The Six Best Monsters From The X-Files Season 1

Developing a premiere season is a tough task for any producer but what made Chris Carter and Co. jobs that much harder was the originality of The X-Files, it was experimental broadcasting  with no guide rope they just had their creativity, instincts and penchant for anything spooky, oh and they also had the notorious FOX Network executives to deal with.

The first season of The X-Files was rich in Monster of the Week episodes, in-fact it boasted nineteen in total the highest amount of stand-alones in any of the nine seasons.  Not all were classics mind and some were definitely dud but there was many diamonds amongst the rough.

Some of these monsters make the cut because they are just plain scary especially for the John Doe of 19 years ago some however make us smile and others make us sad.

With so many MoW’s to choose from narrowing them down to a list of six was not easy but here it is, the definitive list of the six best monsters from MoW episodes:

6. Cecil L’Ively, Fire

Possibly a controversial choice, Cecil’s general exclusion from these types of lists can only be merited to the overshadowing hate for Phoebe Green a women equally annoying and fugly. Cecil just makes the cut based on the fact that he should not be underestimated. The highly intelligent psychopaths’ dedication to his killings is unrivalled and his anti-establishment views make him an ideal candidate for world domination. His each and every sanctimonious move derived from pure evil. A wicked black heart gets this pyro-kinetic monster a top six spot.
Watch Fire instantly with Amazon

5. Roland, Roland

The hapless autistic Roland was an early example of the variety of emotional avenues Chris Carter would be granted to travel down over the course of the next 8 seasons. This X-Files MoW week didn’t scare anybody it may have got a few laughs but in truth they only feeling we were left with was that of sorrow, loneliness and possibly empathy for the most innocent and ill-fated young man. Perhaps that is fear.
Watch Roland instantly with Amazon

4. The bugs, Darkness Falls

These carnivorous nocturnal bugs cocoon and slowly digested their prey, eating them alive. What makes their fear factor worse is that they are undetectable in daylight. They could be gathering around your bed waiting for darkness to fall. If The X-Files ever gave us a reason to sleep with the lights on this was it.
Watch Darkness Falls instantly with Amazon

3. The Eves, Eve

Creepy test tube twins Cindy Reardon and Teena Simmons both killed the respective adoptive fathers through means of exsanguination at the tender years of eight. These highly intelligent blood thirsty sentence finishers are destined to drive themselves to psychotic madness in later life, just ask their big sis, eye ball biter Eve 6.
Watch Eve instantly with Amazon

2. Luther Lee Boggs, Beyond the Sea

On death row and desperate for a pardon, Boggs claims he can use psychic channelling to help locate a killer before he kills his kidnap victims. His claims seem to hold up against adverse facts to the matter. Is he to be believed and even if he is; is this a chance for redemption and should his sins be forgiven? A most memorable character responsible for bringing passion to The X-Files, his importance to the show should not be undervalued.
Watch Beyond the Sea instantly with Amazon

1.  Eugene Victor Tooms, Squeeze/Tooms

We became acquainted with this bile spewing stretchy odd ball over two episodes that allowed us to get a real insight into his peculiar existence. Tooms appearance was also the first MoW appearance in The X-Files history. We learned early on that behind his jaundice liver hungry eyes laid the brains to challenge Mulder and Scully, he is good at what he does after all he has been doing it over a matter of centuries. His ability to stretch out and squeeze through the tightest of spaces meant that no one was safe from his appetite, his prey seldom escape. He was disgusting, the sneer on his face was unpleasant, his method of sticking his nest together was sickening and his methods of entry repugnant (the sewer especially). It was fitting that Tooms suffered such a gruesome demise at the hands of Mulder and an escalator, an unforgettably brilliant end that he earned and it was no less than he deserved.
Watch Squeeze and Tooms instantly with Amazon

There you have it my definitive list of The X-Files first season best monsters from MoW episodes. Let me know your lists, who would of you include?

DARKNESS FALLS Episode 20 Season 1 of The X-Files

Great Buzz 8/10

Synopsis: Mulder and Scully turn prey to ancient carnivorous insect when an investigation into the disappearance of 30 loggers in Olympic National Forest turns into a fight for survival.

The success of The X-Files in its fledgling season was no fluke. The majority of episodes were made up from a recipe of inspired casting, creative paranormal focused plot lines, subtle comedic undertones, solid production values and of course scares and it was this cocktail that established the shows core fan base that it still prevalent today. There are of course exceptions to the rule, flops if you will and guilty pleasures if you won’t. Inconsistency in value from one episode to another is a possibility for the first season of any show as they test the waters, but for a show which very essences is built upon the paranormal I would say it becomes an occupational hazard.

Darkness Falls is a great exhibit of the strength season one had to offer, an unassuming episode that keeps our interest from start to finish. The opening teaser sets the tone, 30 brawny plaid shirted lumber jacks scared witless, scream as they flee hopelessly through the dense boundless woodlands of the Olympic National Forest, Washington State. This vast forest is an ideal setting for this X-File. It is natural and wonderful to behold and at the same time mysterious and dangerous, the peaceful solitude turns into remote isolation and with the threat of darkness comes a sensation of helplessness and intense claustrophobia similar to that of Ice. Man versus nature is obviously the theme and Carter warns us there can only be one winner although ultimately it is the U.S Government.

There is understated comic relief in place throughout the episode, not meant as detraction from the moody ambience but rather a ploy to loll us into a sense of security. The relaxed opening scene between Mulder and Scully in the familiar warmth of the X-Files office acts to divert our attentions away from the horrors that lay in wait. This shroud of blissful ignorance soon disperses as the agents make their way deeper into the woods and we learn that this field trip is going to be no picnic.

The supporting cast all give solid believable performances which helps amalgamate the episode. The agents enlist the help of park ranger Larry Moore as chaperone to the logging site and are accompanied by Steve Humphreys, head of security for the logging company responsible for the missing men. All round good guy Moore is played by Duchovnys’ close friend and scientologist defector Jason Beghe who pulls of the strong outdoorsman man’s man role very convincingly. Humphrey although seemingly pleasant shows overzealous contempt for the eco warriors in an attempt to deflect attention away from his companies’ reckless and illegal logging methods. Doug Spinney plays the logger’s antagonist whose magnanimous nature directly opposes that of Humphreys’ which entertains malevolent undertones.

Spinney in affect sacrifices himself to save agents Mulders and Scully and park ranger Moore and in doing so vindicates Mulders actions of allowing him to leave their base camp along with the car battery, a decision that perplexed Scully, Moore and everyone who has ever watched Darkness Falls it even had Mulder doubting his own decision making. Who are we though to question Mulders choices? Admit it you felt a little guilty.

There are so many factors that make Darkness Falls’ re-watchable and it is always a pleasure to revisit this strong MoW. 8/10

Musings:

• What do you call a camel with three humps?
• Apparently Chris Carters inspiration for this episode came from a tree-ring dating course he took back in his college days. I suppose Darkness Falls justifies his omission from simply dating girls back in his college days.
• The awful microscope affect used is completely allowable because the episode pulls its weight with the aspects that really matter.
• As a foursome of three guys’ one girl, our agents, park ranger and logger man stumble across a cocoon half way up a tree. They decided to send ‘the women’ up in the harness to retrieve the icky insect webbed corpse, very brave guys and very funny. 
• This is one of the few MoW that isn't left open-ended