Spring Break
X-treme 'X-Files'
Cult classic's re-release puts myths to rest
By: Robert Saucedo
Issue date: 1/31/06 Section: Aggielife
"The X-Files" is a pop culture juggernaut. From surviving a normally lethal Friday night time-slot to releasing a theatrical motion picture spin-off while the show was still on the air, Chris Carter's hour-long sci-fi spectacle gathered an immensely devoted legion of fans during its nine-year run.
While it has been available on DVD for some time, few collectors could afford to buy "The X-Files" at the astronomical cost of $100 per box set. To compensate for high costs, Fox began releasing smaller packages this past summer. These "Mythology" sets only offered viewers the episodes that dealt with the alien conspiracy that haunted Mulder and Scully over the series' run. This was all well and good, but any X-phile knows the best episodes were always those with non-alien plots.
Thankfully, Fox is at it again. This Tuesday will see the re-release of the first three seasons at half the original price. Below are the four best "non-Mythology" episodes from the first three seasons. Remember, the truth is now a whole lot cheaper.
Episode: "Squeeze"
Air Date: Sept. 24, 1993
Plot: In the third episode of the first season, FBI agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate a homicide case with no apparent point of entry. While perusing leads, Mulder discovers that similar cases have occurred in 30-year intervals over the last 90 years. Soon it becomes apparent that the culprit is a mutant who wakes from hibernation every 30 years to eat five human livers.
Trivia: Not only is "Squeeze" the first non-alien X-File, it also introduced Eugene Tooms, the first recurring supernatural villain who would return in episode 21, "Tooms."
Episode: "Beyond the Sea"
Air Date: Jan. 7, 1994
Plot: Mulder and Scully encounter Luther Lee Boggs, a death row inmate who claims to be psychic. In return for help in locating a serial killer at large, Boggs wishes to be given a lesser sentence of life in prison. A mixture of "Silence of the Lambs" and "The Gift," the first season's 13th episode is a taunt psychological thriller with an unexpected twist ending.
While it has been available on DVD for some time, few collectors could afford to buy "The X-Files" at the astronomical cost of $100 per box set. To compensate for high costs, Fox began releasing smaller packages this past summer. These "Mythology" sets only offered viewers the episodes that dealt with the alien conspiracy that haunted Mulder and Scully over the series' run. This was all well and good, but any X-phile knows the best episodes were always those with non-alien plots.
Thankfully, Fox is at it again. This Tuesday will see the re-release of the first three seasons at half the original price. Below are the four best "non-Mythology" episodes from the first three seasons. Remember, the truth is now a whole lot cheaper.
Episode: "Squeeze"
Air Date: Sept. 24, 1993
Plot: In the third episode of the first season, FBI agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate a homicide case with no apparent point of entry. While perusing leads, Mulder discovers that similar cases have occurred in 30-year intervals over the last 90 years. Soon it becomes apparent that the culprit is a mutant who wakes from hibernation every 30 years to eat five human livers.
Trivia: Not only is "Squeeze" the first non-alien X-File, it also introduced Eugene Tooms, the first recurring supernatural villain who would return in episode 21, "Tooms."
Episode: "Beyond the Sea"
Air Date: Jan. 7, 1994
Plot: Mulder and Scully encounter Luther Lee Boggs, a death row inmate who claims to be psychic. In return for help in locating a serial killer at large, Boggs wishes to be given a lesser sentence of life in prison. A mixture of "Silence of the Lambs" and "The Gift," the first season's 13th episode is a taunt psychological thriller with an unexpected twist ending.
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