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Review: Jack Foley
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES: Disc One: 1 deleted scene from Nothing
Important Happened Today that can be branched into the episode.
1 deleted scene from Nothing Important Happened Today II. 2 deleted
scenes from 4-D. 3 international clips from Nothing Important
Happened Today II (German, Japanese and Italian).
Disc Two: 1 deleted scene from Lord Of The Flies. 3 international
clips from Trust No 1 (German, Japanese and Italian).
Disc Three: 1 deleted scene from Provenance Part 1. 3 international
clips from Provenance Part 1 (German, Japanese and Italian).
Disc Four: Audio commentary for Improbable by Chris Carter. Audio
commentary for Jump The Shark by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and
Frank Spotnitz. 1 deleted scene from Jump The Shark. 3 international
clips from William (German, Japanese and Italian).
Disc Five: Audio commentary for The Truth by Kim Manners. 3 deleted
scenes from The Truth. 3 international clips from The Truth (German,
Japanese and Italian).
Disc Six: 'The Truth About Season 9' documentary (30 minutes).
X-Files profiles on Monica Reyes and Brad Follimer. 30 promo spots.
10 deleted scenes – extended versions of clips branched into
the individual episodes with optional commentary by Frank Spotnitz.
9 special effects clips with narration by Paul Rabwin and Mat
Beck.
Disc Seven: Trailers Inside Look: I Robot Sizzle. Inside Look:
Alien vs. Predator behind-the scenes segment. 'Secrets Of The
X-Files' documentary (45 minutes). 'More Secrets Of The X-Files'
documentary (45 minutes). 'Reflections On The X-Files' documentary
(20 minutes).
Episode titles: Episode titles: Nothing Important Happened
Today, Nothing Important, Happened Today II, Dæmonicus,
4-D, Lord of the Flies, Trust No 1, John Doe, Hellbound, Provenance,
Providence, Audrey Pauley, Underneath, Improbable, Scary Monsters,
Jump the Shark, William, Release, Sunshine Days, The Truth.
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HAVING successfully rung the changes in its previous season,
with the arrival of Robert Patrick’s intriguing Agent Doggett,
and the diminishing impact of David Duchovny’s Agent Mulder,
The X-Files appeared to be in a healthy condition for a few seasons
yet.
So it came as a bit of a disappointment to find that Season 9
marked the conclusion of the series, and something of a missed
opportunity for seeing how the relationship between Doggett and
Scully (Gillian Anderson) developed.
Being the final instalments, the series also came over-burdened
with the prospect of having to reveal its secrets, of uncovering
the so-called ‘truth’ that its protagonists had spent
the past decade uncovering.
And, needless to say, many of the answers failed to materialise,
given the sneaking suspicion that things were being left open
for a further, revelatory movie, and the prospect that some of
its stars may want (or need) to return to the franchise in the
future.
As a result, fans could have been forgiven for feeling a little
short-changed by Chris Carter and co, even though, for the most
part, the series continued to demonstrate the values which had
helped to turn it into the massive success it became in the first
place.
Doggett continued to provide compelling evidence of why he was
more than a worthy replacement in the lead for Duchovny, and several
of his stand-alone episodes (early on), harked back to the classic
status of early episodes, while the emotional connection between
Scully and those around her, continued to grow, yielding some
truly poignant moments (particularly in regard to her baby).
But as the season draws closer to its finale, and Mulder returns
to the scene, the need to try to explain things a bit better,
took precedence, fuelling suspicions that writer, Carter, never
really knew where he was going with it in the first place.
Answers, as usual, were replaced by questions, leaving the conspiracy
theorists discussing the implications long after the final credits
had rolled.
Not that the conclusion is necessarily badly-handled, rather
it struggles to realise the potential offered by some of its early
conspiracy-builders, or even the first movie.
The production values remain high (each episode operates on the
same sort of scale as a movie in itself), while the acting is
first-rate, and there are plenty of surprises along the way, including
grim resolutions for several of the leading support players.
The new characters introduced in series eight, also continue
to develop, which provides evidence of the tight writing that
became renowned with the series.
Perhaps it’s the sense of disappointment that one of the
great series of recent years had finally come to a close, or the
realisation that we’re still no nearer to making sense of
it, which hinders the overall enjoyment, but Season 9 - as good
as it is - falls short of the status it probably feels it warrants.
It remains a must-have for die-hard fans, however, and comes
packed with extras (though nothing overly ground-breaking or inspiring),
but fans can only hope that Duchovny’s recent assurances
that a new film is on the way prove to be truthful.
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