The X Files
With the original conspiracy plot arc fallen into a muddle of loose ends no-one could possibly fathom, once-hungry lead actors on the verge of big screen careers and making demands for more time off or shots at writing and directing, and the initial wish list of monsters-of-the-week long exhausted, it's a miracle The X Files is still making its airdates, let alone managing something pretty good every other show and something outstanding at least once every four episodes. Season seven opens with a dreary two-parter ("Sixth Extinction" and "Amor Fati") and winds up with the traditional incomprehensible cliffhanger ("Requiem"), but along the way includes a clutch of shows that may not match the originality of earlier seasons but still effortlessly equal any other fantasy-horror-sf on American television.
Highlights in this clutch: "Hungry", a brain-eating mutant story told from the point of view of a monster who tries to control his appetite by going to eating disorder self-help groups; "The Goldberg Variation", a crime comedy about a weaselly little man who has the gift of incredible good luck, which means Wile E Coyote-style doom for anyone who crosses him; "The Amazing Maleeni", guest-starring Ricky Jay in a rare non-fantastic crime story about a feud between stage magicians that turns out to be a cover for a heist; "X-Cops", a brilliant skit on the US TV docusoap Cops with Mulder and Scully caught on camera as they track an apparent werewolf in Los Angeles (season-best acting from David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson); "Theef", a complex revenge drama with gaunt Billy Drago as a hillbilly medicine man stalking a slick doctor; "Brand X", a horror comic tale of corruption in the tobacco industry; "Hollywood AD" (written and directed by Duchovny), in which Tea Leoni and Garry Shandling are cast as Scully and Mulder in a crass movie version of a real-life X file; and "Je Souhaite", a deadpan comedy about a wry, cynical genie at the mercy of trailer trash masters who haven't an idea what to wish for.
Among the disasters are: "Fight Club", a grossly laboured comedy; "All Things", Gillian Anderson's riotously pretentious religious-themed writing-directing debut; "En Ami", written and understood by William B Davis, the cigarette-smoking villain; and the very silly "First Person Shooter", the lamest killer video-game plot imaginable courtesy of distinguished guest writer William Gibson. Still essential, despite the occasional pits, but yet again you go away thinking that the next season had better come up with some answers. --Kim Newman
Scully and a colleague try to decipher the symbols on the spaceship beached in Africa before their rival can take over the dig, but the ship starts recreating the Plagues of Egypt. Skinner and Kritschgau test Mulder's telepathic ability.
Scully searches for Mulder after the Cigarette Smoking Man takes him from the hospital for unknown purposes. An unconscious Mulder dreams of a better life away from his mission and the X-Files. But perhaps he is being led astray.
Rob Roberts has an addiction to human brains. As he tries to control this overpowering hunger and turn his life around, Mulder and Scully try to find out who the brain-eating monster is.
In this backdoor series finale to Millennium (1996), Mulder and Scully ask Frank Black to help them prevent a zombie apocalypse orchestrated by the rogue members of the now disbanded Millennium Group on the very eve of the new millennium.
A high school boy is accused of the violent murder of a sheriff's deputy. Mulder believes he is innocent. The agents find that someone with super-human speed may be the culprit.
A man is tossed off the top of a 29 story building by gangsters. Amazingly, he gets up and walks away unscathed. Mulder and Scully investigate when Mulder suspects this man may have paranormal abilities. The man in question may just be the luckiest man on Earth.
Five years have passed since Scully escaped from Donnie Pfaster, an obsessed death fetishist. When Reverend Orison helps the madman escape from prison he immediately turns to the one that got away...Scully.
Mulder and Scully investigate the apparent murder of a magician who was decapitated just minutes after he was able to perform the trick of turning his head around 360 degrees. The agents are perplexed when Scully discovers during the autopsy that the deceased died well before he performed his final trick.
A man is found dead in his locked car, killed from over a hundred snake bites. However, no evidence of snakes being present is found. The man was a former member of a religious cult that believes in snake handling. Mulder and Scully believe that this snake death was no accident.
The strange disappearance of a little girl leads Mulder to make connections with previous unexplained cases of missing children. Scully believes he is becoming obsessed with the case by associating it with the abduction of his sister.
With help from a police psychic, Mulder continues to search for clues about Samantha's abduction and ultimately finds the long sought after answers concerning her fate.
The investigation of a neighborhood monster isn't too weird for the crew of Cops (1989) to follow around Mulder and Scully.
A murder inside the high-tech world of a virtual reality game leads Scully to battle a deadly digital character in order to save Mulder's life.
Voodoo appears to be involved in the murder of a prominent doctor's father-in-law. Mulder and Scully work to stop the killer who uses hex-craft to exact his revenge on the doctor's family.
Agent Scully lets sympathy cloud her better judgment when she accompanies the Cigarette Smoking Man on a road trip and wonders if he's as evil as she always thought.
Mulder and Scully are on a stakeout of a female serial-killer of prostitutes. Mulder gets called away from the stakeout by Skinner to investigate the disappearance of federal judge's daughter. The strange appearance of a raven shortly before she went missing leads Mulder to believe this case may have paranormal significance.
Scully is finishing up the autopsy of a person at a hospital. A file mix-up involving the autopsy folder and another patient's x-ray leads Scully to discover a former lover of hers has been admitted at the hospital. Meeting with him again causes Scully to re-examine the decisions she has made in her life, leading to her where she is to today.
A potential witness in a high-profile tobacco case under Skinner's supervision is found dead in his bathroom from mysterious circumstances. Skinner asks Mulder and Scully to assist him in the investigation. They find a man who smokes a unique kind of cigarettes, the second-hand smoke of which has deadly results for the inhaler.
A screenwriter tags along with Mulder and Scully as they investigate a church bombing. The case becomes the plot of a Hollywood movie, but the agents find their case, and themselves, distorted on the big screen.
Two strikingly similar women, who do not know one another, cause people to erupt into violence upon each other, whenever these two women come in contact. Mulder and Scully set out to solve the mystery of this unexplained violence involving the two women.
Two brothers have a less than helpful genie who grants their wishes with disastrous consequences. Mulder comes into possession of the same genie, and his wishes garner similar results.
Seven years after their first case, Mulder and Scully return to Bellefleur, Oregon to see Billy Miles and investigate a new series of abductions in the local forest, risking their partnership and lives.
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David Duchovny | Fox Mulder |
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Gillian Anderson | Dana Scully |
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Mitch Pileggi | Walter Skinner |
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William B. Davis | Smoking Man |
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Rob Van Dam | Burt's Opponent |
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Sandy E. Scott | Detective |
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Bruce Harwood | John Fitzgerald Byers |
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Rebecca Toolan | Teena Mulder |
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Dean Haglund | Richard 'Ringo' Langly |
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Tom Braidwood | Melvin Frohike |
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Arlene Warren | Skinner's Assistant |
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Steve Kiziak | Man Who Looks Like Mulder |
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Jack McGee | Bob Danfous |
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David Alan Grier | Cinema Audience |
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John Finn | Michael Kritschgau |
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Téa Leoni | Dana Scully |
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Michael Shamus Wiles | Black-Haired Man |
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Eddie Kaye Thomas | Gary |
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Mimi Rogers | Diana Fowley |
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Nicholas Lea | Alex Krycek |
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Kathy Griffin | Betty Templeton |
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Bill Dow | Chuck Burks |
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Nicki Lynn Aycox | Chastity Raines |
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Art Evans | Argyle Saperstein |
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Randall 'Tex' Cobb | Bert Zupanic |
| Edition | Season 7 |
|---|---|
| Packaging | Custom Case |
| Nr Discs | 6 |
| Screen Ratios | Widescreen (1.78:1) |
| Audio Tracks | Dolby Digital Surround [Spanish] Dolby Digital Surround [French] Dolby Digital Surround [English] Commentary [English] |
| Subtitles | English | English (Closed Captioned) | French | Spanish |
| Distributor | 20th Century Fox |
| Layers | Single side, Dual layer |
| Edition Release Date | 2003 |
| Regions | Region 2 |