"The X Files" Jump the Shark (2002)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Cliff Bole

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
Vince Gilligan (written by) ...

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

21 April 2002 (Season 9, Episode 15)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

The Lone Gunmen, with the (unwanted) aide of Morris Fletcher, must stop a destructive virus from entering the populace. |

Plot Keywords:

Returning Character Killed Off | FBI | FBI Agent | Alien | X Files

Cast

Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Robert Patrick	...	John Doggett
Annabeth Gish	...	Monica Reyes
Mitch Pileggi	...	Walter Skinner
Bruce Harwood	...	John Fitzgerald Byers
Tom Braidwood	...	Melvin Frohike
Dean Haglund	...	Richard 'Ringo' Langly
Michael McKean	...	Morris Fletcher
Stephen Snedden	...	Jimmy Bond
Zuleikha Robinson	...	Yves Adele Harlow / Lois Runce
Jim Fyfe	...	Kimmy the Geek
Marcus Giamatti	...	John Gillnitz
John Prosky	...	Medical Examiner
Timothy Landfield	...	Professor Douglas Houghton
Michael Craven Wells	...	Leonard Southall

Runtime:

Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Certification:

Argentina:13

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Quotes:

Morris Fletcher: Once upon a time, there were three... how should I put this... geeks. Three more unlikely heroes... there never were. It wasn't long before their naiveté nearly got them killed. Until they hooked up with an FBI agent... And began publishing a - what shall I call it? "rag" called "The Lone Gunmen". From their cramped basement office they pointed fingers at powerful, evil forces...

Movie Connections:

References "The Lone Gunmen" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Farewell

Why, God, WHY?!?!

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"Jump the Shark" is one of those X-Files episodes I dread, not for any horribly tense or creepy moments, but for what happens to some of my favorite characters.

While the series is one of my all-time favorites, mostly due to great characters and the occasional dead-on one-liner, it's episodes like this one that made me stop watching.

*****SPOILER**** The Lone Gunmen are killed off in this episode. Ya know, I could understand if it served some greater purpose, but their deaths on the series only made their contribution to the show more hokey than they usually were already. Buried in ARLINGTON? Sure, they die defending their country, sort of, but these guys were meant to be the comic relief of the show, not the melodramatic crux. Mulder is still missing during this point in the series, and there's no hint later in the series as to how their absence personally affects him until their ghostly, cheesy appearance in the final installment. ****End of Spoiler

It's such a wasteful ploy in a series that prides itself on teasing the audience's taste buds.