Best Friends

Before we begin, I'd like to wish my friend Andrew a very happy birthday! There's been a tie here, I knew I couldn't leave either of these choices of the list, and I've got the top ten blocked out. So with out further ado...

#12
"Irresistible/Post-Modern Prometheus"
Season 2, Episode 13 & Season 5, Episode 6

"Irresistible": A mortuary worker who gets his thrills from collecting hair and fingernails from the dead begins killing people to expand his collection sets his seriously disturbed sights on Scully. (from tv.com)

"Post-Modern Prometheus": Filmed in glorious black and white with a comic book feel to it, this is a modern retelling of Frankenstein as Mulder and Scully get caught up in a town where the residents live on Jerry Springer episodes and fear a two-faced monster who has been impregnating their women. (also from tv.com)

Why I love "Irresistible": Donnie Phaster, has to be the scariest villain in the X Files universe, and this episode never fails to give me the heebie jeebies. The actor is way, way, way, too convincing as a death fetishist. (read: necrophiliac) That ending sequence with Scully still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Plus seeing the character development, by the way Mulder and Scully both view the case, is an added bonus. Well done X-Files team, this is one episode viewers never forget.

Why I love "PMP": This one was just too quirky to leave off the list. Any episode that throws together "Frankenstein," Jerry Springer, Mulder, Scully and Cher. Gets major props in my book. I love that Chris Carter decided to film it in black and white, it looks beautiful. The episode is funny, and even a little touching, but it's mostly just weird. And I love it.

P.S. Both these episodes show the Mulder and Scully relationship at it's finest.

Poop Eaters Unite

Last night I had an Irish coffee, and a brownie sundae. Does this make me a bad person? I guess I believe in living large.

#13
"War of the Coprophages"
Season 3, Episode 12

Mulder while on vacation in the Vineyard finds the town on the brink of insanity due to killer cockroaches, he also finds a government experiment run a beautiful etymologist named Bambi.

Why I love it: Wow my description, makes it out to be way more serious then it actually is. A funny send up of our heroes, as well as Orison Wells's 'War of the Worlds." As only Darin Morgan could write it. I love the flashlight joke, the numerous phone calls. I love that the mystery of the cockroaches is never solved. Were they visitors from space, or was it just a series of eerie coincidences? I love that Scully's cool medical rationalizations or on display here, and Mulder is curious, and excitable, as all ways. I will admit the one thing that I don't love is the tension between Mulder and Scully. There was a lot bad vibes going between them at the beginning of season three, and this episode is no different. When Mulder tells Scully she smells bad at the end of the episode, I know it's mend to come off as a joke, but I cringe every time.

The Silent 'H'

Greetings readers, This Side Up! is coming at you from the wilds of New Hampshire. I'm here in tiny cottage, with a set of twins and a funnel faced dog. A situation comedy if I ever heard one. Speaking of which...

#14

"Small Potatoes"
Season 4, Episode 20

The true birth father of small-town babies born with vestigial tails turns out to be a chameleon-like man capable of impersonating anyone - including Mulder. (from the DVD slim pack)

Why I love it: It's a breath of fresh air. Season four is dark, there's an impending sense of death and doom in almost every episode; except for this one. A light hearted romp with Darin Morgan, (X Files writer extraordinaire) in a lead role. I'm sure David Duchovny loved playing Eddie VanBlundht, (the father of the tailed children, and the 'H' is silent) who in turn is trying to steal Mulder's identity. Play with his gun, fool around in the office, hook up with Scully. You know all the cool stuff that Mulder never does. It's a rather charming look at our two heroes, and it's fun. It's my father's favorite episode, thus far, and one that always gives me the giggles.

P.S. Does anyone else think the Silent H's would be an awesome band name?

P.P.S. Amanda Peet's hat & expression in that picture, makes me laugh really hard.

Roswell, 1947

True to form around here, you can never trust the weather, but yesterday was beautiful. And oh yeah...TWO WEEKS.

#15
"The Unnatural"
Season 6, Episode 20

Mulder meets with Agent Arthur Dales' brother also named Arthur! Who tells him a tale of a talented black baseball player from 1940's Roswell, New Mexico, an alien that ran away from his colony because of his love of the game. (from tv.com)

Why I love it: There are plenty of significant, nostalgic baseball flicks. But when you drop that formula into the X Files universe, and let David Duchovny take the reins, you've got something unique. This episode is fun and touching. Duchovny, not only directed but wrote the episode as well. I love the first scene between Mulder and Scully, their exchange is pure wit. And I can't help remembering, this is why I fell in love with these characters in the first place. The story is not a typical x file, there is no investigation, and Scully only appears at the beginning and end of the episode. The viewer and Mulder are being told a story, (yay story time!) So it's a totally different construction from other episodes. Musically the same is true, Mr. Mark Snow plays the blues, and at the end there's a spiritual playing. This is a big shake up from the usual avant-garde electronica. I'm trying not to get too attached to it. Plus who doesn't love the ending? Be still my shippy heart. My only sadness with this episode is the original actor Darren McGavin (who played Arthur Dales in previous episodes of the X Files) could not complete his role in this episode, due to illness. You can see the two scenes he did complete, on the Season six DVD set. It's a great performance, and I have to say McGavin does a much better job then his replacement.

God is in My Head

Today is one of those beautiful days of epic proportions, I need to rush this entry so I can go lay in the grass.

#16

"All Souls"
Season 5, Episode 17

Mulder and Scully investigate a girls death, who seems to have been struck down by the hand of God.

Why I love it: It's another Scully-centric episode for one. It's also like the twenty-fifth entry of the countdown, a story that is based on a cultural source. A little book called the bible, you may have heard of it. Now there a plenty of biblical stories, that need to be to be taken with a pillar of salt, my mother is sceptical about turning water into wine, while my father always wonders how Jesus could have addressed crowds of ten thousand people, without some kind of PA system, (oh microphone salesman, of little faith). This episode highlights Scully's own scepticism with her faith, after the loss of her daughter Emily. I remember watching this episode, at a friends house right before we had to go to our high school graduation rehearsal. You can picture my friend and I parked in front of the TV, in our caps and gowns, with her mother calling it us that we should be thinking of leaving. We eventually did, after the episode was over. This episode works well in a lot of different ways. Gillian Anderson is great. (as always!) I really like the confession booth scenes. (maybe I'm just a sucker for those kind of character expositions) The case is also cool, and I like that twist at the end. You maybe a little at sea if you haven't seen other episodes in season five, but i don't think that should stop you from seeing this little gem.

P.S. Does anyone know if Mulder is mispronouncing Schizophrenia when interrogating Father McCue? That's always bugged me, because he an Oxford educated psychologist, so maybe it's the scientific pronunciation? Does anyone know?

Into Darkness

Wow I way over-slept this morning, I usually like to post early so I am sorry for the lateness.

#17
"Unruhe"
Season 4, Episode 2

To catch a twisted killer, Mulder and Scully attempt to decipher the clues he unwittingly leaves behind - psychic photographs revealing his darkest fantasies and fears. (from the DVD slim pack)

Why I love it: Short answer it's freakin' scary. The case definitely feels like something you could have read in the newspaper at one time. Another reason Pruitt Taylor Vince who plays our killer, is way too convincing in his role. I think that the Emmys should have made a category "Actors who play killers on the X Files and are way too convincing" Trust me there would have been a huge pool of eligible performers.

P.S. If anyone can tell me what other X Files Episode(s) the actor who plays Officer Trott is in, I will love you forever. It's been driving me up the wall!

Lovers

Yesterday was beautiful, today is gray and icky. Go figure! But at least today I'll have less distraction from the blog, and from reading. I should probably clean too, but I think that's asking too much. Maybe the sun will come back out...

#18
"all things"
Season 7, Episode 17

A series of coincidences puts Scully in contact with someone from her past, causing her to question her romantic and professional choices. (From the DVD slim pack)

Why I love it: Let me say I don't love it just because of something that is implied in the very beginning of the episode. But now is a good time to say the Mulder and Scully relationship is what makes the X Files so interesting to me. Sure everything the writing, stories, and production are all top notch. But Mulder and Scully are what make it special. So yes, I'm announcing here on my blog, I am an avid shipper! Anywho back to "all things." This one is Gillian Anderson's (Scully) writing and direction debut, and I think it's nice. I love the percussive beat that, manifests through-out the episode. It's a nice effect. Also the richness, and colour in the picture also a plus. Plot wise it's slow, but it's all based on Scully, so I like that. I will say that after Chris Carter who invented the character, I would trust Anderson to to write something that stayed true to Scully. After all she's only played her for seven years. So yes, I found the story both interesting and believable. I liked the Buddhist undertones, and of course I also loved Mulder and Scully together. ;-)

Woohoo! I just got the "X-Files Revelations" DVD in the mail today! Excuse me while I go watch.