The X-Files Season 2 Box Set

The X-Files managed to achieve something many "cult" TV series before it failed - obtain a mainstream fanbase. Its appeal was no doubt helped on by the sex appeal of its two stars (David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson), but it also took the unusual approach of attempting to debunk everything it was investigating through the character of Dana Scully (Anderson), providing a solid grounding in reality for the viewer.

Season Two is where the story arc really starts to pick up some momentum. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, The X-Files is a cross between a traditional episodic series, where each episode tells a different story (such as M*A*S*H) and a continuing serial, where each episode is a continuation of the previous (like Neighbours). Instead, there is an over-all story being told over the life of the show - some episodes may be devoted to it, others may ignore it completely and focus on something else.

Season Two has a nice balance between Arc episodes, where the alien conspiracy is developed, and individual stories, on a completely indpendant thread. This was the time when missing an episode would not automatically mean losing the plot - not that anyone watching the show in those days would have considered missing an episode and thus risking spoilers during water-cooler chat the following day. It does however mean that it is quite enjoyable to sit down and re-watch selected episodes in whichever order you wish - although keep in mind that there are a couple of two-parters (Duane Barry/Ascension and Colony/End Game.)

"I know I was directing the X-Files when I heard myself say, 'I want the pus to go left to right' - Rob Bowman."

Episode Listing for Season Two

• Little Green Men
• The Host
• Blood
• Sleepless
• Duane Barry
• Ascension
• 3
• One Breath
• Firewalker
• Red Museum
• Excelsius Dei
• Aubrey
• Irresistible
• Die Hand Die Verletzt
• Fresh Bones
• Colony
• End Game
• Fearful Symmetry
• Dod Kalm
• Humbug
• The Calusari
• F. Emasculata
• Soft Light
• Our Town
• Anasazi

More information can be found at Fox's official X-Files website.

Even though we're talking about a television show, this was a show created in the 1990s, so good quality footage should not be hard to come by. Unfortunately, image quality on The X-Files: The Complete Second Season is a bit hit and miss. At times the video looks good, just like when it was first broadcast, but there are moments when problems that only DVD can suffer from come out from the shadows. Most notably involving mpeg artifacting on complex shades of colour (surely Gillian wasn't allowed on set with make-up that blotchy!)

Black levels are intense (none of that light black here!) which is a relief, as The X-Files uses a Hitchcock-ian approach, relying on our imagination to increase the suspense and horror far beyond what could be achieved with visual effects - a rubber mask in shadow is much scarier than the same mask in daylight. Similarly, contrast is good, as our investigative duo wave around their (US $7500) torch beams in the aforementioned darkness.

The audio fairs better than the video, but then our ears can be a little more forgiving than our eyes, and the data to be compressed are not quite as complex. Recorded and originally broadcast in Dolby Surround, the soundtrack is focused on the front soundstage with most of the work being done by your center speaker. Again, this is a television drama, and is to be expected somewhat. Dialogue is clear, and once you've found your desired listening level you'll no longer need the remote.

What looks to be a long list of extras turns out to be a little disappointing:

• The Truth About Season Two a 15 minute documentary, with interviews with some of the crew and recurring actors, as well as some footage from behind the scenes. Notably absent are interviews with either of the two main stars of the show.
• Chris Carter Talks about Season Two Twelve interviews, each running to around two minutes, where Chris Carter talks about the decisions that were made during the creation of the following episodes:
  • Little Green Men
  • The Host
  • Sleepless
  • Duane Barry
  • Ascension
  • One Breath
  • Irresistible
  • Die Hand Die Verletzt
  • Colony
  • End Game
  • Humbug
  • Anasazi
• Behind the Scenes of End Game, Humbug and Anasazi showing how selected effects shots were handled. Each lasts in the vicinity of one to two minutes.
• Deleted Scenes from Sleepless, 3, Humbug and Anasazi. The last three are able to viewed as part of the episode, in addition to individually on the final disc. Although it could technically be described as "seamless" there is a noticeable pause when viewing the scene as part of the episode, as the player skips to and from the missing scene. As the scene removed from Sleepless was due to a casting change for X, it's re-inclusion into the episode does not make sense - instead of production audio, it includes a director's commentary.
• Behind the Truth nine TV spots from Fox's F/X cable TV channel showing behind the scenes of The X-Files.
• 49 Television promos in both 10 and 20 second formats for each episode, with the exception of Anasazi which only gets a 20 second spot. These are all lifted from the original American television prime-time run.

The X-Files was a television phenomena - a cult show that broke through traditional cult boundaries. Fans were still obsessed, with new websites and fanzines springing up everday, yet the fanbase was noticeably wider than previous cult shows.

Season Two was one of the best periods of the show - the surface of the conspiracy was only just beginning to be scratched, and many more secrets were still to be discovered, let alone revealed. Each episode seemed to ask more questions than it answered, and left you dangling wanting more.

Now, it's available to own - the entire season in a single package, something which Fox should be commended for, and of which other television studios should note. Now you can host that marathon screening without having to rewind any video tapes!

Sure, it may not always look perfect, but it's definitely not so bad as to be unwatchable.

Don't tell me you watch it just for Gillian and David?