The X-Files

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Season 8
  • Network: FOX
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 10, 1993
Season #: 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
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No score yet - based on 2 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
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Critic Reviews

  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    Jun 13, 2013
    91
    All this tension turns out to be great for the show's pulse, which had been fluttering last season. In too many of season 7's adventures, Duchovny and Anderson looked as if they'd been asked to go investigate who shot J.R. Ewing; their boredom was showing. ... [This season's first two episodes discover] a new force field of energy.
  2. People Weekly
    Reviewed by: Mike Lipton
    Jun 27, 2013
    42
    Once hot show sliding toward X-tinction.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 65 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 65
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 65
  3. Negative: 4 out of 65
  1. drlowdon
    Aug 22, 2018
    8
    Following David Duchovny’s decison to only appear in eight episodes of the eighth season the writers were forced to write around his absenceFollowing David Duchovny’s decison to only appear in eight episodes of the eighth season the writers were forced to write around his absence by having his character disappear and introducing a new character to take up the reigns at The X-Files.

    That new character is John Doggett, a character that many fans seemed to instantly dislike fearing he was being lined up as Mulder replacement. To be fair Robert Patrick, who is probably best remembered for his iconic role in Terminator 2, does an excellent job of quickly establishing Doggett as an interesting character but his introduction only highlights just how important the chemistry between Duchovny and Anderson is to this show. The Mulder/Scully dynamic had a way of lifting even the most average of scripts to something better and as good as both Patrick and Anderson are as actors that chemistry just simply isn’t the same. When Duchovny returns for the final third of the season it’s amazing just how quickly he and Anderson are able to find that old groove.

    What this eighth season does have going for it however is arguably the clearest overarching plot since the shows inception. Many of the old dangling threads from the 150+ episodes are forgotten with the the first half of the season focusing on the search for Mulder (in amongst the usual stand alone episodes of course) before switching to the mystery behind Scully’s baby. As with a few of the previous seasons this could easily have served as a satisfying ending for the show, but that’s a discussion best saved for my season nine review......    … Full Review »
  2. ForReals13
    Apr 7, 2018
    8
    Within A-. Without A-. Patience B. Roadrunners B+. Invocation B.
    Redrum A-. Via Negativa B. Surekill C+. Salvage C+. Badlaa C+.
    The Gift B+.    Within A-. Without A-. Patience B. Roadrunners B+. Invocation B.
    Redrum A-. Via Negativa B. Surekill C+. Salvage C+. Badlaa C+.
    The Gift B+. Medusa B-. Per Manum B+.
    This Is Not Happening A-. Deadalive B+. Three Words B+.
    Empedocles B-. Vienen B+. Alone B+. Essence A-. Existence A.    … Full Review »
  3. MovieMasterEd
    Mar 22, 2016
    7
    The eighth season of The X-Files would be the perfect last season of the show, and a pretty solid first season of a new show born from theThe eighth season of The X-Files would be the perfect last season of the show, and a pretty solid first season of a new show born from the ashes.

    In many ways, television is a conservative medium – more in an artistic sense than a political one. Network television is largely built around churn, a conveyor belt model that is designed to generate product according to tight schedules and oppressive deadlines. Routine and familiarity make the production schedule easier to manage, particularly for shows with large season orders. More than that, if a show has figured out an approach that has worked, it makes no sense to deviate from that pattern.

    Why risk changing something that has been proven to work and to which the audience has responded? For all the (deserved) praise The X-Files gets for popularising (or repopularising) serialised storytelling in prime-time television, it was just as conservative as any other show. The production team were working under incredible pressure, so it makes sense they would not want to change a formula that made sense. As such, the really big changes to the show were largely driven by external factors.

    The mythology largely developed from Scully’s abduction in Duane Barry and Ascension, an attempt by the writers to work around Scully’s abduction. The decision to film The X-Files: Fight the Future between the fourth and fifth seasons was at the behest of Fox rather than the production team. David Duchovny forces the move to Los Angeles in the sixth season. The eighth season represents the most seismic shift in the creative life of The X-Files, and – as with those other big decisions – it was largely driven by choices outside the production team.

    In hindsight, it seems obvious that the show could not continue forever. Duchovny and Anderson were headlining a show that filmed twenty-odd episodes a season. The show had begun diffusing its focus in the fourth and fifth seasons by focusing on members of the supporting cast, but it was still effectively a two-lead show. That is a tremendous strain. Something had to give. It turned out that something was Duchovny. At the end of the seventh season, with everything coming down to the wire, Duchovny made it clear he would not appear in a full eighth season.

    This forced the show to change, but in a way that afforded some measure of stability. The idea of doing The X-Files without either Mulder or Scully was horrifying to the production team and horrifying to certain sections of fandom, but Duchovny’s willingness to stick around for half of the eighth season afforded some measure of compromise. The change did not need to be jarring. Easing David Duchovny out of the show would allow for a smoother transition. It would allow the show to say a proper (and extended) farewell to Mulder.

    The eighth season finds itself in the impossible position of having to imagine The X-Files without Mulder. The only real issue is that it succeeds all too well. The biggest problem with the eighth season is that it is followed by a ninth season.

    Still, allowing for these problems, the eighth season is a remarkable accomplishment. It proves that there is life left in The X-Files. The show had survived the most traumatic transition that a show like this could face. The show finished the eighth season in a stronger position than it had in years. Unfortunately, a lot would change between the broadcast of Existence and Nothing Important Happened Today I.    … Full Review »
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