FBI Agent Fox Mulder Wants To Believe. Ever since witnessing the
abduction of his sister, Fox Mulder has believed in the existence
of extraterrestrials. Now an FBI agent, his obsession with finding
his sister continues to grow as he examines the unsolved and
often
unexplainable cases the FBI has labeled X-Files. But as his search
continues, he uncovers a series of
seemingly interwoven events of which his sister's abduction is but
a part. Although Mulder fails time and again to get hard evidence
that could prove his theories, mysterious contacts supply him with
information which only strengthen his belief that a far-reaching
government conspiracy is covering up the truth he so desperately
seeks. Yet nothing can prepare him for the ultimate truth that has
been kept hidden for over fifty
years.
In Black
Oil, even as Scully searches for the truth behind her
abduction, an alien autopsy tape leads her and Mulder to a
professed group of women abductees who all have chips identical to
the one found in Scully's neck. Then, while investigating a series
of deaths connected to a sunken World War II aircraft and a
mysterious black oil, Mulder encounters Alex Krycek, who claims to
have a digital tape documenting the existence of
extraterrestrials. A second encounter with Krycek leads Mulder to
Siberia, where an unidentified object crashed into Earth in 1908.
Yet for all the seemingly undeniable proof, when agents are asked
to verify the remains of a 200-year-old-alien, they finally
discover just how far the government will go to make Mulder
believe.
CRITIQUE
The X-Files
is an awesome show, and as I said in my other Mythology review, I
love conspiracy stories. This show no doubt serves up the coolest,
most disturbing and imaginative of government conspiracies. The
last set, Abduction, ended on a high note with the third
season two-parter The Blessing Way and Paper Clip.
And so, the Black Oil set continues the investigations of
Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in 15 more exciting episodes. The best
of them here (collectively for a season) are the third season
episodes Nisei, 731, Piper Maru, Apocrypha
and Talitha Cumi, where we find out about the existence of
the mysterious and dangerous black oil (an alien life form).
These five episodes
are just great. In Nisei and 731, Mulder follows up on a
lead from an apparent “alien autopsy” tape that leads to an encounter
with the Syndicate, and Scully finds out about a group of women who
claim to have been abducted just like her. In Piper Maru we are
introduced to the black oil and in Apocrypha Mulder pursues a
digital tape containing military files documenting the existence of
extraterrestrials while Scully tracks down the man who killed her
sister. The third season finale Talitha Cumi is simply
excellent, but I don’t dare divulge any plot points for it, except to
say there are several great surprises.
Moving into its
fourth year, the show picked up more steam and we get the terrific
season premiere Herrenvolk, in which Mulder and Scully make
shocking discoveries on their respective ends, and an important
character meets the end of the road. The mythology continues with
seven more episodes for the season, beginning with two highly
enjoyable two-part episodes, Tunguska
and Terma follow Mulder and Krycek to Russia where Mulder is
subjected to a close encounter with the black oil and Krycek reveals
his true alliance.
Next is the
memorable Memento Mori, which I don’t want to spoil, followed
by the two-parter Tempus Fugit and Max, which revolves
around an investigation of a commercial jetliner that crashed under
strange circumstances, which Mulder attributes to a UFO and a military
fighter jet. Zero-Sum finally shines the spotlight on Walter
Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) who appears to be working for the Cigarette
Smoking Man (William B. Davis) as Mulder begins to uncover through
shocking evidence during an investigation into the murder of a police
detective outside a research facility.
Finally, the
Black Oil set ends with the gutsy season four finale Gethsemane
that involves a (apparent) high profile death, and the two-parter
Redux and Redux II, which turns the government conspiracy
Mulder has been investigating on its head, and reveals a leak inside
the FBI, plus breathing new life into Scully, so to speak.
The second volume of
the X-Files Mythology series, Black Oil, includes the following episodes:
Disc 3:
-4X15: Memento Mori
-4X17: Tempus Fugit
-4X18: Max
-4X21: Zero-Sum
Disc 4:
-4X24: Gethsemane
-5X02: Redux
-5X03: Redux II
THE VIDEO
Fox presents The
X-Files in 1.33:1 fullscreen format. The video quality isn't
all that great as there are a few noticeable flaws in the picture.
They don't distract too much but when viewed on a big screen you
can catch them rather easily. The episodes remain watchable,
however, as colors look pretty decent and saturation is good. Optional subtitles
include English, Spanish and French.
THE AUDIO
Fox presents The
X-Files in English Dolby 2.0 Surround. Dialogue sounds clear
and is easy to understand. The sound effects come across well from
the front speakers, and the music sounds haunting. A Spanish Dolby track
and a French Stereo track are also available.
THE EXTRAS
There are only three
audio
commentaries here (two less than the first set), but they are an interesting listen:
"Talitha Cumi" by Bob Goodwin, "Memento Mori" by Rob
Bowman, and "Max" by Kim Manners.
The three
commentaries were newly recorded for this set, and that’s great,
however Fox made the mistake of leaving out the interesting
commentary on Apocrypha by Chris Carter and Kim Manners
that is available on the Season 3 set. Also, writer Frank Spotnitz
provided commentary on Memento Mori on the Season 4 set,
but obviously it’s been replaced with Bowman’s track. On one last
note, I would have liked a commentary on Redux by Carter
and Goodwin explaining the shift in conspiracy mythology.
The fourth disc holds
the all-new documentary created exclusively for this set: Chris
Carter's "Threads of
Mythology: Black Oil" (31:37) is the second of four documentaries covering
the mythology episodes. In this one we find discussions on some of
the episodes included in the set with a few good recollections and
explanations. Interview participants include Frank Spotnitz (writer), Rob Bowman (director), Howard Gordon
(writer), John Shiban (writer), and a look-quick-or-you-will-miss-it
appearance by creator Chris Carter at the beginning. Also featured in
interviews are actors Tom Braidwood (who plays Melvin Frohike, one of
the Lone Gunmen) and
Michael McKean (who shows up in Dreamland, a chilly but fun
two-parter in season 6). Some viewers may want to watch out for a
spoiler in the last two minutes as a future episode is discussed.
Overall this documentary is fine but nothing special. I would've liked
some more in depth discussion about the mythology, and seen some
behind-the-scenes footage (but none appears).
Also included with this
4-disc set is a very neat and informative Exclusive Collectible Mythology Timeline
fold-out booklet. The back of the two slimcases look great as each episode
listed is supported by a synopsis and a small picture from the show.
FINAL THOUGHT
The only reason
to get Black Oil is if you are new to the show and want to
experience just the mythology episodes, or as a fan for the new
commentaries (worth it) and the documentary (not entirely worth
it). Sure, the episodes featured here are great, but they are
available on the season sets already, of which seasons 1-5 are the
best. If you own every season on DVD you’re best off renting this
set, while I encourage newcomers to make the purchase. In the end
it comes down to the individual consumer. The DVD
cover says “the truth is in here,” but it’s only the half truth.
The whole truth is inside the season sets, of course, which by the
way are highly recommended (again only seasons 1-6 are actually
worth their individual $90 price tags).
