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The X-Files - The Complete Fifth Season

The fifth season of the X-files is probably the most creative and versatile of all. Again we can see the combination of complete analysis of subjects with intelligent plots. There is a clear improvement of writing skills, use of dramatic structures, and wide research of its subjects, which significantly contributes to the season’s achievement. Some of the best episodes of the whole series are in this season with a special mention to those that are a tribute to certain supernatural stories or creatures. It’s the case of "The Post-Modern Prometheus," that deserves to be elected as the best of all for its carefulness and richness of detail. Shot in black and white, this episode is a tribute to classic creature stories. The title refers to “Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus,” the infamous novel of Mary Shelley, in which a scientist crafts a man, like the mythological character Prometheus, using parts from dead bodies and giving him life through electricity. Shelley's story was written in the nineteenth century, near the dawn of the industrial revolution, when research in the phenomenon of electricity was beginning. Chris Carter, the series creator who wrote the episode, updated the subject using the scientific mystery of our time, genetics, and discussing the so criticized over-reaching of man desiring to to create life himself. All characters common to this story are there: the mad scientist (or maybe a visionary and daring one); and the furious mob with torches and pitchforks in the form of the tabloids and Jerry Springer, whose show usually exhibits strange cases of people with physical anomalies who provoke our curiosity and our repulsion, as all monster stories do. The genre is deeply analyzed and all psychological interpretations are there: the scape goat mechanism--a projection of the dark aspects of our human natures onto creatures, something that Gothic literature did better than any other. In the episode, Mulder and Scully are attracted to a small town in which a woman claims to have been impregnated by a deformed creature. Dark photography, bolts of lightning, every aspect common to this literary and cinematic genre is used, even the scientist’s name comes from a Gothic writer. Like “Post-Modern Prometheus” “Bad Blood” is another amazing episode. It also portrays another very popular creature--vampires. However, it takes a delightful comic approach. One of the best aspects of this series is that it knows how to explore its own absurdity. In “Bad Blood” the FBI agents travel to another small town to investigate a series of nocturnal exsanguinations, where they try to discover which kind of vampire they are dealing with from among a huge variation of cultural types. “Detour” shows the duo investigating reports of strange creatures in an ancient forest. Aside from being another clever creature-episode, this one shows a subtle change in the characters behavior. Mulder and Scully’s relationship becomes more intimate and tender. Change is crucial to a long running series and the X-Files was never afraid to dare. In the “mytharc” episodes, for instance, Mulder changes his point of view about UFOs and life on another planets, becoming a non-believer. Initiated in “Redux” and “Redux II,” deepened in “Patient X” and "The Red and the Black," the change in Mulder’s beliefs is one of the things about this season. The fifth season also travels to past, telling viewers how Mulder first met his peculiar friends--the Lone Gunmen--in “Unusual Suspects.” It also explains the origins of Mulder’s paranoiac behavior. The beginning of the X-Files department is explained in "Travelers." This episode shows a young agent Mulder questioning a former FBI agent about one of the department's first cases, which dated back to the 1950. "Chinga" has a horror flair. Stephen King wrote this episode with Chris Carter, making Scully face the magical power of an evil doll, a sorcerer’s fetch, during a trip to (where else) Maine. The religious phenomenon of the seraphim angel is broached in “All Souls.” The murderers of physically deformed and mentally deficient young girls lead Agent Scully to question her beliefs and face the mysteries of her faith. The season is closed with “The End.” In it the X-Files department is closed again, more than that it’s completely destroyed, opening the door for the motion picture. The fifth season of the X-Files is definitely the best. It proved that for a show to last so long it needs unity and variety, change and progression. No other series with supernatural elements did that well as this one.

Written by: Edward Olivier

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