Bidding a fond adieu to the X-Files

I pounced upon my Blockbuster-by-mail DVD envelopes with a squeal of glee last week. This caused Mr. Mouse to ask what had been delivered. The first two disks of the final season, a/k/a S9, of the X-Files, of course. Mr. Mouse then asked why I was so squealy - hadn't I already watched all the seasons when they originally aired (not to mention every SciFi SyFy re-run I can find)? Yes, I have seen all the episodes already, but no, that's not why I was excited. The excitement comes from nearing the end of my quest to re-watch all nine seasons.

About this here series end, then. I wrote about this not too long ago, musing that Agent Doggett (Robert Patrick) did a pretty good job picking up the pieces after David Duchovny bailed. Now, after watching S9E1-8, I'd like to say that Agent Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) is no Robert Patrick. Good grief, she SUCKS. She can't act for shit, standing around all cow-eyed and dim, and her line readings are, like, try to keep up, Gish! Ugh.

And while I'm complaining about the final X-Files season, Scully is driving me nuts too. Gone is the tough, no-nonsense, trigger-happy agent we knew and loved for eight seasons. All she's done to date in S9 is mope about her lost love and baby-daddy Mulder, even calling herself "Dana" in her weepy emails to him. Since when did they ever call each other by their first names? Ugh again. And, to rub salt in the wound, she even handed off her gun to stoopid Agent Reyes in one episode. The old Scully would never give her gun to anyone.

Anyway, I'm glad the X-Files didn't go any further than this ninth season since it was, by that time, a pale imitation of its former self. I'm also glad to be watching the final episodes again, though, because I do love serialized television and this show had enough good in it to compensate for this weak sauce. It's like saying good-bye to a very old friend.