I'm not a fan of the way that Trakt.tv names its 1-10 numbered rankings. So, here's my own means of ranking seasons and episodes:
1-2 Poor, 3-4 Fair, 5-6 Good, 7-8 Very Good, 9-10 Excellent
My Season 8 average episode rating: 4.0
My favorite episodes of this season are:
"Sunshine Days" (Writer: Vince Gilligan) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Release" (Writer: David Amann) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"4-D" (Writer: Steven Maeda) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
My 3 least liked episodes of the season are:
"Provenance" (Writer: Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz) - Mythology episode
"Nothing Important Happened Today" (Writer: Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz) - Mythology episode
"Trust NO 1" (Writer: Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz) - Mythology episode
Season 9 is easily the worst of the original nine season run of the series. The Mythology/Story-Arc episodes were incredibly underwhelming, including the finale "The Truth". I would have supported the series continuing with Agents Reyes and Doggett investigating more strange cases, with the Mulder and Scully characters and the alien mythology just dropped. Season 9 did offer hints at freshness with Reyes and Doggett.
There are a lot of hit or miss segments in Season 2, but most of my personal favorite Night Gallery stories happen to come from it. While I could attribute that to the sheer number of segments, I don't think that's why. Instead, I'll credit the all-out experimentation and the variety of choices made by the directors in Season 2.
I'm not a fan of the way that Trakt.tv names its 1-10 numbered rankings. So, here's my own means of ranking seasons and episodes:
1-2 Poor, 3-4 Fair, 5-6 Good, 7-8 Very Good, 9-10 Excellent
My Season 8 average episode rating: 5.7
My favorite episodes of this season are:
"DeadAlive" (Writer: Chris Carter, Frank Sponitz) - Mythology episode
"Existence" (Writer: Chris Carter) - Mythology episode
"This Is Not Happening" (Writer: Chris Carter, Frank Sponitz) - Mythology episode
My 3 least liked episodes of the season are:
"Badlaa" (Writer: John Shiban) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Salvage" (Writer: Jeffrey Bell) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Medusa" (Writer: Frank Sponitz) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
After reviewing Season 8, it's pretty clear that the Mythology/Story-Arc episodes won me over this time.
Not even close to as entertaining (or scary) as Season One. Pretty disappointing.
I'm not a fan of the way that Trakt.tv names its 1-10 numbered rankings. So, here's my own means of ranking seasons and episodes:
1-2 Poor, 3-4 Fair, 5-6 Good, 7-8 Very Good, 9-10 Excellent
My Season 7 average episode rating: 5.3
My favorite episodes of this season are:
"Je Souhaite" (Writer: Vince Gilligan) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"X-Cops" (Writer: Vince Gilligan) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"The Amazing Maleeni" (Writer: Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
My 3 least liked episodes of the season are:
"Fight Club" (Writer: Chris Carter) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"All Things" (Writer: Gillian Anderson) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Signs and Wonders" (Writer: Jeffrey Bell) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
In my opinion, this was the worst season of the X-Files to date. The Monster-of-the-Week episodes were mostly, well...weak. And the mythology remains indecisive. In fact, the season finale ("Requiem") takes us back to the very first episode. It feels like an attempt to resuscitate the series.
I dislike the way that Trakt.tv names its 1-10 numbered rankings. So, here's my own scoring:
1-2 Poor, 3-4 Fair, 5-6 Good, 7-8 Very Good, 9-10 Excellent
My Season 6 average episode rating: 6.1
My favorite episodes of this season are:
"Dreamland" (Writer: Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Tithonus" (Writer: Vince Gilligan) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Arcadia" (Writer: Daniel Arkin) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
My 3 least liked episodes of the season are:
"Field Trip" (Writer: Vince Gilligan, John Shiban) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Monday" (Writer: Vince Gilligan, John Shiban) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Agua Mala" (Writer: David Amann) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
I really dislike the way that Trakt.tv names its 1-10 numbered rankings. So, here's my own means of ranking seasons and episodes:
1-2 Poor, 3-4 Fair, 5-6 Good, 7-8 Very Good, 9-10 Excellent
My Season 5 average episode rating: 6.6
My favorite episodes of this season are:
"Folie a Deux" (Writer: Vince Gilligan) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Detour" (Writer: Frank Spotnitz) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Bad Blood" (Writer: Vince Gilligan) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
My 3 least liked episodes of the season are:
"Kill Switch" (Writer: William Gibson, Tom Maddox) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"The Pine Bluff Variant" (Writer: John Shiban) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Schizogeny" (Writer: Jessica Scott, Mike Wollaeger) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
I really dislike the way that Trakt.tv names its 1-10 numbered rankings. So, here's my own means of ranking seasons and episodes:
1-2 Poor, 3-4 Fair, 5-6 Good, 7-8 Very Good, 9-10 Excellent
My Season 4 average episode rating: 6.2
My favorite episodes of this season are:
"Home" (Writer: Glen Morgan, James Wong) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Unruhe" (Writer: Vince Gilligan) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Tempus Fugit" (Writer: Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz) - Mythology episode
My 3 least liked episodes of the season are:
"Kaddish" (Writer: Howard Gordon) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Unrequited" (Writer: Howard Gordon, Chris Carter) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Demons" (Writer: RW Goodwin) - Mythology/Monster-of-the-Week episode
I really dislike the way that Trakt.tv names its 1-10 numbered rankings. So, here's my own means of ranking seasons and episodes:
1-2 Poor, 3-4 Fair, 5-6 Good, 7-8 Very Good, 9-10 Excellent
My Season 3 average episode rating: 6.5
My favorite episodes of this season are:
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (Writer: Darin Morgan) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"War of the Coprophages" (Writer: Darin Morgan) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Pusher" (Writer: Vince Gilligan) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" (Writer: Darin Morgan) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
My 3 least liked episodes of the season are:
"Avatar" (Writer: Howard Gordon, David Duchovny) - Mythology episode
"The Walk" (Writer: John Shiban) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Oubliette" (Writer: Charles Grant Craig) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
I really dislike the way that Trakt.tv names its 1-10 numbered rankings. So, here's my own means of ranking seasons and episodes:
1-2 Poor, 3-4 Fair, 5-6 Good, 7-8 Very Good, 9-10 Excellent
My Season 2 average episode rating: 6.1
My favorite episodes of this season are:
"Anasazi" (Writer: Chris Carter) - Mythology episode
"Irresistible" (Writer: Chris Carter) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Humbug" (Writer: Darin Morgan) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"The Host" (Writer: Chirs Carter) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
My 3 least liked episodes of the season are:
"3" (Writer: Chris Ruppenthal, Glen Morgan, James Wong) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Fearful Symmetry" (Writer: Steven DeJarnatt) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Excelsius Dei" (Writer: Paul Brown) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
I really dislike the way that Trakt.tv names its 1-10 numbered rankings. So, here's my own means of ranking seasons and episodes:
1-2 Poor, 3-4 Fair, 5-6 Good, 7-8 Very Good, 9-10 Excellent
My Season 1 average episode rating: 5.8
My favorite episodes of this season are:
"Squeeze" (Writer: Glen Morgan, James Wong) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Ice" (Writer: Glen Morgan, James Wong) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Eve" (Writer: Kenneth Biller, Chris Brancato) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
My 3 least liked episodes of the season are:
"Space" (Writer: Chris Carter) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"Ghost in the Machine" (Writer: Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
"The Jersey Devil" (Writer: Chirs Carter) - Monster-of-the-Week episode
This is a really good season. Annie Wilkes is an amazing character. I like the way that this ties into the Stephen King universe. I'm not sure how accurately it does so, but it's neat to see "'Salem's Lot" tied to "Misery" attached to "Needful Things". I'm not sure if "The Kid" is Randall Flagg, the Devil, or just some sort of dark angel. Ultimately, it doesn't matter. This is just an entertaining story.
I really like the Anthology/Story Arc format. Fringe is like The X-Files in that sense but ties the two formats together better. I hope this continues with upcoming seasons but I'd bet it will be more Story Arc focused. This is a pretty gory show. Walter is my favorite character so far. Olivia is a little too spunky sometimes.
This was a great season. It was wonderfully shot. The characters were believable and the cast was terrific. I liked that it was based on a real event. It was a great looking period piece. The music was sparse and unsettling. Crozier and Fitzjames were great characters, as were Goodsir and Blanky.
This is an interesting but confusing extension of the history of Castle Rock, Stephen King's most notorious locale. This is a moody, atmospheric tale that offers lots of creepy moments and minimal jump scares. The ending is a bit anti-climactic, and it honestly felt like a wrap-up that Stephen King would have written. Here's hoping that Season 2 is an entirely unrelated tale and not the continuation of the ground covered in Season 1.
Anthology series are making a much needed comeback. The single episode, short story format covered by such legendary series and the Twilight Zone, the Outer Limits, Tales From the Crypt, etc. will never be as popular or numerous as they once were. For those of us that love anthologies, that's a bummer. But these single season anthologies like Castle Rock, True Detective, and potentially, The Terror, offer entry into great stories only a dozen or so episodes deep, without the need to watch season after season of returning characters and continuations of convoluted story arcs once the show gets popular.
