduling.

It would be nice if they aired it in the fall. It is a good Halloween type show. I just want Chris Carter to observe the writing from a safe distance. Bring back some old writers, but also add some all-star newbies. Bryan Fuller, Eric Kripke, and people like that. Some new writers who grew up with the show would be cool.

And I want mostly stand alone episodes!

I don't mind mythology episodes as long as there's thought behind them.  But, yeah, standalone episodes usually have more potential for fun because anything can happen.

I don't think Fox will rush them.  They're doing some revolutionary/bizarre things with their lineup.  They'll probably just air whenever they're done, bumping whatever was going to be on at the time (no matter what that is or where that show is in their airing schedule )

I'm not sure that's necessarily true. From December 2015 to April 2016, Gillian was filming The Fall (a series that she had a prior commitment to). Then she was signed onto American God, which started filming around the time that The Fall was finishing. I don't know how involved she is with American Gods, but her being committed at all would make it hard for them to schedule The X-Files.

So she has really been busy since they filmed the original revival, and since they didn't sign her or David to multi-year contracts right away, she really had no choice but to pursue other work while others worked out the X-Files details. I'm sure that she was negotiating for more money as well, but that goes hand in hand with her being a steadily-working actress.

She was booked for The Fall and American Gods for a long, long time, and it still took all this extra time for them to finally reach an agreement on X-Files.

Why? During the Clinton administration, the show involved massive government conspiracies, yet never pointed a finger at Clinton. Clinton, who was insanely corrupt. The show didn't take jabs at Obama last season, when he was in office. Obama, who loved to seize as much control for himself as possible.

And I'm fine with that stuff, because it doesn't really belong in the story. When they panned over to the picture of Bush in the last movie, it was awkward, childish, and a horrible decision. So, why go after Trump? It's just part of this hysteria that is going around, which is making rabid Trump haters look even more crazy than Trump... which is saying something.

These people are more outraged by Trump than they are ISIS, and I'm not even exaggerating. There is absolutely no sense of perspective, or measured thinking. It's getting old.

Well, it's happening. Currently, it looks like FOX is renegotiating the comics licence with IDW and this five issue arc is conceivably the final set of TXF comics from this publisher.

Wow, some move. This may be a stupid question but do we know anything about Carter's politics?  I know he ran a surfing magazine so I can guess but from what I've seen he's always steered clear of commenting directly on it.

His politics aside....what do Mulder and Scully have to do with mundane political issues?  Even if Trump were the fascist mastermind that people paint him to be (and he's not, he can't get anything done even with control of Congress), that's not even their area of expertise.  For it to be an X-File, he'd have to be an alien or a werewolf or working with aliens and werewolves.

Or is it going to be a straightforward "This is more important than X-Files! This is about America!" kind of thing?

The only concrete piece of info I have about this upcoming story arc -- it involves aliens having infiltrated the Trump administration.

Chris Carter isn't really involved in the comics. For the comic book SEASON 10, Carter consulted on the first five issues. Writer Joe Harris wanted the villain of SEASON 10 to be a teenaged William with telekinetic and psychic powers, taking control of the Colonists and Rebels with a new faction called the Believers. But Carter vetoed this, saying he wanted William saved for THE X-FILES III if it ever happened.

Carter also provided some guidance so that Harris could steer clear of any plots that would contradict a future feature film finale. But we got a TV series instead, Carter had a different vision for THE X-FILES on TV and the comics became part of an alternate universe that wrapped up (somewhat abruptly) before the comics shifted to the Revival universe (with the same writer). While Carter's name is on the covers and he has an Executive Producer credit and he reads the comic scripts, he's not driving it creatively.

Anyway. Joe Harris and I are of very similar mindsets politically and creatively -- his X-FILES comics are essentially the X-FILES version of SLIDERS REBORN (obsessive love letters to the legacy and history of an unfinished TV show), right to the point of using the same title in our stories where icons of 90s sci-fi TV take on Donald Trump.

So, keeping with that, I imagine a situation where Mulder's old friend, Senator Matheson, recruits Mulder and Scully to investigate potential sleeper agents in the White House administration. It's revealed that the sleepers are actually the fire aliens introduced in THE X-FILES #1 (2017) that have been taking over human hosts for some unknown endgame, and Mulder and Scully find themselves forced to protect Trump and his staff from an enemy only they can fight, wrestling with the conflicts between their beliefs and their duty.

Continuing with the conceit that Harris and I think the same, I'd never have the sliders -- or Mulder and Scully -- defeat Donald Trump. In fact, I think it would be critical that Quinn, Mulder and Scully end completely beaten but score some sort of symbolic, moral victory.

https://www.ivoox.com/the-x-cast-89-joe … 698_1.html

I wonder how real life for the FBI will affect Mulder and Scully, although, to be blunt, Mulder and Scully and the writers ignored the FBI's mission, purpose, protocol and function so often, they might as well have been Agents Mulder and Scully of PHOENIX, KITT, UNIT, the Lightman Group, GI JOE, SHIELD or some other fictional organization.

So, we're coming up on the end of THE X-FILES comics where Mulder and Scully take on the Trump administration. Trump doesn't ever appear on the page -- he's heard in a phone call with a hilarious pastiche of his incoherent repetition of key words. The plot is that due to the White House's overall ineptitude, they've failed to notice that their staffers have been infiltrated and replaced by aliens plotting to bring the planet to nuclear war.

I'd assume Trump would be one of two things to The X-Files lore....some kind of alien masquerading as a President, aka an X-File himself.  OR someone who is rabidly interested in the program, I mean, he's basically the editor of the National Enquirer.

*facepalm*

A face full of *facepalm*

Very confusing, I will agree.  The fact that the finale of the previous season is NOW a flashforward is incredibly head spinning.  That being said, I will say that most people I know seemed to enjoy the premiere FWIW....

I feel similarly, but I also read / listen to what a lot of hardcore X-Files fans say and can't say their hate is unwarranted.  Some just want the mythology to go a certain way (eg less convoluted) others are incredibly offended by how My Struggle III ended.

I thought the episode was entirely rushed from a pacing perspective and wayyyyyy too dense.  It needed another 30 minutes.  It was not good. BUT, I liked the twist at the end. I liked how they referenced an older episode of the X-Files. It gave me a payoff that made the episode overall entertaining.  I was not offended by any of it.  But I respect the position of those who are and can see why.

Either way, I think there may be more too it -- and since they are moving to the MOW stuff until the finale, I think/hope people will be pleased by those stories.  I've seen a couple of good reviews.   As for the finale, I suspect their may be a twist.

I just hate that the narrative has become "Gillian doesn't want to do another X-Files" / "X Files creator says they won't do another season without her" /  "This is the last season for X-Files" etc etc when we basically just are one episode in. Let's enjoy this.  And frankly, X-Files is or has the potential to be one of the shows on TV that we can connect with the characters and have a strong affinity for.  It should not just be thrown away.  Even if Gillian doesn't want to return.  I don't think it has to have her.

I do feel though that David was rough in finding the Mulder character in the first episode.

I'm going to have to agree with ireactions on this one. I don't think the problem was that the episode was too dense. I think it was pretty much all fluff.

"This" feels like an appropriate title for episode 2 of this season. It's like Glen Morgan just flopped his hands around a keyboard, printed whatever auto-correct typed up, and named it what it was.

The episode has no thrust. The action came to Mulder and Scully, rather than them going to the action. This is rarely a good thing for a series like this. There was no lead-in. We're just thrown into a story, and while I kept hoping that it would be revealed to be a work of genius as the story unraveled... it didn't. Scully is suddenly an action star, and Donald Trump now leads an elite team of Russians who work for an American mercenary company that's based out of Moscow, because... I'm assuming the tax incentives in Moscow are great? Except this group has existed for many years apparently, so the strained connection to the President seems a little awkward.

They did an episode where Langley was uploaded into a computer without referencing "Kill Switch", which was an episode from 1998 that dealt with the same concept.

The episode had more focus and better direction than last week, but it lacked an actual plot.

Gillian Anderson is probably smart for jumping ship. While we'd all love to see The X-Files resurrected in all of its former glory, the revival has never actually felt like The X-Files. When we think back on the series, how many of us will include anything that's happened since the show went off the air all those year ago?

I hope the rest of this season is good. I really do. But it just isn't doing well so far. Chris Carter is not only a bad writer, he's done a horrible job at running this revival as a whole.

I'm fine with seeing it continue without Gillian. I'm not okay seeing it continue with Chris Carter.

Maybe I'll just skip the finale.

See, the way I've read the reports, it sounds like Anderson's people are just less demanding than Duchovny's, and that's more of a "them" problem than a "studio" problem.

They pushed for more money after learning that he was making more money, but that's probably because his people asked for more money in the first place.

I'm not really sure what happened, but I have a lot of questions about it. She asked for more and she got more. So the question is, did Fox just run at David with more money, or did his people negotiate better than her people?

But yeah, I do think that if they upped her pay enough, she'd return. Hell, they could move production to the UK if they had to. There's no reason why they couldn't tell a few stories there.