X-Files:S4

The second "Memento Mori" focuses on how Scully deals with some very bad information about her health. The show focuses much more on the rich characterizations of the show. Also, the tongue in cheek episode "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" suggests that the CSM was involved in everything from JFK's assassination to why the Bills kept losing the Superbowl.

Other episodes such as that involving Leonard Betts which leads to some bad news for Scully and even the convoluted mythology episodes all have resonance and power. We also meet Jeremiah Smith (the marvelous Roy Thinnes who was in one of my favorite shows from childhood "The Invaders"--by the way Fox where is that one DVD?)who cures with the touch of a hand. Strangely, though, there's more than a handful of Jeremiah Smiths and they all work in the social security office gathering information. For what you ask? You'll have to watch the episodes to find out. The grand finale for season 4 was a suspenseful cliff hanger that threw everything you knew about the show into a torando of new information and misinformation. Mulder, Scully and the audience really didn't know which way was up at the end of "Gethsemane".

Picture quality on season four is actually better than on seasons one and two. I have to disagree with Mitch who wrote that season four is something of a let down. For me, it continued a string of outstanding seasons that became the foundation for one of the best shows on television. Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan, Frank Spotnitz, John Shiban and Howard Gordon all contributed great scripts during this season (frequently co-writing many of them). I'm not surprised to see that Spotnitz and Shiban had the same writing instructor at the AFI. It's clear these talented writer/producers learned a thing or two that helped focus their tremendous talent during this season.

The imperfections of season four are few and far between. There are a few episodes that just barely missed the boat in the quality department and those few that did only missed it by a beat or two. "Home" a controverisal episode that got Fox into hot water is a tad overrated and, for my money, one of the lesser episodes this season. It pushed the envelope but dramatically didn't have the pay off it could or should had. It's an example of an interesting concept that just doesn't gel as an episode.

The extras include two episodes with commentary, deleted scenes (which can be viewed as part of the episode if you go to the special features menu for that particularly episode), a documentar/featurette (depends on how you define it) on the series and a booklet with the titles (which is helpful for me since I can rarely remember the titles of these episodes),credits and a photo from the episode as well as a listing of the full episodes and their air date through season 7.

The show continued on with a string out strong seasons through season 6. Season 7 had a number of great episodes but the show was beginning to run out of steam and the uncertainty about Duchovny's part in the show clearly had an impact. Season 8 picked up steam again with a pair of fresh characters (Agent Dogget played by Robert Patrick does a great job being the skeptic to Scully's believer. Agent Reyes introduced mid-season acts as a nice counter balance to both). While season 9 didn't quite live up to the other seasons, it had a number of fine episodes in it as well. Luckily, Carter pulled the plug just at the right time for the show.

With "The X-Files" movie set for release in 2006 (Carter and his crew are in pre-production as of mid-2004), ther's bound to be renewed interest in the series. Hopefully, Carter can come up with a movie that can stand up to the best two or three part episodes that ran throughout the best seasons.