X-FILES SEASON ONE

Credentials and Summary: I originally saw a few episodes from the later seasons, and some earlier ones in re-run; we are now buying them season by season (finished #1) to enjoy from the start. Recommended for those who like SF/Mystery/Suspense genre, with only a few minor concerns for the discerning, teen-age and older family audience. Bit too spooky for young kids and the more sensitive adults. Thought provoking, if at times absurd, for all. Certainly outshines virtually all other material on TV (faint praise?), and is much better to be watched straight through, without commercials and without waiting for each new season.Season One:I had only seen two episodes before (# 10, 21). Didn't realize virtually all themes and main characters present in first season. Conspiracy and aliens, science/skepticism vs. "believers" (The Truth Is Out There), Smoking Man and Assist. Director Skinner, The Lone Gunmen, Deep Throat, family issues of Scully and Mulder and even a pre-Krycek appearance by Nicholas Lea. The battle over the X-Files themselves is introduced in episode one and they get closed for the first time in the last episode.Package: We have the thin DVD set. Quality is just fine. We get more than enough just watching the episodes; I can't see spending a lot more for the extras in other versions.Episode Summaries (with Themes):X-cellent1) The X-Files: Pilot (Intro, Conspiracy, Aliens) - Does well to sum it all up: Fox "Spooky" Mulder, Dana "The Skeptic Scientist" Scully , aliens, sinister government agents, typical plot (unexplained paranormal mystery, Fox sees it, Dana misses it, government covers it up).2) Deep Throat (Conspiracy, Aliens) - Our favorite agents working against the government to find alien spacecraft. A secret government insider contact is first introduced, nicknamed Deep Throat. Features appearance by Buffy's werewolf ally.3) Squeeze (Tooms, Creature) - Eugene Tooms' Gumby-like ability threatens every 30 years. Mulder's (poor) reputation for paranormal explanations is first exhibited.4) Conduit (Alien, Character History) - Related alien abductions detected via boy who acts as conduit for their continuing communications.10) Fallen Angel (Conspiracy, Aliens) - Mulder almost exposes cover-up of UFO crash. Max Fenig appears as a UFO enthusiast, and the first of various X-Files followers.11) Eve (Urban Legend, Techno phobia) - Twin girls poison loved ones and fight to stay ahead of Mulder and Scully. Super-human clones gone wild?13) Beyond the Sea (Paranormal, Character History) - Death Row psychic knows where the serial killer is and what Dana's recently deceased father is thinking.16) Young at Heart (Techno phobia) - Can Mulder's former nemesis really be stalking him, even tho' dead? Must be a genetic experiment gone horribly right. Connected to Mulder's first case, which went horribly wrong.17) E.B.E. (Alien, Conspiracy) - Deep Throat knows where the Extraterrestrial Biological Entity is; Mulder and Scully follow the clues, and the package, all the way to the empty containment facility. The Lone Gunmen (hackers and conspiracy theorists named for the official theory behind JFK assassination) help track the package.21) Tooms (Tooms, Creature) - Tooms, released on parole, puts the squeeze on Mulder. Excellent scenes before judge and police investigators.22) Born Again (Paranormal) - Mulder and Scully investigate link between young girl and string of murdered police.24) The Erlenmeyer Flask (Alien, Conspiracy) - Alien viruses are being cloned, but Mulder and Scully lose the virus, the clone, the inside contact, and the key to the office.X Marks The Spot5) The Jersey Devil (Urban Legend, Relationship) - Mulder's reputation within F.B.I. really is spooky and so is Scully's date. Wild man of the woods plot is cover for developing status of team within agency and the status of the X-Files.6) Shadows (Paranormal) - Fox and Dana investigate revenge minded poltergeist.7) Ghost in the Machine (Conspiracy, Urban Legend) - Our agents investigate killer computer. DoD wants the software! Sub-plot with Mulder's former partner.8) Ice (Alien) - X-Files version of The Thing/Who Goes There? [SF fans?]. FBI sends our agents to investigate parasitic alien life form at remote Alaskan research station. Features appearance by future Desperate Housewife and C.T.U. agent.14) Genderbender (Alien, Paranormal, Religion) - Gender changing murderer hiding out with religious sect is sent searching for a new sanctuary planet by the FBI. Agent Krycek makes brief appearance, apparently on a special, top-secret assignment.15) Lazarus (Paranormal) - Dana`s turn with the ex, as co-agent who gets possessed by spirit of criminal.19) Shapes (Urban Legend, Occult) - Mulder and Scully search for wolf/man Indian legend.20) Darkness Falls (Paranormal) - Mulder and Scully avoid being cocooned by ancient insects released by unsuspecting loggers in the deep forest.23) Roland (Paranormal, Techno phobia) - Mulder and Scully suspect autistic Roland in murders of aerospace scientists. A favorite of wind tunnel engineers. Roland later joins Bosnian rebels seeking revenge on Jack Bauer.X-Out9) Space (Alien) - Mulder suspects Martian spirit is behind Space Shuttle sabotage. An alien thread not further pursued, and overall lower production values than typical.12) Fire (Paranormal, Relationship) - Fox helps former British girlfriend investigate pyrokinetic man stalking the aristocracy. Early lame attempt to start developing Fox/Dana relationship.18) Miracle Man (Paranormal, Religion) - Our agents investigate healing ministry, when more seem to be dying than living. A bit stereotypically paranoid.- - - - - - - - - - - -

I like things like the twilight show, and other weird things like that and this fits right into what I like.

Bought this to replace my original season one that didn’t play anymore this replacement is very good this is for season 1 on blu ray. It’s a great improvement on the dvd version. The blu ray version has full screen picture a much improved picture and 5.1 sound the sound is very nice if you use a sound bar. Bought from third party seller which normally won’t do but the X-files on blu ray is very hard to find from a regular store very thing is really good with the item so far packaging was very nice. Although season 1 will probably be the only season I will buy on blu ray because it’s my favorite and has all my favorite episodes!

This finely crafted and involving series, created by Chris Carter, kept intelligent people home on Friday nights to watch Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigate the strange and paranormal. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson became two F.B.I. agents no respectable TV viewer could live without. Right from the start, it set the arc for the entire series and we watched in awe as Carter and his fine group of writers turned television into something new.Mulder was an Oxford educated profiler with such a great success rate it allowed him to indulge himself when he latched onto buried boxes of case files dating back to J. Edgar Hoover called The X-Files. They were cases which couldn't be explained or solved by any normal investigative methods. Mulder, however could solve them, not only because he was good enough, but because he believed.The reason Mulder believed was the story arc for his insatiable need to discover the truth about what the government knew about alien abduction. Muldor himself, as a young boy, had been unable to save his younger sister Samantha the night she was taken, and it both drove and haunted him. Despite his brilliance, he had been tagged with the nickname, "Spooky Mulder" because of his belief that we were not alone.His sucess had drawn attention from those within the circles of power trying to keep hidden the truth, so Agent Dana Scully, a beautiful and bright F.B.I. operative who was also a doctor, believing that science was the key to explaining what could not be explained, was sent to be his partner, and keep an eye on Mulder. What happened, however, was quite the opposite, as Scully became Mulder's champion, and buffer between his obsession and the powers lurking in dark corridors attempting to keep the truth just out of his grasp.The show wasn't just about U.F.O.'s, or even simply the paranormal. It was an incredibly involving, complicated, and mature study of two people who formed a bond so deep that each found themselves unable to work or live as they wanted without each other. It never moved in the direction of a physical relationship, but something much deeper. Perhaps it is that maturity which Carter instilled in the story arc which made it so darkly romantic. Viewers knew that they belonged together, and probably would be someday, but not yet.Each episode was exciting and so interesting that it made everything else on television seem boring. Muldor found a contact within the dark circles of power who came to be known as "Deep Throat." But when he got too close, it was Scully who would risk everything to save him in "The Erlenmeyer Flask." Mulder and Scully would tackle native legends, downed U.F.O.'s, murderous cults who themselves might not be from earth, even a couple of young innocent twins who might be part of an experiment gone chillingly wrong.Always smart, humorous, and fascinating, season one set the tone for the entire series, and raised the bar for television drama for years to come. No one who loved this series will ever forget phrases such as "trust no one" or "purity control." Beautifully packaged, this boxed set contains six discs in three slip cases. The episodes which made us life-long fans of Mulder and Scully are as follows:Pilot Episode--Deep Throat--Squeeze--Conduit--The Jersey Devil--Shadows--Ghost in the Machine--Ice--Space--Fallen Angel--Eve--Fire--Beyond the Sea--Gender Bender--Lazarus--Young at Heart--E.B.E.--Miracle Man--Shapes--Darkness Falls--Tooms (Squeeze Part II)--Born Again--Roland--The Erlenmeyer FlaskThis was fantastic television, which would eventually find its way to the big screen. We can only hope that Duchovny, Anderson, and Carter will give us more somewhere down the line. The X-Files was one of the finest shows we ever had, and it reminded us what the medium is capable of, yet rarely reaches. Muldor and Scully were one of the great couples in television history, and Carter's creation may well be something so fascinating, so well-written, and so involving, we may never see anything like it ever again.

The discs come in folding cardboard and plastic contraptions. The discs play fine.The original The X-Files (1993-2002) has some brilliant episodes. I love the sci-fi alien and UFO episodes, but I decided to give the show four stars. The numerous shaky flashlight scenes get tedious after a while. There are way too many scenes of flashlights waving around in dark rooms and pointing at the camera. The other reason is the same problem I have with all the Twilight Zones and Outer Limits and X-Files shows and that is that the episodes are hit and miss. If you’re a science fiction fan who doesn’t appreciate horror you have to wade through a lot of horror episodes to get to the stuff you love, and often the series are incorrectly labeled by information sources. The X-Files is more of a horror and freak show than anything else, but the first genre label listed on Wikipedia for the show is sci-fi. I’ve learned to read more about a show than just looking at genre labels, which I often don’t agree with.For example, the original The Outer Limits is labeled as fantasy, horror and sci-fi on IMDb. The second The Outer Limits (1995-2002) is labeled as drama, fantasy, and horror on IMDb, with no mention of science fiction. Most of The Outer Limits (1995-2002) episodes are horror, but The Light Brigade (1996) episode is an example of outstanding sci-fi, but it’s incorrectly labeled as fantasy and horror on IMDb instead of sci-fi. Quality of Mercy (1995) is another example of a great sci-fi episode incorrectly labeled as fantasy and horror. Star Crossed (1999) is a third example of a sci-fi episode incorrectly labeled as fantasy and horror by IMDb. Wikipedia is usually a better source of genre information when looking at shows.If you’re looking for good stuff to watch consider miniseries like The Astronauts Wives Club (2015), Band of Brothers (2001), Frank Herbert’s Dune (2000), Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune (2003), Into the West (2005), Lonesome Dove (1989), Manhattan (2014-2015), Return to Lonesome Dove (1993), Pride and Prejudice (1995), Taken (2002) and The 10th Kingdom (2000), which are all terrific because they have clear beginnings that establish an objective, then strong middles and conclusive endings where the goal is achieved, like a good novel.Other shows I’ve really enjoyed include Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009), Breaking Bad (2008-2013), Cowboy Bebop (1998), Downton Abbey (2010-2015), Firefly (2002), Game of Thrones (2011-2019), Granite Flats (2013-2015), The IT Crowd (2006-2013), Jericho (2006-2008), Merlin (2008-2012), The Prisoner (1967-1968), Rome (2005-2007), Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011), Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010), Stargate: SG-1 (1997-2007), Stargate: Atlantis (2004-2009), Star Trek (1966-1969), Star Trek Voyager (1995-2001), and The Tudors (2007-2010). I didn’t list any contemporary series I’m following that don’t have an end date yet, not conducive to binge watching from beginning to finish.If you like reading try some of my favorite fantasy and sci-fi authors: Richard Adams, Palo Bacigulupi, Suzanne Collins, Abe Evergreen, Diana Gabaldon, Hugh Howey, George Martin, Brandon Sanderson, John Scalzi, and Andy Weir.