"The Sixth Extinction"
Air Date: November 7, 1999

"I stayed on in spite of myself, in spite of everything I ever believed to be true. I will continue here as long as I can... how can I reconcile what I see with what I know?"

So proclaims Agent Scully in the latest long-winded, pretentious and melodramatic monologue of The X-Files, a show that in its seventh season opener inadvertently reflected the ennui of its own audience. It's hard to believe that this is the same series whose episode titles I once knew months in advance, whose dark, enigmatic story arcs (and hunky, now-MIA male supporting cast) I once analyzed to no end. The X-Files was once the best hour of television hands down, an imaginative and thought-provoking series whose writing, acting and production values went uncontested. Now, three years into the P.W.E. (Post-Wong Era), the show has proven only to inflame me, irritate me, disappoint me and periodically insult my intelligence. Not this time, however. Not with "The Sixth Extinction."

This time, it just plain bored the crap out of me.

The fact that I taped X-Files to watch Who Wants To Be a Millionaire (which went on to pummel X-Files, ratings-wise) is certainly not a good sign. The fact that Who Wants To Be a Millionaire -- a game show hosted by Regis Philbin -- contained more suspense, plot twists and well-drawn characterization than the last two seasons of X-Files put together is an even worse one. Last year's season finale, "Biogenesis" -- an episode best defined by the first and last letters of its title -- was possibly the most dull X-Files finale to date, and "The Sixth Extinction" transformed this muddled beginning into a meandering, convoluted mishmash of poorly written monologues, lackluster plotting and botched continuity.

If anything is extinct in The X-Files, it's quality, and no one proves this better than Chris Carter, who, in the absence of talent or imagination, has decided to play the sex card for all it's worth. "The Sixth Extinction" continues Scully's rapid descent into idiocy with a vapid, pseudo-profound monologue that pulls out all the shipper stops. As the episode progresses, Scully waxes rhapsodic over Mulder's "beautiful mind", ponders yet again over the discrepancy between her scientific nature and her discoveries (enough already!), and makes sure her outfits reveal that the truth is seriously hanging out there. Unlike last season, Scully had something useful to do in "Sixth Extinction", but still managed to make such insipid mistakes (she can't recognize the plagues of Egypt?!) that you began to wonder if the aliens took her brain along with her ovaries back in season four. This is a shame not just because Scully was once a terrific, multi-faceted female character, but because Gillian Anderson is a talented actress who deserves far better than this.

So, for that matter, does David Duchovny. Is it any wonder those two want out of that show so badly? Duchovny, who wrote and directed the best episode of last season, "The Unnatural", is co-writing the sequel to "The Sixth Extinction", although its likely he'll ultimately be Cartered. ("Carter", verb: To overwrite someone who is far more talented than you are. Related entries: "Chinga", "Harsh Realm".) Here, Duchovny has little more to do than be Crazy Mulder, the loony half-wit who plays his psychic bongos to a conspiracy beat. Sure, he's moody and tormented, but since this storyline is going absolutely nowhere, one can't help but feel more sympathy for the actor than the character.

That is the main difficulty in watching X-Files: It's impossible to form any emotional involvement with the series when you know that whatever plot developments formed will be forgotten within a few episodes. The same is true for characters, as seen in the loss of the excellent supporting cast, particularly Mitch Pileggi, Nick Lea, and William B. Davis. Skinner makes a rare appearance in "The Sixth Extinction" and Mulder at first doesn't even recognize him -- and who would, with all the screen time he's been given? Pileggi is definitely an episode highlight, giving a dignified and astute performance that far outstrips the quality of the show as a whole.

You may have noticed I haven't mentioned the plot yet, and that is because, well, there isn't any -- any that resembles something coherent or even interesting, that is. The characters -- as established in the first four, superior seasons -- are the only thing holding this show together. That and the futile hope that they will once more pick up those lost threads -- that someday we will hear the name "Samantha" again, find out the truth behind Cancerman, the backstory behind Krycek, and the real answer to the alien conspiracy. (Of course, then they'd have to resolve all the gaping continuity errors made over the last three seasons, which is a tad problematic.) Like Scully, X-Files fans stay on as long as they can, often in spite of themselves. But reconciliation seems a long shot, and, for this week at least, The Truth is out there with The Rege over at ABC. Memo to Fox: Don't count on us staying on too much longer.

-- Sarah Kendzior

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