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Revisiting The X Files Episode 14: My 10 Favourite Episodes with Michael · Death by Multimedia

• 0:21
  O. Good day everyone and welcome
• 0:51
  back for episode 14 of Revisiting The X-Files where
• 0:55
  each episode I'll be working my way through the 11 series, 2
• 0:59
  movies, and several books that make up The X-Files.
• 1:03
  And for those of you who are returning for this X episode,
• 1:05
  you once again have my gratitude and thanks.
• 1:08
  And if you are a first time listener, well, you've probably
• 1:11
  come at a good time because today I'm going to interview
• 1:14
  someone who's been with me since the first episode and there are
• 1:18
  very few of those people lying around.
• 1:20
  And he's agreed to come on and be interviewed today about his
• 1:24
  favorite episodes and other things about The X-Files.
• 1:27
  So Michael from Lovely Melbourne, thank you for coming
• 1:30
  on board today. Thank you Bill and hello, thank
• 1:33
  you for having me. This will be a great pleasure.
• 1:35
  As you say, I've been here from the start and when I saw you
• 1:39
  starting this X-Files journey, I hopped right on because I love
• 1:43
  The X-Files. Still one of my all time
• 1:45
  favorite shows. Excellent.
• 1:48
  Well, let's start off with a really, really easy question
• 1:51
  there, which is how did you discover and first start
• 1:54
  watching The X-Files? Yes, it's a interesting question
• 1:58
  and one I was trying to think about the other day where I
• 2:02
  don't remember how I came across it apart from I think it was
• 2:06
  Channel 10 that used to show these.
• 2:09
  Yep. In, in, in, in Australia.
• 2:11
  So I mean, I've always been one to think about, you know, what
• 2:16
  else is out there in the world and, and love myself a bit of
• 2:19
  science fiction type of thing. So I was already into those
• 2:23
  shows. So I think I must have just
• 2:25
  discovered it on Channel 10. And to be honest with you, from
• 2:27
  the first showing I was hooked. Yep, you know, I'm, I'm not a
• 2:31
  conspiracy type of person in the real world, but but I love the
• 2:35
  fantasy of it and, and and how and how they tied all that back
• 2:39
  through the show. So yeah, I I wanted to discover
• 2:41
  it through just free to wear Channel 10.
• 2:44
  Yep. Were there any other like
• 2:45
  science fiction type shows that you watched around that same
• 2:48
  time? I, I wasn't like, I mean, I was
• 2:52
  a Star Wars fan. The the movies, whether that's
• 2:55
  more fantasy or science fiction, we could debate that.
• 2:58
  But I'm trying to think of something like Quantum Leap.
• 3:04
  Is that, you know, was that around that time?
• 3:06
  Yeah, that was before. That was before games, yeah.
• 3:08
  Yeah. So.
• 3:09
  I definitely remember watching that and enjoying that.
• 3:13
  But I think X-Files was my real first serial, you know, weekly
• 3:19
  sci-fi TV show that I really got into.
• 3:21
  Yeah. So is there anything in
• 3:23
  particular that drew you to the show from those early times you
• 3:26
  were watching it? I think interestingly more than
• 3:29
  Monster of the Week show. So I did like that whole
• 3:32
  conspiracy. And you know, I still remember
• 3:35
  that feeling of sitting down and not knowing what this week was.
• 3:38
  You know, was it a conspiracy or was it a Monster of the Week
• 3:41
  show? And I think as it went on, the
• 3:45
  conspiracy got better because you knew whether it's a
• 3:48
  cigarette smoking Man, cry check, all those regular Deep
• 3:52
  Throat characters would would come back and you'd really
• 3:55
  settle into it. But it really was that, you
• 3:59
  know, monster of the week, whether it's, you know, the,
• 4:02
  the, the Flickman or the, or just those, I guess, those
• 4:07
  characters that are already entrenched in our minds from
• 4:09
  fairy tales. And, you know, here's a show
• 4:12
  that's bringing that to life of what what, you know, what would
• 4:14
  the world be if these were actually real stories?
• 4:17
  Yeah, yeah. Which I really enjoyed.
• 4:19
  So I think that's what drew me in the and, and, and obviously,
• 4:22
  you know, by halfway through the first season, just see the
• 4:26
  relationship between Scully and Mulda.
• 4:28
  I mean, that's those two actors and characters make the show.
• 4:33
  So it really was their relationship that that drew me
• 4:35
  in further once I got past, you know, the monster of the week.
• 4:38
  Yeah. One of the, one of the great
• 4:40
  things about The X-Files is because if it, I, I think if it
• 4:43
  had just been the alien conspiracy arc, it, it could not
• 4:47
  have survived as long as it did because that was just coming at
• 4:50
  you time and time again. And what they did so beautifully
• 4:53
  is they had the one off stories with the monster of the week
• 4:55
  episodes and none of them were the same.
• 4:57
  They're all different. Each week.
• 4:59
  Molder had a different theory and Scully always tried to
• 5:01
  debunk it. Yes.
• 5:03
  And then suddenly you were back into a two or three episode sort
• 5:06
  of bit where we're back into the alien conspiracy arc.
• 5:09
  And I think that's what just made it so watchable because as
• 5:12
  you say, you didn't know what you're going to get from week to
• 5:14
  week. Yeah.
• 5:15
  But it also, it wasn't like you're, you're eating the same
• 5:18
  thing every night for dinner. Yeah, you had something
• 5:20
  different coming along. And I think that's what made it,
• 5:22
  made its longevity so, so well in the in the long run.
• 5:26
  Yeah, no, no, definitely be like I agree.
• 5:28
  And when I look at my my top ten, there are picked that we'll
• 5:31
  discuss today if I look at, for example, season 5.
• 5:35
  So we're well and truly into, you know, the fifth season.
• 5:39
  And I've picked a couple that I would say are very much the
• 5:43
  playoff between modern Scully and have some real sort of fun
• 5:47
  moments and some comedy. And that's that's what I love
• 5:50
  about The X-Files. They, they went from a very, you
• 5:53
  know, serious conspiracy monster of the week.
• 5:56
  But actually once I got to like seasons 456, I started to play
• 5:59
  around a bit with modern Scully and have some really funny
• 6:04
  moments and some really genuine moments as well, which which was
• 6:08
  fantastic. How they just, it wasn't just
• 6:10
  modern Scully they are today as they were at the end.
• 6:13
  It really did develop. Yeah, absolutely.
• 6:15
  Yeah. So I will never assume this when
• 6:19
  I ask this question. Have you watched the entire
• 6:21
  series from start to finish like you've seen every episode or
• 6:24
  would? Yes, I, I have now like I, I
• 6:28
  would have watched every well, but back then when, when I was
• 6:31
  home, which you know, I would have watched every show, I
• 6:34
  reckon up until Agent Doggett came along, which is maybe what,
• 6:39
  Series 7 or 8. Yeah, just in this series,
• 6:41
  Series 7 and 8. Yeah, 7-8 OK, so I still enjoyed
• 6:45
  him and I thought he was actually really good in the
• 6:48
  show, to be honest. But as you know, Moulder went
• 6:51
  away for, you know, more and more episodes.
• 6:54
  I sort of just lost a bit of interest.
• 6:58
  So I didn't actually at the time, I didn't make it to the
• 7:01
  end of the series. But obviously since then I've
• 7:04
  gone back and watched them all, including the final two. 10:00
• 7:08
  and 11:00, yeah. 10:00 and 11:00 which I actually enjoyed. 10 and
• 7:10
  11. Yeah, I, I, I think there was so
• 7:13
  much time that had come from Series 9, but we'd all more or
• 7:17
  less said, OK, well, that is the end.
• 7:19
  They're not going to do anymore. And then suddenly when they
• 7:21
  decided they were going to do a series 10, there was so much
• 7:23
  excitement about it, thinking about you, I wonder what?
• 7:26
  And they just said it was a special event.
• 7:27
  So I think they just did 6 episodes and they thought, oh,
• 7:30
  well, that'll be it. And then they announced Series
• 7:32
  11 and we said, oh, here we go again.
• 7:34
  Yeah, and. Then they got to the end of that
• 7:36
  and then we thought, well, OK, there's the cliffhanger, what's
• 7:38
  going to happen? And we've stopped again.
• 7:43
  But that, that's, that's really interesting.
• 7:46
  A lot of people, I think got to that stage where Mulder was
• 7:50
  coming out. Dogged had come in and I think a
• 7:52
  lot of people started to sort of drift off at that point, which I
• 7:57
  mean, I, I, I, I stayed with it all the way through.
• 7:59
  And I too, I think Asian dogged is a terrific character and he
• 8:03
  and he's played so well as well. So that that that.
• 8:06
  Helps. And, and some of the writing in
• 8:09
  those last couple of series is really strong, but unfortunately
• 8:11
  some of the writing is a little bit weak.
• 8:13
  And I think that's where they started to dive off at the end,
• 8:17
  rather than Mulder and Scally not necessarily being every
• 8:20
  week. It was more just the fact that
• 8:21
  the the writing, I think, started to tail off a little
• 8:24
  bit. Yeah, and, and I'm trying to
• 8:26
  think of what year, you know, Series 9 would have been because
• 8:31
  it very much became a So yeah, I was at uni 95969798 and became a
• 8:39
  real thing that we get together with all our friends and watch
• 8:42
  The X-Files. So it became an event, you know,
• 8:44
  every week. Once I graduated, you sort of
• 8:47
  move away from that a bit and you you, you know, get a full
• 8:50
  time job. You got different times that
• 8:52
  you're at home, not home. So I'm wondering if that was a
• 8:55
  bit of a too, whether I just that that last season or two,
• 8:58
  maybe I'd moved out of home or something.
• 9:01
  I'm I'm trying to think now when that was but.
• 9:02
  Pretty sure was. 2002 was when the line when Series 9 aired.
• 9:06
  Right, OK, yeah, yeah, so I've moved out by then and yeah,
• 9:10
  maybe just keeping different times of the day.
• 9:12
  Just sort of missed it. Yeah, you sort of forget that
• 9:15
  we, you know, we went streaming back then, so.
• 9:17
  That's exactly right. Yeah.
• 9:19
  If you missed it, you were buggered.
• 9:20
  If you haven't set the haven't set the VCR or whatever it was,
• 9:24
  no chance of going back. Have you seen both the movies as
• 9:28
  well as a part of the series? Yes, Yep.
• 9:30
  So I was super excited when the first movie came out, you know,
• 9:35
  I went to the cinemas, really enjoyed it.
• 9:37
  It was interesting. I went with some friends that
• 9:41
  went into The X-Files and they were a little bit lost.
• 9:44
  Just put it it. Just comes straight in like it
• 9:47
  does and that. That's right.
• 9:50
  But no, I mean, that was for me. The first movie was in my real
• 9:53
  heyday of The X-Files, so yeah, I love that.
• 9:55
  And the second one I enjoyed as well.
• 9:57
  Yeah, me too. Yeah, I saw the first one at the
• 9:59
  cinemas and then I saw it the second time at the cinemas 2
• 10:02
  hours later. Oh.
• 10:03
  Really. Yeah.
• 10:05
  Pretty much I missed, I missed the the sessions that overlapped
• 10:08
  and I'd seen it. I just said I've got to go see
• 10:10
  that again. Yes, I've got to wait two hours.
• 10:12
  I don't care. I'm waiting to.
• 10:13
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you read any of the books,
• 10:18
  The X-Files books that have been published?
• 10:21
  Yes. So in preparation for this, I
• 10:23
  was searching my bookcase. Yep, because I had I'd read
• 10:28
  three books and I also had like AI don't know the exact name of
• 10:32
  the book, but it was like an X-Files companion.
• 10:35
  Yes, yeah, right. That basically had, I'm going to
• 10:37
  say the 1st 5 or so series, you know, every detail about behind
• 10:42
  the scenes and who wrote it and what what they were thinking
• 10:45
  about. Unfortunately, I can't find any
• 10:47
  of that, of course not on my bookcase, but I do remember, so
• 10:52
  I've got it here. I read goblins, yes, Ground
• 10:56
  Zero, Yep, and ruins. Right.
• 10:59
  Yep. I I did actually have those 3
• 11:01
  paperbacks. Yes, all three great stories,
• 11:03
  too. Yeah, Yeah, they could.
• 11:04
  They could. They could easily have filmed
• 11:06
  those for the series. Yes.
• 11:08
  Whether it be an episode or a movie, and it would have worked
• 11:11
  really well. Yeah, for sure.
• 11:12
  Yeah. So not very good books.
• 11:14
  Enjoy those. So.
• 11:15
  So you've read them all. Yes, yeah, I've still got, I've
• 11:17
  still got them. They're up on my bookshelves.
• 11:19
  Yeah, OK, yeah. What about a spin offs?
• 11:23
  Have you seen the Lone Gunman series?
• 11:26
  Or have you watched any of Millennium?
• 11:28
  I I've seen probably two or three episodes of Millennium,
• 11:32
  Yep. But none of the Lone Gunmen spin
• 11:36
  off. Yep.
• 11:37
  What are they like? Are they?
• 11:39
  Lone, Well actually they're sort of both a bit hit and miss, like
• 11:43
  they're Lone Gunmen. I think there's 10 episodes that
• 11:46
  they released. I would reckon 6 of them are
• 11:49
  excellent and the other four are sort of a bit.
• 11:51
  Yeah, it was a Millennium. I still haven't actually seen
• 11:54
  all of Millennium. I'm still trying.
• 11:56
  I'm trying to track down DVDs. I saw the whole first series
• 11:58
  when it was on TV and then it went into like like 11:00 on
• 12:05
  our, you know, and it was just, you know, it just disappeared,
• 12:08
  unfortunately, from our screens. But I enjoyed Millennium
• 12:11
  because, again, similar sort of storylines and similar sort of
• 12:16
  characters, but just a little bit wacky as well.
• 12:18
  So yeah, OK, it's it's it was interesting enough.
• 12:21
  But again, yeah, I need to. So I'll track those down myself.
• 12:24
  Yeah, Yep. OK, Do you have a preference for
• 12:29
  the Alien mythology arc episodes or Monster of the Week episodes
• 12:33
  or are you happy with both? Definitely happy with both.
• 12:40
  I'm looking at that. My top 10 here, I reckon maybe
• 12:45
  one, probably only two out of the 10 conspiracy.
• 12:50
  But I think that's not to say that I prefer the Monster of the
• 12:54
  Week. I think when I was sitting down
• 12:55
  and getting my top ten, I found it hard to choose between which
• 13:00
  conspiracy I liked over the other one.
• 13:02
  Whereas Monster of the Week was very particular.
• 13:06
  You know, you could easily. I remember that one.
• 13:08
  I remember that monster. I remember that character.
• 13:11
  I remember that ending. Whereas Conspiracy sort of
• 13:15
  flowed into each other throughout the series.
• 13:17
  So I did pick a couple because I really stuck in my brain early
• 13:22
  on. Yeah.
• 13:24
  And those sitting around with friends getting to the final
• 13:28
  episode of that year. Yes.
• 13:30
  Yeah. And the beer cliffhanger, you
• 13:31
  go, oh, my God, I've got to wait six months or whatever it is,
• 13:34
  you know? Yep.
• 13:35
  Absolutely, yeah. Just just crazy.
• 13:37
  So no, I I like both. And as you said at the top of
• 13:40
  the show, that's what makes The X-Files, is that flying in and
• 13:44
  out of Monster of the Week versus Alien.
• 13:48
  Conspiracy and like the monster of the week would generally have
• 13:51
  an ending, like it might be a little bit open-ended, but
• 13:53
  generally an ending. Whereas with the alien arc
• 13:56
  mythology, of course, as you say, though, that you had
• 13:59
  generally a two or three block and then they'd fly, but the
• 14:03
  next question was being asked already to be answered again in
• 14:07
  four or five episodes time and and continue on.
• 14:09
  So sometimes that's a bit hard to to.
• 14:13
  I know when I did this with my daughter Jessica for our first
• 14:16
  one and she chose the one where Scully was actually abducted.
• 14:23
  I think that that episode in itself was sort of an ending,
• 14:28
  even though you sort of were wondering where they were going
• 14:30
  to go with it. And I think that made it easier
• 14:32
  probably for her to choose that yes, out of the other ones that
• 14:35
  of course still are open-ended through the through the whole
• 14:38
  series. Yeah, well, I think that is that
• 14:40
  the episode where they play Red right hand?
• 14:43
  Yes, that's exactly right. That's how I was introduced in
• 14:46
  Nick Cave there. You go.
• 14:47
  And what a great song it is, yes?
• 14:50
  I've been a fan ever since. One final question before we get
• 14:55
  stuck into your episodes. Favorite characters.
• 14:57
  Do you have any favorite characters?
• 14:59
  They can be long term characters or one off characters, but
• 15:02
  there's anyone that come to mind immediately.
• 15:05
  Yeah, well, I guess interestingly they all come from
• 15:07
  me, from the conspiracy shows because that, that that shock
• 15:13
  horror moment of once again, you're sitting around with your
• 15:15
  mates and cry check pops out of nowhere.
• 15:17
  Or you know. The Great Alex Project.
• 15:21
  Yes, that's right. Or, or or you know, that that
• 15:26
  just that you may have Molder and Skinner going at each other
• 15:31
  arguing and, you know, come on, Skinny, just give him a break.
• 15:34
  Like let him let him do what he's asking.
• 15:36
  Molder storms out. Then just in in the background,
• 15:39
  you see like this thin film of smoke drifting up and there's a
• 15:42
  cigarette smoking man. Yeah, so I had like cigarette
• 15:45
  smoking Man, Skinner and cry check with three of my all time
• 15:50
  favorites. So I just loved it when they
• 15:51
  popped up. Yep.
• 15:53
  Absolutely in. The show, I mean, you know, I
• 15:55
  guess the obvious 22 answers are Scully and Mulder, but them
• 15:59
  aside. Yeah, they sort of are.
• 16:01
  But yeah, I agree. Like Alex Krawczyk, I think he
• 16:04
  from a guy who was only going to be sort of brought in because
• 16:07
  Gillian Anderson was going to go off and and give birth to to
• 16:11
  what he ended up becoming to the whole X-Files.
• 16:14
  They they utilized him beautifully.
• 16:17
  Yes, yeah. Now that, that was a great
• 16:18
  storyline, yeah. All right, well, we've got 10
• 16:25
  episodes. You've chosen your ten favorite
• 16:27
  episodes, which is not easy to do and to nail down a A10.
• 16:32
  And as you've said, it's, it probably becomes a little easier
• 16:35
  to choose episodes from Monster of the Week rather than the
• 16:39
  mythology ones, but we're going to go through them in
• 16:42
  chronological order. And the first one you've chosen
• 16:45
  is from Series 2, Episode 2, and we're talking about The host,
• 16:51
  which was written by Chris Carter and directed by Daniel
• 16:54
  Sakon. So tell us.
• 16:56
  Tell us what draws you to the host.
• 17:00
  Well, interestingly, Bill, when I was writing down my, well,
• 17:03
  when I went from 30 to 20 to 10, I actually wrote down who the
• 17:10
  writers and directors were Good. Not.
• 17:12
  Not, Yeah, not knowing them. And you can do it, I don't have
• 17:14
  to. Not not knowing them off the top
• 17:17
  of my head, yes. So interestingly, if I count
• 17:20
  here 123456. So six of the 10 are written by
• 17:27
  Chris Carter. Yep.
• 17:29
  Which? Which you're always going to be
• 17:31
  a chance of, given that he got so many.
• 17:33
  Yeah, yeah. Yep, Yep.
• 17:35
  So obviously something about his shows with like you say, whether
• 17:39
  it's just luck that he writes a lot of them.
• 17:41
  So maybe that was going to happen anyway.
• 17:42
  But I, I do seem to like his writing style when when it comes
• 17:47
  to The X-Files, which I guess he created it.
• 17:50
  So that kind of makes sense. It's it's the reason I chose the
• 17:55
  host was actually interestingly, when I went back and watched it
• 17:58
  again recently. Maybe I wouldn't put it in my
• 18:02
  top ten in terms of a monster of the week, but it's the one
• 18:05
  that's stuck in my head and is the one that I remember.
• 18:10
  Yep, this is the show for me. And and that that's why I chose
• 18:13
  because it really stuck in my memory as this is where I came
• 18:16
  into The X-Files and really, Yep, this is going to be a show
• 18:19
  that I'm going to have to sit down and and watch every week.
• 18:22
  Yes, so you know, you've got The X-Files, which I think was
• 18:25
  closed down at this point in time.
• 18:27
  So you've got that happening in the background and you know,
• 18:32
  just that start of you know, you, you the the first victim
• 18:37
  where he's, he's going into the bathroom and he's trying to
• 18:39
  shove that whole tube of toothpaste in his mouth because
• 18:42
  he's got that really disgusting taste from where the the host
• 18:45
  actually implanted into him and he's sitting there going, Oh my
• 18:47
  God, I what's is it going to pop out of his stomach?
• 18:50
  Is it going to pop out of his head?
• 18:52
  Like what's, you know, what's going to happen here?
• 18:54
  Like just that whole, yeah, I think just that whole imagery of
• 19:00
  and the way the host looked just just freaked me out at the time.
• 19:06
  And I thought, OK, this is a OK, you know, you could say that a
• 19:11
  Monster of the Week X file is not a serious show to watch.
• 19:16
  But. But to me, the way it's all
• 19:18
  filmed and written it, you're engrossed and it's you know, I'm
• 19:21
  sitting there going, Oh God, you know what's gonna happen next or
• 19:24
  Yep, you know, is something gross gonna happen?
• 19:26
  Is something you know, and just that imagery of the when it gets
• 19:29
  caught in the sewer and and just the the first time you see it's
• 19:33
  face, it just grossed me out. I thought, all right, here's a
• 19:36
  show that's taking a what you could say is a light light
• 19:40
  subject seriously. And, and actually, now that I
• 19:43
  think about it, that's probably the key to The X-Files is they
• 19:45
  treat, they treat their viewers seriously when they when they
• 19:50
  take on these subjects. Yep.
• 19:52
  They just don't pay it short change that, which which is
• 19:56
  great. So yeah, I think that's what
• 19:57
  called me in or got me in. Was that real sort of imagery of
• 20:00
  the of this monster. Yes, well, I think this as you
• 20:04
  say, the host and I also relate it back to Victor Toomes in
• 20:07
  Squeeze. In the first series, we have the
• 20:09
  1st 2 episodes where you've got these creatures, they really
• 20:14
  grab you because they're icky and you think I don't want these
• 20:18
  people around me, sort of. Thing Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
• 20:21
  no, definitely. And and just the way that's I
• 20:27
  don't know, I've just always really liked Molder as a
• 20:29
  character. So to, to be honest with you,
• 20:32
  yes, some stories are weaker than others.
• 20:34
  But if it's Molder or Scully chasing down an outcome, then
• 20:40
  generally I'm on board. Yep.
• 20:42
  And as you said with sorry with this one too, as you said, The
• 20:45
  X-Files was closed, yes. And this this actually had them
• 20:50
  interacting in a different way, but still acting together.
• 20:53
  I thought that worked really well in this episode because,
• 20:55
  yes, it was obvious Scully still wanted to be in contact with
• 20:58
  Molda and was very much in, more or less, I think, trying to make
• 21:03
  sure they didn't off himself or do something.
• 21:06
  And that was fairly obvious in this episode that they were
• 21:10
  still both working very closely together, even though they were
• 21:12
  supposed to be a part. And yeah, not operating on this
• 21:15
  level at all. Correct.
• 21:17
  And I think this was the first time X made an appearance was
• 21:20
  yeah. Just on the phone I think in
• 21:22
  this episode for an NBA. Yeah, so that's that's quite
• 21:24
  clever too. So you've got a Monster of the
• 21:26
  Week episode, but in the background they're already
• 21:28
  planting the seed for what would be the next conspiracy.
• 21:32
  Yes. Mythology series so.
• 21:34
  Yeah, they packed a bit into it, yeah.
• 21:41
  And of course, the host was actually played by Darren
• 21:45
  Morgan, who's then once again became a writer who, as it turns
• 21:50
  out, wrote the next episode that you were put in your top ten,
• 21:55
  which was season 2 episode. Sorry, episode 20.
• 21:59
  Humbug. Humbug, what a great episode.
• 22:01
  And here's another one where characters are a little bit
• 22:04
  strange, a little bit icky, and the storyline was done so well
• 22:10
  that when you got to the conclusion, it just popped out
• 22:13
  of here and you said, oh, right, that's what happened.
• 22:18
  Actually, it reminds me a bit of Total Recall.
• 22:21
  Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 22:25
  So yeah, tell tell us about humbug and what you think about
• 22:27
  that. I mean, this is just a brilliant
• 22:29
  episode. It's it's so atypical X-Files
• 22:33
  like to to focus on a troop of crazy looking acting people.
• 22:40
  But you know, even the start that that double bluff where
• 22:43
  you're thinking the boys in the pool would be attacked, but then
• 22:47
  the father gets attacked instead.
• 22:51
  I just love the whole setup at the funeral.
• 22:53
  You know, where, where the wife or the person has died has a
• 22:56
  beard. You know, she got, he got the
• 22:58
  bearded lady at the funeral. You know, you've got the tattoo
• 23:02
  man eating raw fish. You've got the blockhead guy
• 23:07
  nailing, putting nails up his nose.
• 23:10
  Just just the whole. Yeah, just the whole imagery of
• 23:14
  this episode is, is is brilliant.
• 23:19
  What else I got here? I got.
• 23:21
  Yeah. Great direction in the museum
• 23:23
  when they're using the mirrors to show the deformed face, like,
• 23:26
  fantastic. I think that's what I was going
• 23:31
  back through this episode was the way it was directed, the way
• 23:35
  it was filmed, the angles, the timing of everything was just
• 23:39
  pitch perfect. Well, here's another one.
• 23:42
  You've got Kim Manners, who directed this one, and I think
• 23:45
  you've got for at least three episodes that you've chosen in
• 23:48
  your top ten. Yeah.
• 23:50
  So it's, it's funny how when you go through and find things like,
• 23:54
  yeah, this is what, this is what attracts me to The X-Files.
• 23:56
  And you go through it, and then you suddenly realize that it's
• 23:58
  the same three or four people, yes, who are very involved in
• 24:02
  those episodes. Yes, Yep, Yep, definitely.
• 24:05
  And it'd be interesting to know whether Chris Carter, you know,
• 24:11
  if you'd set out a 22 episode series.
• 24:14
  I wonder if you ever said, OK, I want 3 or 4 by this director or
• 24:20
  this writer or, OK, let's do a couple by this then.
• 24:23
  Yeah, it'll be interesting to know how he mapped.
• 24:26
  Yeah. Absolutely mapped out of season.
• 24:28
  Yes, it's interesting. I mean, having just done the two
• 24:31
  first two series now to this point, obviously David Nutter
• 24:35
  was very involved in that first series as a director, but it was
• 24:39
  Kim Manners who was very, very instrumental in the second
• 24:42
  series. So Yep.
• 24:43
  Yep. So yeah, as I was saying before
• 24:46
  even that that twin, I can't try trying to think what year total
• 24:50
  recall was whether I would have seen that before or?
• 24:54
  It's must have been around this time.
• 24:56
  I, I, I would guess I would hesitate to say 94.
• 24:58
  Yeah, I reckon it was before this.
• 25:00
  Yeah, yeah, maybe. I just love that whole thing of
• 25:04
  the the twins separating from his body.
• 25:06
  Absolutely, and it was done so well.
• 25:08
  Yeah, And what's, what's the actor's name?
• 25:10
  That was that was the host of the yes, He, he was fantastic.
• 25:14
  He. Was and I should remember it,
• 25:15
  but I don't. Yeah, that's right.
• 25:20
  Also another great scene. Now this is where they're
• 25:22
  chasing the monster through the horror house.
• 25:24
  I mean, that's that's a whole great sequence as well.
• 25:26
  So, you know, I think this, this whole episode is done with a lot
• 25:30
  of a lot of fun. Yeah, in, in, in the background,
• 25:34
  whilst still, like I said, still treating the viewers with some
• 25:38
  respect and and seriousness, but putting that fun behind it.
• 25:42
  Yeah, and very much in the style of Darren Morgan's writing
• 25:45
  through The X-Files, all the all The X-Files episodes that he
• 25:48
  wrote had this sense of funnel something about them that just
• 25:52
  that engenders it to not just being a serious outlay of the
• 25:57
  story, but there's always these fun little bits going off the
• 26:00
  side. He's he's so very good at it.
• 26:03
  Yeah, definitely. And and I think like with
• 26:07
  humbug, like, you know, obviously we're talking about
• 26:10
  we're watching this in the days before the Internet.
• 26:13
  So so, you know, I'm not used to seeing those sorts of characters
• 26:16
  at, at, you know, whether whether it might be a a circus
• 26:20
  or whatever. Like that's to me, that was my
• 26:22
  first viewing or coming across of these types of characters,
• 26:26
  yes. You know, of the of the
• 26:27
  so-called bearded ladies and and that kind of thing and the
• 26:30
  alligator man and yeah, all of those kind of guys.
• 26:33
  Yeah, yeah. So.
• 26:34
  So it was really cool. You know, another funny part.
• 26:38
  I do like when Mulder lands on the bed of nails and he goes, oh
• 26:42
  this is more comfortable than a futon.
• 26:43
  That's right. That's a great line.
• 26:47
  I think anyone that's had a futon would agree with that.
• 26:50
  Exactly. What you're talking about, yes.
• 26:54
  It is, and it's a it's a great and it's the ending's terrific.
• 26:57
  Yep. It's just and the look that
• 26:59
  Mulder and Scully give each other after the last line, just
• 27:02
  basically maybe something like Ate and then yes, is that that's
• 27:05
  just fabulous, Yes. No, definitely great, great
• 27:08
  finish. Well, we can move on to your
• 27:15
  third episode, which happens to be the cliffhanger episode from
• 27:19
  season 2 which caused me so much grief back in the day.
• 27:23
  Season 2 Episode 25 Anasazi. Yeah, so we're talking at the
• 27:28
  top of the show about that cliffhanger and having to wait
• 27:32
  six months. This was this is the one that
• 27:34
  definitely stuck in my mind and and also that that's that the
• 27:40
  whole symbolism with the Native American Indians really hooked
• 27:45
  me in as well. Look, I certainly won't profess
• 27:50
  to knowing all that background. It'd be interesting to hear from
• 27:53
  how they were, how they will proceed from this show, the
• 27:57
  Native American Indians over there.
• 27:58
  But I thought it was very respectively done.
• 28:01
  Sorry. Respectfully done, I should say.
• 28:04
  And really added to the the myth of of this conspiracy with their
• 28:09
  own storytelling. Yeah.
• 28:11
  Yeah. Which I thought was great.
• 28:12
  So I think this is probably my all time favorite end of season
• 28:18
  cliffhangers for sure. And you know, because as soon as
• 28:23
  you see that white cylinder in the desert, straight away think
• 28:27
  this has to be alien base like, you know, this there can't be
• 28:30
  anything else. And I think it was the the main
• 28:35
  Indian that was saying, I think the boy brings back the artifact
• 28:39
  or something. And, and, and, and the older one
• 28:42
  says this should be returned. They will be coming.
• 28:45
  Yep. And just that line of OK, here
• 28:47
  we go. And but because that's also said
• 28:49
  in the native Indian language, yes, that just adds gravity to
• 28:53
  the, to the situation. I think, you know, that whole
• 29:01
  the the documents that they're going through the world leaders
• 29:04
  and the cigarette maintenance gets a call at the end, I think
• 29:07
  where he says that's a phone call I never wanted to get.
• 29:10
  So, you know, OK, this this is big.
• 29:14
  And, and you know, with these conspiracy episodes, at some
• 29:19
  point you need pay off. You know, you can't just keep
• 29:22
  hooking the viewer in and and you know, I know that they did
• 29:26
  it for 10 seasons, but you gotta have you gotta have some some
• 29:33
  upping of the ante and pay off along the way.
• 29:35
  Yeah, to keep the view in. And I think this this this
• 29:38
  episode did that really well. You know, you get a very good
• 29:42
  physical altercation between Skinner and Mulder.
• 29:45
  Yep. Which which really adds adds
• 29:47
  weight to the to the episode. You got cigarette smoking man
• 29:52
  meeting Mulder's dad. Yep.
• 29:54
  I mean, this episode is just layer upon layer of and you're
• 29:57
  just sitting there going, Oh my God, you know, this is this is
• 30:00
  incredible. You know, I thought it was great
• 30:04
  how they built the tension between modern Molder losing
• 30:06
  trust with Scully during this episode.
• 30:09
  That was great tension there. You know, the cigarette man's
• 30:14
  lines of nothing vanishes without a trace.
• 30:18
  They're just great building on those lines.
• 30:20
  And, you know, then you end with the rail car on fire and you
• 30:25
  think, well, Molder can't get out of this.
• 30:27
  He's dead, Yeah. He's dead, Yeah.
• 30:32
  I think that certainly the fact that, you know, Mulder obviously
• 30:36
  had LSD or something in his, his water in his room and that and
• 30:39
  he's, he's actually David, the company's acting through that,
• 30:43
  making it obvious that something was wrong, that he was always,
• 30:46
  he was agitated and getting growing agitated and you
• 30:49
  couldn't really work out why except that you see him drinking
• 30:52
  water a lot. And then you also had his
• 30:54
  neighbors killing each other or his wife or the wife killing the
• 30:58
  husband. And then you get to the point
• 31:00
  where you find out, yes, that Scully finds out his water's
• 31:03
  been spiked. And and then, of course, the
• 31:06
  great Alex Krycheck turns up and I'm soft Mulder's father.
• 31:09
  And and you see him on screen and I just say yes, it's
• 31:12
  Krycheck again. You did.
• 31:14
  How is he going? To stuff this up and because
• 31:16
  that's what he's so good at and there is so much in this
• 31:19
  episode. And like you say, then we get
• 31:23
  left with the cliffhanger and we're just thinking, Oh my God,
• 31:27
  now we're going to be waiting forever to see this actually
• 31:30
  resolved. And the best part about it when
• 31:33
  it was resolved is that because again, it was another three
• 31:36
  episode sort of Arc that many questions were asked throughout.
• 31:40
  And as you said, with the the American Navajos, I thought
• 31:44
  their part in that story was just so beautifully done.
• 31:48
  And as you said, respectful of of them and their beliefs.
• 31:53
  To incorporate that into this arc I thought was done
• 31:57
  fabulously well. Yes, Yep, definitely agree agree
• 32:02
  yeah, just just love this love how they did that and just
• 32:08
  brilliantly written wait where you can have the lone gunman
• 32:11
  cigarette smoking man molder's dad cry check.
• 32:16
  I mean, I don't think you could pack any more into.
• 32:18
  This there was nothing left, not in this episode.
• 32:21
  It was just, it was just terrifically well done.
• 32:23
  Yes, Yep, definitely. And as you say, as a
• 32:25
  cliffhanger, it was probably, I mean, I think my memory is that
• 32:30
  it is the best cliffhanger simply for the fact that I
• 32:33
  desperately needed to know what happened at that point in time
• 32:37
  and couldn't find out. And I think that's what makes
• 32:40
  this episode, for me, so memorable.
• 32:42
  Yes. Definitely.
• 32:48
  Well, then we're gonna jump forward a little bit.
• 32:49
  We're gonna jump into Season 3 and episode 22, Quagmire, which
• 32:55
  is written by Kim Newton. I think only episode that Kim
• 32:59
  Newton wrote. Yeah, and directed by Kim
• 33:01
  Manners again. Yeah, so monster of the week and
• 33:08
  I do love a Loch Ness type monster of the week.
• 33:14
  So, yeah, I, I mean, for me, this just goes back to, I guess
• 33:18
  more childhood in terms of those sorts of monsters that you hear
• 33:23
  about and, and you just obviously think about they can't
• 33:26
  possibly exist. So I, I do like it when NX Files
• 33:29
  takes on one of those very well known monsters.
• 33:35
  And, and you know, I love how this is all set up with them
• 33:38
  driving across the country and Scully wondering, you know, why
• 33:40
  we're going halfway across the country for a missing persons
• 33:43
  case. Then.
• 33:44
  Then she sees the monster sign on the side of the road.
• 33:47
  She just rolls her eyes. Like, you know, you've got to be
• 33:49
  kidding. Yep, she found out the reason
• 33:53
  pretty quickly. That's right.
• 33:56
  So I mean, what I, what I also like about The X-Files is
• 34:00
  sometimes you're actually not sure if the episode truly is
• 34:03
  about a monster or even someone just perpetuating a monster.
• 34:07
  Yeah. So I, I do like how you're often
• 34:09
  sitting there going, well, is this gonna play out where the
• 34:13
  writers make you believe this monster is real, or are they
• 34:19
  gonna play it out that actually it's just someone pretending to
• 34:21
  be a monster or it's not really real?
• 34:24
  It was just circumstances that led to this coming about.
• 34:27
  So I I quite like that aspect to it as well.
• 34:30
  Yep. Which which we get at the end of
• 34:32
  the episode, don't we? When Boulder basically says
• 34:35
  yeah, it probably isn't real, yeah, they're behind him.
• 34:39
  You can see the the monster and the lake.
• 34:41
  Came fast. I've actually written that here.
• 34:44
  It's it looks a bit corny, but I, I actually that that Big Blue
• 34:47
  reveal at the end I I just read it's a really nice touch.
• 34:50
  It is, yeah. I really like that.
• 34:53
  It's the same as the Loch Ness Monster.
• 34:54
  Everyone says I it's probably there and it always, always
• 34:57
  appears when everyone's not looking.
• 34:59
  Yeah, Yep. And you've got the dog named Qui
• 35:02
  Qui Qui Qui Qui Qui, which gets the dog gets eaten, doesn't it?
• 35:08
  Is that? Absolutely.
• 35:09
  The dog does not quite survive the episode.
• 35:14
  And yeah, as I was saying before, with the the
• 35:19
  interactions between modern and Scully as the seasons go on,
• 35:22
  like I, I really enjoy the moments when they're stuck on
• 35:25
  the rock and, and, and modern and Scully just talking away.
• 35:29
  Quee queeg Ahab and and and and I think it was was it Scully
• 35:36
  that says that's why these stories survive?
• 35:39
  People want to believe? Absolutely.
• 35:42
  Yeah. So that's that's a great touch
• 35:43
  as well. It is, yeah.
• 35:45
  Into the episode. So yeah, I mean for me, this
• 35:49
  episode just makes me feel nice and fuzzy and and you know, it's
• 35:53
  it's a good time. It's, you know, it's not, you
• 35:56
  know, it's not one of their most hard hitting stories or no, you
• 36:00
  know, scary ones. But just for me, it was just a a
• 36:02
  really nice, nice, fun episode. And like you said, they do this
• 36:08
  so well throughout the whole series where they take these
• 36:10
  mythical creatures that have been spoken about for centuries
• 36:14
  in some places and they do a story on them, but not those
• 36:18
  particular characters, like with big with Bigfoot in the early
• 36:22
  episodes and with here in Lock This Monster, of course, we've
• 36:26
  got vampires, we've got werewolves.
• 36:29
  So they they do stories about them, but not the actual
• 36:33
  mythical creature itself, but something that's adjacent to.
• 36:36
  That which? Is what they've done here again
• 36:38
  and and they they make those stories work really well just by
• 36:43
  coming in every whatever 1214 episodes or whatever you might
• 36:47
  get one a season, you might get 2 and everyone says Oh yeah,
• 36:51
  that's the Loch this monster. OK, what are they going to do
• 36:52
  about that? Or, you know, it's Bigfoot, or
• 36:55
  it's the Abominable Snowman or whatever it is.
• 36:58
  They're able to incorporate that in without just saying it's that
• 37:02
  creature. Yes, it's it's it's, but it's a
• 37:04
  creature adjacent to that. Yes, correct, correct.
• 37:07
  And, and, and that's a good point.
• 37:10
  Actually, I hadn't, I hadn't really thought about that
• 37:12
  because this is obviously the Loch Ness Monster.
• 37:14
  Yep, it's it's never mentioned once.
• 37:15
  No. Not once.
• 37:16
  No. No, throughout the whole show.
• 37:19
  But yeah, I mean, we need episodes like this when we're
• 37:22
  about to talk about the next episode that we'll get into
• 37:25
  because you can't. If if you had every episode like
• 37:28
  the next one, you I don't think you could.
• 37:30
  I don't think I could keep watching it.
• 37:35
  No, no, I think the show would stop very quickly.
• 37:39
  And the episode we're going to talk about is Season 4, Episode
• 37:42
  2 entitled Home. And I'm going to let you go all
• 37:47
  with this, Michael. I can't wait to hear what you
• 37:50
  have chosen it for. I I had to choose it because
• 37:57
  it's probably one of the episodes that is still imprinted
• 38:02
  on my brain. I cannot forget it.
• 38:06
  And how did how did they get this script through?
• 38:10
  So it's written, it's written by Glenn Morgan and James Wong and
• 38:13
  Glenn Morgan and James Wong. This was the last episode they
• 38:16
  wrote for some time. And, and they were, they were
• 38:18
  great partnership. In those first two series, they
• 38:20
  wrote some of the best episodes, yes.
• 38:22
  Then they went off and created their own show.
• 38:25
  They came back and they did this episode and then I think they
• 38:28
  they were a script consultants after that on The X-Files.
• 38:31
  But this was their script for season 4 and it is out there.
• 38:36
  And, and I mean, I pick it straight away.
• 38:38
  Like, I didn't even have to think about it, but I must
• 38:41
  admit. But I went back and watched it.
• 38:42
  I'm like, oh, jeez, This is why am I watching this again?
• 38:46
  Yeah, it's brilliant in its twisted, dark, disturbing own
• 38:53
  way. And, you know, just even the
• 38:58
  start, right from the start in the dark and the rain, you know,
• 39:01
  that that had me paying attention straight away.
• 39:04
  So, OK, this is because of course, well, not of course,
• 39:08
  when I used to watch this either by myself or with friends, we'd
• 39:10
  have the lights off. We'd be sitting, sitting in
• 39:12
  silence. And you know, this is This is
• 39:14
  why we watch this. We don't have stuff going on in
• 39:16
  the background or, you know, we're not doing something else.
• 39:19
  This is sit down, watch what must, must watch TV.
• 39:24
  You know, the way the baseball goes over near the house and the
• 39:27
  kids won't get it and they think, hang on, what's what's
• 39:29
  going on over at this house? And, and I think it's still
• 39:34
  still at the back of my head here where I remember when
• 39:36
  Mulder and Scully first searched the house and they see the ENU
• 39:42
  as if you see a set of eyes underneath the floorboards, you
• 39:45
  think, oh, geez, what he said underneath there.
• 39:47
  And so, so basically for those that haven't seen it, it is
• 39:51
  basically a storyline about a family that inbreeds with the
• 39:58
  mother and the sons. And they're trying to just keep
• 40:01
  their own what their own line going, basically, Yep, without
• 40:07
  any outside. So, you know, every character's
• 40:10
  a bit deformed and a bit mentally disturbed.
• 40:14
  And there is something about, you know, when towards the end,
• 40:20
  when the, or when the brothers start up a car and, and the
• 40:23
  music that they play for this, for this episode, it just adds
• 40:26
  to the whole spookiness of it and the whole, yeah, I don't
• 40:31
  know how other to explain it then.
• 40:33
  Then it's an inbred family where they keep the mum underneath the
• 40:37
  floorboards and it's just so disturbing.
• 40:41
  It is. You cannot imagine that this
• 40:43
  episode could ever be made today.
• 40:45
  No, there's there'd be no way that they could get this through
• 40:48
  to anyone to say, OK, tell us the storyline.
• 40:51
  Well, this is what it is. Yeah.
• 40:52
  And they just, they look at you and say that's really the story.
• 40:56
  Yeah, that's right. So I guess this is hang where we
• 41:01
  are here we are at season 4. Yep.
• 41:05
  So by now we all know what The X-Files is and we know it can be
• 41:09
  a bit out there. So I I can't imagine sitting
• 41:11
  down and watching this in any other series and thinking this
• 41:15
  is a normal. No, not at all.
• 41:17
  No. I mean, think even for X-Files
• 41:20
  this was out there well. It's it's interesting.
• 41:22
  Is it because. I mean, I mean, it is monster of
• 41:25
  the week, there's no doubt about that.
• 41:26
  But in the long run, it's about a murderer and trying to find a
• 41:30
  murderer. And then you've just got this
• 41:31
  inroading family. I mean, you could look at it
• 41:33
  that simply and say that's what the story is.
• 41:35
  Yeah. And people could say, Oh yeah,
• 41:37
  is it really an X file? Yes, it is, yes, just in a very
• 41:41
  different way. That's.
• 41:42
  That's that's true. Actually, one of the lines I've
• 41:45
  got here is not sure I ever want to watch this episode again.
• 41:50
  It is difficult viewing, Yeah. And I know that when I've gone
• 41:53
  back the three or four times that I have watched all the
• 41:56
  series through again. Yeah, I do get this episode.
• 41:59
  I think, oh, you know what? I could really just not watch
• 42:01
  this. I could just go to the next
• 42:02
  episode. And I every time I've said to
• 42:04
  myself, Nope, I've said I'm watching them all.
• 42:07
  I'm going to watch. This again, yes, yeah, yeah.
• 42:10
  But yeah, I mean, I, I definitely wanted to put it in
• 42:13
  here and discuss it because, yeah, with you, because for me,
• 42:16
  this is so imprinted on my brain.
• 42:18
  At the time they thought, wow, this is just full on out there
• 42:21
  and. I I think it's an episode of
• 42:22
  anyone who's ever watched The X-Files when you, when you just
• 42:25
  say the title home. Yeah, everybody knows the
• 42:28
  episode straight up and they all have a very similar reaction to
• 42:32
  it. Yeah.
• 42:32
  So like you say, for that alone that it's worthy of being on a
• 42:36
  list like this. Yeah, and, and it's one of the
• 42:38
  few episodes where when I was watching it with my friends, it
• 42:41
  got to the end. We turned to each other and just
• 42:43
  looked at each other for about 10 seconds in silence.
• 42:46
  And I think someone said, I think someone just said, bloody
• 42:48
  hell. Yes, yes, it's a beauty, there's
• 42:54
  no doubt about it. And you don't really understand
• 42:57
  exactly what it is until you watch it.
• 42:59
  And even then you'll get to the end thinking, well, I still
• 43:02
  don't know what's going on at the top, or you don't want to
• 43:06
  think about what's actually going on.
• 43:07
  No. No.
• 43:13
  So let's duck up to the final episode of Season 4.
• 43:18
  Now. Guess I'm mine.
• 43:20
  Oh, I think I pronounced that correct.
• 43:22
  I'm never really sure. Yep, this was written by Chris
• 43:26
  Carter and directed by RW Goodwin, another of the the many
• 43:31
  directors. So tell us all about our
• 43:33
  concluding episode of Season 4. Yeah.
• 43:36
  So I wanted, I definitely wanted at least 2 conspiracy concluding
• 43:41
  episodes because because once again, this concludes, as you
• 43:45
  said, Season 4. And I think any time that we
• 43:53
  have an episode where they've discovered what could be an
• 43:56
  alien body, to me, I'm always in, yes, OK, you know, this,
• 44:01
  this, this could be it. This is the time I actually find
• 44:04
  through evidence. That's that's right, experts.
• 44:07
  Are still alive. So always enjoyed those
• 44:10
  episodes. Then you know, within this,
• 44:13
  you've got in the background Scully with her cancer having
• 44:16
  spread. So you've got that added weight
• 44:18
  to the episode. You know, you've got you know,
• 44:20
  Molder is definitely full on believing this is an alien.
• 44:24
  So he's he's in at 100% and Scull is being told otherwise by
• 44:29
  the government agents. So she thinks Molder is being
• 44:32
  set up. He's in at 100%.
• 44:35
  So you've got that classic X-Files, A clash of opinions
• 44:40
  between Scully and Moldus That's really adding to the tension,
• 44:46
  the fact that everyone around the alien discovery is being
• 44:49
  killed. So as a viewer, I'm thinking
• 44:52
  this must be real. Yep.
• 44:54
  You know, why would why would the government be killing off
• 44:57
  people, You know, if it's just a fake alien?
• 45:00
  Yep. But then, you know, we see that
• 45:03
  there the hole in the core of the ice that that could have
• 45:07
  been that then start discussing or is it fake that could have
• 45:09
  been put planted there. So you know, you're going
• 45:13
  through this whole wave of is it true?
• 45:15
  Is it not true or different people's opinions?
• 45:20
  So yeah, I think for me, the tension just builds really well
• 45:24
  throughout the throughout the episode.
• 45:25
  And you never you never another great X-Files singer.
• 45:28
  Like I said, with the monster of the week, is it going to be a
• 45:30
  real monster? Is it going to be a fake?
• 45:32
  This is another thing of is it real?
• 45:34
  Is it not real? Yep, absolutely.
• 45:36
  You know, for me as an X-Files fan, I was always on the side
• 45:40
  of, no, it's the storyline is aliens are real.
• 45:44
  Like, you know, we'll get there eventually, of course.
• 45:49
  And then of course, you've got we think Agent Moulders died
• 45:52
  from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.
• 45:57
  So yeah, just just a great for me.
• 45:59
  Great episode, full attention once between Mulder and Scully,
• 46:05
  but the and also the whole time as of you're not not quite being
• 46:08
  sure how this is going to play out.
• 46:10
  Yep, Yeah, It's another great scene with Sculder and Mully,
• 46:14
  Sculder and Mully, Mully, Mully and Sculder.
• 46:17
  Sculder. Yeah, being on the opposite
• 46:20
  sides and having that conversation.
• 46:22
  You know, the argument about from from either side, coming
• 46:26
  from either side of Mulder, obviously expressly believing
• 46:30
  this is it. This is this is where we're
• 46:32
  finally going to have the evidence we need.
• 46:34
  And, and Scully saying, no, you are being set up.
• 46:37
  People are trying to try to take you down.
• 46:40
  And I just showed that relationship once again.
• 46:43
  And and as you said, at the same time, Scully's cancer prognosis
• 46:48
  is not good. And everyone being bumped off
• 46:53
  around them, as he said too, it's he's sort of like, oh,
• 46:56
  they're being bumped off to try and stop them from showing this
• 46:59
  truth. But wasn't quite exactly the way
• 47:02
  it worked out. But in watching the episode, all
• 47:06
  of that built the tension really beautifully to the conclusion of
• 47:11
  the episode, as you said, looks like boulders off himself.
• 47:14
  And then we're sitting around waiting for three or four months
• 47:18
  again for the to have this resolved again.
• 47:21
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 47:21
  And, and, and, and I think so you've got the the layers of
• 47:27
  conspiracy versus, well, you've got the layers of is it just a
• 47:32
  full on conspiracy and there's no aliens, is there aliens?
• 47:36
  And the conspiracy is of the government's hiding that.
• 47:39
  So that is a conspiracy. And I remember thinking all the
• 47:41
  way through The X-Files that if this just played out to be just
• 47:45
  a conspiracy and the aliens never existed.
• 47:49
  Yep. I think that would have
• 47:50
  disappointed me. Yes, absolutely.
• 47:52
  Yeah. But that this whole tapestry of
• 47:56
  yes, aliens are already here, the conspiracies, the
• 47:58
  government's hiding that Yep, that's that's what really makes
• 48:03
  makes these episodes. Yep, But just the and the
• 48:07
  constant confusion that's being offered in the writing as to
• 48:10
  what is actually the truth, even though the truth is out there,
• 48:12
  but you don't know what the actual truth still is.
• 48:14
  And this is what we're still searching for even here at the
• 48:17
  end of Season 4. We're still searching for what
• 48:20
  is the actual truth behind everything we've seen to this
• 48:23
  point. Yeah, which is a brilliant
• 48:26
  writing because they're always using a Scully or a cry check or
• 48:31
  a cigarette Smoking Man to plant those seeds in your mind of you
• 48:34
  think you're 10 minutes into the episode.
• 48:36
  Oh good, I've got it now I understand.
• 48:39
  Yep, this is it. 5 minutes later.
• 48:40
  Oh damn it. Yeah, you make a really good
• 48:43
  point. Damn.
• 48:44
  It Yeah. Yes.
• 48:52
  So we moved on from there and we've reached Season 5 and we're
• 48:56
  going to Episode 5, which is The Postmodern Prometheus, written
• 49:01
  and directed by Chris Carter. So tell us, tell us all about
• 49:05
  this one. Well, I mean, this is a favorite
• 49:07
  of mine and Katrina and my wife's actually we we just love
• 49:10
  this episode. And and I think I'd say that
• 49:15
  season 5 is probably the season where they do play around the
• 49:18
  most, I'd say with these sorts of playful episodes and
• 49:23
  interactions between modern and Scully.
• 49:25
  I've got 1 coming up next as well, which which plays right
• 49:28
  into right into that which I love.
• 49:30
  So postmodern Prometheus. I mean, right away, the black
• 49:34
  and white adds intrigue. So I think we have they haven't
• 49:37
  done that before where the whole episode is in black and white.
• 49:41
  Was it the whole episode that they stayed in black and white?
• 49:43
  Yeah, it was, yes. Yep, Yep.
• 49:45
  Interesting music as well. At the start, almost circus like
• 49:48
  as the blinds go down over the house and and Cher starts
• 49:53
  singing and it's just like, I remember sitting here going,
• 49:55
  what is this? Like this is, you know, a tent
• 49:59
  going over a double story. Looks like a haunted house, the
• 50:04
  circus music. Then Cher starts blurring out of
• 50:06
  the radio and thinking, my Lord, what is?
• 50:08
  You know, I was hooked right from the start with this
• 50:12
  episode. So you've got the great Mutato
• 50:16
  as he's dancing around the house, wonderfully shocked with
• 50:19
  the camera angles as I await for the Mutato to come in.
• 50:28
  You know, it's just I've forgotten the guy's name now.
• 50:30
  He was in a few Seinfeld episodes as well.
• 50:33
  The the the father or the doctor?
• 50:37
  Oh yes, yes, no, I can't. Yeah, he's he, he, he plays his,
• 50:40
  his role great as well. Yep.
• 50:44
  You know, you get the live introduction to his lab, the the
• 50:47
  the list of lab jars, you know, the the lightning and the
• 50:50
  Thunder and and I think that it goes right up to the doctor and
• 50:55
  that says, I figured he was saying the same.
• 50:57
  Why would you do this? And he goes because I can.
• 51:00
  And the lightning goes up on his face.
• 51:02
  And yeah, it's just a so wonderfully shot this episode,
• 51:08
  like brilliantly directed, well shot.
• 51:11
  You know, as Molder enters the local diner, you see all the
• 51:14
  faces looking at him like the locals.
• 51:16
  And they're all weird. Like they're just just
• 51:18
  wonderfully cast and and directed.
• 51:22
  They have all what weird smiles and weird looks on there.
• 51:24
  So you can tell straight away. This is a local time with the
• 51:28
  with the weirdos. You know, when when they
• 51:33
  confront Izzy for the tape recording.
• 51:36
  So they reckon he's got Mutato on tape.
• 51:39
  And just the way they poke their heads around the door, they're
• 51:41
  all on top of each other. Just brilliantly shot again, as
• 51:47
  I said before, the great Mutato dancing to share through the
• 51:50
  houses. It's just the quirky reporter.
• 51:57
  Yes, he's 62. Yeah.
• 52:00
  Oh, great. And then you know, you've got
• 52:03
  the all time classic, whether it's horror, you know, sixties,
• 52:08
  70s horror with, with everyone with their pitchforks, you know,
• 52:12
  all all lit up racing through the town to to kill.
• 52:14
  It's just like an old black and white film.
• 52:16
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 52:20
  And even and even the speech by Mutato at the end, you know,
• 52:28
  it's a nice speech. Yeah.
• 52:32
  Just everything about this episode I could rattle on and
• 52:35
  on. Great song to finish.
• 52:37
  Again, walking in Memphis. Yep.
• 52:40
  Great, great song choices here. And even the way that the end
• 52:46
  scene turns into a comic strip. Yes.
• 52:49
  Just yeah, I think everything about this episode was was right
• 52:53
  on point. Yes.
• 52:55
  You know, really nailed the brief.
• 52:57
  I really think that. So I know that like Chris Carter
• 53:00
  had never directed an episode until season 1 when he first
• 53:04
  directed one. I'm pretty sure David Nutter
• 53:07
  helped him out a lot with stuff from that, but he this is the
• 53:12
  one that I remember his direction most for and the fact
• 53:15
  he's been able to write the story as well.
• 53:17
  So he's crafted the story and then he's he's obviously decided
• 53:21
  this is the way I'm going to film it.
• 53:23
  And, and the black and white part and the it's, it's the nod,
• 53:28
  the stylistic nod to those 1930s films.
• 53:33
  And everything he does in that regard is just fabulous.
• 53:36
  And this is the one that I remember thinking, oh, Chris
• 53:39
  Carter, he can direct. This is really good.
• 53:42
  So I remember, I can't remember the the name of the doctor, but
• 53:45
  I know that in Seinfeld he played Jay Peterman.
• 53:49
  Yes. Can't.
• 53:50
  Can't. Remember his name, but I exact
• 53:52
  his name. But yeah, he was Jay Peterman.
• 53:54
  He was almost Jay Peterman in this as well.
• 53:56
  ANYWAYS, so, but yeah, this is a really interesting episode for
• 54:02
  everything you've said. It's it's it's so different
• 54:05
  stylistically and it's the small town sort of mentality in the in
• 54:09
  the diner and that stuff. Yeah, it's great.
• 54:11
  Yeah. Well, we're going to move on
• 54:18
  now. We've got another one from
• 54:21
  Season 5 that you were alluding to, which is Season 5, episode
• 54:26
  12. And this is bad blood, and it's
• 54:30
  written by, and I don't say this lightly, the great Vince
• 54:34
  Gilligan and directed by Cliff Bowl.
• 54:37
  So tell us all about. What a fun episode this is
• 54:44
  primarily because we get a retelling of the story through
• 54:49
  Mulder's eyes and then through Scully's eyes and and just the
• 54:52
  way they play off that in the writing is brilliant it.
• 54:55
  Is. But you know, we'll get to that
• 54:58
  starting at the start. It's just a terrific opening.
• 55:00
  So you got Molder chasing down the boy through the through the
• 55:03
  forest? Yep.
• 55:04
  You see Molder drivers state through his heart.
• 55:07
  Yep. And then Scully realizes the
• 55:09
  vampire teeth are fake. So you see Molder saying oh
• 55:13
  shit. Yes, it cuts off before he says
• 55:16
  it. Yeah, that's right, straight
• 55:18
  into the opening theme, which which is brilliant.
• 55:21
  So Scully starts with her story first.
• 55:25
  I just love the way they overact in in the office to begin with,
• 55:29
  you know, she claims that molder was being typically exuberant,
• 55:32
  you know, and so of course molder overacts the exuberance
• 55:37
  in the same, which is just brilliant.
• 55:40
  Then when they actually get to the small town and in steps
• 55:43
  Wilson, the local cop, which you know, Scully is smitten by and I
• 55:49
  just love the by play between between those two.
• 55:52
  Yep. And and Dana Molda can't believe
• 55:57
  that the sheriff actually called her Dana.
• 55:59
  You know, she's. He's like, there's no way you
• 56:01
  said that. And that's actually when you're
• 56:05
  first of all seized. You don't know why, but Molda
• 56:08
  brings up the shoelaces that become united.
• 56:12
  Yep. And that becomes a common,
• 56:13
  common theme throughout the episode.
• 56:14
  Yeah. Which I really like as well.
• 56:19
  And you know, as Scully is telling the story, she's very UN
• 56:22
  unenthusiastic about how she has to keep doing the autopsies.
• 56:26
  You know, she's just, she's just throwing away different body
• 56:29
  parts, you know, whatever the spleen, the liver, whatever.
• 56:35
  And also describing his last meal and finding it to be pizza
• 56:38
  and listening to the ingredients was making her hungry.
• 56:42
  She was actually cutting up the body.
• 56:48
  You know it's a local hotel room, so they have that $0.50 to
• 56:51
  make the bed shake. Correct.
• 56:53
  Classic, classic. Scully finds Molder drug and
• 56:59
  he's singing Shaft. And the whole episode is like
• 57:05
  this. It's just, like you say,
• 57:06
  beautifully written, terrifically acted all the way
• 57:09
  through. Yes, yes.
• 57:11
  And so I guess when Scully's retelling it, you know, Mold is
• 57:15
  over, over enthusiastic. The local sheriff has has the
• 57:19
  hots for Scully and Scully hates doing the autopsy.
• 57:23
  Then we get to Molder recounting the story.
• 57:25
  And of course, you know, Scully comes into the office whinging
• 57:28
  about everything and, you know, Molder trying to be very
• 57:32
  diplomatic. You know, I love the line of
• 57:36
  Molder saying, well, it's obvious what this is.
• 57:41
  No, sorry, Scully says, well, it's obvious it's not a vampire
• 57:44
  Molder. And Morris says, well, why not?
• 57:46
  And Scully says, well, because they don't exist.
• 57:49
  Exactly. That's all it is.
• 57:50
  Yeah, that's right. And oh man, this this next bit
• 57:54
  made me laugh out loud when the first time we get introduced to
• 57:57
  the local sheriff through Molders retelling.
• 58:00
  He's got buck teeth. Yeah, that's right.
• 58:02
  Yes. Pretty sure I haven't.
• 58:05
  Didn't watch this again before. I did.
• 58:06
  I'm pretty sure it's Luke Wilson who plays the sheriff in this
• 58:09
  episode. Yes, it is.
• 58:09
  And he was and he was so good in this.
• 58:11
  Role he was so then then you've got the I love Scully's faces.
• 58:18
  Mold is explaining the history of the vampires.
• 58:20
  She's just like bored shitless and yeah, then we just got the
• 58:26
  what happened after that yeah. They're trying to shoot out the
• 58:31
  tires of the motorhome as it was going around.
• 58:33
  That's right. Yep, Yep.
• 58:34
  And as Mold is retelling it, Scully's just whining again.
• 58:38
  You know why couldn't you shoot the tires and and when we when
• 58:44
  they go back again and we meet the sheriff, he doesn't have
• 58:46
  back teeth his time in in real life.
• 58:50
  And yeah, I I I don't know, I think very well written again
• 58:54
  love the by play between modern and Scully and it takes it takes
• 58:58
  to this time, I guess in the series different seasons of The
• 59:02
  X-Files. What makes this so good is that
• 59:05
  we know and love the characters by now.
• 59:08
  Yes. So by by playing on that we know
• 59:10
  that when Sculdry tells it and Modry tells it, they're playing
• 59:14
  on their character traits and and and over emphasising those.
• 59:18
  Yep, and and it's another episode very much like this.
• 59:22
  Jose Chung from Outer Space, Yes, which did similar things,
• 59:27
  similar ways, but and that was did exactly the same thing.
• 59:32
  It it over emphasized the characters and their their
• 59:36
  quirks and coming from different areas.
• 59:38
  And that was all really well done.
• 59:40
  As you say, the the listening to the two of them tell their
• 59:42
  stories differently in this episode, really well done.
• 59:46
  And Vince Gilligan, of course, has gone on to do amazing
• 59:49
  things. Breaking Bad is is one of the
• 59:51
  the shows that he created and his writing in The X-Files is
• 59:57
  incomparable. He, he's just so good.
• 1:00:00
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean it's another another
• 1:00:02
  one, though, is a bit like Quagmire where it just breaks up
• 1:00:08
  the the tension of the conspiracy shows which which you
• 1:00:11
  need you you couldn't have those every week, no.
• 1:00:14
  It's a lot harder and you and you come away from thinking, oh,
• 1:00:17
  that was really good. And then next week suddenly bang
• 1:00:19
  you back into, you know, with, you know, deep in alien guts and
• 1:00:24
  things. Like that so.
• 1:00:32
  Well, we can move on now to Season 6, Episode 3, and this is
• 1:00:39
  Triangle, and this is another one that is written and directed
• 1:00:43
  by Chris Carter. And here's another really
• 1:00:46
  interesting episode. Yeah.
• 1:00:48
  So when you look at you were talking before about when Chris
• 1:00:52
  Carter directed the postmodern Prometheus and you said OK, Yep,
• 1:00:57
  he can direct. To me, this is another example
• 1:00:59
  of of brilliant directing through that this whole episode,
• 1:01:05
  particularly when they get to the juxtaposition of different
• 1:01:09
  of people on the boat in different time frames.
• 1:01:11
  Yes, yeah, and, and, and, and the music playing like the old,
• 1:01:15
  was it 20s or 30s music? Yes.
• 1:01:18
  Playing in the background, which is, yeah, brilliant writing and
• 1:01:20
  directing again. So basically Mulder's found
• 1:01:23
  floating in the ocean and he's picked up by the s s Queen Anne,
• 1:01:27
  but way back in time, like 19. Was it the First World War?
• 1:01:32
  Yeah, 1939, I think it's the start of the second.
• 1:01:35
  World War, right? Yeah, OK.
• 1:01:36
  And it's in the Bermuda Triangle.
• 1:01:38
  Yes. So, and he, he, he's driven his
• 1:01:42
  own boat out there to try and find this ship that that
• 1:01:45
  disappeared way back then and he's found it so.
• 1:01:52
  And I just love how Moldo walks into the music room and finds
• 1:01:55
  Scully, but she's not Scully, all right?
• 1:01:57
  She's, she's, Yep, she's the Scully from back then.
• 1:02:00
  Or a different character. Yep.
• 1:02:03
  And then so many of the characters suddenly appear in
• 1:02:07
  in, in different type of roles that you'll expect.
• 1:02:10
  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so, so I really like that
• 1:02:13
  idea of, OK, he's found a boat in the Bermuda Triangle back in
• 1:02:17
  time, but let's make those characters played by the actors
• 1:02:22
  that we currently have. Yes, that's.
• 1:02:24
  So that really adds to it. That was a really good choice.
• 1:02:27
  I thought, You know, cigarette Smoking Man makes an appearance
• 1:02:32
  as a German on the bridge. But we get the lone gunman, of
• 1:02:39
  course. Yes, yes, Scully budges in on
• 1:02:46
  director Kirsch and the Cigarette smoking Man is there,
• 1:02:49
  so you get that as well. So even though this is I don't
• 1:02:54
  know what to call this episode, it's not monster of the week.
• 1:02:56
  It's it's. No.
• 1:02:58
  It's. I mean, they, they, they
• 1:03:03
  qualified as that, but it's, it's not, it's no, as you say,
• 1:03:07
  it's, it's almost mythical rather, rather than monster of
• 1:03:12
  the week. It's yeah.
• 1:03:13
  And we've got obviously we've got the, the legend of the
• 1:03:16
  Bermuda Triangle. And so another thing that has
• 1:03:20
  been around for, you know, 100 years, people have spoken about
• 1:03:22
  the Bermuda Triangle. And so we've now done an episode
• 1:03:26
  that involves Molder going into the Bermuda Triangle and what
• 1:03:29
  could possibly happen in there so.
• 1:03:31
  Correct. And then you've got the whole,
• 1:03:33
  the whole other story of like Thor's hammer being on the ship.
• 1:03:36
  That's. Right.
• 1:03:40
  I believe this is the only X-Files episode where the Nazis
• 1:03:43
  are involved. Yeah, I can't.
• 1:03:45
  I can't think of any others, probably with good reason.
• 1:03:49
  True. So I mean, for me this was an
• 1:03:55
  excellent episode leading up to the final 10 minutes.
• 1:03:59
  But for me, that final 10 minutes of when the engine shuts
• 1:04:02
  down and the music starts up, Yep.
• 1:04:05
  The 1930s style music and the fights break out.
• 1:04:09
  Yep. And this just leads to, for me,
• 1:04:11
  to one of my favourite all time 10 minutes of The X-Files with
• 1:04:15
  the different camera angles, the different timelines.
• 1:04:19
  Scully passes another Scully in the hallway and they have that
• 1:04:22
  little double take of hang on, what did I just feel?
• 1:04:27
  I think it's just brilliant. Yeah, I could rewatch this
• 1:04:30
  episode many times. And enjoy it.
• 1:04:33
  And again, excellently written and then directed around his own
• 1:04:38
  writing and knowing exactly what he wanted to do and how he
• 1:04:42
  wanted to look and make that happen.
• 1:04:45
  Yeah. And I think I'm sure that Carter
• 1:04:48
  at some stage that saw because of course he was just.
• 1:04:50
  He was the showrunner, he was the creator.
• 1:04:53
  And he must have gotten to the point where he, I'm sure,
• 1:04:56
  actually I read somewhere that he said at some point he said,
• 1:04:59
  well, I got to the point where I was writing the episodes.
• 1:05:01
  But what I really want to do is be able to write the episodes
• 1:05:04
  and then create the episode the way I wanted it, rather than
• 1:05:07
  someone else having their vision of what I've written.
• 1:05:11
  And those two last episodes you've spoken of, he did that
• 1:05:15
  absolutely fantastically. Yeah.
• 1:05:17
  Yep, definitely. Well that leaves US1 to go and
• 1:05:27
  most most impressively I think you have chosen one from season
• 1:05:32
  10, which I think is terrific. And it was, it was the episode
• 1:05:39
  when I first watched season 10 when it first came out, I
• 1:05:41
  thought thank goodness it's not just going to be 6 episodes of 1
• 1:05:47
  mythology story. We gave the way The X-Files
• 1:05:50
  always had, and we had a brilliant writer and we had two
• 1:05:56
  brilliant guest stars. And it's episode 3, which is
• 1:06:00
  Mulder and Scully meet the war monster.
• 1:06:03
  Yes. And the title itself, Yeah.
• 1:06:06
  It would start thinking, oh, really?
• 1:06:08
  Is that what it's going to be? But it's not.
• 1:06:10
  It is such a brilliant episode, written and directed by Darren
• 1:06:13
  Morgan. And I will allow you to inform
• 1:06:17
  us all about this wonderful episode.
• 1:06:19
  Yeah, so, I mean, by this stage, I'd already known Reece Darby
• 1:06:27
  from Flight of the Conchords, which I absolutely loved.
• 1:06:30
  And I loved his stand. I loved his stand up as well.
• 1:06:33
  So as soon as I saw that he was in an episode, I thought, this
• 1:06:36
  this is going to be good. And and to be fair, I'd already
• 1:06:41
  started enjoying this series. I was very skeptical.
• 1:06:46
  Look, to be honest with you, I can't remember if these were on
• 1:06:49
  TV at the time they. They definitely well actually I
• 1:06:53
  think I might have seen it on streaming.
• 1:06:56
  I don't know that I saw it on channel 10.
• 1:06:58
  I'm pretty sure I saw it on on Foxtel or something like that
• 1:07:01
  right. So that was the least.
• 1:07:02
  Right, so I was very much in the camp of you know what, X-Files
• 1:07:05
  is done. I don't need a new series where
• 1:07:08
  they're older. Yeah, this ain't gonna work.
• 1:07:10
  But I must admit, like I just series 10 and 11, for me, it was
• 1:07:15
  just like a massive nostalgia trip back in time and and and
• 1:07:19
  well written, well directed again.
• 1:07:21
  I really enjoyed the the 10:00 and 11:00, to be honest.
• 1:07:24
  Yes. But yeah, once I heard that
• 1:07:27
  Reese Darby was in this, I thought, Yep, this, this is
• 1:07:29
  going to be a lot of fun. And it was just, and, and I
• 1:07:33
  really love the way that Scully and Mulder as actors, Duchovny
• 1:07:38
  and Anderson, I loved how they interacted in this latest
• 1:07:42
  series. Like it was, it actually felt
• 1:07:44
  like really genuine and and relaxed and yeah, really well
• 1:07:49
  acted. I thought, I think you're right.
• 1:07:51
  I think they were so pleased to come back and revisit these
• 1:07:55
  characters and to be able to do it with.
• 1:07:58
  We've got the best writers and certainly in season 10 we had
• 1:08:02
  the best writers and we had the best directors.
• 1:08:05
  And yeah, I think you're right. It was a nostalgia thing for
• 1:08:08
  them as well. And, and the way this series 10
• 1:08:11
  was written and put together, it was basically a nostalgia trip
• 1:08:14
  for everyone. We we got the the alien part,
• 1:08:18
  but we also got these couple of episodes that were monster of
• 1:08:20
  the week episodes. Yeah, yeah.
• 1:08:23
  And I think the fact that was only, sorry, there was only like
• 1:08:25
  6 episodes as well. Like it wasn't 24 episodes.
• 1:08:29
  It was just going to be 6 episodes.
• 1:08:31
  And here we go. I think that's what helped it to
• 1:08:35
  be as good as it actually ended up being.
• 1:08:38
  Yes, no, definitely, definitely agree.
• 1:08:42
  So I think what really makes this episode the the, the twist,
• 1:08:46
  I guess in this episode is the fact that you think it's a human
• 1:08:51
  accidentally or or against their will turning into a monster, but
• 1:08:54
  it's actually the other way around.
• 1:08:57
  It's. That is a great review when that
• 1:09:00
  comes out. Oh yeah.
• 1:09:01
  And you just like, who thinks of this?
• 1:09:04
  Well, Darren, Darren Morgan thinks of this.
• 1:09:06
  That's who does. I mean, but yeah, Reese Darby
• 1:09:10
  was brilliant for the whole thing.
• 1:09:13
  Perfectly cast for that role. Yes, definitely.
• 1:09:17
  I love how Molder's ringtone is The X-Files theme music episode.
• 1:09:23
  I've forgotten that. That was terrific.
• 1:09:27
  I thought Kumail Nanjiani was great as the guy actually ended
• 1:09:31
  up committing the murder that they were investigating.
• 1:09:34
  Yeah, such a terrific. And again, Darren Morgan, the
• 1:09:39
  humor that's infused into it, you get someone like in like
• 1:09:42
  Bruce Derby, who basically, you know, plays it as Bruce Derby,
• 1:09:46
  who cannot be anything but hilarious when if he wants to be
• 1:09:49
  serious. And again, as you said, the
• 1:09:54
  easy, casual interaction between Molder and Scully, it was just
• 1:09:59
  terrific. Yeah, yeah.
• 1:10:02
  You know, the bits where Molder's trying to use his
• 1:10:04
  camera app on his phone and he can't get it to work.
• 1:10:09
  You know, I think, I think Molder then says to Scully at
• 1:10:12
  some point about this theory, you know, so you're agreeing
• 1:10:14
  with me. And Scully's like, no, you're
• 1:10:15
  batshit crazy. Yeah.
• 1:10:17
  You know, if you know they're at the stage of their career and
• 1:10:20
  their lives, that they've known each other for so long, she'll
• 1:10:22
  just come out and say no, You're just batshit, man.
• 1:10:25
  Correct. That's exactly right.
• 1:10:26
  Yeah, no, it was, it was just such a great episode.
• 1:10:29
  But because the 1st 2 episodes, and I haven't watched this for a
• 1:10:33
  few years, so I'm pretty sure their first two episodes are the
• 1:10:35
  alien mythology episodes. And then we went into this one
• 1:10:38
  after it and it was such, it was such a refreshing thing to watch
• 1:10:43
  that that's that. Like I said that that's what
• 1:10:46
  made me love this series even more.
• 1:10:48
  The fact that they were able to go and do this as well.
• 1:10:51
  It was great. Definitely.
• 1:10:52
  So, so that to have a yeah, like you say, to have a two series
• 1:10:57
  tacked on after all these years, but to still have those fun
• 1:11:01
  episodes. But it was great, yeah.
• 1:11:04
  It was. So there we go.
• 1:11:10
  That's the team. So thank you very much for
• 1:11:15
  coming on Michael. We have have been trying to do
• 1:11:17
  this for probably two or three months and and it's been
• 1:11:20
  basically my ability to not be here has has has stopped that
• 1:11:25
  occurring. Now, well, well, thank you Bill,
• 1:11:28
  because talking X-Files, I could probably talk another 10
• 1:11:30
  episodes straight up and still enjoy it.
• 1:11:33
  I just love it. So thank you.
• 1:11:35
  Well, that's good, because you may well get called on again at
• 1:11:37
  some stage and see, because there's anyone who wants to talk
• 1:11:41
  about The X-Files. It's all as you say, it's just
• 1:11:43
  fun to do. And X-Files fans seem to be far
• 1:11:48
  and wide and spread, so sometimes it's difficult to find
• 1:11:51
  someone to just sit down and talk about it with.
• 1:11:53
  Yeah, I think I don't know whether it's also because, well,
• 1:11:57
  there were plenty of, there were plenty of us at the time.
• 1:11:59
  I mean, it was a huge show. It was and lots of people
• 1:12:03
  watched it. But yeah, I don't know whether
• 1:12:05
  it's because it's hasn't turned up on different streaming
• 1:12:10
  services, although it is on Disney, I think.
• 1:12:14
  But yeah, it's a show that's sort of been lost in time a bit,
• 1:12:17
  I think. Yeah, you don't get too many
• 1:12:19
  people talking about it. Well, yeah, I think that's The
• 1:12:22
  thing is that people don't get on board unless they know
• 1:12:24
  someone. Like, I mean, I know my daughter
• 1:12:27
  Jessica started watching it because I said you really should
• 1:12:29
  start watching this. And then she did, and she went
• 1:12:31
  nuts. And then she watched it all.
• 1:12:32
  And yeah. And then she's now got her
• 1:12:35
  partner and they're just about all the way through again.
• 1:12:37
  So right, she's having a ball. So I guess.
• 1:12:39
  And you've also got to be quirky and a little bit weird to
• 1:12:42
  actually to watch it, so. True, Maybe there's too many
• 1:12:46
  real life conspiracies these days.
• 1:12:48
  Well, there are enough out there at the moment, aren't there?
• 1:12:51
  They? You can't write reality.
• 1:12:53
  But Michael, you also are a podcaster of note, and I'd like
• 1:12:58
  you now to let all of my 5 listeners know exactly where
• 1:13:03
  they can find you and what you've been doing in the podcast
• 1:13:06
  world recently. Thank you, Bill.
• 1:13:08
  Yes, I currently run a podcast with Ian Winnick, who's based in
• 1:13:12
  Cologne, Germany. And we have recently started a
• 1:13:15
  Simpsons podcast called Eat the Pudding.
• 1:13:19
  So in fact, once I hop off this call, I shall be releasing our
• 1:13:23
  fourth episode of that podcast. And, and we're loving that it's
• 1:13:28
  it's just so much fun delving back through the episodes and
• 1:13:32
  the characters and the favorite quotes and lines.
• 1:13:35
  And yes, that's a lot of fun because in fact, we've just
• 1:13:38
  started that because we just finished a 18 month run of a
• 1:13:43
  black at a podcast, which is called Lord of that is Black.
• 1:13:47
  So that has finished up, but that was great fun as well.
• 1:13:51
  Probably the most fun actually is meeting guys like yourself
• 1:13:54
  that have the similar interests that you can talk about it,
• 1:13:58
  enjoy looking back at the fun moments.
• 1:14:01
  So yeah, that's that's where we ended up with Lord of that is
• 1:14:03
  Black at around Christmas time last year.
• 1:14:06
  And we've just started our Eat the Pudding Simpsons podcast and
• 1:14:09
  and having a ball. Yeah, well, I can guarantee
• 1:14:12
  anyone who out there who enjoys Black Atta should listen to that
• 1:14:15
  podcast. It's still out there, and it's
• 1:14:17
  well worth revisiting. And the great thing I love about
• 1:14:20
  The Simpsons podcast is that we're not going beyond whatever
• 1:14:24
  series it is that you've said. We go sticking with the classic
• 1:14:26
  series. Yes, because all of us got too
• 1:14:28
  old and none of us watched anything past about.
• 1:14:31
  I'm going to say Series 14 was about as far as I really.
• 1:14:34
  Got yeah, I I think Ian and I are kind of around that 1212
• 1:14:38
  seasons, yeah. Yeah, I remember as soon as I
• 1:14:41
  had kids, that was sort of the end of it and everything sort of
• 1:14:44
  stops. So that's been, yeah, 20
• 1:14:46
  something years. So that's, there's a lot of
• 1:14:48
  Simpsons episodes out there I haven't watched, but I still
• 1:14:51
  remember the ones that you guys reference every week on your
• 1:14:54
  podcast. I still know every word, every
• 1:14:57
  new ones, every character. It's, it's just so easy.
• 1:15:00
  So I, it is well worth doing. So all of my lovely 5 people who
• 1:15:05
  listen to this, I hope you'll go out and check out the pudding.
• 1:15:08
  It's well worth your time. Thank you.
• 1:15:11
  And yes, thanks Michael for being here today.
• 1:15:13
  And yes, get out there and watch some more X-Files.
• 1:15:17
  Yep. Thanks, Bill.
• 1:15:18
  Absolute pleasure. So thank you everyone who has
• 1:15:22
  tuned in today. I hope you've enjoyed our little
• 1:15:24
  conversation today that Michael brought up a lot of good points
• 1:15:27
  and raised a lot of really interesting episodes, many of
• 1:15:31
  which, of course, we haven't quite got to on this podcast
• 1:15:33
  yet, but we will in the future. And our next episode will be,
• 1:15:38
  which will be out in two weeks after this.
• 1:15:40
  We will be starting season 3 and we'll be finding out what
• 1:15:44
  exactly happened at the end of Anasazi and how it went from
• 1:15:48
  there. And it's probably been the same
• 1:15:50
  amount of time between when I did that episode to when I'm
• 1:15:54
  actually going to get to the next one.
• 1:15:57
  So hopefully everyone, you'll be in tune for that.
• 1:16:00
  And as I said on last week's episode, I am back on board and
• 1:16:05
  looking at a fortnightly release date for each episode, so
• 1:16:09
  hopefully you're all aboard for that.
• 1:16:11
  So as always, thank you everyone for tuning in.
• 1:16:13
  And until next time, remember that the truth is out there.