The X-Files: Season 10

By: Robert Murphy

There is always an issue with trying to capture lighting in a bottle seeing as it was already impossible the first time it happened, so when people try to reboot a series that has long since gone off the radar, it can be hard to get the same spark. It doesn't hurt however that series creator Chris Carter returned to work on the tenth season of The X-Files rebooted return to television as well as lead actor David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. The series was earmarked for a six episode run of the cult classic that depicted two FBI agents that were assigned cases involving strange phenomenon or suspected elements of the supernatural. But, by the end of the final episode there are for more questions than answers and viewers are left to question if there is more. Just like the show always has.

The shows revival though is a bit of a tricky one to track as it didn't follow the new plot line that it sets forth in the first episode but rather it set out to try and be another season for the show, mixing an overarching story with some other cases thrown in the middle. This would normally be fine since the odd ball cases that Scully (Anderson) and Mulder (Duchovny) would go on were just as interesting as the overall conspiracy that Mulder has been trying to hunt down his entire life. The first episode as well as the finale capitalize on this conspiracy theory but add in real 20th century paranoia to drive it all home. Guest star Joel McHale plays Tad O'Malley who makes a living off of "revealing" the truth about government's spying on us with micro drones, poising us with chemicals through plane slipstreams and perhaps the most popular being the 9/11 attacks being the start of a global initiative against humanity. What this all did perfectly is bring Mulder's theories up to date and catches viewers up to what has been happening behind the scenes since the show went off the air even though Joel McHale didn't quite feel at home delivering all this news. 

It's a great set up to be sure and while many others out there viewed the first episode as a bumpy start, I saw it as a perfect blend of new cult theory meats the old cult theory. What's more is Anderson and Duchovny still proved to have the one screen chemistry that made The X-Files so watchable back in it's hay day, if it weren't for these two at the forefront I'm not sure the show would have ever made it past it's first season. The real issue for the reboot is perhaps what comes after the first episode as the middle chunks to the story are more or less random cases and does not continue this new overarching story. These episodes are not bad in anyway shape or form, in fact the second episode itself is the creepiest and most attune to the shows former format as a boy with strange telekinetic powers searches for something from his past that Mulder and Scully inevitably get wrapped up in. 

The third episode is perhaps the most bizarre of the bunch when guest star Rhys Darby comes down with an apparent case of reverse monsterism, transforming from weird lizard creature to average middle aged man overnight. It's plucky to say the least but overall it felt like a wash of an episode, don't get me wrong Darby does a fantastic job as he describes the woes of being a pathetic middle aged man. Lying about his sex life, forced to get a job and watching pornography. Mulder too has his own crisis in this episode about whether or not his years at the bureau have all been a waste as he looks over old case files and finds out things like a "rockman" siting was just a mascot selling tires. But, this silliness doesn't come together well throughout the episode and with a six episode run, the show did not have the episode to waste on something like this. 

The fourth episode was perhaps the most gruesome display I have ever seen come from the series as a street art inspired monster called the "garbage man" takes out various people in the community that are threatening homeless people. But, the fifth episode proved to be a favorite of mine when two fresh faced young agents come to Scully and Mulder for advice on a terror cell case they are working. Chris Carter obviously drawing a parallel to young Scully and Mulder here by creating clones of their former selves with Agent Miller (Robbie Amell) and Agent Einstein (Lauren Ambrose). But the episode is far more humorous and enlightening than it is pure ridiculousness. The episode shows just how far Scully and Mulder have come after working with one another, Mulder obviously opening Scully up to the supernatural and making her less of a skeptic while Scully has made Mulder more of a believer in her faith and her judgment as a partner in life/work.

And then just as quickly as it started the final episode was ready to rocket the overall story forward in a record time rushing through just about everything that was laid out in the premiere. The sheer amount of information alone is enough to give viewers whiplash in this last episode as an epidemic breaks out causing panic for Mulder and Scully. The ideas themselves were great, watching along I couldn't help but feel that there is some wonderful elements to the story coming full circle, truths potentially coming to light and our main characters finally coming to blows with the "smoking man." It could have been a magnificent send off but it just doesn't follow through, what's worse is it ends in a cliffhanger with no news as to whether or not there will ever be another season down the road. It feels a little cheap and if the story had maybe followed this overarcing story more then viewers could have had a satisfying ending to what was a surprising series of stories in the supernatural. 

The X-Files return to television was something I'm sure many were excited about and it is truly wonderful to see that everyone decided it was worth their time to come back to the show and send it off right. What's more is the charm was all still there as Mulder and Scully feel like they never left one another and had a commanding on screen performance. But, the show itself didn't have the time to pull off what it aimed to achieve as it showed off various ideas for episodes but nothing solid for the overall story. Added on top of that a cliff hanger hanging in the wind and there is just no telling what will come out of this strange effort to revivalist the series. 

Good:

- Mulder and Scully are still perfect together

- Premier episode set forth potentially great ground work

- Episodes rang true to the old school X-Files

Bad:

- Episode three was simply bonkers and felt like a waste for a miniseries

- New story set forth fell flat in the finale

- Cliff hanger ending?

Scully Rating: 6.0 out of 10

Community (Season 6)

By: Robert Murphy

It's not entirely out of the question for a show to worry about whether or not it will be back for another season the following year but one show perhaps takes the cake for not only worrying about that fact but making large jokes at that expense. Community ended it's fifth season with a touching goodbye which left the school still standing and somehow still a school but did not seem to be coming back any time soon. The internet had something to say about that though as the sixth season aired it's thirteen episode season on Yahoo Screen. Whether this was a good or a bad thing remained to be seen so as a long time fan I was determined to give the show the benefit of the doubt as I've always done and see just what tricks lay in store. 

The formula for our main cast stays pretty much the same as it always has over the past couple of years. It is now the sixth year or "season" as Abed (Danny Pudi) will often refer to it as and somehow the group is all still here but that is in order to save the school from finally imploding on itself. Jeff (Joel McHale) is still teaching law or barely teaching I should say, one of his desk drawers actually being an ice box for his scotch is evidence of how much he is trying to teach. Britta (Gillian Jacobs) has fallen on tough times and is now homeless but still fighting the good fight against everything having to do with the government. And then finally you have the always hardworking Annie (Alison Brie) who starts the first episode happily excited in completing the last item on the save Greendale agenda. This joy however is offset when decades of brightly colored frisbees come crashing down around each and every one of them. It's in this moment that you realize it is a good thing that the formula hasn't changed and that things will remain much in the same ridiculous fashion that they always have been. 

A big fear for me with the transition into online streaming was whether or not things would be inherently different but this doesn't seem to be the case. The only noticeable difference as the show makes this transition is perhaps in it's budget as items throughout the show appear to be slightly downgraded from it's NBC days. This doesn't stop the show from being handled with the same level of care and returning to it's original ways all those years ago when it first aired.

New characters are nothing new to the series, the addition of Jonathon Banks as the Intro to Criminology teacher and new member of the group proved to be a real winner in my eyes. Community hoped to continue this trend with the addition of two new members now that more people than ever have gone and left the show for their various reason. First we have Frankie Dart (Paget Brewster) who is a big pencil pusher type that joins the group now that it is no longer about studying and more about saving Greendale from getting shut down. She knows all the ins and outs to help them in a bigger fashion but she doesn't click with the group at first as she acts much like Abed with a robotic sense of human interaction. It also doesn't help that she comes in and takes charge of most everything leading to a classic Community theme of turning the whole school into some sort of era time piece, this time it was a 1920's speakeasy. Frankie gives a very adult approach to everything that goes on at the school which is where her humor lies, while everyone else including Jeff should be acting more adult they often goof off and cause things like a giant paintball game that destroys the school, an episode and event which I was happy to see return.

We then have our other new member who does the impossible and tricks Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) into buying an outdated three dimensional program for the school. The show continues to stay at the forefront when it comes to it's pop culture references like this one but it would seem that this 3D system is more like something out of a bad 90's film than the ground breaking stuff that is happening today. The man responsible for this is Elroy (Keith David) and he that one character that had the get rich quick scheme and was suppose to be rocketed into fame and fortune but is now living out of an R/V selling these terrible systems. He sort of becomes the Pierce (Chevy Chase) of the group who is lost in some other time period with his mannerisms and ideas but somehow he fits in with the group. Elroy is perhaps my favorite new character as I really liked the idea of an older guy trying to fit in with a younger group of people, it works in an odd sort of dynamic and certainly creates some good one off jokes that Community does so well.

The shows brand of pop culture humor and unique ways of branding things were one of it's best points way back when and I feel this is where this new season want to return to. You don't have Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed together with their childlike imaginations to inspire a huge school wide transformation and yet through years of being around Troy and Abed the group picked up this little ability and sends the school back to the 1920's as I said earlier. You then have moments in the episode "Advanced Safety Features) where Britta's boyfriend returns once again after he was expelled for trying to sell exclusive products to students and the school in the first season. The entire episode is one big plug for Honda and their new line of vehicles but at the same time it doesn't feel like a plug, you're bringing the audience in on the joke and it works wonderfully. You then have episodes like "Modern Espionage" and "Intro to Recycled Cinema" where they make reference to James Bond and the other being about making a crummy space movie staring Chang (Ken Jeong), clearly poking fun at Star Wars. "Modern Espionage" being my favorite for their recreation of the famous elevator scene in Captain America: Winter Soldier and the Dean somehow taking out a group of muscle headed maintenance men.

I am not entirely sure what the future holds for Community as the final episode makes obvious reference to Abed's quote of a good show making six seasons and a movie but the entire episode makes me question that ability as the crew says another heartfelt goodbye to one another. This season however was a return to form an classic show moments with huge paintball fights, school wide transformations and references to pop culture and modern trends. While not every episode hit for me, it's hard to find any show that would, but everything felt like a return to form for the show and now we must wait to see if that movie is just around the corner.

Good:

- A classic return to form for Community

- Original characters like Jeff, Abed and Annie are still doing what they do best

- New characters Frankie and Elroy are great additions

Bad:

- A few hit or miss episodes

- Some downgraded prop design and effects with the transition to Yahoo

Scully Rating: 8.7 out of 10