Obsessing on all things The X-Files and Ten Thirteen online since 2005
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 The X-Files mythology episode by episode analysis |
 Thematic articles on X-Files and everything 1013 |
 The archival database project |
The X-Files Revival 2016Introduction: Revival |
The X-Files Revival 2018Introduction: From Season 10 to Season 11 |
+ Perihelion (novel, 2024)
+ IDW comics (S10, S11, more, 2013-2018)
A recent interview with the writers of The X-Files season 11 episode 11X07: Rm9sbG93ZXJz aka “Followers”: Kristen Cloke-Morgan and Shannon Hamblin, from the “Hey That’s Me” podcast. There’s quite a bit of repetition compared to an interview with Cloke from two years ago for The X-Files Diaries. Here are the highlights:
Most importantly:
Also:
And also this unexpected bit of information:
3X20: Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space’ aired 30 years ago, on April 12 1996. Written by Darin Morgan, this was quite possibly the most important episode of The X-Files‘ mythology without being one. I know, I know, superlatives are risky. But JCFOS was an episode that could be read on so many levels: an entertaining story in of itself; a synthetic illustration of lots of UFO/conspiracy theories; one possible “solving” of the show’s mythology; a commentary on the show itself. And it did turn out that, if you buy into the whole revival-is-a-retcon theory and colonization was never meant to happen, then remember that JCFOS went there decades before.
I realize now that I never linked to Professor Baylock’s video analysis of the episode from ten years ago: “The Bridge to the Metamodern”. Essential vieweing.
“X-Files has been called the ultimate post-modern television show. JCFOS could be called one of the first examples of post-post-modernism, or metamodernism. X-Files is a show about aliens and conspiracies. JCFOS isn’t like the X-Files, it’s not actually about aliens or conspiracy, JCFOS is about the X-Files itself.”
Me and my smoking alien figurine salute you!
As time passes, we are cruising through the 30th anniversary of The X-Files season 3. 3X17: Pusher first aired on February 23 1996 and it was only the first episode written by Vince Gilligan as a staff writer, after he was recruited with the freelance 2X23: Soft Light. Pusher remains not only one of Gilligan’s best episodes, but one of the most memorable episodes of the show’s history. Gilligan was recently interviewed on Polygon: read him talk about how he thought he would get fired, how television is a collaborative medium, his appreciation of Robert Wisden and Rob Bowman, and more. Some highlights:
Thirty years later, it’d be called “Influencer” instead of “Pusher.”
After the episode aired, I was so proud of it. I did indeed — in the office on Monday morning, I’m pretty sure I said to Chris, “That’s the best I can do for you. That’s as good as it gets.” And I’ll never forget his reaction. He looked at me very seriously, and he said very quietly, “You shouldn’t say stuff like that, and I very much hope that’s not true, because this job, for all of us, is about getting better with every script.”
Robert Patrick Modell. The middle name, by the way, is named for my brother Patrick. I don’t know where Modell came from. I think I just liked the sound of it. I always felt like a bad guy has got to have three names, like Lee Harvey Oswald.
I remember the truck gag, with the shot of the truck hitting the camera. I said to him, “How are you going to get this? Because you want it to be really badass.” He says, “I’ve got a way.” They bought a mirror and put it on a wooden frame and they put it in the middle of the road, 45 degrees to the camera and to the truck — the truck and the camera were at 90 degrees from each other. The stunt driver blasted this big semi-truck right into the mirror and just drove right through it, smashed the shit out of it. The camera was 30 feet away, safe off on the side of the road.
[On similarities between Modell and Walter White] I guess there are similarities. I am kind of the last one to figure these things out. They usually have to be told to me.
See and hear actors struggle to remember anything from a 30+ years old show!
Gillian having read Coogler’s pilot script is telling: the script would not have circulated to an actor unless Disney/Coogler want to convince her to participate. It looks like the new series would start without Scully (or Mulder), build up its own identity, then leave the door open for an appearance by Scully a few episodes in. But nothing is decided. “Give it a break” definitely sounds like she’s trying to anticipate a negative reaction (that inevitably comes with anything in fandom these days) and pre-empt it.
“Very different and very similar” is exactly what I would want from a new X-Files project.
Happy spring equinox!
Somewhat recently, already 4 months ago, a recording of the Millennium-focused panel surfaced, thanks to Kurt North from the X-Cast / The Time Is Now podcasts. This is the only panel from Philefest in September 2023 that had not been recorded by X-Files News, I suppose because it was not about The X-Files. The panel had Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz and Troy Foreman (producer of the Millennium documentary). Though short, this panel is excellent, on several points Carter has humorous comments followed up by very heavy stuff, and we finally got a good reason why MM is still not on any streaming platforms. Here are the highlights:
Speaking of which: an extended cut of the Millennium After the Millennium documentary is coming on April 7 on BluRay and streaming (Amazon Prime)! (I don’t know if this will be available globally on Prime, it wasn’t in the past.)
Lest we forget: actor Tom Noonan passed away a few weeks ago, on February 14 (The Hollywood Reporter article). The X-Files fans will remember him for his very memorable portrayal in one of the series’ best episodes, as child serial killer and Mulder’s dream tormentor John Lee Roche in Vince Gilligan’s 4X08: Paper Hearts.
Noonan had previously portrayed the serial killer Francis Dollarhyde in Michael Mann’s Mindhunter (1986), the first adaptation of a Thomas Harris novel and certainly an influence on Chris Carter on The X-Files and later on Millennium. Noonan had a very varied career, mixing high-brow with low-brow roles, all memorable: I remember him from Robocop 2, Last Action Hero, Heat, Synecdoche, New York, Anomalisa, and the short They’re Made Out Of Meat… Here’s to one of the great guest roles of the series.
