The X-Files (TV Series) Closure (2000) User Reviews

I'm free

[reachtitan · 9/10 · 24 July 2014]

Something happened while I watched this episode as it drew near its end: I started crying uncontrollably. This is not a review as such but my own feelings regarding the episode and I don't know whether IMDb will even permit it to appear, nevertheless I could not help not writing this. This episode concerns death and how the bereaved deal with that of a loved-one. This one brings us back to the X-files mythology about the disappearance of Mulder's sister, Samantha. In the entire series heretofore, Mulder has fought valiantly and tirelessly trying to excavate the truth regarding Samantha's being or otherwise, and all that is brought to a grand closure herein.

Samantha is dead, was dead, a long time back. Something tells me Mulder knew this all along, but could not accept this horrifying truth and resumed his quest; he could not let go of her, her memories, his past. This is something he learns at the episode's end and at last, is 'free'.

I don't know what exactly this episode touched in me; the writing, the performance of Duchovny or the direction (The entire sequence of the walk-in of the children's' souls was one of the best scenes in drama I have seen) or that the fact that it (death) is a thing that affects all of us in some point in our lives and is a part of existence in this universe but I have not lost someone I love dearly, so to speak, as of yet. And yet I found myself crying like a baby as I finished watching this. Maybe that's what pure beauty does to you. 'CLOSURE' is indeed a resplendent exploration of a possible after-life which stays with you long after you get back to your routine life. While I don't agree with everything that's shown, but then, who has seen an afterlife, if there is any such thing? What the episode does is what all great art is meant to: to explore a thing in a way that was not thought hitherto and to breathe life into it; such waking life that somewhere it tends to become the truth, a truth which we believe in spite of ourselves.

Closure is a somewhat underwhelming, yet beautiful ending to the Samantha plot.

[jasperstokoe · 8/10 · 11 July 2020]

After spending sometime contemplating, reading reviews and just simply trying to wrap my head around what happened, I have finally come up with my own opinion. I believe that "Closure" is a somewhat underwhelming, yet beautiful ending to the Samantha plot.

Samantha's abduction has long been an ongoing theme throughout the series, it is essentially what drives Mulder, it gave birth to his FBI career and made him and Scully into what they are today. Therefore, fans have been expecting a worthy conclusion to this saga. Considering the way the series has played out so far, most would even be hoping to meet the real, non-artificialized Samantha. This is the only reason I say this episode is "somewhat underwhelming", as I was expecting something a bit more. Whether that be fox meeting Samantha or getting a bit more of an insight into the abduction and experiments that were conducted. Nevertheless, this felt like a fitting ending, finally Mulder has unveiled the truth that he has so hoped to find all these years.

In my opinion this is a well scripted and beautifully constructed conclusion. After running away from the military air base, Samantha stayed at a hospital for a short time before completely vanishing. She was consumed by a spiritual force, known as a walk-in. Its purpose to rescue children who have been suffering and in pain most their lives, in turn killing Samantha turning her into starlight. I believe this is a nice ending that should be respected by all viewers. It may not be the ending most hoped, nor was it an ending filled with the typical x files drama and suspense. Yet this remains a delightful finish to the Samantha Mulder storyline. As this knowledge has become a relief to both Fox Mulder and his sister, it had both permanently ended their pain and suffering, whether that be physically or mentally. Allowing both siblings to finally rest.

For those reasons I believe this is a great heart-warming conclusion to the Samantha plot. It may not be what most viewers wanted, however it was certainly a beautiful finish that both Mulder and Samantha will value. There is even a scene towards the end of the episode, in which Scully asks Mulder how he is going. Mulder simply replies saying: "I'm fine, I'm free." Showing the release of tension and freedom that has finally come to Mulder after several years of searching.

Into Starlight

[jgreening-09087 · 9/10 · 5 May 2018]

Wow, it seems like this is an episode you either love or hate. After seven years we're deeply invested in Mulder's search for his sister and his desperate hope to find her alive, so the "closure" we find in this episode feels empty in a way.

But it's beautifully done. I don't entirely understand the concept of Walk-Ins, but the idea that there is a force that plucks innocent children from the grasp of a terrible fate and transforms them into pure starlight is one of the loveliest images from all of the X-Files - and accompanied by one of the most amazing songs.

According to the facts unearthed in this episode, Samantha's original abduction really did happen, but she was returned shortly after - to the CSM, who kept her hidden for several years along with his own son Jeffrey (did Agent Spender not remember this?) while the Syndicate continued to perform tests on her. At age 14 she ran away and ended up in the hospital, where she disappeared into thin air the night before the CSM arrived to kill her.

This episode doesn't answer all our questions, but it is a worthy send-off to Samantha Mulder and an end to Fox Mulder's quest in a way that brings as much hope as it does sadness. His fight for the truth isn't over, but now his objective will be not to find his sister but to right the wrongs done to her.

Believe To Understand

[Muldernscully · 10/10 · 30 May 2007]

So it all comes down to this: The reason behind Mulder's persistence and motivation of investigating the x-files is resolved; the search for his sister Samantha. This episode is so well-crafted by the writers to show Mulder's determination to learn the truth once and for all. It's surprising to hear him say that he wishes he had found her body, just so it can be over. The search for his sister has taken such an emotional toll on Mulder as well as a physical toll, resulting in the deaths of his father and Scully's sister. He is ready to have it done with, even if it means his sister is dead. The scene from "Planet of the Apes" shown on Mulder's TV is very relevant when Taylor is told by Dr Zaius that he may not like what he finds. Mulder flips flop back and forth during the episode, believing Samantha to be dead, then alive. But at the end, when he has come to the end of the road, he accepts her fate of being dead, and it brings him inner peace. Scully asks how he is and he says, "I'm fine. I'm free". I admit, I do not like the resolution that Mulder's sister has been dead this entire time. I so wanted him to be able to find her alive. But I accept it. It makes our hero all the more tragic. Duchovny's acting is again superb as he makes peace with his demons. How the show goes from here with two main story arcs resolved, is a matter of differing opinion, but it is a great relief to see Mulder finally get the answer that he's been seeking for most of his life and obtain closure.

I'm fine. I'm free.

[Sanpaco13 · 10/10 · 29 April 2008]

While reading through some of the other user comments here it is evident that some people really didn't get this episode. I hope I can help explain my take on it in a way that might satisfy some of their dislikes. One in particular says that "Carter fails to explain why Samantha was taken, why the cigar-smoking man wants to move her somewhere else, or how she disappeared or whom she was disappeared by. Instead he just rolls back all the previous insinuations and makes a nonsense out of the whole thing." I hope you'll forgive me but this comment suggests to me that you aren't very bright. In the very review this is taken from the author talks about how everything about Samantha was already explained in Season 5 other than what ultimately became of her. That is all this episode is driving at. Helping us the audience and Mulder understand what happened to his sister. We already know that she was "abducted" to be a pawn in the alien hybridization plot. Do they really need to bring that all up again? This episodes tells us that she was taken and was living with CGB Spender and his family for a time as they performed tests on her like an old suitcase that they just dragged around and opened up whenever they felt like it. She finally couldn't stand anymore and she ran away. On the night she was to be taken back to the tests, she joined the other old souls in the starlight to avoid a particularly unpleasant future and demise. Frankly, if you had said you just didn't like this explanation then that would be fine, everyone is entitled to opinion. But saying it is inconsistent with the mythology and "nonsense" is itself utter nonsense. Personally, while the arc ends completely different than I had ever imagined, I found it to be a fine way to end it given they were pressured into tying off loose ends. Chris knew that some wouldn't be satisfied with this ending and would continue wanting to search for answers or would adamantly declare "I don't believe you!" For this reason he wrote the character of Harold Pillar. I give the episode a 10 out of 10.

Great closure

[kahurley · 10/10 · 9 January 2007]

I believe this to be one of the most powerful episodes in the series. The disappearance of Mulder's sister has without question been an underlying theme, and at some point Chris Carter would have to explain what exactly happened. This occurs at the end of the episode. I have a feeling since they were planning on having Mulder abducted at the end of this season, it was a good idea to wrap up what happened with Samantha.

What makes "Closure" so powerful is that it is a true X-Files episode in every sense. There is absolutely no humor involved at all. The first 3 seasons went mostly without humor, then as the characters developed in later seasons we began to see a lighter side to them. The Moby song at the beginning and at the end with a slow action on the "ghosts" was very good. In the end, Mulder has his closure and makes his peace with what happened to Samantha. I think that fans having watched the series from the very beginning will enjoy this pivotal ending point to a question that has been asked since Season 1. I found the episode and its ending moving and appropriate.

The "Walk-In" Closet

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 1 April 2012]

Teena Mulder is Dead. Mulder walks out of the case, only to be dragged back.

Anthony Heald (Who was eaten by Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs) is a man who presents himself to Mulder as a "Police Psychic" who initially helps Mulder but is then found out to be less than reliable.

In the previous Episode, Kim Darby had told Mulder that his sister and the other Children were 'Safe in Starlight' - The man tells Mulder almost the same thing.

Is this guy to be trusted? Not by Skully, and Mulder almost tells him to hike as well.

But the man is persistent. And little by little, between Heald and Mulder they track down clues about Mulder's sister.

These two episodes end Mulder's 7-year (and longer, outside of the series) quest to find his sister Samantha.

This episode stands alone from the previous episode, there is a quality to this episode, where everything bad imaginable happens to Mulder in the previous ep, this episode holds out Hope to Mulder as a torch. And Mulder only can grab it, which he does.

The choice of opening and closing Music ("My Weakness" by Moby) makes this the most spiritual episode of The X-Files.

It's not that we liked finding out that all along, Samantha had been with Cancerman. And everything Mulder had believed previously about her was a lie or delusion or something he made up himself. That's not important here. It's the way this story was told, and the assurances held out to Mulder. It's the way the story, and Mulder's disposition, goes from NO hope to Hope.

The Concept of "Walk Ins" was introduced in the Season 2 Episode "Red Museum" which also had Mark Rolston, but playing a different character.

But it was elaborated on here, in this episode, explained by the characters played by Kim Darby and Anthony Heald, witnessed in the end by Mulder.

The Irony of Ironies is that Heald's own missing son is the one who brings Mulder to Samantha - And in the end, Heald's character cannot accept the truth that Mulder had just had revealed to him - A truth Mulder never would have known if not for Heald.

These two episodes are so dense, I cannot possibly write a review of them, these are just my impressions. Even after four viewings, I still get lifted up to a higher place while watching this.

Stories like this, are what The X-Files were about, this being probably the peak of story for the whole series - Unfortunate that it had to include so much dark to give us a glimpse of The Light.

Season spanning conclusion to what happened to Samantha.

[lhawker-2 · 10/10 · 29 June 2009]

*** May contain spoilers *** I agree with Sanpaco13. This episode deals with WHAT BECAME of Samantha, as an earlier season had already established that Samantha had been abducted i.e. family members of the Syndicate (including Mulders father Bill) each nominated family members to survive the alien colonisation (this is what others refer to as being 'a pawn in the hybridisation plan').

Basically, after Samantha had run away from Smoking Mans home (post abduction) on the base, she ended up in hospital. She was taken into the 'starlight' by spirits to spare her the fate of continued experimentation.

The the episode also fleshed out some of Smoking Man and (his son) Agent Spenders early history.

Very emotive music from an awesome track by Moby ("My Weakness" from his album 'Play'), it certainly helped bring the season-spanning story arc to an emotional close.

I know this is being written almost 10 years after the episode aired and when I first watched it, but I've just seen it again on TV and felt compelled to look for other peoples understanding of what happened, and it's probably why your reading this now.

Don't get why others don't like this

[mjgregory-79859 · 9/10 · 8 October 2020]

I found this episode a beautiful conclusion to the Samantha story. Ok, it may of been less alien conspiracy orientated then I maybe was expecting, but it all makes sense how Samantha was abducted when she was little, returned at a later date to live with CGBS and to have been experimented on to the point where she is so fed up and tired that she wants to run away. She does so and gets picked up by the local police who take her to hospital. Knowing her fate the walk ins take pitty on her and knowing the rest of her fate take her before the men/aliens can take her back.

I found the story accompanied by the music very beautiful, emotional, sad and a fine conclusion to Samantha's story and the other children that were taken to save them

One of the most emotional pieces of TV history

[spooky_m · 10/10 · 18 December 2016]

Fans of the X-Files have been waiting for this episode from the very first season, worrying for Samantha alongside of Mulder, wondering what had happened to her after all. In season 7, we all finally get closure.

A random viewer might not get why people are praising this episode so much. It's important to understand that this is not just a random little ghost story, but the climax of a long, long search for the truth. And the structure of this episode is excellently built upon this thought.

I feel like everything was perfect about it. The writing, the acting (especially Duchovny's improvisation that made the whole ending scene so much better), the music... nobody (including the writers, I guess), would have ever guessed this was going to happen, and I really appreciate this unpredictability.

In the end, everyone needs to decide for themselves whether the conclusion of the story is to be understood metaphorically or not. Either way, it is incredibly moving and easily one of the most dramatic and emotional pieces of TV history. There's so much brutal realism, so much tragedy and hope. Right after watching this episode I felt like my heart was getting ripped out, and the next evening, when I was laying in bed and thought of it again, the tears started rolling uncontrollably, and I'm an adult guy that doesn't easily get teary at all.

That's because the X-Files are more than just a silly evening entertainment. The lovable characters and the great story stimulate us to start thinking about our own lives, our own surroundings. And everyone capable of appreciating that is going to appreciate this episode too.

An underwhelming end to the Samantha Mulder saga

[biffo-1 · 5/10 · 13 May 2012]

I was an avid watcher of the early X Files seasons when they first aired but for some reason I can't recall I stopped watching at a certain point around season 5. I am now catching up on the full series despite knowing the show declined in its latter years.

Which brings me to this episode from S7, "Closure'. Reading the other reviews it seems that the episode has its fans but I'm not one of them. The mistake with the 'abducted sister' storyline was that it went on too long, as the production notes seem to indicate. When you have Chris Carter telling DD that he'll only have to play this truth-seeking brother one last time due to his frustration with the whole extended saga, it doesn't bode well. The other mistake is that they conflated the alien mythos series storyline with a typical paranormal one in 'Closure'. A more prosaic resolution would have been best, I feel.

So now it turns out that the clones of his sister Mulder had been chasing were not the real thing. Certainly she had been used as a guinea pig for the hybridisation experiments but the truth of Samantha was that she had escaped the Cigarette Smoking Man and his home on the air force base, but was then taken to join the starlight children. Yes, you are reading that correctly.

Trying to stitch up the alien plot with a paranormal one just doesn't work. We're told that these 'walk-ins' take children who have or are suffering. In that case, you have to wonder where these spirits were when the 24 dead kiddies killed by Santa Claus and buried in his backyard were suffering their fate. Playing with the reindeer, maybe? Of course, we also get the spectral tipoff from beyond about where the bodies are. Even Mrs Mulder manages to tipoff Fox despite committing suicide and not actually joining the Starlight Foundation herself. All very strange.

Probably the worst aspect of this silly storyline is the rank sentimentality of how it's filmed. Mulder gets lead by ghostly children towards the clues and then there is a final scene of him watching these star kids all happily playing together in the forest. Pretty amateur. As awful as it would have been for Mulder to deal with, it probably would have been best to simply have something horrific but entirely earthbound happen to his sister - she died during experimentation, she was hit by a car after escaping, etc. He could mourn her loss but accept that in his brutal line of work, redolent with human-on-human savagery, this was the fate that befell her. I think it was clear at this point that Duchovny was tiring of the role and with story lines like this one you can see why.

"I guess I just want it to be over."

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 6 August 2017]

Quite coincidentally, as I'm watching the episodes 'Sein und Zeit' and 'Closure', I'm reading the Neil Gaiman novel 'Stardust', in which a character is on a mission to retrieve a star that has fallen many miles away in order to win the hand of a beautiful woman. The 'star' he captures is a woman who fell from the sky, who has a luminescence like starlight. I haven't finished the book yet, but the reason I bring it up is because moments of serendipity like this have a way of making their presence felt in my life, and they take on a certain resonance that one can't really explain. One wonders what brought these two similar themes together at the same time for me to ponder. Perhaps it's an X-File waiting to be explained in due time.

As far as 'Closure' goes, the thought that immediately came to mind when the story was over, was - Can Mulder really acknowledge what happened here and accept it for the truth he had searched for, for more than a couple decades? He had repeatedly been presented with evidence in the past about Samantha's abduction and still persisted in his mission when presented with new 'facts'. Accepting Samantha's death, grim as that decision was, at least allowed the series to move beyond this phase of the mythology arc and finally put it to rest.

As is often the case with the X-Files, certain names or places are introduced into a story that a casual viewer wouldn't readily pick up on. I was intrigued by the mention of Dominic Savio Memorial Hosptal, where the fourteen year old Samantha Mulder was treated before she disappeared, presumably abducted by the 'walk-ins'. Dominic Savio was an Italian adolescent who was studying to be a priest when he became ill and died. He was the only person of his age group (at the time, 1857) to be canonized a saint, not because he became a martyr, but because he was considered to have lived a holy life of heroic virtue. When Dominic died, he was the same age as Samantha Mulder - fourteen.

The end of the road

[pat664422 · 10/10 · 22 May 2022]

At first I didn't know what to make of the ending of Closure. But upon rewatching both parts of this episode, the supernatural ending and closure for Moulder's search for his sister's fate was just about perfect.

It's a show that often has supernatural elements - to give some sort of realistic ending where he simply finds a grave or the physical remains of Samantha would have just been very ordinary/anticlimactic and all too realistic. We can get that reality every day in the news of the real world. If you haven't had enough of that yet, give it time.

Seeing the tragic story of his sister's life end with her being rescued and in a sheltered, protected place of happiness was an uplifting end after their suffering to this point. I love how from he diary, he read she hoped to one day see his face. When they have their reunion, she looks up and touches his face. It was a moment of mutual happiness.

The music for this final scene amplified the emotions with our arrival at the end of this road. I hadn't heard it before, and I'll never hear it again without envisioning this scene.

Didn't mind it

[JimmyWhimmyNutrinSon · 8/10 · 8 December 2022]

Although I think the answers given here about Samantha's disappearance is a big weird and random, I don't think its that bad. It still fits in with the mythology of the show.

And not just that but this is a well made episode in general. David Duchovny's never been the best actor but his performance in the last episode and this one are both pretty damn good. The final lines of his are really damn good, and the atmosphere and colouring of those shots of the kids, especially with the Moby music, work so so well. I seriously think this episode is significantly better than people give it credit for.

(Almost) back to the basics (dvd)

[leplatypus · 10/10 · 6 March 2013]

The first thing that I notice in this season is that I discover actually a lot of episodes. So, apparently, i dropped watching the show in 2000 but I can't remember the reason: was it basketball? Another show?

The season begins badly as the mythology goes silly: as long as the conspiracy was exterior to our duo, the mythology was riveting but as soon as it becomes too much personal, it's dull: after the romantic and family ties, Mulder reaches now an apotheosis, becomes a Chrislike figure and the savior of humankind. If you add the holy ship that mixes religion and science, it's a bit too much. I don't say that the new idea of deifying aliens is bad (it's rather interesting) but not plotted like this, as much as it lacks clarity.

Nevertheless, as we get to the loners, this season finds a new breath: it's again a dark show and it was since the 4th season that such anguish was there. The only big difference for me is that the Vancouver production had a cold, blue, dark light that was fine with paranormal whereas actually, the light has gone orange, almost sunny and it's less chilling.

For one time, it's the monster that runs the story instead of our duo (7.03) and the new millennium (7.04) offers us Zombies and at last the first kiss of our duo, which is rather symbolic! Then, the next episodes carry on this tension: (7.07) welcomes the third return (after Tooms and the Pusher) of an old foe and (7.09) is again with religious undertones. After cats and dogs, it's maybe the first episode in which animals are really terrifying (snakes). This year, new territories of paranormal are also visited in ideas (the "luck" factor in 7.6) or visually (the "cops" episode). The return of cyberpunk author (7.13) is funny because the next episode felt like a King one (remember "thinner), exactly like in the 5th season.

This year, we have also our duo doing all chores: acting, writing, directing. It's hard to decide between them because the episodes are very different: Anderson is more cerebral, Duchovny is more entertainment. In the end, neither of them delivers a true x-files episode.

Unfortunately, we may have also the biggest stinker ever: (7.08): if the idea of magic could have been a good pretext to explain paranormal, the script is so complex and absurd that the only thing that disappear is the fun! (7.20) with the couple of twins is totally crap for 40 minutes for only 3 minutes of fun !

This year, my best pick goes to "Closure" as it's an excellent final chapter of Samantha's file. Maybe the walk-in world is not what i have expected after all those years, but all along the two parts, there was chilling suspense and Duchovny's performance is just incredible as he lets down his barriers (and cry again!). "Je souhaite" is also an incredible episode as it's interesting to see X-files doing fairy tales in our modern civilization!

Finally, i can only leave with a note of the last episode as it confirms my feeling that the show is back to its track and its soul: having the season final revisiting the first episode ever and meeting again the same characters seven years after is brilliant. But as soon as i was thinking this was the best mythological episode since maybe season five, the last words told by Scully make me sad again: With that, we are sure to deal again with a father, a mother, a daughter, a son and not about aliens or monster of the week !

I'm free...

[tylerfarmer-25136 · 9/10 · 19 August 2019]

This episode alone makes me so happy and sad to see what really happened to Samantha Mulder. Looks like Mulder can come to terms with himself. Samantha's story has successfully ended in my book.

Closure

[frederik-atak · 8/10 · 31 October 2021]

For me one of the few good episodes of the worst X-Files season. A beautiful wrap to the story of Mulder's search for his sister. "I'm fine. I'm free."

Incongruous

[junaidalam1 · 4/10 · 20 January 2008]

This episode is utterly nonsensical.

The broader context is that Carter essentially wrapped up the underlying mythology of the X-Files series in Season 5 with 'Two Sons' and 'One Father,' following the movie itself.

According to that narrative, hinted at in earlier episodes, Samantha, Mulder's sister, was used as a pawn in the alien hybridization experiments The Syndicate conducted as it collaborated with the aliens.

But unlike all the other underlying storyline points, the fate of Mulder's sister was not completely, openly depicted as resolved in 'Two Sons' and 'One Father' - likely because Carter realized the show would be giving up its entire emotional impact if 100 percent of the mythology was resolved.

So here he returns to the matter, but bereft of all its previous hints, context and narrative. Sentimental music and fuzzy visuals are employed to elicit an emotional reaction, and the abduction, syndicate, and hybridization references go by the wayside as if they never happened.

Instead, we are treated to some nonsensical, secular-mystical bromides about what it means to die and take away innocence.

Carter fails to explain why Samantha was taken, why the cigar-smoking man wants to move her somewhere else, or how she disappeared or whom she was disappeared by. Instead he just rolls back all the previous insinuations and makes a nonsense out of the whole thing.

Stunning, spectacular TV

[mgicnick · 10/10 · 31 March 2024]

Some X-Files fans may not like this episode (or they may love it like I do) for being a bit less Sci-fi and a bit more spiritual, based on the widespread misconception that science has conquered metaphysics when in fact it is helplessly standing outside its gates having no clue how life is created. And this is the exact theme of this episode, the destination of life..

It is an absolutely fantastic episode that provides a (metaphysical) conclusion to one of the main plots of the series, after many years of searching for his disappeared/abducted sister into the mysteries of the unexplained and battling secret conspiracies Fox Mulder finally finds relief, peace and closure.

A beautiful script with beautiful metaphysical elements and depictions of souls transending death and finding peace in eternal existence. One must be pretty distracted and hardened by routine and religiously materialistic to dislike the message of peace, the transcendental tranquility, the otherworldly atmosphere and the amazing aethereal music. Which is what the psychic detective that helped Fox ends up doing (without revealing anything from the actual plot) and this antithesis adds to an already top notch episode.

Definitely one of the top episodes of the whole series and I'm kind of glad Hollywood is producing trash nowadays because I get to revisit the past of nostalgia and Hollywood greatness. This underrated episode is definitely one of those moments of greatness.

Woeful, this was painful viewing.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 4/10 · 22 September 2022]

A psychic offers Mulder some help, and claims to know where Samantha was just after she was taken.

This is perhaps the first episode so far, that I would say I really disliked, it was so poorly written, so overly syrupy, I couldn't wait for the credits to roll.

I am staggered as to why this episode has such a high rating, well and truly baffled, I loathed it, there's a saying about over egging the pudding, that came into my mind here, this storyline of Samantha going missing has quite literally been done to death, they've gotten so much mileage out of it, changed its direction, and if I'm not mistaken, they've changed the canon, it's like a whole new team of people took charge.

The sentimental tone throughout felt overdone, it was like Clinton's cards were doing a line in Happy Halloween cards, with rabbits and bunnies on them, the images and music just jarred with the whole vibe.

I truly hope that we're done with this story now, talk about dragging it out.

A shocker, 4/10.

Awful episode about the Beautiful Samantha Mulder

[MyEinsamkeit · 1/10 · 15 December 2016]

Just finish watching closure episode, i read some other reviews, a few i agreed with , that it was horrible. So throughout all the seasons/episodes where Samantha Mulder story-line was that she was taken by aliens( which made more sense anyway ), the bounty hunter alien knowing about her and trying to killed the clones of her, CSM showing Mulder many times his sister Samantha Mulder, for goodness sake we seen her in many episodes, alive and well. Even those taken by aliens told Mulder that his sister is still alive and was a clone from her. Watching the episode closure, made no sense at all. So basically the original story-line was all a waste of time, because it would have made more sense for Mulder to be reunited with her sister, then to say she was killed by some fat man and went into some stupid star light afterlife nonsense.

ugh, i have to remind myself to just never watch that episode ever again and erase it from my memory and just pretend she was taken by aliens and she's living somewhere in a nice home now. Oh wait, the CSM already proved that , remember when him and Samantha Mulder went to see Mulder at the restaurant?

Cleaning Out Old Plot Devices

[andyetris · 4/10 · 24 October 2006]

Part two of two. In the previous episode FBI agents Mulder and Scully tracked down a serial killer and in the process discovered possible leads to the disappearance of Mulder's sister Samantha, which was originally thought to be an alien abduction. We also were told of beings that lived in the starlight, pre-kidnapping children to preserve them from greater harm. In this episode Mulder is approached by Harold Pillar, a man who became psychic when his son disappeared. Pillar - or is it his lost boy? - leads Mulder to a place where his questions can finally be left unanswered.

It seems like Chris Carter painted himself into a corner back in season 5 (or with the movie?) and in season 6 the alien-invasion "mthology" was essentially flushed. In severing the loose strings it was revealed that Samantha's "alien abduction" was a cover-up in which Mulder's father allowed her to become part of the alien-human hybridization plot. In an effort to finally flush Samantha, this episode gives us a new twist on the issue, and as usual it doesn't really jive with previous info.

I thought the mysticism was murky and the sentimentality of the ending HOPELESSLY inappropriate. I guess we needed a whole episode to say our goodbyes to Samantha, who was once such an important plot device. However I can't help but see this episode as doing little more than burying a piece of the soul of the X-Files - perhaps one that died a season earlier.

Trite and repetitious

[gregfelton · 3/10 · 28 March 2015]

This is one of the poorest episodes, typical of what happened after the series left British Columbia. The province was integral to the look and feel of the series. Afterwards the show largely degenerated into hoary religious clichés, perfunctory dialogue, repetitious themes and emotionally manipulative music. The psychic subplot is so embarrassing and shallow that I'm amazed it was even considered. The same shtick was used in the second X-files movie, and not even Billy Connolly could save it,

Chris Carter seems to have lost control over his series in L.A. The dignified thing to do would have been to end the X-files after season 6.

One of the worst episodes of the entire series.

[artisthunger · 5/10 · 4 April 2023]

Let me see if I get it straight:

Mulder remember seeing Samantha disappears. Later he finds clones of hers. Later on CSM becomes nice and suddenly brings her to him in a restaurant (and tells him - God and maybe Chris Carter knows why - that the whole alien stuff - which he dedicated his life to conceal by all means necessary - is actually true and not a conspiracy within a conspiracy), and she calls him Dad. Later on we find out that CSM is also Jeffrey Spender's father (but for some reason he murders him) and also Fox's father (is there anyone that he's not their father? Thank goodness we know who Scully's father is). On the next episodes he tells Mulder they all had to give their sons and daughters to the aliens for an unclear reson, and when his father refused they abducted her from home like he remembers, which is also coherent with the episode in which he has visions of some sort in which his mother begs and says "Please, not Samantha!" But *then* CSM says she's actually dead and *not* abducted, and again he's nice and try to get Scully to persuade Mulder not to pursue this course of investigation so he won't get hurt. And then Mulder sees a child ghost - because obviously he can see ghosts - and it leads him to her ghost so he understands she's dead and have a closure.

Yeah, right.

Oh, and there's bonus: children vanish into thin air, Amber Lynn's body is never found even though "Santa Claus" confessed all the 24 murders except for hers, but Mulder meets her ghost, Mulder's mom commit suicide for an unknown reason after burning their pictures, and then she thinks it's a good time to visit him as a ghost and finally let him know how Samantha died (even though she couldn't possibly know it according to the new non-aliens narrative).

Gosh, how lame and stupid. I'm angry.