Black Oil and Bee Stings - 1006 – My Struggle II

Our struggle was getting through the latest episode of the X-Files “My Struggle II” with our sanity intact. We consider it a historically bad episode of television, and a real disservice to long time X-Philes. The greatest and most reliable piece of the X-Files machinery was always the chemistry of Mulder and Scully as partners in co-investigators, and the bad parts were its confusing and poorly thought out mythology that never ended with cliffhanger after cliffhanger. It stands to reason then, that this “season’s” finale kept Mulder and Scully apart the entire time and ended with a massive cliffhanger after a brutally confusing and pointless plot. Boo, just boooooooo.

Black Oil and Bee Stings - 1005 – Babylon

That certainly was an episode of the X-Files, directed and written by Chris Carter, and entitled “Babylon”. Yes, it certainly was. It also had a lot of unlikely cowboy hats, Mulder sporting giant “MUSH” and “ROOM” blinged out hardware. But unfortunately there was a lot of other stuff, which we weren’t giant fans of. Abandon all hope, ye who liked this episode and decide to listen anyway.

Black Oil and Bee Stings - 1004 – Home Again

Jim and A.Ron discuss episode 1004, “Home Again”, which is a perfectly cromulent Monster of the Week type of episode. Featuring a suitably scary, creepy, monster with a grisly M.O., it also features some fine character work with Scully, but it’s not without it’s share of problems. We discuss theories and lore around the Band-Aid Nose Man, the plight of the urban homeless, the propriety of serving on a school board sans kids, consider a bit of feedback from our fellow fans, and much more. See you back next week!

Black Oil and Bee Stings - 1003 – Mulder and Scully meet the Were-Monster

A.Ron and Jim discuss the latest episode of the X-Files, “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster”. While we agree the episode was very funny, and the best of the re-vamped series so far, we are both left a bit wanting for different reasons. A.Ron wanted more Mulder and Scully, and Jim wants more myth-arc. Along the way we try to unpack all the fun easter eggs and references, and figure out where we’re going next.

Black Oil and Bee Stings - 1002 – Founder’s Mutation

Episode 1002 entitled “Founder’s Mutation” of the X-Files miniseries is better than the premiere, but not by a wide margin, and would be considered a middling episode back in the day. The boys explore the charms of the episode, and ask what we presume are some of the big questions raised within. We also discuss ratings so far, where we think the series is going, and our hopes for the future. See you next week!