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Customer Reviews of The X-Files - The Complete Seventh Season (Slim Set)

A bittersweet year in which the greatest TV duo ever spend their last season together
The new slimpack releases of Seasons 7 through 9-which are essentially the original sets with the extras disc removed as well as many other special features-will complete the entire rerelease of all the X-FILES in affordable editions. I've been disappointed to find many of the special features missing in the first six volumes, but given that I couldn't afford the original editions, I'm all in all delighted to finally own my own copies, instead of relying on video stores and Netflix. <
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>Season Seven is, on the one hand, unquestionably the weakest of the first seven that featured David Duchovny fulltime, and perhaps even weaker than Season Eight when Duchovny was only a part time member of the cast. On the other hand, the series still had more outstanding episodes than the vast majority of shows in TV history. So, my five-star rating reflects the show compared with other series, not with other seasons in its own run. In my opinion, the only season weaker than this one is the unfortunate Season Nine, with the near complete loss of David Duchovny and the weak overall story line. <
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>Why did Season Seven fail to measure up to other X-Files seasons? First, there was the loss of the overall alien colonization story line. The season starts with a carry over of the final episode of Season Six, that seems to be reasserting an alien arc, but in fact this is a false promise, and the story told in that brief arc more or less disappears from the show. The problem, in fact, the show had in its final three seasons was the lack of a consistent and compelling story arc. There are efforts at story arcs, but the "super soldiers" arc that becomes full blown in Season Nine was riffled with inconsistencies, and was definitely not compelling. Still, the loss of Mulder in Season Eight provided a focus for that Season, while Season Nine at least had the opportunity of exploring the new partnership of Doggett and Reyes. Season Seven essentially had memories of the six seasons that preceded it. <
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>Nonetheless, Season Seven still contained many absolutely outstanding individual episodes. From beginning to end of the series, the writers never lost the ability to concoct a killer tale to be told in 43 minutes. "X-Cops" is a classic among the Mulder-Scully parody episodes, with the real-life production crew of the show COPS capturing the duo on videotape as an X-File collides with a police investigation supposedly being covered for the show. Typically, Scully spends most of the episode glaring disdainfully at the cameramen, while Mulder delightfully welcomes their presence. The dramatic highlight might be the heart-rending two-parter of "Sein und Zeit" (with apologies to Martin Heidegger) and "Closure," which features one of the best single-episode guest appearances ever by Anthony Heald (a role so outstanding that a reprisal of the role would have seem necessary, but which sadly never occurred) as a man who claims he has visions of departed children. Images from those episodes are among some of the most haunting in the series of the show. "Millennium" features what is technically Mulder and Scully's first kiss (with Mulder commenting afterwards, technically commenting on the Y2K predictions of disaster, "See, the world didn't end"). The intensely romantic non-romance between Mulder and Scully becomes such a joke that in "Fight Club" Mulder mentions a doppelganger pair of agents who had, believe it or not, been together for seven years but had not had a romantic relationship. "En Ami" is a marvelous swan song for the Cigarette Smoking Man, as he persuades Scully to help him in a caper (he would reappear later in the season to die, but would thereafter tragically be missing from the show, another problem the show had in its final two seasons). "all things" (lower cap) is my personal favorite of the season, an absolutely astonishing tour de force by Gillian Anderson that reveals depths of talent in a host of directions that no one could have anticipated. She wrote, directed, and acted in the episode (with Mulder largely absent) as Scully unexpectedly reencounters a former professor/mentor, a man who was married at the time she and he had what was evidently a torrid love affair, revealing more about Scully's past than we had ever learned before. The show is outstanding on multiple levels, including visually and narratively (as well as musically, helped not merely by Mark Snow's usually brilliant score but by contributions by Moby). It also features the best teaser in the history of the show, with Scully at the beginning dressing in what turns out to be Mulder's bathroom, and leaving the apartment with a naked Mulder in his bed. The episode is so outstanding the viewer is only left to wonder why Gillian Anderson wrote and directed only this one. Probably my favorite Scully episode since the one where she learned that she had, inexplicably, a genetic daughter. <
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>There were also some disappointing moments. "Hollywood A.D." simultaneously was one of the funniest and worse episodes, a weak X-file with a funny backstory of a Hollywood producer (a friend of Skinner) following Mulder and Scully in order to gather background for a Hollywood film. Though much in the episode is wooden, there are some precious moments, such as the producer talking in the phone to studio execs: "No, its an optical illusion. She is actually quite tall" (obviously referring to Scully--I have always been extremely sceptical about the 5'3 or 5'2 that is often given as Gillian Anderson's height). Also wonderful is the exquisite pairing the wildly improbable Gary Shandling as Fox Mulder with Tea Leoni (in real life Mrs. David Duchovny) as Scully. Anyone who saw Gary Shandling's THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW knows that David Duchovny was one of "Larry Sanders's" more frequent guests, with many jokes about Duchovny having a cursh on Sanders, so that Shandling's playing Mulder is a fairly complex in-joke. Another perfect moment in the episode is Leoni asking Scully to show her how she is able to run in heels. We then see while Shandling and Mulder talk in the foreground, Scully in the distant background sprinting from one side of the stage to the other while Leoni looks on. <
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>But for me the biggest disappointment is the final episode, "Requiem," which is more or less Mulder's exit from the show. Although he would reappear in a few episodes in the final two seasons, this episode ends the seven-season partnership between Mulder and Scully. The episode, despite some fine moments, just didn't seem to have the "gravitas" that such a key episode would seem to require. It did nicely take place in the same town in Oregon that saw Mulder and Scully have their first adventure together in Season One, but all in all it was not one of the more remarkable episodes. <
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>In the end, the ending of the greatest partnership in TV history is what creates an indescribable sadness at the end of the season. There would be two final seasons, with many great new episodes, but if you had to point to the single thing that made THE X-FILES such an amazing phenomena, it was--along with the great writing--the exquisite pairing of Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny as Mulder and Scully. Many of us remain hopeful that there will be a future movie. We know that the key figures have discussed it and have all expressed a willingness. But so far we have had no definite indications that Mulder and Scully will get together again. Hopefully the truth is out there.

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A mixed season with some gems and some duds
The 7th season of "The X-Files" found the stand alone episodes as the stand out episodes as well. The best episodes did what the series always did best. "Hungry" told the story of a creature that sucks out brains to live and regrets every minute of it. It's a compelling episode because for the first time we see the point of view of the monster. "The Goldberg Variation" about a guy with all the luck in the world and disaster for anyone who messes with him. "X-Cops" plays as a witty parody of the Fox TV show "Cops". Shot in the same style as "Cops" it perfectly captures both the absurdity and sense of danger in that show. Although "Hollywood AD" written and directed by David Duchovny has its moments it just doesn't gel for me personally but does have fine performances. Garry Shandling and Mrs. Duchovny Tea Leoni are cast as Mulder and Scully in a movie version of one of their cases. It's a clever parody of why so many Hollywood projects that look so promising go bad. <
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>"The Sixth Extinction" and "Amor Fati" have a compelling stories at their core but are overcome by some hamfisted writing by Chris Carter. Still, the show is visually impressive and features some strong performances. In this particular episode Scully goes to an excavation site along the African coast to uncover the meaning of strange markings on an alien spaceshift buried under the beach in order to save Mulder. He has been infected by an alien virus triggered by the rubbings from the craft's exterior that is burning out his brain by increasing synaptic activity at breathtaking speed. <
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>"Sein Und Zeit" and "Closure" are more successful episodes. The first episode deals with the disappearence of a girl with an odd note left behind apparently by her own mother. In "Closure" Mulder discovers what truly happened to his sister after all his years of searching. The latter episode is moving particularly if you've followed the series from the first episode. In "En Ami" the Cigarette Smoking Man returns seeking Scully's help; he claims to be dying and he also claims that he and Scully can save the lives of others that, like Scully, have been abducted and returned. To this he needs her help and she must trust him. Actress Gillian Anderson writes and directs the marvelous "All Things". The season closes the way the show began with a follow up to an episode from the first season involving abducted teenagers. The aftermath of these events set up another story arc involving another nasty alien plot. <
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>This set comes with commentary tracks on "First Person Shooter by Chris Carter, Gillian Anderson on "All Things" and writer Vince Gilligan on "Je Sohaite". A couple of episodes have deleted scenes that you can integrate into the episode by going to the menu and activating it. There are also a number of international language clips as well but the last disc that featured the special effects featurettes and documentary are NOT included here as part of this set. Image and sound qualtiy are extremely good as they feature the original transfers done for the previous set.