The third season is probably not as good as the second, especially in terms of writing. However, The X-Files budget continued to grow; therefore, the third season gives many great episodes and with very high production quality. Here are my favorites:
3×01: The Blessing Way (II)
With Mulder’s life hanging in the balance, Scully is at a loss as to where to turn. This episode, a continuation of the season 2 finale “The Anasazi”, is a great way to start off season 3.
3×02: Paper Clip (III)
Thanks to a very speedy recovery, Mulder is now able to assist Scully in their quest to discover the truth. Mulder finds a photo that features his father and some very curious individuals from a post-WWII era science project known as “Operation Paper Clip.” Where this leads our agents is quite a surprise, and in West Virginia of all places!
3×04: Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose
This episode guest stars the late, great Peter Boyle (who won an Emmy for his performance here), as Clyde Bruckman — an insurance salesman who reluctantly possesses psychic powers. Truly a tender episode with its fair share of pathos.
3×08: Oubliette
Mulder takes a case in which a woman who was kidnapped 20 years ago seems to have some psychic link with a recent kidnap victim. This is one of those great episodes where we really see Mulder and Scully get at each other. Scully is concerned that Mulder has grown too close to the victim; so close that it’s blinding …
For those who follow the Ramsey Bros. (and you absolutely should…not just because yours truly is frequently involved, but also because it’s good clean fun), you might be interested to know that they have a brand new YouTube page:
Ramsey Bros. Pictures YouTube Page
As you can see, the theme, developed by Richie, is quite nice, tying in with the hilarious “Whiteman College Admissions Video.”
I encourage you to subscribe, leave comments, watch videos — go crazy!
The second season of the X-Files really starts to pick up. Character development is excellent, and the story lines are strong. Season 2 is so strong, in fact, that I’m putting more than half of the episodes in the “must see”.
2×01: Little Green Men
Season 2 opens on a good foot. With Mulder and Scully separated, and the X-Files shut down, Scully convinces Mulder to carry on his search for the Truth. Mulder takes her suggestion when a congressman passes him a print out of a strange transmission.
2×02: The Host
Okay, this is a must-see mainly because the villain is amongst the most ludicrous of all X-Files villains. Additionally, he/she/it is mentioned by Scully in a later episode.
2×04: Sleepless
An X-Files government conspiracy mystery that plays science, war, and the world of dreams off of each other. However, more importantly, this episode marks the first appearances of Mr. X and Alex Krycek, and sets things up for the next phase of the overall arc of the X-Files “mythology.” The episode also features Jonathan Gries, whom some may know as Roger Linus from Lost, or Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite — the really awesome people will know him as Lazlo Hollyfeld in Real Genius.
2×05: Duane Barry (I)
Still separated, Mulder gets himself wrapped up in a hostage negotiation with an ex-FBI agent, Duane Barry, who claims to have been abducted by aliens. Scully gets roped into the action when she discovers that Duane Barry may be telling the truth.
2×06: …
The new X-Files movie will be released July 25th. In my attempt to prepare for this event, I’ve been going back through the television series, bookmarking my favorite episodes. Hopefully, I’ll get all of this done before the 25th — we’ll see.
Here’s the crop from Season 1:
1×79: The X-Files (Pilot)
Mulder meets Scully. What more do you need? How about alien abductions in the Pacific Northwest? Or Mulder examining a scantily clad Scully? How about the Smoking Man lurking in the background? Classic X-Files right from the start!
1×01: Deep Throat
The events of this episode introduce important X-Files themes: conspiracy, the strong arm of the government, teenage potheads in love. This episode also marks the first appearance of Jerry Hardin as “Deep Throat.”
1×02: Squeeze
Of all of the villains that were spawned by the X-Files, none were quite as creepy as Eugene Victor Tooms.
1×07: Ice
If it weren’t for a lack of budget, this would easily be one of the best episodes in the whole series. This episode pits Scully against Mulder as they work with a team of scientists to try to understand what happened at an arctic research station.
1×09: Fallen Angel
The first appearance of Max Fenig. Deep Throat sends Mulder to the site of a mysterious crash near Lake Michigan.
1×10: Eve
Easily one of the creepiest episodes from the first season. Mulder and Scully are put on the case of two murders that have occurred at the exact same time, with the exact same cause of death, …
scrivener noun historical a clerk, scribe, or notary. ORIGIN Middle English : shortening of Old French escrivein, from Latin scriba (see scribe).
Thank you, New Oxford American Dictionary that came bundled with my Mac. Scrivener isn’t just some noun historical, it’s also a smashing piece of writing software from the folks at Literature and Latte (for good measure, here’s a link to the Literature and Latte Blog, if you like to read the latest).
First, some personal back story.
Several years ago, when I was a college lad, I waffled back and forth over word processors. I began with Word, using it for everything. I was so naive in those days! “Is there anything out there other than Word?” I thought. Turns out there was.
As I got more and more into my study of Classics, I discovered some deficiencies in the Mac version of Word. Specifically, Word on the Mac has terrific trouble with some unicode stuff that was important to me (e.g., unicode Hebrew is an impossibility). After writing my undergrad honors thesis completely in Word, struggling through its poor implementation of unicode (my thesis was full of Greek, and a little Hebrew), I ventured out into the world of alternative word processing.
Eventually, I settled on Mellel. Designed by folks who really understood the needs of those who worked in multiple …
Today, sbh* experienced a few moments of downtime between 12:04pm and 12:15pm CDT today as I finally upgraded to the latest version of Wordpress! Right now, I’m using Wordpress 2.5.1, which includes a new admin panel. It’s quite nice looking…a bit of a shock as I had grown so used to the old look. As time goes by, I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts and opinions about it. But, as for now, I think it’s nice. I just need to explore it a little more.
Hope the downtime didn’t cause anyone any problems.
I am embroiled involved in this Ramsey Bros. thing — and they have posted a new video. This time, I’m not in it. But my name made the credits, and what else matters?
The video stars Wil, John, and Richie Ramsey as they offer congratulations and consolations to their youngest brother, Seth, who has just graduated from high school.
