The X-Files - The Truth

When The X-Files first appeared on Australian television, I was quite taken by the series. I liked the sly humour it injected into its very silly storyline. The way the characters seemed to be sending up their so-serious screen personas.

Then, as the series progressed, this wry humour seemed to disappear slowly. And now, in this final show, The Truth, it has totally evaporated.

This 84-minute episode is the culmination of the series' nine years on our screens. It sets out to answer all the unanswered questions. Where was Mulder kept when David Duchovny got tired of playing the role? Are the aliens real? Is the Pope an alien? Well then, how about Sadam Hussein?

By the end of the episode we have all the answers, and I wished they'd stayed questions. The answers are so - well, so very very lame, really. Certianly not worth waiting nine years to find out, anyway! The first hour of the special finale zips along pretty quickly and brightly. The final 25 minutes seems twice as long, as its ponderous, weary denouement unfolded.

Where has all the humour gone? I was forced to conclude that it had never really been there. That I had found the humour for myself, after deciding that no-one, not even a set of serious Americans, could go about making a show based on the tired-old 'there are aliens amongst us' premise without sending it up even just a little. The X-Files, it turned out in the end, was just too serious for its own good.

This 16:9 enhancement is how all television series should be treated - with the serious attention given to the best cinema releases. X-Files fans will have nothing to complain about in this fine, crisp and detailed transfer.

The 5.1 Dolby Digital sound isn't as punchy as a cinema release; its tailoring for a television audience with an emphasis on dialogue is evident. But it does the job very well with no apparent audio artefacts or distortion.

Fans are given a complete bonus episode - William, about an obnoxious baby with repellent special powers and an ability to dribble constantly and copiously. As with the main attraction, this episode comes free of distracting humour. 'Nuff said, really.

There is also a special featurette, Reflections on the Truth, which is a 13-minute panegyric on the "special sacrifices" made by cast and crew in taking part in a television series which ran for nine years and made a heap of money for everyone. Life is hard out there in television-land...

This will be a compulsory purchase for all fans of the series. And it's a compulsory rental for all others who just want to make sure the series is really over, with nowhere left for Mulder and Scully to go. Is there an avenue left for a possible return? Well, I shouldn't say, but...