The X-Files: The Second Season
The second season of the X-Files premiered on September 16, 1994 and became a bonafide hit. It rose in the ratings every week and in total viewership. It climbed overall from 111 to 63 out of all shows on television at the time. That is not too shabby for a series that aired on Friday nights.
The second season also solidified a formula that would be relatively successful for the series moving forward. Mulder and Scully confront an unexplainable problem. They encounter roadblocks, sometimes thrown in their way by the very government they serve. The problem either resolves itself on it's own or with some help from the titular agents. Rinse. Repeat. This may seem like a critique, but it's really not, especially in these early seasons. Each episode, even at it's most ridiculous, is suspenseful. If there was one thing that holds this season back a little bit, it's that, aside from one or two episodes, humor is largely missing from these 25 episodes. The inclusion of that humor and sort of wink at the audience is what makes season 3 the best of the series. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Without further adieu, let's take a quick look at season 2. Just like with season 1, we will break it down by mythology, the best MotW and the few you should skip. Perfect for a quick binge.
Mythology
"Little Green Men" - The second season premiere picks up with the X-Files still shut down and Mulder and Scully split apart. Scully is teaching prospective students at Quantico while Mulder is cooling his heels on the most boring wiretap operation in history. Mulder is almost ready to give up on his work with the X-Files when he is contacted by a patron, Senator Richard Matheson, who tells him that a long abandoned site in Puerto Rico set up to monitor extraterrestrial life has just come online. This sends Mulder on a breakneck trip to prove the truth is indeed out there with Scully along for the ride. This is a great premiere. I loved Mulder's narration regarding the High Resolution Microwave Survey. A great thing the show did was take these real-life things and twist them to fit the show. We also get a flashback to the abduction of Mulder's sister Samantha, some great Cigarette Smoking Man and Skinner stuff and most importantly the reunion of Mulder and Scully.
"Duane Barry/Ascension" -
These two episodes introduce an arc that will be important for the remainder of the shows run: the abduction of Dana Scully. In the first part, Mulder works with a team of hostage negotiators who are trying to reason with a man named Duane Barry who has taken over a travel agency and claims to have been abducted multiple times. Barry claims to have multiple alien implants in his body. Mulder believes, though Scully is less than convinced, thinking that a gunshot injury has caused Barry to be a psychopathic pathological liar. After his capture, Mulder is confronted by the lead agent on the case who tells him that the implants were removed. Scully takes an implant and scans it a local supermarket finding a barcode. This leads Scully to believe that Barry has been catalogued. As she is calling Mulder with this information, an escaped Barry shows up at her apartment, kidnapping her.
The second epsiode is kind of your standard abduction/search episode, with Mulder frantically trying to save Scully from Barry's clutches. The whole time being undermined by his new partner, Alex Krycek, who is working for CSM. Mulder finds Barry, but in the end he is too late. Barry offers Scully to the aliens in his place and she is seemingly gone forever.
This storyline was concocted by the writing staff to account for Gillian Anderson's maternity leave and it is just really smart. I'm not a huge fan of the "Scully placed in mortal peril" scenario that gets played out by the show, but the episodes acquit themselves well. And while the whole abduction plot is wrapped up in pretty short order (something we will get to shortly), the ramifications of Scully's abduction become a huge part of the series and the mythology. All the performances in these two episodes are top notch as well, especially Steve Railsback who kills it as Duane Barry. He is great at walking that fine line of crazy enough to believe and just plain crazy. And this episode also makes great use of one of the biggest weasels in TV history: Nicolas Lea's Alex Krycek.
"One Breath" - So, I'm sure when people watched the Scully abduction twofer, they were wondering how long she'd be gone. Some were probably worried Mulder might be Scully-less the majority of season 2. They needn't have worried because she's only gone one episode. Scully appears comatose in the hospital with no explanation for where she's been and things don't look good. Mulder goes a little Manic Mulder trying to save her, going so far as threatening the CSM. Meanwhile, Scully goes on a metaphysical journey where she sits in a boat and is visited by the spirit of her dead dad. The episode is OK and it's nice to have Scully back, but I can't help but think the whole thing would have been a bit more impactful had she been gone a little longer for the audience.
"Red Museum" - This is sort of a tangential mythology episode. Mulder and Scully are called in when kids in a small Wisconsin town are kidnapped and then reappear with "He Is One" or "She Is One" scrawled on their chest. This all leads to a cult calling themselves the Church of the Red Museum, the return of Deep Throat's assassin the Crew Cut Man and Purity Control from "The Erlenmeyer Flask." The whole thing is a little confusing and there is a lot of set up for very little reward and I'm not sure this is ever referenced again.
"Colony/End Game" - Mulder and Scully are called in when abortion doctors are murdered in different parts of the country. The rub: they all look exactly the same. This leads them to an alien colonization plot and more clones masquerading as Mulder's sister, Samantha, being preyed on by a shape-shifting Alien Bounty Hunter. This is a great two-parter. The tension is high. You never know who the Bounty Hunter could be and the appearance of "Samantha" adds dramatic weight to the whole thing. It also is the first mention of the plot to colonize the Earth with extra terrestrials, something that would feature heavily on the show in the years to come.
"Anasazi" - In the second season finale, the Lone Gunmen direct Mulder to a hacker who claims to have hacked the government and found proof of a cover-up regarding the governments involvement in hiding the existence of extraterrestrials. When Mulder receives the digital tape, he initially thinks the information is gobbledygook, but Scully recognizes it as Native American code similar to what was used during World War 2. This leads to the introduction of the evil Syndicate which CSM works for, Mulder being poisoned, the revelation that Mulder's dad is part of the conspiracy, his murder by Krycek and ends with Mulder seemingly killed in a train car filled with alien bodies in the New Mexico desert. It's a jam packed, exciting finale with a killer cliffhanger that I'm sure made the summer hiatus feel interminable for die hard X-Philes.
Monster of the Week
"The Host" - One of the most enduring images from the show's initial run is that of the Flukeman, who debuted in the second episode of this second season.
When a man is killed in New Jersey and Mulder is sent to investigate, he believes it's just more grunt work until Scully's autopsy reveals a fluke worm parasite inside the man's body. This leads to more dead bodies and the discovery of the gross Flukeman. The best thing about the episode is how it sort of prey's on a lot of fears we all have: the sewers, weird parasites, monsters and brings them all together in a great, creative way. A fun fact about this episode: The Flukeman is played by the writer of this and many other episodes, Darin Morgan.
"Die Hand Die Verletzt" - This is the first episode where you start to see glimpses of the humor that would color some of the best and most memorable MotW episodes. Take the beginning of the episode. It looks like a normal PTA meeting with discussions about what the spring musical should be, but it's cut short so the group can offer up prayers to the Dark Lord. What brings Mulder and Scully in is a group of teenagers finding what appears to be a Satanic altar in the woods. What entails is the agents basically doing the dirty work of a true Satanist posing as substitute teacher, Mrs. Paddock. Every element of the episode works. And if you're afraid of snakes, maybe skip this one.
"Humbug" - This is an episode that is famous for more than just the plot and setting, which are both killer. It's also famous for some behind the scenes lore. There is a scene (pic to the left) where Scully eats a cricket to show that she can hang with the sideshow people. The rumor was that Gillian Anderson actually ate the live cricket on set. This is half true. She put it in her mouth, chewed it up, but didn't swallow. Still, pretty badass.
The episode itself is a classic. Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate the ritualistic killings of Florida side show performers. That's really all you need to know plot wise. The episode speaks for itself. It's also filled with great guest performers like Vincent J. Schiavelli and Michael Anderson.
You Can Skip These
"3" - The only entirely Scully-less episode of the second season is also the worst of the season and maybe the entire series. Mulder heads out solo to investigate a series of killings that may be the work of a vampiric cult. The whole thing is so dumb. Mulder of course gets the hots for the female "vampire" and it just trots out these tired tropes and adds nothing new to the equation. A slog through and through.
"Fearful Symmetry" - Ghost elephant. 'Nuff said.
Overall Grade: A-
The second season is an improvement over the first, but still has a few things that holds it back from being the very best show it can be. There is an overall sense that this is going somewhere. It broadens and deepens the mythology and the bond between the central duo gets even stronger.
Season 2 is in the books. Moving on to season 3. See you soon!
The second season also solidified a formula that would be relatively successful for the series moving forward. Mulder and Scully confront an unexplainable problem. They encounter roadblocks, sometimes thrown in their way by the very government they serve. The problem either resolves itself on it's own or with some help from the titular agents. Rinse. Repeat. This may seem like a critique, but it's really not, especially in these early seasons. Each episode, even at it's most ridiculous, is suspenseful. If there was one thing that holds this season back a little bit, it's that, aside from one or two episodes, humor is largely missing from these 25 episodes. The inclusion of that humor and sort of wink at the audience is what makes season 3 the best of the series. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Without further adieu, let's take a quick look at season 2. Just like with season 1, we will break it down by mythology, the best MotW and the few you should skip. Perfect for a quick binge.
Mythology
"Little Green Men" - The second season premiere picks up with the X-Files still shut down and Mulder and Scully split apart. Scully is teaching prospective students at Quantico while Mulder is cooling his heels on the most boring wiretap operation in history. Mulder is almost ready to give up on his work with the X-Files when he is contacted by a patron, Senator Richard Matheson, who tells him that a long abandoned site in Puerto Rico set up to monitor extraterrestrial life has just come online. This sends Mulder on a breakneck trip to prove the truth is indeed out there with Scully along for the ride. This is a great premiere. I loved Mulder's narration regarding the High Resolution Microwave Survey. A great thing the show did was take these real-life things and twist them to fit the show. We also get a flashback to the abduction of Mulder's sister Samantha, some great Cigarette Smoking Man and Skinner stuff and most importantly the reunion of Mulder and Scully.
 |
| Steve Railsback as Duane Barry getting some alien orthodontic work |
These two episodes introduce an arc that will be important for the remainder of the shows run: the abduction of Dana Scully. In the first part, Mulder works with a team of hostage negotiators who are trying to reason with a man named Duane Barry who has taken over a travel agency and claims to have been abducted multiple times. Barry claims to have multiple alien implants in his body. Mulder believes, though Scully is less than convinced, thinking that a gunshot injury has caused Barry to be a psychopathic pathological liar. After his capture, Mulder is confronted by the lead agent on the case who tells him that the implants were removed. Scully takes an implant and scans it a local supermarket finding a barcode. This leads Scully to believe that Barry has been catalogued. As she is calling Mulder with this information, an escaped Barry shows up at her apartment, kidnapping her.
 |
| Gillian Anderson in a trunk. |
The second epsiode is kind of your standard abduction/search episode, with Mulder frantically trying to save Scully from Barry's clutches. The whole time being undermined by his new partner, Alex Krycek, who is working for CSM. Mulder finds Barry, but in the end he is too late. Barry offers Scully to the aliens in his place and she is seemingly gone forever.
This storyline was concocted by the writing staff to account for Gillian Anderson's maternity leave and it is just really smart. I'm not a huge fan of the "Scully placed in mortal peril" scenario that gets played out by the show, but the episodes acquit themselves well. And while the whole abduction plot is wrapped up in pretty short order (something we will get to shortly), the ramifications of Scully's abduction become a huge part of the series and the mythology. All the performances in these two episodes are top notch as well, especially Steve Railsback who kills it as Duane Barry. He is great at walking that fine line of crazy enough to believe and just plain crazy. And this episode also makes great use of one of the biggest weasels in TV history: Nicolas Lea's Alex Krycek.
 |
| Scully's on a boat. |
"Red Museum" - This is sort of a tangential mythology episode. Mulder and Scully are called in when kids in a small Wisconsin town are kidnapped and then reappear with "He Is One" or "She Is One" scrawled on their chest. This all leads to a cult calling themselves the Church of the Red Museum, the return of Deep Throat's assassin the Crew Cut Man and Purity Control from "The Erlenmeyer Flask." The whole thing is a little confusing and there is a lot of set up for very little reward and I'm not sure this is ever referenced again.
"Colony/End Game" - Mulder and Scully are called in when abortion doctors are murdered in different parts of the country. The rub: they all look exactly the same. This leads them to an alien colonization plot and more clones masquerading as Mulder's sister, Samantha, being preyed on by a shape-shifting Alien Bounty Hunter. This is a great two-parter. The tension is high. You never know who the Bounty Hunter could be and the appearance of "Samantha" adds dramatic weight to the whole thing. It also is the first mention of the plot to colonize the Earth with extra terrestrials, something that would feature heavily on the show in the years to come.
"Anasazi" - In the second season finale, the Lone Gunmen direct Mulder to a hacker who claims to have hacked the government and found proof of a cover-up regarding the governments involvement in hiding the existence of extraterrestrials. When Mulder receives the digital tape, he initially thinks the information is gobbledygook, but Scully recognizes it as Native American code similar to what was used during World War 2. This leads to the introduction of the evil Syndicate which CSM works for, Mulder being poisoned, the revelation that Mulder's dad is part of the conspiracy, his murder by Krycek and ends with Mulder seemingly killed in a train car filled with alien bodies in the New Mexico desert. It's a jam packed, exciting finale with a killer cliffhanger that I'm sure made the summer hiatus feel interminable for die hard X-Philes.
Monster of the Week
 |
| Talk about a skin condition |
When a man is killed in New Jersey and Mulder is sent to investigate, he believes it's just more grunt work until Scully's autopsy reveals a fluke worm parasite inside the man's body. This leads to more dead bodies and the discovery of the gross Flukeman. The best thing about the episode is how it sort of prey's on a lot of fears we all have: the sewers, weird parasites, monsters and brings them all together in a great, creative way. A fun fact about this episode: The Flukeman is played by the writer of this and many other episodes, Darin Morgan.
"Die Hand Die Verletzt" - This is the first episode where you start to see glimpses of the humor that would color some of the best and most memorable MotW episodes. Take the beginning of the episode. It looks like a normal PTA meeting with discussions about what the spring musical should be, but it's cut short so the group can offer up prayers to the Dark Lord. What brings Mulder and Scully in is a group of teenagers finding what appears to be a Satanic altar in the woods. What entails is the agents basically doing the dirty work of a true Satanist posing as substitute teacher, Mrs. Paddock. Every element of the episode works. And if you're afraid of snakes, maybe skip this one.
 |
| Scully being badass. |
"Humbug" - This is an episode that is famous for more than just the plot and setting, which are both killer. It's also famous for some behind the scenes lore. There is a scene (pic to the left) where Scully eats a cricket to show that she can hang with the sideshow people. The rumor was that Gillian Anderson actually ate the live cricket on set. This is half true. She put it in her mouth, chewed it up, but didn't swallow. Still, pretty badass.
The episode itself is a classic. Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate the ritualistic killings of Florida side show performers. That's really all you need to know plot wise. The episode speaks for itself. It's also filled with great guest performers like Vincent J. Schiavelli and Michael Anderson.
You Can Skip These
"3" - The only entirely Scully-less episode of the second season is also the worst of the season and maybe the entire series. Mulder heads out solo to investigate a series of killings that may be the work of a vampiric cult. The whole thing is so dumb. Mulder of course gets the hots for the female "vampire" and it just trots out these tired tropes and adds nothing new to the equation. A slog through and through.
"Fearful Symmetry" - Ghost elephant. 'Nuff said.
Overall Grade: A-
The second season is an improvement over the first, but still has a few things that holds it back from being the very best show it can be. There is an overall sense that this is going somewhere. It broadens and deepens the mythology and the bond between the central duo gets even stronger.
Season 2 is in the books. Moving on to season 3. See you soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment