ICE: MULDER AND SCULLY ARE SENT TO INVESTIGATE WHEN A TEAM OF GEOPHYSICISTS STATIONED AT A REMOTE ALASKAN OUTPOST IS KILLED BY A PARASITIC ALIEN LIFE FORM. What makes this this the best XF ever?? Well, where to begin? The team of five people trapped in an artic shelter, a deadly, unknown virii that inhabits the human body unseen, yes I know this sounds a lot like the Thing, but so what? Great movie, great episode. The suspense just builds to climactic levels and will have you on the edge of your seat, culminating in a fantastic scene in which Mulder and Scully have their guns pointed at each other with Mulder yelling, "Get that gun off of me Scully!!" If all this doesn't whet your appetite and get you away from your Tomb Raider game just try and watch the beginning without getting the chills. "We are not who we are. We are not who we are."
MEMENTO MORI: WHEN SCULLY IS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER, MULDER HUNTS FOR RESEARCH FILES PERTAINING TO A GROUP OF FEMALE ABDUCTEES WHO ALSO CONTRACTED THE DISEASE. This is Gillian Anderson, who Lara feels is the real star of the show, at her best. Can anyone listen to Scully reading her journal and not just melt. The compassion, the futility, the randomness of fate and the glimmer of hope. Losing her religion, her life being irrevocably altered by one word "inopperable". Yes, there is a kinda kewl part where Mulder gets to play James Bond with the Lone Gunmen, but this is Scully's episode and it is simply amazing. Besides how can u not luv the Latin title? (one of the numerous languages Lara knows) Remember Death.
KILL SWITCH: A SENTIENT COMPUTER PROGRAM TARGETS ITS CREATORS FOR EXTINCTION. While, I may getted flamed for this one, and like Lara really cares if u don't like her choice, Kill Switch should be at the top of any Net junkies list; yes, that means most of u reading this. The beginning is a great gunfight massacre, you have a rogue thinking CPU running around and evolving on the Net, Invisagoth is one of, if not the best cameo characters to ever appear on the X-Files. I'm running out of breath ranting about this one! Did I mention that the dialogue is superb also?? From the conflict between Scully and Esther(Invisagoth), "Why don't you just call him? Oh, right death from above." To the scene when the Lone Gunmen meet Esther, "Are you going to take off these cuffs or do I have it do this with my tongue?", Mulder sagely saying, "You don't want to take a vote.", tell me she isn't their dream girl! All of these treats and we're still not done, u get to see Kung-Fu Scully, Mulder get amputated, Mulder in VR, Scully SAVING Mulder,(I know its hard to believe, but trust me), Invisagoth merging her consciousness with the Net, aaggghhhh, gotta get my VCR, and gotta watch!! Wait, wait, a virii named Kill Switch, ok I can die now.
ANASAZI: MULDER RECEIVES AN ENCRYPTED DISK CONTAINING THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT'S TOP SECRET FILES ON EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE. This is the first of the Syndicate/Government trilogy, the next two being "The Blessing Way" and "PaperClip". This was also the season finale to season two, and I must say it was the best ever X-Files finale. Why you say? Well, if the suspense of the end doesn't or didn't kill you, I remember sitting with Lara absolutly frustrated that we had to wait a whole year to see what happened next, you should be watching the Files, or reading my page for that matter. Secondly, Mulder gets shot, by who else, but Scully! Hmm, sense a pattern to Lara's Favs yet? We get Krycek getting the snot beat out of him, Bill Mulder getting fragged, a hack into the Defense Department's computer,(now none of us would ever, ever try that at home would we, no I didn't think so...) and some real cool Navaho words spelling out The Truth is Out There. A classic.
ALL SOULS: A PRIEST ASKS FOR SCULLY'S HELP WHEN A HANDICAPPED GIRL DIES A MYSTERIOUS DEATH. If I see this one a few more times,(I don't have it on tape yet) it has a very good chance of moving up on the list. This is the scarriest episode of the X-Files I have ever seen. And I don't mean "Scream" scarry, I mean really eerie, with chills "Exorcist" scarry. Obscure Catholic dogma, Seraphim angels, demons on earth, mystical deaths, ohhh man. Did I mention yet another great acting job by Gillian Anderson? This might be her best acting of the series, yes maybe even better than in Memento Mori. Of course the corrupt, fascist Emmys overlooked this but, hey does that really surprise you? Goth-Lara loves discussing this episode, it is just rife with philosophical and religious overtones, drop me a note if u have something to say on the subject. One final thought, in All Souls, Mulder again rips Scully's belief in the supernatural because it is a religious/metaphysical belief, yet he expects her to subscribe to his many occult/paranormal/any-light-in-the-f***ing-sky theories, give us a break Spooky, and show some class.
DIE HAND DIE VERLETZT: THE AGENTS INVESTIGATE A MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN POPULATED BY DEVIL WORSHIPPERS. Die Hand, which means the hand that wounds(yes Lara also know German), is another scarry episode full of occult references, Satan worshippers and a substitute teacher from hell, literally. This episode also illustrates why Vancouver was such an ideal locale for the X-Files. Every scene has an overcast, rainy and dismal feel to it, which incendently tremendously amplifies the occult atmosphere. Makes you wish maybe Mulder became Boa bait,snicker, ha, evil laugh. Anyway, some of the best atmosphere in the X-Files and a great job on a tired story-line. Lara would never fight Satan worshippers because, well, who hasn't at this point?
IRRESISTIBLE: SCULLY AND MULDER HUNT DOWN A FETISHIST WHO COLLECTS PIECES OF THE DEAD. Even though Scully gets kidnapped way too much(you'd think Lara and Scully would have done something to dispel the notion of weak, helpless women, wouldn't you?) u have to luv this epi. X-Files meets Silence of the Lambs! And please, lie to me and say that demon shadow didn't scare the sh** out of you, go ahead, just try. This is a down-right eerie episode and Lara usually packs a pistol or two for innocent looking psycho-paths like Donny. Watch this and Lambs alone on a dark October; then I'll see u in the Chat rooms 'cause u won't be sleeping.
DETOUR: THE AGENTS INVESTIGATE WHEN SEVERAL PEOPLE DISAPPEAR IN A REMOTE REGION OF FLORIDA. It was a tough descion to choose between this and and the other great forest adventure, "Darkness Falls", but Detour wins out. One of the best parts of this episode is that you get to see Scully and Mulder in outdoors gear. Now Lara knows the importance of changing outfits in different settings and was getting just a bit bored seeing Scully and Mulder in drab FBI conservative clothing. Never fear, the agents pull out the kewl threadz here. Did I mention that Detour is a Predator rip-off? Does that matter? Hell no, it makes the episode great! Still let us pause for a moment to see how many movies XF has mirrored on just this list, hmmmm, maybe the ideas aren't so original huh? Scully also gets a great line that FOX has played to death on promos, "Mulder, I'm not alone..." And perhaps the best part of the episode? Check out the half-in shock Mulder hitting on Scully, one of their funniest moments on screen.
WAR OF THE COPROPHAGES: THE AGENTS COME TO THE AID OF A TOWN SEEMINGLY UNDER ATTACK BY KILLER COCKROACHES. Wotc has alot going for it, not the least being a kewl title. Lara also likes this episode because it makes all the women obsessed with Mulder/DD sooo jealousy, it's a given that they hate Bambi. The hysteria that builds in this film, both dark comic and plain camp is reminisant of the horror flicks of the 50's or 60's "Killer Cockroaches From Mars" or whatever, yet it is so entertaining, you realize why all of those films were made. Even the ending when both Scully and Mulder are covered in well, let's just say a fertilizer, and Mulder loses Bambi, you can't stop laughing. The one serious question this episode asks is about Alien visitors. Wouldn't it make sense to arrive in the form of the most common and inconspicous form you could take for spying and other evil stuff, hey u mean something like a cockroach?
THE ERLENMEYER FLASK: DEEP THROAT TIPS MULDER TO A CRITICALLY IMPORTANT CASE INVOLVING A MISSING FUGITIVE AND THE CLONING OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL VIRUSES. This was the start of our realization that the government is really an evil, lying, ruthless entity cloaked in subterfuge and oppression. Well, some of us already knew this, but this is when X-Files started taking it prime-time. Lots of good thoughts and scenes in this one, the best; seeing Deep Throat gunned down, the message, so die all who oppose the gov't. But, since X pops up later in Throats role, the counter message; you may kill or imprison some of us, but there are others, endless other to take our places. You even feel a little sorry for Mulder in this episode, well, almost. So that's the 10, hope you've seen them or attempt to see them, mail comments or suggestions to the address below, and if u feel the the need to flame, try to do so intelligently.
