Customer Reviews

The X-Files: Season 3

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I missed the series when it was on TV, I wake up most mornings and turn X-Files on and watch an episode before getting up and usually go to bed a bit early and watch another episode.

This multi-award-winning season surpassed fans' expectations with its wit, charm and memorable enigmatic performances. It is simply the best season of the X-Files, with its flow and style in top form. Each episode stands alone as a marvel of storytelling not to be forgotten. Mulder gets closer to the truth of his sister, of aliens and of the secrets of the Shadow Government. Scully meanwhile faces questions of her faith, and where it contradicts with her work as a scientist and an FBI agent. "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" is perhaps the best X-Files story ever written and executed. It plays with the show's paranoia, confusion, lies and conflicting perspectives on the truth and its value. It's as gripping as it is funny, and leaves you with a deep philosophical pondering on the values of life itself.

The only new character of mention for the series here would be Pusher; a tricky killer who forces his will on others, thereby merely watching as they kill themselves, or others. Here is a man who can talk his way out of anything...

If this isnt the best season of X files, it must be at least equal. they didnt step a foot wrong here, the pacing of the one shot stories mixing with the on going story arc (which is fully flowing by this season)is amazing. Also great character development and great mix of dark and funny episodes (not unlike Buffy and Angel). This season is a must.

Up until recently, I never watched a single episode of the X-Files. However, now that the DVD sets have been reduced in price, I had the opportunity to start watching the show. The first two seasons of the X-Files made me become an instant fan of the show, and my only complaint so far has been the lack of consistancy brought on by the 6-8 boring episodes per season. After watching the third season of X-Files, I can finally say that there was a season that deserves a 5 star rating by being great from start to finish. By the end of the third season, the X-Files really becomes established as one of the best and most addictive sci-fi shows ever created.

The third season only featured two bad episodes, which means that 22 out of 24 episodes were fantastic. The third season offers some of the best stand alone episodes of the show like "Clyde Bruckman's Final Response", "Pusher", "Quagmire", "War of the Coprophages", "2Shy", "Hellmoney", and "Wetwired". The mythology episodes - "The Blessing Way", "Paper Clip", "Nisei", "731", "Piper Maru", "Apocrypha", and "Talitha Cumi" do a very good job on expanding the overall conspiracy of the show by introducing a powerful group of men called "The Syndicate" which are connected to the conspiracy and the Cigarette Smoking Man. There is also a few things that are revealed about Mulder's source "Mr. X" as well.

The third season of X-Files on DVD also continues the tradition of offering a fantastic set filled with wonderful extras and wonderful picture/sound quality. As with the previous two sets, series creator Chris Carter takes you through the best 12 episodes from season three and talks about each episode. There is also a great documentary that covers season 3 as a whole. If there was one season of the X-Files that you should buy, it is definately the third season. The season is amazing from start to finish, and the DVD extras are great.

A solid 5 stars...

You ask any X-files die-hard fan about which is the best season of the series and they will readily answer either the third or the fourth. This is no coincidence, and i would totally agree with them.
In this third season all the elements of the series come of age: the two main protagonists are at the top of their game giving very high quality performances and cementing the legendary characters of Mulder and Scully. While in the first 2 seasons these two characters were essentially still being constructed and the relationship between them two still being built up, in the 3rd installment this has all fallen into place making it a very solid, very well put together dram-plot, equal of which you'd have to search hard to find in TV history.

But even better than that, the script-writting hits masterpiece levels, not in a few episodes, but rather all and throughout. In fact, as far as season 3 is concerned, any "weak" episode would still be considered top-level stuff for any other TV series. But the overall level of the storylines introduced here is so high that your expectations rise as you move along from episode to episode. This is basically a season that made anyone that watched it at the very least more suspicious (do a simple search on google on some of the storylines and you'll understand what i mean) or simply a more intelligent viewer and thinker alltogether.

Another important factor introduced in Season 3 is that certain plotlines were here to stay, that is, they were stories to be extended and interweaved in following seasons as well, stories that were among the very best the X-files have offered us.

Big time fans of the series (and man, there are many) cherish this season for mega-classic episodes such as :
"Paperclip",
"Nisei",
"731",
"War of the Coprophages",
"Grotesque",
"Apocrypha",
"Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"
"Wetwired" and
"Talitha Cumi"....

But watch anything at random from the 6 DVDs with episodes and the chances are very high you'll be in for a major cerebral treat.

The success of this tremendous series is not only on the artistic achievements but even more so on the fact that most of the dramaturgy involved in the X-files is tied with multiple leads to realities most people are absolutely unaware of, in certain cases even X-Files fans themselves. This is a feat only achieved to a similar degree in that other TV classic from the 60s, the Twilight Zone.

If you're not very familiar with the series i wouldn't reccommend you to start at Season 3, mainly because you simply need to watch the characters develop from the very beginning, at Season 1. What i am saying though, and that with emphasis, is that having watched all of the seasons involving Mulder and Scully, Season 3 and Season 4 are beyond any doubt stunning.

Once again, the creative team behind the X-Files brings us another season. And it topped the first two combined! The Alien mythos was even more in the forefront, with the "The Blessing Way and Paper Clip" concluding the last season's cliffhanger finale. It was clear that the mythology was going where no one had expected - and that was a good thing. This was the most exciting aspect of the show. We were always given something new, and yet still kept guessing. It really made you want to keep watching the show to find out what happens next - even so much as sitting through a bunch of stand-alone episodes(great in and of themselves) to get to the next mythology episode. I think that this is the show's greatest strength. It wasn't all mythology, so that made it so that when we did get a mythology episode, we were excited!

Also, this season introduced the black oil plot, and the alien-human hybrid plot. We also got more into the plot of the shape-shifting aliens and their abilities.

Yet another brilliant season. And as always, we get "The Truth about Season [fill in the blank with the corresponding season]" documentary, as well as other great special features that are worth watching for any X-Fan.

Great season, great DVD!

This is the season when the show broke out. The best episode this season is "Piper Maru."

Season two had ended with such a cliffhanger episode that my anticipation was very high for this next season. Fox Mulder (David Duchovney) was assumed dead when the train car he was in (filled with alien bodies) was bombed and exploded. The season opens with the discovery of Mulder's body and he is barely clinging to life. As he is nursed back to life, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) has to deal with the suspicions surrounding the absence of her partner, and the murder of her sister (Scully was the target). The first several episodes of this season deal with the mythology of the show, and the conspiracies that abound. We get deeper glances into what may really be going on, and who is respsonsible. When things get a little bit settled (with just as few answers as you might expect), we get more of the "monster of the week" episodes that this program does so well. Season 3 mixes in some of the alien/conspiracy storylines in with the MOTW episodes and just when I thought the season was not building to anything, the season finale throws me for a complete loop (in a different way than the ending of season 2 did) and I'm now looking forward to Season 4 and seeing how this storyline progresses.

Overall, this was a very strong season with several absolutely excellent episodes. My interest lies in the alien/mythology storyline, and this season touched upon that several times. I wish that I would have watched this show back when it was on television because after watching three seasons, this is one of my favorite programs. You really can't go wrong watching the X-Files, but as a suggestion to new viewers, start at the beginning, some things will make more sense in the mythology storylines. Highly recommended, but any person who is going to watch season three probably already loves the first two.

By it's third season, it was clear The X-Files wasn't what everyone had expected from the time it had premiered. Now, creator Chris Carter begins to bring the long running alien conspiracy story arc to the forefront; and this season is nothing short of brilliant, and is possibly the best season in the show's history (and that is saying something). David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are perfect as ever as FBI Agents Mulder and Scully respectively; and this season contains some of the series' most memorable episodes. It was also in Season 3 that the series' style of subdued satirical comedy began to shine, but it is the mythology of the series that made this season go excellent. Standout episodes (and there are aplenty) include the season opener The Blessing Way, Paper Clip, Oubliette, Nisei, 731, War of the Coprophages, Grotesque, Pusher, Avatar, and Quagmire; but the main season (and series) highlights include Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose (which features a standout performance from Peter Boyle) and Jose Chung's "From Outer Space" which features a great commentary track from fan favorite series vets Darin Morgan and Rob Bowman (both of whom helped craft the brilliance of the show). All in all, this is possibly the best season of The X-Files, and if this handsome package came in widescreen format this would be essential.

Man I love this show. Always interesting on a cerebral level and yet each episode is easy to enjoy on a purely fun and entertaining level. The DVD quality is fabulous, even on my laptop, and the sound is magnificient. I never realized before I got this set(my first set of DVD's for this show) just how incredible the production values really were. The cinematography, especially in these early years, is something to marvel at.

My one issue with these and my S4 DVD's, and any other X-Files set I'm sure to get, is the major lack of episode commentary. I loved the Darin Morgan/Rob Bowman commentary on "Jose Chung's..." because they seemed to truly enjoy talking about the work and gave some insightful looks into the making of the episode and the show. But "Apocrypha" is the only other full episode with commentary, and Chris Carter does commentary on a bunch of DELETED scenes. S4 DVD's have just one episode with commentary. What's going on here? Is everyone just too busy? That's what makes me gripe with the price of these DVD's while a show like "BUFFY" goes for significantly less but evidently has much more to offer in terms of special features. But that's just one gripe.

All and all, having the episodes is more than enough for me. I LOVE this show and I'd pay anything to have it. Nobody will be disappointed by getting these. It's more than worth it! In it's prime, which is what these early seasons represent, THE X-FILES was one of the top 2 or 3 shows on television. It's enjoyable on so many levels, easy to admire everything from the outstanding acting to the marvelous writing to the sharp directing and, of course, the sensational cinematography! I LOVE THIS SHOW! AND YOU WILL TOO!