Well, I've just had my first reader correction! My sister, who is definitely the X-Files fan in the family, e-mailed me to take exception to my comment about the show in my discussion of Ultraviolet, where I wrote "Personally, I thought it did a much better story arc than X-Files ever managed, but then, I suppose it's a lot easier to do tight plotting over the course of six episodes than over six years (or however long The X-Files was actually on the air)." She writes:

I must point out that the X-Files is still on the air and will be until next Sunday!!! when the final episode airs.

And then she adds that the show is actually currently on its ninth season. Oops.

To quote my own e-mailed reply, though:

:) Actually, I realized that after I wrote that, because I saw an ad for it in the TV Guide, and thought to myself, hmm, apparently we *haven't* had the last episode yet. Mind you, it probably says a lot about the show (or at least my attitude towards it!) that my first reaction *was* pretty much "Hey, is that still on?" :)

She also says, with considerable justification:

...and you can't judge because you never saw all the episodes in order to completely understand the intricacies of the alien conspiracy.

My reply:

This is certainly true. Although what I *did* see was enough to at least give me the impression that it wasn't really the kind of story arc that appeals to me much. As far as I could ever tell, they don't really ever *solve* any of the mysteries they raise, just endlessly muddy things with new mysteries. Again, maybe if I'd watched the whole show faithfully, I'd feel different, but it wasn't really worth it to me.

Mind you, the very best epsiodes of _X-Files_ have been extremely good, indeed. I still think "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" is one the the best damned hours of TV ever produced.

But I like a sense of closure and for things to make sense too much to be a really big _X-Files_ fan. ;)

(Private e-mail quoted by permission. Thanks, Kath! And sorry for dumping on your show!)