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A review by themidnightbagel
Monsters of the Week: The Complete Critical Companion to The X-Files by Patrick Leger, Emily VanDerWerff, Zack Handlen
I can't really rate this, can I? It's a collection of critical essays examining every single episode of The X-Files, how can you possibly give one quantitative rating to that? If you can, more power to you, but I cannot. Regardless, I did have a very good time with it. Originally, I had picked it up only as something to page through, read the essays only on a couple episodes per season. Instead, once I started I ended up reading every single one. It took me a bit, and I usually would just sit down at the end of the day and read a couple, but I had a damn good time with it. The X-Files is one of my all-time favorite shows, and Emily VanDerWerff is one of my favorite TV critics, so it seemed like a match made in heaven. I was unaware with Zack's work, but I found his writing style just as engaging, and his points just as insightful. While I didn't agree with them on every episode, that wasn't the point of the book. I found what they had to say interesting, the behind the scenes interviews sprinkled throughout added something nice, and reliving a show I love felt like coming home. Needless to say, as I read I kept a running "rewatch list" and I will be starting on that list, immediately. I would definitely recommend this to anybody who also sits at the crossroads of enjoying media criticism and The X-Files.
Note- This is exactly what it says it is, a critical companion to the show, written by two professional critics. This is not a 500 page hug fest, proclaiming every episode a modern masterpiece. Even with the nostalgia glasses on, you have to admit there were some very bad episodes in the bunch. I saw some complaints that the book was too negative at points, but what this book is trying to do is right there in the name, and if you think these two people would go through all of this for a show they didn't, at the end of the day, love very much, then I don't know what to tell you. It's critical yes, but always in a productive way, and never coming from a place of spite or malice. But, I can see how some people may not want to read that in relation to a show they love. Which is perfectly fine, but don't fault the book for doing exactly what it said it was going to do.
Note- This is exactly what it says it is, a critical companion to the show, written by two professional critics. This is not a 500 page hug fest, proclaiming every episode a modern masterpiece. Even with the nostalgia glasses on, you have to admit there were some very bad episodes in the bunch. I saw some complaints that the book was too negative at points, but what this book is trying to do is right there in the name, and if you think these two people would go through all of this for a show they didn't, at the end of the day, love very much, then I don't know what to tell you. It's critical yes, but always in a productive way, and never coming from a place of spite or malice. But, I can see how some people may not want to read that in relation to a show they love. Which is perfectly fine, but don't fault the book for doing exactly what it said it was going to do.