"The X Files" The End (1998)

Director:

R.W. Goodwin

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
Chris Carter (written by)

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

17 May 1998 (Season 5, Episode 20)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

During a chess tournament, a young boy becomes the centre of an investigation concerning the alien mythology. Meanwhile a face from Agent Mulder's past causes friction in his relationship with Agent Scully. |

Plot Keywords:

Cliffhanger | Male Female Relationship | Title Spoken By Character | FBI | FBI Agent

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Mitch Pileggi	...	Walter Skinner
Nicholas Lea	...	Alex Krycek
William B. Davis	...	Cigarette Smoking Man / CGB Spender
Mimi Rogers	...	Agent Diana Fowley
Jeff Gulka	...	Gibson Andrew Praise
Martin Ferrero	...	Shooter
Michael Shamus Wiles	...	Black-Haired Man
Chris Owens	...	FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Spender
George Murdock	...	Elder #2
Tom Braidwood	...	Melvin Frohike
Dean Haglund	...	Richard 'Ringo' Langly
Bruce Harwood	...	John Fitzgerald Byers
Don S. Williams	...	Elder #1

Runtime:

Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Goofs:

Continuity: When the sniper shoots the chess player, the player falls knocking the chessboard and pieces on to the floor. However, in the next shot the board is back on the table.

Quotes:

Fox Mulder: You know, when I first met you I figured you were just ambitious. Then this morning my opinion changed and I thought you were arrogant. Now I'm beginning to wonder what you're protecting.
FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Spender: I'm just trying to run this thing right. Not like some ridiculous, paranormal free-for-all.
Fox Mulder: You're insulting me when you should be taking notes. Somehow you got the big assignment, but just because you're wearing the suit doesn't mean it fits. You're lucky you're not busy diffusing an international incident, kissing some serious Russian ass and sending a whole lot of agents barking down a whole lot of bad leads. Now the kid is the key to this. And the shooter knows why. Excuse me.

Movie Connections:

Features "The Simpsons" (1989)

Season Five Review

Season Five is certainly a continuation of the excellence we expect from "The X Files", with the strongest mythology episodes since season 2 and a few memorable Monster of the Week episodes. I feel like there's something missing here though. One of the things that set "The X Files" apart was that it always had a sense of humor about itself, and despite containing what is perhaps the funniest X-File of all, "Bad Blood" ("Oh now what did you DO THAT for?! When I'm done you're in BIIIG trouble!") and perennial feel-good classic "The Post-Modern Prometheus", this season mostly feels joyless, and quite frankly, sometimes the drama isn't strong enough to substitute for the almost complete lack of humor present in most episodes here. That's not to say season 5 isn't great, because it really is a terrific bunch of episodes with several outright classics, perhaps more than all but one or two seasons, just that it feels a little... angsty.

I thought the best episodes were:

Redux II- everything an X-phile should expect from a good mythology episode

Unusual Suspects- The Lone Gunmen's own episode? Of course it's great. You have to love the presence of disoriented young Mulder.

The Post-Modern Prometheus- Sure it's gimmicky. It's also genuine and sweet and effective and hilarious.

Bad Blood- One of the best X File scripts. How can anyone dispute this episode's greatness? Folie a Deux- BUG ZOMBIES.

The End- a perfect episode, one of the very best. Too bad this would mark the end for Vancouver and the move to LA. The mythology arc would stay good all through season 6, then fall apart.

Average rating based on ratings for all episodes: 7.8/10