Video: The X-Files
Anime: Neon Genesis Evangelion - Genesis 0:1

Two vastly different episodes offer the best of The X-Files

Our pick:
1 2 3 4 5

• The X-Files
  Darkness Falls/The Erlenmeyer Flask
• Starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
• MSRP $14.95

Editor's Note: This is the first of three reviews covering the recently released X-Files videos. We will be reviewing each of the remaining videos in our next two issues.

his new X-Files video offers two episodes from the show's first season, with a special introduction from Executive Producer Chris Carter. The different episodes present what The X-Files does best, as they move from monster mystery to alien/government conspiracy.

In the first episode, Darkness Falls, loggers in a remote area mysteriously vanish and Scully (Anderson) and Mulder (Duchovny) are sent to investigate. In the second episode, The Erlenmeyer Flask, Mulder is tipped off that a routine police case may be more than it seems. As he and Scully investigate, he discovers that the truth may, indeed, be out there.

Carter offers a little insight on his popular series, as well as the two featured episodes during his special introduction as he discusses the ideas behind each episode. Both episodes were written by Carter, and while they have little in common, they do focus on The X-File's strengths -- the ability to create a mystery and a sense of danger for the show's main characters.

Darkness Falls is a good example of an X-Files monster episode, which focuses on one of Carter's favorite subjects -- ecology. He loves irony, and there is plenty in this episode, as more than one character is dispatched as a direct result of his own actions. One note that doesn't ring true here is the unflappable Scully freaking out while Mulder calms her down. This otherwise solid episode does what the monster episodes are meant to do -- it gives viewers a little scare while making an implausible mystery fun and just believable enough.

The Erlenmeyer Flask is an X-Files of a different color. This classic episode about an alien/government conspiracy was the first season finale -- and what a note for the season to end on. The Erlenmeyer Flask was the episode which crystallized the alien mythology that has now become the foundation upon which The X-Files is built. Carter has a plan and this show laid out just enough to tantalize as he weaved aliens, clones and conspiracy together. As has become the norm for the alien/government conspiracy episodes, every answer only leads to more questions. It's smoke and mirrors and it makes for great television.

The Erlenmeyer Flask is also notable for other reasons. Important things happen to reoccurring characters and some famous lines are uttered. When Mulder says, "I'm not going to give up. I can't give up. Not as long as the truth is out there..." it's a defining moment for Mulder, and the show as well.

This video offers quintessential X-Files as well as any two of the early episodes ever could. Fans will especially want to have The Erlenmeyer Flask in their collection as the foundation of things to come. -- Kathie

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Payoffs for the perpetually patient

Our pick:
1 2 3 4 5

• Neon Genesis Evangelion - Genesis 0:1
• A.D. Vision
• $29.95 subtitled/$24.95 dubbed
  (Subtitled edition reviewed.)
• 46 minutes
• October 1996

es, the Earth is being invaded yet again by a technologically superior and wholly unknown alien enemy. Yes, Japan has produced a visionary genius whose giant battlesuits might just possibly save the day. And of course the only people capable of piloting those suits are some freshly-recruited kids who probably aren't prepared for the physical rigors and emotional strain of constant lethal combat with humanity's survival at stake.

This exact storyline crops up a lot in anime, from brand-new releases like Dancougar and Gunbuster to classics from Voltron to Giant Robo. But Neon Genesis Evangelion's version of the story is much sharper and crueler.

For one thing, the brilliant scientist in question is a coldly despotic Fagin who drives the child-pilots in his care ruthlessly, even dragging one badly-wounded girl from her hospital bed to fight. (Asked if she's still usable, he replies "She's not dead.") Nor does he have any more feeling for his own son Shinji, whom he brusquely summons into the battlezone as "a spare."

Worse yet, the battlesuits are untested, and no one seems to believe they'll actually work. They obviously put incredible physical strain on the pilots, who suffer psychic agony that matches the damage inflicted on their suits. And even when Earth manages to win a battle, there's a coterie of conniving politicians on the ground, ready to cover up the danger, grab what credit they can and complain about the battlesuit program's cost.

Evangelion's writers leave the alien force itself completely unexplained and undeveloped in the opening episodes -- they're just a generic powerful threat. But the human conflicts pack more than enough punch to carry this story. In particular, the antagonistic relationship between Shinji and his contemptuous, abusive father is startling and instantly absorbing. The other people in Shinji's life are no kinder.

This elaborate emotional cruelty fits surprisingly well into the long heritage of cookie-cutter anime shows about teen pilots winning against incredible odds. As a new twist on an old story, it adds some textual sophistication to an overdone genre. But Evangelion also acknowledges the strengths of such shows with its bright, simple, colorful visuals and terrifically paced combat sequences.

Unfortunately, Evangelion does have a major story drawback. The plot unfolds in a baffling, backwards fashion, as Shinji loses his memories in the stress of battle and only rediscovers them after viewers are completely lost in the plot convolutions unfolding around and without him. Repeated viewings clear up the worst of the confusion, but the first time through, the show simply seems badly edited.

Evangelion takes patience and a bit of masochism to watch -- it's hardly a kind, simple or cute show. But as a break from the usual, it's well worth that effort.

Just try to ignore the "previews" for upcoming episodes -- they not only give away too much of the plot, they're translated really weirdly. -- Tasha

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