(The following includes excerpts from my earlier DVD set reviews) Back in 1993, I saw a commercial for a new series coming to the Fox Network. It looked like a cheesy UFO show. The commercial was pretty cool though, and I planned to watch but figuring that it would be bad and probably wouldn’t last. After I saw that first episode, I still thought it wouldn’t last, but not because it was bad, but because it was so darn good. Fortunately it not only lasted, but it lasted BIG TIME.

“The X-Files” finally came to a close after an amazing nine seasons. During that time it became a worldwide phenomenon, capturing the attention of countless people around the globe. Throughout its run there have been great episodes, okay episodes, and well… you know. But even most of those ‘well… you know’ episodes, were far better than a lot of the other shows on TV. In light of the fact that Fox Home Video is releasing this final season on DVD, let’s catch up on these last three seasons, shall we?

The 7th season was a season of transition. There was the knowledge that David Duchovny might be leaving, so the scramble began as far as how to deal with that loss, if it were indeed to happen. Admittedly, this had somewhat of an adverse effect on the season as a whole. Looking back, this season offered an almost equal amount of episodes that were terrific as well as those that were less so.

There are those who have had their negative comments about this particular season. But as I re-watched it earlier this year, I began to realize no matter what direction the creators took it to, it’s still as good as it ever was. Though the end of the season opened up a whole new direction for the 8th season with the abduction of Mulder and Scully’s pregnancy, it also offered up a lot of closure. One of the most important being the revelation of what really happened to Mulder’s sister. This was met with mixed reaction from fans. Some felt it was somewhat of a cheat, but many (myself included) thought it was done creatively and beautifully. “Closure” turned out to be a powerfully emotional episode.

The show also took another important change in direction during the 7th season with the bringing together of Mulder and Scully’s beliefs. Originally they were polar opposites with Mulder believing vehemently about the existence of extraterrestrials and paranormal events, while Scully was firmly rooted in the world of science. As the season drew to a close, each began to open up their minds to the possibilities of the other’s beliefs and the bond that had already grown between them grew even stronger. Again, this worked well going into an 8th season as it appeared the Scully would have to take Mulder’s place as believer to play against the incoming Agent Doggett’s skepticism.

As a fan of the series I used to watch all the first-run episodes of “The X-Files” as they aired (or at least taped them to catch later in the evening). It was right around the 8th Season that I started missing a lot of the episodes, not out of any lack of continued interest, but more because of a time issue. I simply became too busy. So when the 8th Season set hit my doorstep, I set aside time to catch up with what I had missed. I had heard a lot of complaints about Robert Patrick’s character of Doggett and I wanted to see if the complaints had any foundation of ‘truth.’ And to be honest, I enjoyed the 8th Season as much as I had a lot of the earlier ones. I found the storylines still packed a punch, and I grew ever more curious (as opposed to frustrated) to finally get to the bottom of Mulder’s disappearance.

However, that is not to say I didn’t have any complaints, or rather… constructive criticism about the show’s direction. The first, and most obvious problem was Doggett’s skepticism. Unlike Scully, who in her earlier incarnation often missed physically seeing the things Mulder saw, Doggett often came face to face with the unknown. Yet week after week he still remained the skeptic. I had a problem with this, only for the fact that if I had been eaten, then reborn whole and clean I would be ready to believe just about anything.

My other piece of constructive criticism, I feel might have taken care of the fans that just couldn’t get into Doggett’s or Agent Reyes’ characters as replacements for Mulder and Scully. As much as I loved the original dynamic duo, I would have rather had them simply retire to another part of the FBI and, for all intents and purposes, be off the show. Doggett and Reyes had to live in the shadow of Mulder and Scully, even through the final season. They were never really given the opportunity to make the series their own. And this is a shame because I really liked the characters and perhaps the show would have gone on another three or four seasons with fresh stories and fresh faces. Ah well, hindsight is 20/20. Even with these couple of plot faux pas, I still ended up enjoying the 8th season, and I’m sure in the long run, most fans did, too.

As I mentioned before, the 9th season is finally making its way on to DVD, effectively completing the collection of any hardcore “X-Files” fan. This was the season that promised to answer all the questions, where we would finally get ‘The Truth.’ Did we? Well, not really. But what it did accomplish was bring to a close a successful 9 year run, answered a few questions, but left it open-ended enough that we might eventually see another “X-Files” movie (or two). We were introduced to some new characters, most notably Assistant Director Brad Follmer played by Cary Elwes. Originally I was kind of psyched about Elwes joining the cast, but he ended up being rather annoying.

This was probably the most unusual of any of the seasons as far as quality. Most of the episodes were fairly interesting, but none really stood out as far as being especially good or bad. Though, in one inspired piece of casting, Burt Reynolds showed up in the episode “Improbable” as a character that just might have been…mmm… maybe….. God? As is the case in most things in the “X-Files” universe, you never really find out his identity. The story itself was rather odd, but Reynold’s performance was absolutely golden. He really makes the episode.

I would go into more of the episodes, but if there are a few of you who still haven’t watched them, I don’t want to give away any big plot points. I will tell you that we do see the return if The Lone Gunmen, however you will probably be extremely ticked off with the surrounding storyline and resolution (I know I was). I also had extremely mixed feelings about the 2-hour series finale “The Truth.” The episode is extremely convoluted, much more so that what we’ve come to know in the world of the “X-Files.” They make it seem like answers are given, but in reality only more questions are raised. There is some resolution to be had as far as certain plot points, just not enough to completely satisfy the hardcore fan. Of course, as I mentioned this might have been to leave that opening for a future movie.

What is really great about these “X-Files” sets is that Fox is also no slouch when it comes to extras. Some will appeal to everyone, others only to those hardcore fans I mentioned. On the everyone side, there’s a documentary that catches you up on the mythology of the series as it translates into the 9th season, as well as a couple of really good episode commentaries and some great special effects features that show you ‘how they did it.’

For the hardcore fans, there are 10 deleted scenes from several episodes that you can check out with or without commentary (go for with). They’ve also included more character profiles, this time introducing us to Agent Reyes (Annabeth Gish) and Follmer (Elwes). If you really have time to kill you can even choose to watch a ton of promotional spots for each episode. You know, the little “tonight on the X-Files” commercials. Heck you can even catch a few clips of the series in languages other than English, Spanish and French. For the politically incorrect, this can be quite funny.

As with most of the earlier DVD sets of “The X-Files”, this one comes complete with a new DVD-Rom game for those that are into that sort of thing. Admittedly I haven’t had the chance to play it, so I cannot currently comment on how challenging or fun it may be.

With this final season set, Fox has continued with the same foldout packaging, but they upped the ante from 6 discs to 7. Though there are only 19 episodes this time around, they’ve added to their extra features. There are more of them, and in some cases the carryover features are longer. Yet with this added disc, comes a lower price. As more and more TV shows are released onto the market, studios have realized they need to make their sets affordable enough for their target audiences. Granted, those who have already bought the earlier sets are kind of out of luck, those who have not bought them yet will see the prices drop on them as well.

I’ve said for years and years that “The X-Files” was still a great show, even in its final seasons. I feel these sets are more than worth the price of admission, at least to those of us who had followed it for so many years. Whether you love the show or hate it, there’s no denying its appeal.

Episodes:
Nothing Important Happened Today
Nothing Important Happened Today II
Daemonicus
4-D
Lord Of The Flies
Trust No 1
John Doe
Hell Bound
Provenance, Part 1
Provenance, Part 2
Audrey Pauley
Underneath
Scary Monsters
Improbable
Jump The Shark
William
Release
Sunshine Days
The Truth, Part 1
The Truth, Part 2

Starring: Robert Patrick, Annabeth Gish, Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny
Extras: All-New Documentary “The Truth About Season Nine”, 10 Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Frank Spotnitz, 9 Special Effects Sequences with Commentary by Paul Rabwin, Episode Commentary on “Improbable” by Chris Carter, Episode Commentary on “Jump the Shark” by Vince Gilligan, Jhon Shiban and Kim Manners, Episode Commentary on “The Truth” by Kim Manners, Character Profiles on Monica Reyes and Brad Follmer, 38 Promotional Television Spots, 5 International Language Clips, All-New DVD-Rom Game “The Truth.”
Specifications: Widescreen (1.78:1), English, French and Spanish Dolby Surround Sound
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: 5/11/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give X-Files: Season 9 a B.