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

I wanted to point out something technical about the slim set discs that I bought. If you're looking for insight into the episodes or characters - please look elsewhere.

When I put the first disc of Season One into my DVD player, it started the "loading" process and gave me a disc error after about one minute. Instead of cursing Fox (well, I did it later anyway) I turned the player off, leaving the disc inside. After a couple of minutes, I turned my DVD player on and Viola! I heard the X-Files theme and saw the menus (after the obligatory FBI copyright infringement warnings).

For those wondering, the DVD player in question above is a Philips Progressive Scan. The same problem occurred on a newer Panasonic player. No glitches materialized when I tried the discs on the Sony or AKAI players. In all cases, I was eventually able to get to the episodes. With the first two the screen sometimes showed up scrambled and the menus inaccessible. On other occasions I was able to access a root menu similar to one you would see if you "explore" the DVD contents on a PC (Video_TS files, etc.), though the players would not load any content from these menus. Speaking of PC viewing, I experienced no problems with any of the discs on my PC and all four programs my PC has to play DVDs functioned perfectly.

PLEASE DON'T READ INTO THIS TOO MUCH. I don't work for Fox - I'm not trying to encourage sales of the more expensive sets. This was just a personal experience I had, and it seemed to occur less frequently with Seasons 4 - 9. My uneducated opinion: the equipment I have isn't top of the line, and maybe wasn't equipped to handle the way the content was compressed. I was impressed that 4, sometimes 5 episodes were squeezed on one disc. That's three - almost four hours of content. I know - dual layer DVDs and blah, blah, blah. But c'mon - even Lord of the Rings - Return of the King was issued on 2 discs! (By the way, the content looked and sounded great.)

Another side note: Seasons 1 - 4 that I got were full frame, and 5 - 9 are widescreen. At first I thought I had missed the option when purchasing these discs, but these are the only way I've found them at retail stores and online. Nothing major; I just thought I was losing my mind at first. (Which is still a possibility.) I can't remember if they aired this way on television - I just noticed that the cinematography got revved up a bit starting with Season 5. If this observation is incorrect, someone please feel free to correct me.

Okay. If you have read this entire review give yourself a pat on the back, a cookie, I dunno - watch some old Doctor Who episodes or something. A better price, better packaging, and better for you. (They were giving out a carton of Morley's with the bigger sets, right?) By the way - the 5 stars is based on my overall X-Files enjoyment. Sure, there are episodes I can skip through. But for me, it's good bang for the buck. Enjoy!

Season 6 follows directly after the movie. The first episode is a miss if you ask me. It picks up after the movie, and after the season 5 finale "The End". Oddly though, the finale and the movie aren't connected very closely, so this episode combines elements from both that seem somewhat out of place and start off the season on a strange note. From here, Mulder and Scully spend the majority of the season off the X-Files and under AD Kirsch, a jerk of a guy who has no faith at all in Mulder. Season 6 is a slight improvement over season 5 if only for its longer length if you ask me. The thing is, this is really the first season that shows a drastic contrast between the mythology and stand-alone episodes, the stand-alone ones showing a vast improvement over the mythology episodes. For instance, there is a 2-parter that is a stand-alone (first for the series) called Dreamland (1 & 2). It guest stars Michael McKean and is hilarious. Chris Carter also steps in again with "Triangle", an episode that definately has his stamp on it. Unfortunately, unlike the past, most of the mythology episodes just don't stand out with the rest of the episodes, and make this season somewhat unbalanced. The sad thing is that the premiere, and finale (usually two of the best episodes of the series) are really somewhat of a convoluted mess in this season, and a big let-down. Also, look for Bruce Campbell. This DVD contains the 22 episodes from the series, but something different: Since there are only 2 episodes on the last disc ALL THE SPECIAL FEATURES from the previous release are included here. Documentary, deleted scenes, special effects clips, tv spots, dvd rom game, etc. It's all here for the great price.

Notably Good Episodes:

Triangle
Dreamland (1) (feat. Michael McKean)
Dreamland II (2) (feat. Michael McKean)
How the Ghosts Stole Christmas
SR-819
Agua Mala
Monday
Arcadia
Milagro
Three of a Kind

This season could be enjoyed by anyone I think, but anyone won't enjoy the mythology episodes. If Fox released "Best of X-Files Monster of the Week", than I think season 6 would have a lot to offer. It's a good season, but so far probably the worst.

This 6th season is one of the best! It is filled with suspence and great story lines. I did notice that this season was especially dark.

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.

This review isn't for X-Files worshippers, but for casual buyers/viewers who are looking for some good thriller tv. This season of the famed conspiracy/occult tv show just isn't the place to start.

The X-Files is a direct descendant of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, with the latter's weird horror and cover-ups, its dark mood lightened by absurdity, its eccentric and alienated hero (with cranky-sympathetic supervisor), its dim view of authority, and its interest in social outcasts and techno-geeks. Stand-alone stories feature horror staples from vampires to natural mutations. Beware if you're not into law enforcement/military/government bashing, as this fuels much of the X-Files! The main 'overplot' (the "mythology") was a conspiracy in which a secret organization (the "syndicate") within world government covered up humanity's contacts with aliens since the Roswell crash. However in this season, having evidentally outlived its plot-usefulness, it is abrubtly terminated - with extreme prejudice!

Most viewers looked to the X-Files for taut, gripping horror/thrillers: stand-alones ending without easy answers and story arcs moving toward dark but fathomable conspiracies. The odd black comedy had its place as well. If you're looking for THAT X-Files you'll be (mostly) disappointed with this season. It's extremely derivitive, self-parodic, and sometimes silly. There's also A LOT of coy toying with the chemistry between the agents. Although two episodes (Arcadia, Field Trip) are classics, I'd recommend any previous season (especially prior to 4) before these:

THE BEGINNING: Agent Spender gets the X files while child prodigy Gibson (Jeff Gulka) tracks a murderous "Alien." ***

DRIVE: Mulder has to get up to "Speed" to prevent hicks' heads from exploding. ***

TRIANGLE: Shipwrecked near Bermuda, Mulder finds a long-lost liner and some familiar faces in a WWII time warp. **

DREAMLAND I: Mulder and a sleazy techno-conspirator (comedian Michael McKean) swap bodies in fabled Area 51. **

DREAMLAND II: Scully notices something is amiss in the comedy's conclusion. ***

HOW THE GHOSTS STOLE CHRISTMAS: Lily Tomlin and Ed Asner costar in this mawkish haunted-house comedy. *

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT: Bruce "Evil Dead" Campbell stars in this semi-comic tale of demons and dead babies. **

THE RAIN KING: Unrequited love causes unpredictable weather for a rural Romeo. Victoria Jackson costars. *

S.R 819: Skinner may have less than 24 hours to live when infected with nanotechnology. **

TITHONUS: Scully solos on the trail of a photographer (Geoffrey Lewis) who gets to the scene before the crime. ****

TWO FATHERS: (Part I) The cigarette-smoking man explains it all to his secret agent in the FBI. **

ONE SON: (Part II) The alien invasion... looms? while the 'Syndicate' tries to avoid getting fired. ***

AQUA MALA: A hurricane causes a "Deep Rising" with the agents trapped in a Florida building. ****

MONDAY: It's "Groundhog Day" all over again for Mulder and Scully as a bank robbery keeps iterating. **

ARCADIA: Deft humor in this classic has the agents posing as married to investigate disappearances in a gated community. *****

ALPHA: A cryptozooligist and an animal behaviorist are keeping secrets while pursuing a deadly, semi-mythological canid. ***

TREVOR: An escaped convict walks through almost anything to get what's his from a former lover. ***

MILAGRO: Life and death imitate art when a murder mystery writer (John Hawkes) falls for Scully. **

THE UNNATURAL: PC satire about a baseball-loving alien in the mid-1950s. *

THREE OF A KIND: The Lone Gunmen find Suzanne Modeski in Vegas and involve Scully, who gets brainwashed. ****

FIELD TRIP : The agents are drawn into a hallucenogenic investigation of two hikers' skeletal remains. *****

BIOGENESIS: In a new tack, the season-ending cliffhanger begins a Von Daniken view of alien invasion. ***

In terms of DVD quality and organization this set is excellent and I prefer the individual-box-ing of this packaging (the slimline) to the larger accordion-style original release. There are a few bonus features you don't get, but not enough to be worth the extra price!