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The X-Files - The Complete Seventh Season

In its seventh season the X-Files had to face the challenge of how to remain fresh and original after more than one hundred and fifty episodes. A reinvention would be crucial for a successful season.

The series delivered some very well created episodes, relying on new narrative approaches and giving some answers for some old questions.

During this time the show was considered for being canceled, so the seventh season could have been the last and, in a certain way, it was. It’s the last one with Agent Mulder as head of the cast. In the following seasons he makes sporadic appearances in certain episodes, and Scully emerges as the main character.

Even though it is not as good as the former seasons some episodes deserve special attention. “Hungry” is one of these. It features a creature with an uncontrolled hunger for human brains. But, differently from the former episodes, which are told by following the agents’ point of view, this one follows the creature with Mulder and Scully appearing only at some moments. The writer chose to focus on the antagonist and his struggle to control his disease. It was a very good choice, changing the way the episode evolved and creating a brand new approach for the series.

“Millennium” has a double meaning. This episode works as closure for Chris Carter’s other series, Millennium, which shows a group of former FBI Agents acting as private investigators and offering consulting services for some cases. The group’s leader was Frank Black, a man with psychic powers. Millennium was not as successful as the X-Files and was canceled one year before.

Frank Black helps Mulder and Scully to solve a case about a necromancer by the dawn of the new millennium. This episode is the X-Files approach to the subject of zombies and is one of the best in this season. It also had a bonus--a widely expected moment by the show’s fans finally happens.

A character from the second season re-appears in “Orison.” The fetishist serial killer who abducted Scully escapes from jail and goes after her again, resulting in a nervous chase and another very good episode.

"The Amazing Maleeni" is a very entertaining story about magic and illusionists, showing a magician appearing dead after trying a very dangerous trick.

The practice of handling poisonous snakes as an act of faith is the subject of "Signs & Wonders." The episode portrays the investigator duo solving a murderer, involving a fundamentalist religious cult and devilish members within the church.

The truth about the abduction of Mulder’s sister is finally solved in the episodes "Sein und Zeit" and "Closure," following the creators’ decision of delivering some answers for old questions.

"X-Cops" is definitely the most creative episode in the entire season, showing Mulder and Scully ending up in an episode of the TV show “Cops.” It starts as a regular “Cops” show with an officer following a suspect, but takes a supernatural turn. This episode is entirely shot using the aesthetics of police shows, which gives a very realistic aspect for all the events. At a certain moment the police officers find Mulder and Scully investigating mysterious deaths in a dangerous neighborhood in L.A. and they become part of the show.

"Brand X" involves the tobacco industry making a research about a new brand of cigarettes, which could be much more deadly than the regular ones.

"Fight Club" is a comic relief episode, showing Mulder and Scully crossing paths with doppelgangers that generate mayhem each time they are close to each other.

This season also had three episodes written by actors: William B. Davis, who played the Cigarette Smoking Man, wrote "En Ami," Gillian Anderson wrote and directed “All things,” and David Duchovny wrote and directed "Hollywood A.D." Each episode has a different dramatic approach. Davis’ and Anderson’s episodes feature their own characters, deepening some aspects of their lives. Duchovny’s episode is completely different. It is a parody in which a Hollywood producer decides to make a film based on the investigations of Mulder and Scully.

The episode also had a special moment for the production crew, maybe something like a farewell or an appreciation for their efforts. The entire crew is shown watching the film in a movie theater in the opening scene.

Several moments in this season gave a feeling of the “last one:” the episodes made by the actors, the crew’s special moment, they all seem to be farewell moments, but FOX decided to stretch the series for two more seasons.

For many fans the X-Files actually ended with Mulder’s disappearance in the season’s last episode, “Requiem.” That would actually a good episode for the last one. It shows Mulder and Scully coming back to the same town where everything began, the same town where the “Pilot” episode was set. If it had been used as the ending it would have set up mysteries to be unveiled, maybe in a stand-alone motion picture, but that did not happen. Instead the fans had to witness the series’ prolonged agony while it continued falling through a descending line of quality.

Written by: Edward Olivier

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