# 4/7 X-Files...WTF?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 8, 2002, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403 "2002-04-08T02:03:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/1 "2002-04-08T02:03:26Z")

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You know, if I were Chris Carter, I’d want my history-making tv show to go out with a bang, instead of a musical. Looks like they had enough story for 40 minutes and had to fill the rest with music. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the music but it had no place in a show like the X-Files. I don’t mind light-hearted episodes, but, man, they are stretching it.

On the plus side, Anabeth Gish is hot hot hot 🙂

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**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/2 "2002-04-08T02:10:02Z")

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Any plug for Karl Zero and Vacuous European and Brazilian Pop Music of the Sixties is A-OK by me! And if I have to look at Annabeth Gish while I listen… 🙂

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**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/3 "2002-04-08T02:20:50Z")

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Worst… Episode… Ever!

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**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/4 "2002-04-08T03:05:24Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Max Carnage \*  
> \*\*You know, if I were Chris Carter, I’d want my history-making tv show to go out with a bang, instead of a musical. Looks like they had enough story for 40 minutes and had to fill the rest with music. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the music but it had no place in a show like the X-Files. I don’t mind light-hearted episodes, but, man, they are stretching it.
> 
> On the plus side, Anabeth Gish is hot hot hot 🙂 \*\*

First off, I liked it…

in fact, I thought it was the best this season!  
Why don’t you take a look at the black and white X-Files that ends with Mulder and Scully bringing a “monster” to see Cher. Now THAT’S weird TV!

I think you would hate that eps. if you didn’t like this one.🙂

Second, Gish is such a BAD actress and, on top of that, has a pretty lame character.

You may go for just looks, but I don’t see how her acting can’t taint her appearance.

But hey, that’s MHO, and I respect your HO

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**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/5 "2002-04-08T03:57:05Z")

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People who saw tonight’s episode should rent the film “Pi.” It essentially deals with the same issue: ordered mathematical patterns in a complex universe.

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**Author:** ![Phlip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Phlip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlip)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/6 "2002-04-08T07:54:01Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by MyFootsZZZ \*  
> \*\*  
> Second, Gish is such a BAD actress and, on top of that, has a pretty lame character.
> 
> You may go for just looks, but I don’t see how her acting can’t taint her appearance.
> 
> But hey, that’s MHO, and I respect your HO \*\*

That is EXACTLY how I feel about Jessica Alba from Dark Angel. She is so hot, but so painful to watch her “act” that she looses many sexy points with me.

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**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/7 "2002-04-08T10:46:01Z")

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Offbeat episodes work when the episode is clearly meant to be offbeat. This one had serious bits in it, so I couldn’t decide what to think. It didn’t suck totally (that dishonor went to the cats episode), but it definitely was not their best.

I’m intent on catching these final episodes, sure, but for this one, I was barely half-paying attention.

Whoever picked the music for this ep, btw, should be shot.

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/8 "2002-04-08T12:28:04Z")

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Two of my favorite X-Files of all time were comedic ones:

The one with the town full of circus freaks,

And the one where the two deadbeats find a genie in an old carpet.

I missed last night’s episode though. Good thing too. I can deal with monsters and aliens and conspiracies and whatnot, but Burt Reynolds gives me the willies.

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**Author:** ![reoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@reoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reoch)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/9 "2002-04-08T13:38:15Z")

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I always liked when the X-Files stop doing some alien baby/consperiacy storyline and hit you with some funny shows… like friedo, I tend to enjoy the comedic x-files as well…kinda like a breather between all the conspiracy and stuff…I like it!!😃

Reoch

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**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/10 "2002-04-08T14:01:38Z")

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I was going to start a message with the exact same title, only a little more drawn-out… W…T…F???

I have to echo **AudreyK** because I think this is where they went terribly wrong. I couldn’t figure out if they were trying to be serious or not. I mean, Reyes walking into the office and everyone standing there applauding? The stuff with Burt was fine, even when Scully and Reyes were trapped in the garage, and were more than enough for comic relief. But the every-so-often scenes that simply didn’t fit were just jarring. Never mind the ending, which was so completely off-the-wall that Mr. Kitty thought for a few minutes that I’d accidentally changed the channel.

Their comedic episodes work because they’re consistently comedic. Take a look at the episodes with Charles Nelson Reilly, for instance. Or the aforementioned genie episode. This one was just… bad. Bad, bad, bad.

I just want to see Robert Patrick naked before the end of the series. Please.

-BK

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**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/11 "2002-04-08T14:39:52Z")

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I too was going to start a thread about this same topic. I also think it was a short script that someone felt compelled to lengthen. I’m not really certain it was supposed to be one of the funny shows. I think possibly Reynolds took it into his head to make it humorous and when the script appeared short they didn’t cut his attempts at humor.

Also, what are all those scars at the corners of Burt Reynolds’ eyes?

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**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/12 "2002-04-08T17:26:57Z")

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So was Burt Reynolds supposed to be God playing checkers with the universe instead of dice? Ponderous…

What I find distracting is that they almost always refer to each other as agent this and agent that. Do FBI agents really do that?

Agent Scully, please come look at this.  
Agent Reyes, what have you got there?  
Agent Dogget, I’m going out for lunch. Can I get you anything? Some ovaltine?

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**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2002, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/13 "2002-04-08T17:52:50Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by friedo \*  
> \*\*Two of my favorite X-Files of all time were comedic ones:
> 
> The one with the town full of circus freaks,
> 
> And the one where the two deadbeats find a genie in an old carpet.
> 
> I missed last night’s episode though. Good thing too. I can deal with monsters and aliens and conspiracies and whatnot, but Burt Reynolds gives me the willies. \*\*

I agree- some of the best episodes are the yearly “humor” episodes. Unfortunately, like the rest of the season the humor episode is a pale shadow of its past glory. To add to the fine episodes listed above, the episode regarding the vampires where it was told firm Sculley’s then Mulder’s perspective-- classic! 🆒

_-me_

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**Author:** ![tourbot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@tourbot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tourbot)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/14 "2002-04-09T00:08:10Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by MyFootsZZZ \*  
> \*\*
> 
> …and I respect your HO \*\*

Well, even HO’s deserve respect. 😛

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**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/15 "2002-04-09T03:09:43Z")

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Anyone know what that song was at the end? Was it from an opera? I was hoping that if  
I knew what it was then I could have some small chance of understanding just what the hell  
this episode was about.

The bit where Agent Reyes is talking about numerology reminded me painfully of Jeff Goldblum’s pseudo-scientific  
babble about Chaos theory in Jurassic Park.

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**Author:** ![ringmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9e8a1a/32.png) [@ringmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ringmaster)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/16 "2002-04-09T03:18:45Z")

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It wasn’t my favorite, but I liked it.

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**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/17 "2002-04-09T04:30:28Z")

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About it not knowing if it was being serious or not… I sort of look at it like a dramedy/black-comedy. Some of my favorite movies are (in some way or another) mixed in the two genres (Drama and Comedy). Like American Beauty, Truman Show (I found that if Jim Carrey weren’t in it, and it wasn’t shot at such a sunshiny “perfect” location, it would have been TOO dark), Harold and Maude with all of it’s staged suicide stuff, Forrest Gump mixed war and pain with humor, Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore was very cynical, A lot of people liked American Psycho… not me… & so on.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/18 "2002-04-09T04:37:01Z")

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And “Jose Chung - It Came From Outer Space” was the BEST X-Files…

Funny, Dramatic, and the author (Jose Chung), makes great insight on some people being all alone on this planet, without concern for other planets…

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**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/19 "2002-04-09T07:30:57Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ResIpsaLoquitor \*  
> \*\*People who saw tonight’s episode should rent the film “Pi.” It essentially deals with the same issue: ordered mathematical patterns in a complex universe. \*\*

Or they could do a search on **hiyruu’s** threads…

::Obligatory “ducks and runs” comment::

I had the same WTF reaction to this show: just kind of sat there, head at a slight angle, brow furrowed, eyes struggling to focus. If there was a joke there, I didn’t get it. All the lip-synching really drove me nuts, too. Was there an actual _point_ to any of that?

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**Author:** ![PRNYouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PRNYouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PRNYouth)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-7-x-files-wtf/102403/20 "2002-04-09T16:46:09Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Finagle \*  
> **Anyone know what that song was at the end? Was it from an opera? I was hoping that if  
> I knew what it was then I could have some small chance of understanding just what the hell  
> this episode was about**

I LOVED the music in this episode – in fact, I just watched it again just to hear the music – then spent an hour hunting this album down on the 'net. Turns out all the music (except for the X-files type score bits) was from the same album. It’s called “Songs for Cabriolets and Otros Tipos Vehiculos”. It’s recorded by someone named Karl Zero and is apparently a mixture of languages in a sixties-kitschy style. The song at the end was called “Io Mammate E Tu”.

I ordered the disk from Amazon yesterday. 🙂 Can’t wait to get it.

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