IMDb user comments for
"The X Files" S.R. 819 (1999)

13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Varicose Veins?, 5 February 2007

Author: Muldernscully from Washington Terrace, Utah

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

S.R. 819 is awesome. It grabs you from the start when Skinner is seen dying in the teaser and the doctor covers his face. What the...? What a shocker! We then get a voice-over from Mitch Pileggi, his only one I think. The story is set as one of the 24 hours earlier-type episodes, where we see what happens to explain the baffling teaser. I like these type of episodes, because they have me on pins and needles the whole time wondering how that event came to be. This is writer John Shiban's best solo work, just beating out the excellent 'The Pine Bluff Variant'. It's great to see the concern that Mulder and Scully show for their boss, in trying to solve the mystery of his illness. I like the line of Mulder asking Skinner if he woke up alone, a nod, I think, to season three's 'Avatar', another Skinner-centric episode, where he wakes up next to a dead prostitute. Mark Snow composes a brilliant score and the vein make-up for Skinner is very real-looking and convincing. And throughout the episode you have your suspicions as to who is making Skinner suffer, which turns out to be a cool reveal. At the end, just when you think Skinner is going to commit to Mulder and Scully, he mysteriously returns to the fence upon which he sits. S.R. 819 is the last of the Skinner-centered episodes, and the best one.

2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
So-so "mythology" thriller, 19 October 2006

Author: (andyetris@yahoo.com) from Philadelphia, PA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Walter Skinner, Mulder and Scully's FBI supervisor, sickens with a mysterious illness. When Mulder connects it to Skinner's review of Senate Resolution 819, he seeks out former ally Senator Richard Matheson. Meanwhile Scully discovers that the apparent virus is actually nanotechnology.

This is an open-ended story in which our heroes run around without solving anything - including Skinner's problem! Without a real resolution it has to be judged on how it contributes to the larger story arc. Despite popping up again in season 7, what happens here simply isn't important. Skipping it won't lose you anything in understanding the "mythology" which is just about to be wrapped up anyway!

Add another comment

Related Links