Editor’s Note: This was originally published for FANGORIA on June 14, 2001, and we’re proud to share it as part of The Gingold Files.
If you’re a longtime X Files fan who’s watched the series run in place during the last couple of years, you no doubt miss the anticipatory tingle that the show’s moody title sequence brought on—the promise of mystery, fright and imagination unlike anything on TV at the time. Watching Fox’s third DVD boxed set of the series brings that feeling rushing back, as it exemplifies the best of what The X Files once had to offer.
It’s a tossup whether the second or third season marked the show’s highpoint; the former showcased many of its most memorable monsters (the flukeman and Donny Pfaster) and the chilling stories by Glen Morgan and James Wong, while the latter saw Morgan’s brother Darin contribute the memorably poignant “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” and nutty “José Chung’s ‘From Outer Space’”, and the recurring “mythology” episodes kick into high gear. No complete year’s worth of any series will be without a clinker or two (“Syzygy,” anyone?), but Fox’s latest X Files package overall represents genre television at its best—and the company’s strongest DVD showcase of the series yet.
As before, the company has done a terrific job replicating and amplifying Files’ topnotch production values. While there’s grain here and there, the colors and sharpness in the transfers are first-rate, as is the Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround sound, and only their fullscreen status would prevent viewers from thinking they’re watching a feature film. Fox has been more generous than ever with the extras this time around, with two of the most significant episodes, “Jose Chung” and the mythology piece “Apocrypha,” graced with audio commentaries.
On the latter, director Kim Manners and writer/series creator Chris Carter discuss the series in general as much as the episode at hand, acknowledging the high production values they were able to achieve shooting in Vancouver and exploring the “Conspiracy of Silence” that powered the early seasons. Manners also notes the challenges in helming his first mythology show after doing several stand-alone stories, while Carter explores “Apocrypha’s” use of history. The commentary by “Jose Chung” director Rob Bowman and Morgan is unsurprisingly more light-hearted and anecdotal, though they do go into depth about the episode’s use of recurring elements and dialogue, and what went into making this “puzzle” work. Morgan proves as irreverent as his scripts, poking gentle fun at Manners (upon whom a key character was based, and who was initially supposed to play the role) and closing with a lighthearted jab at Carter.
The set’s seventh disc is an all-extras package that begins with a 21-minute documentary, which includes a number of fun revelations: Writer/producer Frank Spotnitz recalls that “731” was inspired by a fan comment at a convention, and we learn that “Pusher” was adapted from an unused feature idea by scripter Vince Gilligan. Six deleted scenes (with commentary by Carter on all but one) showcase character moments that had to be trimmed for time; the highlights are from “Blessing Way” (Scully, believing Mulder dead, seeking solace from her mother and sister) and “Avatar” (a confrontation between Skinner and Cigarette Smoking Man). These scenes can also be “inserted” while watching the episodes by clicking Select during an onscreen prompt.
There are also brief onscreen comments by Carter on 12 selected episodes, promo spots for all of ’em, behind-the-scenes FX segments hosted by supervisor Mat Beck (covering everything from the Hollow Man-like but pre-CGI gags from “The Walk” to digitally added snow for continuity in “Teso dos Bichos”) and a collection of bumpers from the FX channel, in which everyone from makeup FX creator Toby Lindala to cinematographer John S. Bartley to the catering/craft service people get their due. There’s inevitable duplication among all these supplements, but not so much that X Files fans won’t want to plow through all of them.
