The X-Files - The Complete Fifth Season (Slim Set)

having bought all the seasons, watching them every so often, i was shocked to learn my season 5 disk one was totally defective, it would just freeze after the fbi warning section. tried to get to different chapters, would just freeze.

So for about $35 compared to the earlier set price of $90, I'm getting better packaging, and I won't get the extra disc of bonus materials that the sets come packaged with. Um, I think I'll go ahead and get the new reissues.

I got lucky and purchased the original first season box set for less than $40 right here on Amazon. The packaging for these more expensive sets are downright atrocious. It's one of those fold out thingies that are annoying to unfold completely when you just want to get to one disc. I felt like I was trying to take apart complicated origami everyttime I opened the set. I think if you open the whole thing up completely, it's about the length of a pool table.

Now with these new sets, the discs come in individual slipcases, minimizing wear and tear on the box itself and making it loads easier to get the specific disc that you want to watch. Also, the bonus stuff wasn't really that in depth and I can do without it. Considering that you're getting better packaging with these new reissues, it's almost like you're paying upwards of $50 just to get some behind the scenes info on a show that is even better with the less you know about it.

At any rate, I'd suggest going with these new sets, unless you absolutely have to have the extra disc of features. The transfers are top notch and best of all, you can relive all your favorite episodes of Mulder and Scully for a much more reasonable price.

Short and sweet, Season 5 picks up right where the Season 4 cliffhanger left off. The two parter Redux & Redux II leads to a short story arc that has Mulder doubting his beliefes in aliens. Season 5 is the shortest of the first 5 seasons so far, and I can only assume that this is because they were working on the movie at the same time to be released over the summer before season 6. The thing about this season is that for the first time, the stand alone episodes outweigh the mythology episodes in quality. Keeping this in mind, the mythology episodes are also few and far between. There are only about 5 in this season, a low for the show at this point, but again this is most likely due to the movie being made. This season also started an interesting form of episode: the prequel episodes. There are two here that deal with how The Lone Gunmen meet each other and Mulder, and another about a conspiracy in the 1950's. Fortunately, there aren't really any episodes on this season that are actually "bad" to speak of. There are some really good episodes, and that is what makes this season a good one. This season continues the tradition of slim set special features consisting of commentaries, deleted scenes, international & special effects clips, etc.

Notably Good Episodes:
Redux (1)
Redux II (2)
Unusual Suspects
Detour
The Post-Modern Prometheus
Bad Blood (feat. Luke Wilson)
Patient X (1)
The Red and the Black (2)
Travelers
The Pine Bluff Variant
Folie a Deux
The End

At the price, this is a real deal and a great season for any x-files fan.

My only complaint about the season 5 slim set is the same for seasons 3 and 4 - the image quality is considerably below my first two sets which were the fold out type. Many of the scenes are too dark and the color washed out. I've watched the same shows on the Sci-fi channel (yes, I know!) and you can tell the difference. Is it me or is it the dvds?

Otherwise, many good episodes in this season, but the "great government conspiracy beginning in 1945" episodes do begin to wear thin. They do remind me of Gen. Jack Ripper's rant about flouride and the Communist conspiracy in Dr. Strangelove. Love Dana and Fox.

Being a huge X-Files fan, I was expecting the Fifth Season to be a direct continuation of the first couple of seasons, with similar storylines and everything else fans love about the X-Files. That was not to be. While our favourite agents are still investigating strange phenomenon, there is a deeper, darker element to the storylines. The X-Files Complete Fifth Season has everything the first seasons had, and more.