Zack Handlen

Coming fresh off of a rewatch of the series, as well as reading another recap centric book in The Sopranos Sessions, this was a sour experience that highlighted for me what worked about The Sopranos one - a sense that the writer understands and likes the show. Here, you get this internet-snark style writeup (not unexpected since the origin of the book was an AV recap blog) where the game is to insert some backhanded compliment or social/political commentary talking about how something is show more insensitive or wouldn't fly these days.
It's not that the X-files is some avantgarde critics darling beyond criticism, it's about the scope of the book and tone of the criticism. There are plenty of essay form media criticism books investigating some aspect of the show, but this is written up as an overview of the entire show, the revival and movies included. There's too many episodes to cover for the recaps to be deep dives, and you split that with the culture war politics and trying to further some commentary about the show's themes, acting, directing and writing; it's just a mess. It doesn't dig deeper than Can you believe a 30 year old show has outdated social commentary? Big yikes! And hasn’t Darkness Falls improved because of climate change? Capitalism! Cultural appropriation! Cultural invasion, and xenophobia! There's no value added by this; you know exactly what it sounds like and could write it in your sleep.

Unlike the Sopranos book, which has a dedicated section devoted to interviews with series creator David Chase, this books interweaves comments from cast and crew as part of the episode reviews. If that material had been a dedicated section you could have at least had the utility of skipping the bad recaps to get at some insider comments (and I'd probably have upped the score by a star because some of that material was interesting).
Not enough juice for the squeeze. show less

Your very own aftershow in a Kindle!

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley/Edelweiss.)

"I went back, as I often do, to read some contemporaneous reviews of 'Pilot' (S1E1) from TV critics, and what struck me was how many of them insisted that UFOs were 'played out' as the subject matter for TV series. Even the positive ones - and there were many - were worried about The X-Files becoming just another UFO series."
- Todd, "Things That Go Bump"

I feel kind of silly show more reviewing a book I haven't read cover-to-cover but, since I plan on devouring Monsters of the Week: The Complete Critical Companion to The X-Files as part of an upcoming X-Files rewatch, it will likely be months before I actually finish it. So here goes nothing.

Monsters of the Week is a collection of the AV Club's X-Files recaps - originally published well after the original airing of the show - revised and updated for modern viewers, and with all the spoilery bits removed so that newbies can enjoy it too.

What you won't find here: point-by-point episode recaps. (If you're anything like me, you already purchased those books, in print form, as they were released in the late '90s and early aughts, well before e-readers were a thing.)

Instead, you'll find critical analyses and reviews of each episode, as well as interviews with the actors and writers. Again, I've only read a selection of the essays, but overall they seem insightful and engaging, and certainly amped up my excitement to rewatch the show. I guess my only complaint so far is that I wish each essay was a little longer, but at 480 pages that might be a little unreasonable. (Or not, because X-Philes gonna phile.)

Based on some other reviews - either praising or criticizing the authors' social justice bent - I have high hopes for this compendium.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2018/10/26/monsters-of-the-week-by-zack-handlen-and-to... show less

Handlen and VanDerWerff's Monsters of the Week takes the reader on a whirlwind review of every single episode from all 11 seasons, as well as looking at the two feature-length films. This was an interesting read, to be sure. I'm already a huge fan, so there were no spoilers for me, but those new to the series should watch the episodes before reading about them, both to avoid spoilers, and to avoid going in with preconceived notions picked up from the essayists that may colour the viewing. show more Each author offered unique opinions, sometimes flattering, and at other times decidedly not, so don't go in expecting a rave fest for how great a show it is. Much of the information was old hat, but I did learn a few new things! Perfect for X-Philes of any flavour.

***Many thanks to the Netgalley and Abrams Press for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. show less