If this keeps up, they'll have to retcon the title of the series to The XXX Files.
Could we have a John Doggett section somewhere? Doggett rapidly became my favorite character this season, and I'm really hoping the show continues so we can see more of this guy.
Sure thing. He now has his own section in the characters area.
Now that sounds interesting: Special Agent Xena
I just scrolled through the sink and noticed that there is no Best/Worst board for the X-Files. Is it an oversight or is there no interest? It would be difficult to compile but I think it would be fun.
I just recently watched the Anasazi arc for the first time since I taped them...reminded me of why I started watching the show in the first place.
Anasazi is a fantastic trilogy, what is everyones favourite X files quote? Mines from Shadows when Mulder says "You won't find to many people at their boses grave who aren't dancing on it"
OK, I need help here. I have been watching this show since season 2. I have tried my best to keep up with all the twists and turns of the conspiracy, but until recently, they never did a "Previously, on the X-File" promo. They would refer to something in season 6 that was in season 2. I don't remember all this stuff. So, can someone post an answer that ties up ALL the plot turns like Gibson Praise, Jeremiah Smith, the bees, the Syndicate, Marita Covarubias, Mr. X, Scully's baby, the Billy guy from the first show who tried to kill Scully's baby, the frozen embryo that was stolen, the alien/human hybrids in the West Virginia mountain, Dana's chip implant, Agent Spender's mom, Mulder's dad, the Nazi Scientists, Cancerman, the codetalkers, why Skinner did some dirty work for Cancerman, Ratboy, the spaceship in Africa, why Mulder went insane, the black oil, the shapeshifting soldiers, the soldiers with no eyes who burn people, where Skinner was when he did the Masked Magician Episodes (just seeing if you were awake), the clone of Samantha that was in the car with Cancerman, what happened to Mulder when he was missing, AD Fulmer (the Dread Pirate Roberts) and his connection to this, AD Kirsch, the Thinker, etc.?
I am sitting here thinking of everything that has happened. I am a dot my i's and cross my t's kind of guy. Can someone tie this thing up to make some sense?
Is it just me, or does anyone think that Carter made up a great deal of this one the fly?
BTW: I did see the Full Disclosure Episode - a couple of years ago when it aired. I remember a few things.
Just a nit in the "X-Files Nitpickers' Guide" that I found. Phil disputes the existence of Interstate 12. I want to say that M & S were in the Pacific NW at the time.
Well, there *is* an I-12. It's a freeway in Louisiana that allows people traveling along the Gulf Coast to bypass New Orleans and stay north of Lake Ponchartrain. It goes from the interchange of I-10/I-59 to Shreveport, LA. It can't be more than a hundred miles long or so. (And, strictly speaking, since both termini are on I-10 and since it bypasses a city, it should have been called something like I-210.)
HK: Can someone tie this thing up to make some sense?
Yes, here it is. I've put a lot of thought into this and I think I have it figured out, to a point.
In our galaxy there is a destructive group of aliens bent on conquest. These aliens exist in three forms: a classic "gray alien" that we see on the show, a large monstrous form seen in the movie and in the 6th season ep. "The Beginning", and in the most basic form, a black oily substance. The show calls this a virus, but that's not really true. A virus is nothing more than a strand of RNA encapsulated by a protective proteinaceous shell. This oily substance, the Black Oil, is a life form. It is the essence of the aliens. It can think, it can feel, it can communicate, and it is the method (maybe the only method) of alien reproduction. It creates more aliens by invading a compatible humanoid host. The host is used as an "incubator" for an alien, who breaks out after gestation is complete and takes the form of the large monstrous alien. That alien will then seek a heat source to morph into the classic gray alien. Got that?
Now, billions of years ago, aliens lived on the Earth. They were the dominant form of life here, and they predated humans. Then, according to evolution, humans evolved. During the last Ice Age, the aliens were wiped out and humans survived. All that remained was a supply of the black oil, the liquid form of the aliens, which remained deep underground, in petroleum deposits. It remained there for millenia....
Until 1907. In Tunguska, Russia, oil workers drilling for oil released the black oil from captivity underground. Evidently it invaded the bodies of some oil workers. Scientists kept it for study. Unbeknownst to them, the alien oil had the ability to communicate, and it somehow contacted its parent race. In 1947 an alien craft arrived at Earth, responding to the recently released black oil's communiques. However, the aliens are affected by the magnetite ore deposits out west; it is their kryptonite, so to speak. So the ship crashed in Roswell, NM.
Humans interrogated the aliens and learned the awful truth: the aliens intended to come and release all the black oil from underground. This would mean the destruction of humanity. So a group of powerful men--the Consortium--bargained for their survival. They agreed to help the aliens. But the humans really were working against them. The Consortium was assigned the task of creating a human/alien hybrid race to serve as slaves after Colonization. As surety, each Consortium member was required to surrender one family member. Bill Mulder, Fox's dad, surrendered his daughter Samantha. In return, the Consortium was given an alien fetus to experiment with.
Here is the part I can only assume. People question the utility of a slave race. It seems somewhat contorted. But I think the X-Files is all about plots and couterplots, wheels with wheels. Consider that, when the aliens first meet the Consortium, they are meeting the only humans on Earth who have had enough sense to realize what is happening. These men are the ONLY threat to Colonization. Everyone else is fat, dumb, and happy, content to squabble with each other over borders and territories. The aliens thus give a "busy-work" assignment to keep these people busy and out of the way. It is clear that it was never intended to be a real project because the humans thought that the black oil, once it invaded a person, would simply take control of their minds (i.e., that it would be possible for the person to be freed from the black oil and fully recover). The movie establishes that the human Consortium has been woefully misled: a human invaded by the black oil can never recover; he or she will immediately cease to be human.
But why a hybrid project? Consider what this does.
1. By giving the Consortium a fetus, the aliens get humans in return to experiment with. This will help them to determine the most effective way to colonize.
2. The hybrid project gives humans access to the alien biology. This gives the Consortium the idea to develop a vaccine. Maybe the aliens suspect that it will never work, but in the meantime the Consortium gets the idea that they can stop colonization, right? So what do they do? They immediately hush the whole thing up and violently oppose any attempt to disseminate the truth about aliens. Thus, because of their hope that they can defeat the aliens, they act in a way that benefits the aliens in that the Consortium works to keep Colonization a secret. So, the slave race project is probably not real from the aliens' standpoint.
But it IS real from the humans. Why? Consider this: the slaves are supposed to be immune to the black oil. If we remember that, prior to the movie, the Consortium believes that humans infected with the black oil can fully recover, we can see that the slave race is really supposed to be an army. The aliens Colonize, take over human bodies, and who remains? A hybrid race, immune to alien takeover, armed with a vaccine capable of destroying the alien presence. They will be the liberators of humanity. Only after the movie does the Consortium realize the futility of this plan.
So, that is the framework of the story. Cancerman, or the Cigarette-Smoking Man, is the American leader of the Consortium. He is the one responsible with keeping the U.S. gov't in line.
The Nazi scientists are just the people who the Consortium has been using to perform the medical experiments needed to produce a hybrid race. Obviously, you'd want people who aren't squeamish about torturous medical experiments.
The codetalkers aren't a big part of the story. Some Dept. of Defense files concerning the aliens are encrypted in Navajo code talk, but this isn't something unique to the X-Files. The U.S. gov't used Navajo codetalkers to create an unbreakable code system during WWII. It would stand to reason that since Roswell occurred 2 years after WWII, and the files date back to then, that code-talk might have been a viable means of encrypting info. in those times.
Mulder's dad, as mentioned, was a friend of Cancerman's and a figure in the Consortium. His doubts and his decision to tell Mulder everything resulted in the Consortium having him killed.
Gibson Praise is a little crazy to figure out. As near as I can tell, he is a human-alien hybrid. There are theories floating around that the aliens created humanity billions of years ago. Our DNA is full of inactive alien DNA. Praise's special abilities come from the fact that his alien DNA is active. But the show never developed this theme--the alien creation of humanity--enough to understand.
The spaceship in Africa is another crazy part of this story element0. Supposedly, alien artifacts emit a certain type of radiation. If exposed to it, a human's alien DNA will be activated. This happens to Mulder in the "Biogenesis"/"The Sixth Exctinction"/"The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" trilogy. He was exposed to the alien radiation and his inactive alien DNA became active. William Scully, his child with Dana, possesses that same active DNA (I think).
Marita Covarrubias, Mr. X, and Deep Throat all fall into the same category: informants who help Mulder.
The bees are part of the Consortium's experiments. The human-alien slave race project is only one of their jobs. The bees/corn deal is another; they are trying to figure out an effective means of spreading the alien virus around the world. (It could also be said that, in light of their real intent to destroy the aliens, the bees might be the means to spread the vaccine too.)
Skinner is just a man who was employed by the Consortium, but he later switched sides and helped Mulder and Scully.
Don't worry about AD Fulmer; he's just another useless character tossed in to liven up a dying show.
As far as Mulder going missing? There won't be a reasonable explanation b/c from what I know, that was due to a contract dispute between 1013 (the production co. of the show) and David Duchovny. So any "real" reason is just a cheap cover-up.
Scully's baby is something that I don't get. I think that they needed a twist to keep the show going so they gave us that.
Now, you ask about the faceless/shapeshifting soldiers. EVERYONE wonders about those! I have no clue. Presumably, some are "hired guns" for the aliens, while others are rebels opposing the aliens. I really couldn't tell you.
The movie establishes that the human Consortium has been woefully misled: a human invaded by the black oil can never recover; he or she will immediately cease to be human.
One word. Krychek. He was infected in the Piper Maru/Apocrypha eps and recovered.
There are some other unknown aliens running around, too.
There's the incorporeal alien from Space, and then there's the little guys (who look kind of like Grays} from Paper Clip, who surround M&S in the warehouse.
Thanks for the long post, Jesse. I found it very helpful.
A couple of thoughts:
Presumably the black oil can decide whether to gestate inside the host, or just control them. Maybe the Russian oil was trying to promote the myth that victims can recover. Maybe the oil in the movie wasn't in on the plan.
If what you say is correct, Jesse, I wonder where the Antarctic ship with its cargo of gestating aliens fits in.
Well, there *is* an I-12. It's a freeway in Louisiana that allows people traveling along the Gulf Coast to bypass New Orleans and stay north of Lake Ponchartrain. It goes from the interchange of I-10/I-59 to Shreveport, LA. It can't be more than a hundred miles long or so. (And, strictly speaking, since both termini are on I-10 and since it bypasses a city, it should have been called something like I-210.)
Yep. I drive it every single day of my life. It's pretty much required to get on I-12 if you want to go anywhere from where I live.
ScottN: One word. Krychek. He was infected in the Piper Maru/Apocrypha eps and recovered.
Sophie: Presumably the black oil can decide whether to gestate inside the host, or just control them. Maybe the Russian oil was trying to promote the myth that victims can recover. Maybe the oil in the movie wasn't in on the plan.
ARGHH! My theory has been destroyed!
No, I agree. I forgot about Krychek. But I think that's part of the story, too. Remember what the Well-Manicured Man says in the movie. He says, "Until Dallas, we believed that the virus would simply control us, that mass infection would make us a slave race. Imagine our surprise when they began to gestate." Obviously it would be Krychek's infection that would give them the idea that the virus would simply control people.
So could that have been a deliberate deception on the part of the aliens? Or is there more than one kind of alien black oil? Strughold and his boys seemed to think that the virus unearthed in Texas was some crazy mutated variety that the aliens themselves might not be aware of. (The Consortium had voted to turn the bodies over to the aliens.)
Hey, I posted a Deep Throat question in "Characters / Deep Throat." Check it out and let's talk about that.
Sophie H.: If what you say is correct, Jesse, I wonder where the Antarctic ship with its cargo of gestating aliens fits in.
The Antarctic Ship...hmmm, that's a good one. If I *HAD* to guess, I'd say that it's the aliens' earth headquarters. Yeah, the Consortium has places where they meet, but I'm sure the aliens have to have something here too.
As we learn in "The Truth," the of Colonization date is Dec. 22, 2012, only be 15 years after the movie. The aliens would need to have some preparations in progress for Colonization. Since it's likely that the truth would get out in the couse of Colonization and that humans would fight against it, it stands to reason that maybe the alien ship was "growing" an army to fight against the human insurrection.
The X-Files moves from FX to TNT in October.
On the Internet there is a list of "X-Men Danglers," that is plot elements that remain dangling and are unresolved (and possibly never will be).
Let's start copping a list of some X-Files Danglers, shall we, folks?
1. The Jersey Devil's mate is still out there
2. The COS is still ticking
3. What about all those Eves?
4. Cecil L'ively is still around
5. Who were the Kindred?
6. The Flukeman is still out there
7. What exactly did the test in Blood prove and who was running it?
8. What was going on in Fearful Symmetry?
9. What about the evil in The Calusari?
10. What happened to the scientist in Soft Light?
11. Couldn't D.P.O. get out easily?
12. What did Clyde Bruckman mean about Scully not dying?
13. What happens to the kid in Revelations?
14. What in the hey did War of the Coprophages mean?
15. The beast in Quagmire is still alive
16. What about the brother and mother in Home?
17. The warlock in Sanguinarium is still out there.
18. The Chupacabras?
19. The secret to time travel destruction in Synchrony?
20. The creatures in Detour?
21. The ending of Kill Switch?
22. The vampire community in Bad Blood--okay, I guess it's not really a dangler
23. How does Travelers fit in?
24. Hmm...All Souls probably needs to be resolved
25. Pincus the Insect?
26. Besty the Demon?
27. Was Senate Resolution 819 really that important?
28. The demonic preacher guy from Signs and Wonders is still out there.
29. What did Closure really tell us?
30. What happened to the Lazarus Bowl?
31. What about the bat creature from Patience?
32. How do Empedocles and Release connect?
33. What happened to the psycho from Daemonicus? What did that episode mean?
34. What happened to Yves del Harlow and Jimmy Bond and Morris Fletcher (not that I care at all about the last)?
I know there's more, folks...
1. Wasn't it the Jersey Devil's kid?
6. Flukeman was washed ashore in Martha's Vineyard.
Danglers :- Can anyone tell me what happened to the skinned guy who turned out to be alive in "Hell Bound"? I'll admit, for the shock value, it was horribly great, but when I started to think about it, I wondered what they would do with him. If my scant knowledge of flaying serves me, it leaves the nerve endings to the skin intact (just losing my dinner here) so the guy must have been in agony which would continue until the day he died. My fervent hope is that someone quietly shot him/dropped a heavy object on his head/assisted his suicide.
He does seem to get conveniently forgotten about, and it's just preying on my mind. I know, it's only a TV show.......
PS Hello Phil. Don't know if you remember me, but my claim to fame comes from two of your books!
How so, Jessica? Did you write him perhaps mentioning some nits he'd missed before and/or correcting him on a couple of nits he missed in his Nitpickers Guides that he later gave credit to for all those who did so, or what?
Just curious cuz I've only got his two TNG Nitpickers Guides and the TOS one, and of course his newest baby, The Son, the Wind and the Reign.
I sent him a couple of nits, unfortunately at the time when he was unable to credit everyone individually (as in "This nit was sent by Blah Blah"). However, I appear in the list of names! I can't remember which order it went in, I think I bought the original "Star Trek Next Gen" guide and then he revamped it. He was writing the TOS one at the time, so I sent a couple for film 2.
I'm not really serious about my claim to fame, I mention the books to people and if they aren't Sci-Fi lovers, they get that fixed grin on their faces :-). Honestly, if they actually read the books, they'd probably enjoy them, after all, this is their 'proof' that it's all not real! ("See, no bathrooms on the Enterprise, I told you it was a load of tosh!")
Now I must go out and by the X-Philes one...
The Lone Gunmen series comes out on DVD on March 29.
How come there's no section for the new X-Files I Want To Believe movie?
I saw it and really enjoyed it.
Because it's in the movies board.
oh i didn't see it.
The earlier movie is here though.
perhaps you could add some kind of soft link to it..
David Duchovny is in rehab for alleged sex addiction. Supposedly, he was a sex addict, was hooked on internet porn, and cheated on his wife, Tea Leoni. More here.
If this keeps up, they'll have to retcon the title of the series to The XXX Files.
C'mon, Adam. You're talking about the tabloid press here. The first named publication is The National Enquirer, for cryin' out loud. And the second is US Weekly, which cites unnamed "multiple sources". Gimme a break.
TV Guide seems to believe it.
The Enquirer was right about the John Edwards affair, although I don't think he's the father of her kid. I also think the paper is right about TLC's reality show Jon and Kate Plus 8 being a total sham.
But, the real reason I posted that was so I could get in that very bad pun at the end. 
TV Guide? You mean the magazine that's owned by Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp, which also owns FOX News?
Wow, I'm shocked!
The Enquirer can be "right" about lots of individual things. That doesn't mean that overall, they have any credibility as a legitimate news publication. Even a broken watch is right twice a day.
You are forgiven, however, by virtue of the pun motive. 
In spite of its questionable ownership, I've rarely gotten the impression that TV Guide is into tabloid journalism.
What do you want? CNN? MSNBC? The BBC? I'm not arguing that tabloids are legitimate news sources, but it looks like they got this one.
OTOH, I have not heard anything about him in any of those stories being hooked on internet porn or cheating on his wife, just that he'd voluntarily entered a facility.
Josh, the issue of which publication the story ran in is only part of the issue. Even so-called "respectable" outfits like MSNBC now quote rags like The Enquirer. The fact that such organizations now have no compunction in repeating information from a rag like The Enquirer hardly lends any credibility to the The Enquirer. All it does is just lower that of those organizations.
And while TV Guide's content may not be characterized in the same was as The Enquirer, one example you might be interested in--if it interests you--was an interview they once did with Sean Hannity, in which he spewed his usual deluded propaganda, and stated that oh, he doesn't disliked liberals personally, and lets his kids play with their kids, but "they just can't be in power". It didn't typify TVG's content, of course, but I wasn't surprised that we didn't see a similar interview with Alan Colmes.
...but it looks like they got this one.
Luigi Novi: And on what basis/criteria do you judge this?
On the basis that it's been so widely reported. I'm not saying that the fact that tabloids report factual stories once in a while makes them any more legitimate, only that they do in fact report factual stories on occasion. I think that this is an example of one.
I even conceded that some of the details seem to be exaggerated or even outright made up, if Adam's report about the magazine's story is accurate. The sources I've quoted, (TV Guide, MSNBC, CNN, and the BBC at this point) made no mention of him cheating on his wife or internet porn. Only that his lawyer had issued a statement that he has voluntarily checked himself into rehab and that he and his family ask for others to respect their privacy.
In the case of the Hannity interview, it doesn't surprise me that they would interview Hannity only. He's loud, obnoxious, and I think that bombastic personality makes him better known than Colmes, giving TV Guide a better reason to interview him. From personal experience, I've never gotten any vibe that the magazine slants any way, though I've never really used it for much more than casual browsing and entertainment news every once in a while.
The fact that something is widely reported means that it's correct? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
I'm just saying the chances are better. The more legit news organizations get their stories right more often than not.
The fact that something is widely reported has nothing to do with the likelihood of it being correct, especially if the original source is an unnamed person in a tabloid known for sensationalism, and poor journalistic practices.
The likelihood of it being correct would only be raised if it were known that the methodology by which the information were obtained followed proper journalistic procedures regarding confirmation of the info.
And the fact that it may have been originally reported in a tabloid doesn't make it untrue.
Regardless, the stories I have read in this particular case do not quote the tabloid as the source, but statements from his publicist and lawyer. I've seen no indication that the story originated from a tabloid.
In fact, looking at Adam's link, I realize I was originally in error in my initial post. TV Guide has not, nor has any other source I've stated so far, gone into the "real reasons" that are apparently detailed in the Enquirer or Us Weekly. So while it seems to me that the original story, only referenced in the first line of that link, is true, I agree that I wouldn't trust the legitimacy in that link, as none of those details have been corroborated by any of the sources I've read.
I didn't say that originally having been reported in a tabloid made it untrue. I have, however, been very clear as to what I was saying, so I don't think you could reasonably have misread it as this. That O.J. Simpson wore Bruno Magli shoes, contradicting his testimony that he had never done so, was first reported in the Enquirer. And it was true. How do we know? Because it was verified through an investigation. The photographer who took the pics, in fact, never worked for The Enquirer, that mag was simply the first to print them during the time of the civil trial. No such verification is usually done with the rest of the material published by that magazine, including the assertion about Duchovny.
That Duchovny was in treatment came from his representatives. That he cheated on his wife--which is the part I was responding to---was not. It came from The Enquirer. Look through the publicist's statement. You won't find any mention of infidelity.
That doesn't surprise me. Back when Michael Douglass went into rehab after Basic Instinct they reported a sex addiction too. It wasn't true, he was an alcoholic getting treatment for that, but sex addiction made for a better story for the star of Basic Instinct.
A Blu-Ray "Collector's Set" of The X-Files will be released on 12/8/15. If Fox had waited another three months, they could have included the 2016 six-episode "event" series; that premieres in January. More here.
I'm sure TPTB will release a second set later in the year to further gouge X-Files fans like they have been since the show went off the air
The 'alien mythology' collection which contains new interviews with Chris Carter not found on the regular box sets, for example...
Speaking of the event series, now that it's premiered, are we getting a board for it?
Good question Josh. I was just trying to find a place to post that would be appropriate and it seems this is the only spot.
She we just take over the sink or wait to see if a new board opens?
I suppose so. Here or The X-Files is Calling it Quits board if we want to be ironic.
In CA, there's a tobacco tax initiative. One of the ads just featured a guy standing in front of a stack of cigarette cartons.... The brand? You guessed it... MORLEY!!!
R. Lee Ermey has passed away.
Born on March 24 1944, Ermey had appeared in The X-Files in Revelations playing Reverend Patrick Findley.
His other work included China Beach, Human Target, Body Snatchers, Space: Above and Beyond, Toy Story, Dead Man Walking, The Frighteners, Starship Troopers, Toy Story 2, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Scrubs, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, House, Eleventh Hour, Toy Story 3, Batman: The Brave and the Bold & The Simpsons.
He died on April 15 2018 just 22 days after his 74th birthday.
Not to mention the movie he's best known for, at least in military circles, Full Metal Jacket.
I had no idea he'd been in so many movies, nor did I hear of his passing. Thank you the post Matt!
You're welcome.
Started new series The Night Agent and it had Robert Patrick as deputy director of the FBI.
For Patrick this is quite a promotion from the fact that he had played FBI agent John Doggett in The X-Files.
It is not inconceivable to believe that Doggett would have eventually rise to the high ranks of the FBI.