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The X Files: Season 2 [1994]

RRP: £34.99
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Season Two, the 1994-95 run, of The X Files was the one where creator Chris Carter, having had a surprise hit when he expected a one-season wonder, started trying to make sense of all the storylines he had thrown into the pile in the first year. Moreover, he had to cope with Gillian Anderson's maternity leave by having Scully get abducted by aliens (back then, a pretty fresh device) for a few episodes and come back strangely altered. The season also inaugurated the tradition of opening ("Little Green Men") and closing ("Anasazi") with the show's worst episodes, both pot-boiling attempts to keep the alien infiltration/government conspiracy balls up in the air while seeming to offer narrative forward-thrusts or revelations.

But it's also a show noticeably surer of itself than Season One, with its stars reading from the same page in terms of their characters' relationship and attitudes to the wondrous. Scully's no-longer-workable scepticism finally starts to erode in the face of Mulder's increasingly cracked belief. There are fewer marking-time leftover-monster-of-the-week shows--although we do get a human fluke ("The Host"), vampires ("3"), an invisible rapist ("Excelsius Dei") voodoo ("Fresh Bones")--and the flying-saucer stories at last seem to be going somewhere. The powerful two-episode run ("Duane Barry", "Ascension") features Steve Railsback as Mulder's possible future, an FBI agent burned out after a UFO abduction who has become a hostage-taking terrorist, which climaxes with Scully's disappearance into the light. The standout episode is also a stand-alone--"Humbug"--the first and still most successful of the show's self-parodies (written by Darin Morgan, who had played the Flukeman in "The Host"), in which the agents investigate a murder in a circus freakshow, allowing the actors to make fun of the mannerisms they have earnestly built up in a run of solemn, even somnolent, explorations of the murk. Other worthy efforts: "Aubrey", about genetic memory; "Irresistible", a rare (and creepy) straight psycho-chiller with little paranormal content; and "The Calusari", a good ghost/mystery. Rising deputy characters include Nicholas Lea as the perfidious Krycek and Brian Thompson as the shapeshifting alien bounty hunters. Notable guest stars: Charles Martin Smith, C.C.H. Pounder, Leland Orser, Terry O'Quinn, Bruce Weitz, Daniel Benzali, John Savage, Vincent Schiavelli, Tony Shalhoub. --Kim Newman

Even better than the first season
Review date: 2008-04-10 Rating: 10 out of 10

A great follow up season.

The conspiracy grows, the great episodes just keep coming.

Not much else to say but - watch it!!

Reviews

Really gets going!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review date: 2007-06-05 Rating: 10 out of 10

Season 2 of the x files is B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T! i cant sing this show's praises enough, season two really gets going, and the show really comes into its own! much better special effects, more varied story lines, ALOT more creepy than season 1! i cant recommend it enough!!!!! buy it! you'll be hooked for sure if season 1 didnt have that effect on you!

The best science fiction has to offer on modern television.
Review date: 2007-05-10 Rating: 10 out of 10

Of late there has been a renaissance of middle to good sci-fi programming on television, both from the United States (Eureka, Heroes, The 4400, the short lived Invasion,Surface and Threshold as well) and the United Kingdom (Dr. Who, Torchwood, Primeval). However, none of these match the X-Files for sheer entertainment, consistent quality scriptwriting and the most appealing leads ever to grace the small screen, Mulder and Scully.

By today's cgi standards some of the episodes in Season 1 appear ugly but by the Season 2, the show had larger budgets and better production values, quality that still holds up 14 years after the first episode and 5 years after the last. Yet, it was the sheer variety of stories - the stand alone episodes of horror, the paranormal and how warped nature can be as well as the alien invasion conspiracy arc - that were fascinating and compelling. In many of the episodes you could sense the paranoia, the creeping horror and you got the feeling that little in the world was under control. None of the other modern series even come close to this and tend to be more graphic and leave little to the imagination.

Season 2 was a much bigger season with the addition of new regular characters such as 'X' who took over from Deep Throat as Mulder's reluctant informant and the duplicitous 'Alex Krycek' played by Nicholas Lea (who actually guested in a one-shot appearance on "Gender Bender" in Season 1 as a totally different character), as well as expanding the roles of 'A.D. Skinner', as Mulder's immediate boss at the F.B.I, and the 'Cigarette Smoking Man'. Season 2 had higher budgets, with stories often spanning more than one episode and the 'Mythology' arc of the government/alien conspiracy really gets going in a more cohesive fashion The season also has one of the better villains in the series, the alien bounty hunter. The stand alone episodes too were also better, such as "The Host", "Sleepless" and "Die Hand Der Verletz" and although there were fewer 'monster-of-the-week episodes, the stand alone episodes better integrated some continuing events from the 'Mythology' episodes so the whole season flows well with better continuity. However, by far it is this latter story arc that had the best episodes such as "Little Green Man", "Duane Barry", "Ascension", "Colony", "End Game", and "Anasazi". Other notable episodes were "Dod Kalm" and "Humbug".

Overall, Season 2 was, in my opinion, darker, scarier and more pessimistic than Season 1, and better for it. The relationship between Mulder and Scully matured with the latter's scepticism from Season 1 diminishing as events unfold lending credence to Mulder's obsessive beliefs and both become closer to each other. Season 2's bigger standing can also be seen with the presence of more notable guest stars such as C.C.H Pounder, John Savage, Tony Shalhoub, Bruce Weitz, Daniel Benzali and Charles Martin Smith among others.

Take my word for it. Buy all the seasons while they are on sale. You can buy the entire series for just under £115. Avoid the "Complete Collection" box as it is just a cheap carton housing the seasons 1 - 9 series and there have been many reports of cheap discs and cases that have been damaged. Instead buy the separate season sets housed in the "M-Lock" cases. They are the same as the initial digipack sets including all the special features and while they are not as pretty they are more durable.

Not as good as some might suggest
Review date: 2007-04-03 Rating: 8 out of 10

I've watched The X Files from the beginning, and series somehow stands out for some wrong reasons. I'll admit, it has a fair share of fantastic episodes, but while the series starts off good, and ends very well, it dips in the middle with a selection of dark and bland devoted to murder. And after seeing the way The X Files progressed, this is deffinately not the best direction they went in. These episodes are based loosely around crazed family members, or characters influenced by strange powers that makes them go out on murderous rampages, and I have to say, its just not as satisfying as the Mulder and Scully who'll uncover more paranormal/extra-terrestial mysterys.
Whereas these mythological and more paranormal plots have always entertained better with puzzles, interesting characters, and humour, these darker episodes just make you feel moody after watching them.
Having said that, their are some brighter and more entertaining plots in this series, but whether or not its worth buying just for them, is debatable. Either way, its pretty much 50/50, but the previous serious was alot more devoted to what The X Files is all about.

A great show gets going
Review date: 2006-11-01 Rating: 10 out of 10

The X-Files gets properly underway with season 2, with a good mix of stand-alone episodes and some solid contributions to the emerging `mythology'. The closure of the X-Files section at the end of season 1 lasts some way into the season, and makes for some interesting changes in the way the agents get to work together. We meet Mulder's new informant `X', and the duplicitous Alex Krycek. A.D. Skinner and The Cigarette-Smoking Man get bigger roles.

The show feels more confident - we have stories spread over more than one episode for the first time, and signs of a lighter, self-referential mood from writer Darin Morgan in `Humbug'. Although I don't rate this season as highly as some subsequent ones, it's still very good indeed.

Favourites:
Duane Barry, Ascension, One Breath, Red Museum, The Calusari, Anasazi

Episodes I remember not liking, but enjoyed this time round:
Soft Light, `3'

Weak points:
Little Green Men - worth seeing for the scenes between Mulder & Scully, but actually quite disappointing.

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
William B. Davis
David Duchovny
Mitch Pileggi
Nicholas Lea
Gillian Anderson

Recording label: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EAN: 5039036018258
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2004-10-11
Number of discs: 7
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Theatrical release date: 1993-09-10
Language: English (Original Language)

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The X Files: Season 2 [1994]

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