172: A Goodly Length in Times Past

[thefourthvine]

Okay, so, um, before we get to the recs (and there are recs - I know! I'm as stunned as you are), I have a question. Sadly, these leads us into deeply contentious waters, and I seriously considered hiding this behind a cut tag, because I love Best Beloved and don't want her to be lynched. But I trust you guys

Comments

[delurker]

The last time I read Instantaneous, I spent the next week feeling vaguely resentful that I had to walk everywhere instead of teleporting. ::yearns::

[thefourthvine]

I know. Why can't we live in the future and have all the really good toys?

[belladonnalin]

...

Wow. Your Buffy story is set IN MY TOWN.

Nothing has been set in my town since Benny and Joon. Awesome. Thanks for the recs.

[thefourthvine]

I've never seen Benny and Joon, but I have to say - if you're only going to have one story set in your town, this is a fabulous choice. (And I'm actually rather curious to see how the story feels to you. To me, it has a very tangible sense of place that works really well; it does not seem like Some Random Place That Isn't Sunnydale, the way Cleveland often does in post-canon BtVS stories. Spokane feels real in this story, at least to me, and I'm wondering if it will to you as well.)

[lolaraincoat]

nwhepcat has the best sense of place of any fan writer I've read, ever, and she uses it to great advantage. I don't know about her Spokane, but she's written some great ones set in NYC, Cleveland and LA that are spot-on.

And yay! you found "Lilac City"! Isn't it fabulous? Doesn't her Xander rock?

[belladonnalin]

It's a tremendously good sense of place, especially since she writes it like an outsider (which, looking at her userinfo, she was). She writes Spokane the way that those of us who moved here from other places can see it - the good and the bad. I REALLY enjoyed reading it. Xander works at the grocery store in the neighborhood I lived in for five years, they're constantly going to places that I love (Auntie's! Even Viggo Mortinson thinks its one of the best indie bookstores in the country), and it's very cool to read a fic set in a city that I do really have a lot of affection for.

Thank you for the rec.

[meacoustic]

I liked S1/S2 XF, because there was a slightly goofy quality that was sadly lacking from the six years that followed, but S4/S5 are good (if depressing). And then everything went downhill after that.

[thefourthvine]

So you'd say to stop at the end of season five? Good to know. (And, um, did season three suck? I notice it is conspicuously absent from your list of seasons you liked.)

Thank you!

[laurashapiro]

Yep, definitely stop at the end of S5. DO NOT WATCH THE MOVIE. You may watch specific S6 eps with the hand-holding of a well-informed guide.

The Scully-shafting does continue in a variety of ways, but she gets a lot more screen time as the seasons progress.

[cofax7]

::is shameful::

I kinda liked the movie. I was hooked by Triangle and Dreamland.

Season 6 is uneven and goofy in ways the earlier seasons aren't. Season 7 is definitely uneven, although there are some great episodes. Stop at 7, unless you really like Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish, but don't pretend it's the same show. And Scully really gets shafted in the last two seasons. Ptewie.

[astartexx]

I would say that Scully’s arc kicks up after her abduction at the beginning of season 2. It gets personal for her and while there is still so much more pain in waiting for her, she steps up to the game and in my opinion loses the slight sidekick status of season 1 completely. Mulder will still run of and do completely insane things and chase his own tail, but c’mon her dry ice glare can take his skin off if appropriate and make his tongue stick.

Uhm, yeah, BB should try to watch at least till Scully’s return without doubt the fourth season, which is in my opinion overall the best followed closely by season 5. And yeah, creatively speaking the first three beat the last three into a bloody pulp.

[thefourthvine]

I would say that Scully’s arc kicks up after her abduction at the beginning of season 2.

Good to know. To the best of my ability to understand it - it's, um, kind of hard to grasp specific issues with TV shows you know nothing about - BB is uncomfortable with Scully being the sidekick to Mulder's hero, with Scully being set up to be wrong all the time. She likes Scully too much to see her being put in that position again and again. So if that ends, that would be very good news for BB with respect to future seasons.

Uhm, yeah, BB should try to watch at least till Scully’s return without doubt the fourth season, which is in my opinion overall the best followed closely by season 5.You seem to be the second vote for "it's all downhill after season five." Did something bad happen then? And you're also the second vote for seasons four and five being the best ones. So, okay, this is sounding like good news, because at this point, I think BB likes the characters a lot more than the show, and it sounds like the show will get better. Yay!

[vaznetti]

BB is uncomfortable with Scully being the sidekick to Mulder's hero, with Scully being set up to be wrong all the time. She likes Scully too much to see her being put in that position again and again.

This irritated me as well, quite a lot, and I don't think it ever gets much better. The show pattern is almost always that Mulder's crazy theory turns out to be right, and Scully's scientific objections end up being misguided. But it's been a long time and I may be letting my grumpiness about this particular issue cloud my vision. It does certainly get a lot more personal for Scully after S2, and is worth BB watching a little more of, to see how she feels about it.

[astartexx]

I don’t think season 6 and 7 is too bad. Some answers actually make sense; others are entertaining enough that accepting them is like expanding your brain into a whole new level of Zen. But the move to LA shows in all the wrong places and hurts the atmosphere people got used to like puritybrown said. It lacks the dark X files vibe of bad lightning and constant rain, plus the final solution of Samantha’s abduction still makes me want to bleach my brain to get rid of the memories. BUT it’s in my opinion still better than most shows and easy watchable. What happens in S8 is something I can accept and at the end I felt like okay, this is it. This is the end of the show, I want to remember them happy for once and in a place that has some hope

[giandujakiss]

XF didn't really pick up until Seasons 3 and 4 - I didn't like S1 much, either. And my favorite episode of the entire series is S2, Humbug.

And of course, BB can entirely stop watching after Season 7. It's better that way.

[thefourthvine]

XF didn't really pick up until Seasons 3 and 4 - I didn't like S1 much, either.

Yay! It sounds like things will get better, and that not liking season one all that much doesn't mean BB is out of the XF game entirely. Thank you!

And of course, BB can entirely stop watching after Season 7.

Wow. Um. Just how many seasons did this show have?

[flambeau]

Just how many seasons did this show have?

Between two and six too many, depending on who you ask. :)

Actually this is all making me nostalgic for alt.tv.x-files, where someone was always saying that the new season was crap and the previous season had been the last good one. Starting, of course, from the beginning of season two.

[marycrawford]

And my favorite episode of the entire series is S2, Humbug.

Is that the one with the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow in? If so, yes, I recommend it to BB - it's very funny, not to mention awesomely whacked. Man, I loved that episode, and I'm not a big X-Files fan overall.