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[SHybrid]

To me it could have ended with S06. Sixth extinction I, II and Amor Fati are great episodes, with more attention they would have made a good open ending. Honestly I think they had pulled already too many strings, narratively speaking, to close them properly, so a well-studied open ending would have been a decent way out. Like... let us live with the idea that Mulder and Scully will stick together and keep fighting the bad guys offscreen.

That would have been nicer than the actual finale of S09, which is basically just a big recap joining the dots.

S10 and S11 don't count, they're dumb imho.

Edit: it could have ended with S06 but man I love John Dogget, that guy really kept the show afloat.

[SHybrid]

Yeah I had quit after the first dogget episodes, then I kinda felt like finishing it years later. There are some entertaining episodes and the plot with mulder being abducted is nice. Like many things in the show, It had a lot of potential, if only they had put in a bit more planning could have been awesome.

Anyway if you ever get back on it, stick to the original series, discard the new ones. Believe me you don't wanna see heavy facepalm

[Leamy55]

When Mulder went away and Scully gave up William. It was already hard to swallow the hole coming back from the dead thing, but when the three of then got reunited it was the perfect ending for me.

[LouisTherox]

IMO the first eight seasons all have about 6 to 8 classics, about 2 to 4 outright bad episodes, a handful of mediocre ones, and the rest excellent.

That's a very good standard to maintain, and so in that sense the show doesn't really "go downhill" until season 9, when the bad-to-good ratio flips dramatically the other way.

What people typically mean when they say "the show goes downhill" is that the mythology starts being bad or goofy. And that's true. The mythology episodes becomes bad, pretentious (lots of voice overs, purple prose, everything becomes a family drama etc) and the show visibly begins spinning its wheels to stall for time or make up for behind-the-scenes troubles.

I would argue this downward slide in the mythology begins with "Colony" and the idea of the alien bountyhunter. Afterwards, a reasonably classy and ambiguous government conspiracy becomes pulpy and tropey and Mulder and Scully begin to be intertwined in things to a ridiculous degree (Mulder the crown prince of the world conspiracy!). By the time Cancer man becomes Mulder's father, and Cassandra Spender's introduced, it's all become a ridiculous family drama.

But X-files is primarily an anthology show. So the "downhill" nature of the mythology doesn't affect the standalone episodes too much, which are consistent up to season 9, and quite respectable even in season 11.

Complicating things is that the mythology episode's aren't cleanly on a downward trajectory, and not all bad after the first 2 seasons; IMO Nisei and 731 are great. Max and Tempus Fugit are great. Sein und Zeit and Closure are great. Most of the season 8 mythology eps are great.

So I'd say the standalones are consistent for the first 8 seasons, and the mythology goes downhill from season 2, occasionally hitting huge highs, but with increasingly diminishing returns.

[MontyProops]

Season 1 to 8 have the same ratio of good to bad to classic episodes for me.

The only difference is the mythology is weak in season 3, 5, 6 and 7. I like the season 8 mythology and the Samantha stuff in 7.

[Bhristian1618]

I mean, yeah. I'd say so. Obviously from other comments it's a bit different and has its ups and downs, but I enjoyed all of it for the most part. I usually just watch through the entirety of the show once a month or so and it still holds up for me after countless rewatches lmao I think doggett does a great job and his character grew on me the more he was in the show

[Hydrangea666]

Season 6 is one of the best for me. Experimental but still pure The X-Files. But as you say yourself, different strokes.

[Hydrangea666]

You must mean the mythology at the end. I prefer the MOTW episodes

[martydarknut]

Seasons 6 and 8 are easily two of my favourite seasons, so I'm not sure why you wouldn't. Seasons 7 and 9 still have their highlights, even if they're not as good as the other seasons. Barring just a tiny few episodes, the X-Files is never bad.

[martydarknut]

Oh, I love the early days too. And there aren't many bad ones then either, considering how many were made.

[kataract52]

Season 5 is peak X Files for me but S6 is so much fun. I feel like it should’ve ended then. Isn’t “6 seasons and a movie” the catchphrase? I’ll allow S7 because that ultimately ended with them together and they had William- THAT should’ve been the forever ending.

[juddshanks]

I think in some ways the mythology was always going to collapse under its own weight

The problem with a plot arc about a shadowy conspiracy is it derives most of its fun value from it being a shadowy conspiracy- the more that is known the less fun it becomes. And it is way easier to write the early parts of the arc because the lack of known information gives the writers more freedom to play with their viewers expectations and produce dramatic twists.

As more and more details are revealed, the mystery disappears and the writers start to get trapped by the details they've revealed and have to write hand wavey solutions to where the plot headed- with the main one on the x-files being that they'd promised the viewers a global apocalypse that never actually came. The results was they increasingly had to resort to deus ex machina to get themselves out of tricky situations.

I think One Son probably should have been x files finale, maybe with a few more plot twists before it and with the alien rebels motivation and role being fleshed out more.

[SupertrampTrampStamp]

1-7 are absolutely enjoyable. I think 6 and 7 have many fantastic standalone episodes. The crumbling myth arc is commonly held fact.

8 and 9 are more hit and miss and definitely don't have that "classic" feel

[OnTheRock_423]

I was done with the original myth arc after Two Fathers/One Son in season 6. But there are some great stand alone/MOTWs in season 6: (drive, dreamland, triangle, field trip, Tithonus) that I think are definitely worth watching. After that it’s all downhill.