X-Files - Drive

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

https://sfdebris.com/videos/xfiles/xfiles6e02.php

Please discuss video review of episode here.

[Robovski]

I had stopped watching by this point, the 1998 movie had put me off so much. Neat to see Brian Cranston.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I had stopped watching by this point, the 1998 movie had put me off so much. Neat to see Brian Cranston.

Fox having a movie studio of its own, they were really able to sew a nice piece together for the cinema. Having watched it recently in sequence, and it doesn't feel seamless in narrative or anything. Not sure how I feel about the alien plot overall.

[stryke]

I had stopped watching by this point, the 1998 movie had put me off so much. Neat to see Brian Cranston.

I didn't get even that far. I can't remember what pushed me away exactly. I think it was the dawning realisation around season 4-5 that there really was no plan and they were just making it up as they went.

Really was the Lost and Battlestar Galactia of its era, and both really should have learned the lesson of how such an approach can badly backfire.

[Kinky Vorlon]

I agree but the issue is the tension between artistic planning and commercial planning. If you're a TV station and you get a hit show, the last thing you want is to hear "we have a x year plan." You want to keep milking that cow as long as possible, that need for $ usually conflicts with whatever the artistic plans are. Shows that were able to handle that tension like Babylon 5 and Breaking Bad are the exception.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Yeah but we're not watching a production team, we're watching a show.

I considered all that longevity stuff. I feel like the government conspiracy didn't have much of a running plot.

Same problem with the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

[Fianna]

Giving shows a definite end date is a whole lot more common now. They may not, at the start of the series, lay down exactly how many years they plan the show to run, but lots of shows now come to more deliberate ends, going into their final season or two with more deliberate ends in mind.

Conversely, a lot of shows have taken a lead from Buffy rather than The X-Files, and wrap up their story arcs at the end of each season, with future seasons having their own stories.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

What about Lost? I have never seen any of it, but descriptions Abrams' mystery box seems peculiarly atune with what I'm getting with the X-files centralized plot.

[Beastro]

What about Lost? I have never seen any of it, but descriptions Abrams' mystery box seems peculiarly atune with what I'm getting with the X-files centralized plot.

Yes, both are BS made up on the fly with an air of being something more that was pre-planned.

The only difference is X-Files is a monster of the week show that is enjoyed mainly for that, so the mythology is less of a let down. Lost hinges upon its empty mystery box so you're left at the end wondering WTF you ever bothered to watch it in the first place.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Well it's not bugging me that it isn't preplanned so to speak. I guess I do see that as a naturative production approach. South Park was always prided in off-the-cuff writing, and even tried to tackle the election. And it was kind of a gamble it was for them.