A Review of "The X-Files" (season 2)

Welcome back. Well we reviewed the first season of The X-Files last weekend and I'm happy (and sad) to say that in that week's time, I've finished the second season. The second season of The X-Files saw more mythological development, and more emphasis was put on introducing its side characters and future "plot twist" characters than it was its typical "Monster of the Week" setting.

The mythology arc continues in season two with the X-Files having been closed at the very end of the first season. Mulder and Scully are now working different projects and the two barely see each other in the FBI offices. Once spooky happenings start again, Mulder springs his paranoid behind into action and starts making his way to these crime scenes to investigate them. This includes getting assigned a new partner in the mysterious but determine Alex Krycek, Mulder moves to prove the truth of alien existence on planet Earth with Krycek's help. But this "Alex Krycek" is not all that he seems, eventually betraying Mulder and disappearing from the Bureau after a few episodes.

The Flukeman in "The Host"

Season two also sees the introduction of perhaps my second-favorite character on the show, after Mulder. FBI Assistant (or Deputy) Director Walter Skinner. Skinner is a fucking badass in every scene he's in. He's cool because you see him become an ally to Scully and especially to Mulder in their crusade to prove the truth. He is shown to have conversations with the Cigarette Smoking Man, but is also shown in a couple episodes to be very distrusting of him and his agenda. He allies himself with Mulder in a few episodes, one by even providing the CSM's home address so Mulder can interrogate him as to Scully's whereabouts. Skinner also is noted for just how many times in one given scene he utters "Agent Mulder" under his breath. There were episodes in season two where Skinner was in it for about three minutes and must've said "Agent Mulder" seven times. Still though, Skinner is cool. You get to really love Walter Skinner and his presence as a confidant to Mulder and Scully and that they can have such a high-ranking friend in the Bureau to aid them in their cause.

To replace Mulder's informant Deep Throat, there's a new character who was introduced in season two that seemed pretty wishy-washy in terms of quality. Simply called "X", he's a man who appears to Mulder in strange and unforeseen circumstances to present Mulder with insider information as to the secretive hi-jinks going on in the government. The difference between Deep Throat and X is that X hardly does provide Mulder with any hard evidence or insider knowledge. X moreso speaks with vague speeches that somehow lead Mulder and Scully to the right path and get them closer than ever to learning the truth.

There's also a mythology episode where Mulder's long-lost sister, Samantha Mulder, whose disappearance provoked Mulder to join the Bureau in the first place, returns home and just sort of rejoins her old home life. Alas, it was just another trick. Samantha was just a clone of a number of Samantha's that were made in a laboratory. Mulder's trust and determination in finding the truth waivers as he debates with himself over whether or not it was his real sister Samantha, or if the clones of Samantha are being made, where she might be held. Someone assures Mulder that she is "alive", which is the closest thus far we know of Samantha's whereabouts.

One of the vampires in "3"

As for the "Monster of the Week" episodes, the ones that take a break from the Mythology arc, they're pretty tame and not very memorable, as a whole. There's a few this season that are pretty good. My favorite is "Die Hand Die Verletzt", an episode that sees Mulder and Scully investigate a homicide where they find that the school's faculty are devil worshippers who commit atrocities with one of the worshipper's daughter. There even is a creepy older woman who's more evil than all of them and commits horrific acts through the use of voodoo. There's a particularly creepy scene where she's controlling a python that's crawling down some stairs. The music goes quiet and all you can hear is the sound effect of a man whimpering as a python inches closer to him as it comes down the stairs. Pretty intense stuff, especially for it being a TV show. Other "Monster of the Week" episodes from season two that were pretty good were:

• Humbug: Mulder and Scully investigate a series of vicious killings in a Florida town filled with circus sideshow freak performers
• 3: Mulder, alone, investigates the attacks and murders seemingly done by a group of vampires.
• Excelsis Dei: Mulder and Scully investigate a rape and attack on a nurse in a nursing home that the elderly residents say was done by ghosts of deceased residents.
• Død Kalm: Mulder and Scully find a missing Naval destroyer in the midst of the Norwegian Sea. There Mulder and Scully, like the men who were rescued from it, begin to age rapidly in a matter of a couple days.
• The Host: Mulder alone investigates the killings in the sewer done by a man-sized fluke fish who deposits eggs in its victims that erupt from their victims.
• Our Town: Mulder and Scully investigate two deaths in an Arkansas town where the inhabitants appear to be cannibals, killing each other for food.

The Alligator man enjoys a fish in "Humbug"

One last thing to note is how much the middle of the season is fixated on Mulder. Scully gets abducted by a homicidal madman that Mulder tries to reason with in the episode "Duane Barry", called (surprise) Duane Barry. Duane takes Scully away and she actually disappears for one or two episodes, in which Mulder tries to either find her location or go on a "monster of the week" hunt. She returns in the Mythology episode "One Breath" where she mysteriously is dropped off at a hospital and put on a respirator. Much of this was because of Gillian Anderson's pregnancy, but the solo Mulder stuff is always good. It's why the first X-Files movie, appropriately titled The X-Files, is so good. The stuff where it's just Mulder is so much fun and intense. This is of course not to harp on Scully's presence in the series, I'm just saying Mulder's determination and will to take risks is unmatched by anyone. David Duchovny has quite a grasp on this character, truly.

Overall, season two of The X-Files is pretty solid, though it isn't has memorable as season one, in my opinion. The mythology episodes raise the stakes and push the limits to what Mulder and Scully will and won't do to find the truth. The bar for them goes up as the search becomes more intense, the risks greater and the Lone Gunmen even get involved on a few of them. Also some of my favorite characters. Where the season kind of loses traction is its 'Monster of the week' episodes, which while most of them are at least decent, they just don't have the same memorable sparks that the first season's did. The plots were spooky enough and the characters were well-acted, however they just weren't as memorable as the first season classics, such as "Ice", "Squeeze", "Shapes" and "Born Again". Still, it's a pretty stellar season. We'll see what season three has to offer once I start it.