6
(Christian characters, angels, demons, extra-biblical truths, supernatural)
6
(violence, gore, morbid concepts)
8
(there is none better)
Chances are that if you're looking into The X-Files season 5 you've already gained some appreciation for the series. Otherwise why are you starting in the middle? Rewind! Rewind!
In season 5 Mulder loses his faith in the existence of aliens, Cigarette-Smoking Man is shot, Gibson Praise makes his first appearance, and the season finale leads into the first movie. It also includes episodes written by novelists Stephen King and William Gibson.
This is the last season shot in Vancouver. A lot of fans feel like the series drops like a body off a bridge after this. I say there's still plenty more X Files goodness to come, but still #5 seems like the cutoff for some of the casual fans. The swapping of Mulder's belief system isn't as satisfying as I had hoped. It's an interesting character moment to see him go back on all that he's been so passionate about ever since we've known him, but it's a very sudden shift in his worldview. To the show's credit his disillusionment lasts for more than a couple of episodes so it does take him a while to regain his faith. It would have felt like little more than a gimmick if he lost it completely then regained it completely within the span of the season premier.
I don't like Stephen King's “Chinga” as much as I thought I would. The creepy Hokey Pokey song is overused and the doll just isn't as unsettling as it tries to be.
At the same time William Gibsons's “Kill Switch” manages to feel almost epic in its 45 minute time frame. We've done the killer AI before already, and yet the approach here is so masterful that I forgive the retread. It's complex, technologically creative, and suspenseful even without the use of a traditional monster.
We get a showcase of the Lone Gunmen which is a good test for whether or not you should check out the Lone Gunmen spin-off series. Other stand-out episodes include “Bad Blood” which is one of my favorite comedy episodes of the entire series and “Travelers” which takes a break from the usual Mulder and Scully case to look at the X Files before they became involved. How good can an episode be when it leaves out the heroes we love? I would be in favor of an Arthur Dales spin-off if they could be of this caliber, let's put it that way.
Morality
As usual most of the episode have some strong language. “Bad Blood” is an example of Mulder beginning to say a word that is not allowed on TV but is cut short by editing. Other than that the usage is mild and infrequent.
“Chinga” features some gory moments of people with knives stuck in their eyes and self mutilation. “Kill Switch” displays a burned corpse and amputates a character's limbs. A bug crawls out of a man's mouth to attack people, we see the flattened and decaying skin of people whose organs have been removed, and people are burned alive.
There isn't much sexual in this season. Mulder gets naked and rolls around on the ground, but we don't see enough to count it as nudity, and it's not sexual. I only mention it at all because nothing else comes to mind.
Spirituality
While there are various tales of the supernatural this season, the one most notable for its religious content is “All Souls.” The story revolves around angels. The Devil is trying to catch a number of Nephilim (deformed girls who are half-human / half-angelic) in order to control their power although what power they may give him is never really explained. As Scully investigates she crosses paths with a Cherubim as well.
While the episode is fraught with religious imagery none of it is actually biblical. All of the angels we see are mentioned in the Bible, but there is no such struggle to claim the souls of Nephilim for power in the spiritual realm. This is more along the lines of something we might see in a Constantine story. We are introduced to a priest who sports an upside-down cross (which he says is a symbol of Peter's crucifixion rather than the typical perversion of the cross found in satanism). Though he passes himself off as a priest he relies on teachings from extra-biblical sources (we never see him use the actual Bible). Though, since we are seeing the story unfold, it becomes evident that he is tapped into truths not contained in the Bible.
On the positive side is a spirit of confession from Scully. The whole story is told by her as she confesses something heavy on her heart. The implication is that God is ultimately in control and has brought Scully into this situation in order to help her get past the trauma of what happened with Emily.
Final Thoughts
While the fifth season of the X Files may have a few weak episode, nearly every season has at least 1 or 2 of those, it is absolutely a solid offering. When picking through favorite episodes to revisit season 5 certainly gets some time in my DVD player. It's a must-see for even the most casual of X Files fans.
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