Quote:
Originally Posted by spotcatbug
I'm really surprised by this. I didn't think anybody preferred the continuing story stuff in X-Files over the self-contained episode stuff. At least I've never met anybody that did. It makes me like X-Files a little more to know that all that crap was enjoyed by somebody. 
Also, I just gotta ask: what about X-Files episodes like Jose Chung and that one with The Amazing Randy (it had the father from Every Loves Raymond in it)? Those weren't "critter" episodes. The writers were very creative. I think they could have come up with very, very entertaining, self-contained episodes for many years. |
The problem is that self-contained episodes either suck, or they don't... and in general, the sucky ones outnumber the good ones by a large ratio. Not everyone can have an on day writing.
Continuity, however, lets even a mediocre episode tie into a larger good arc with just a few moments here or there, and get the ol' noggin juices flowing. "Oh crap! Did they just say..." "Did you see that guy in the background?" Suddenly an iffy episode takes on a whole new life.
The trick is to make the arcs good. Counterexample: Heroes.
Given a good, solid, complex arc, it can lift the lesser single-shot episodes, and provide grist for some really kick-ass arc-devoted episodes. It lets the tempo of the show change from week to week, instead of sticking strictly to a formula week in and week out.
Without that, every episode has to rely solely on the skill of the writers for *that week*... and historical evidence of pretty much any show you care to name points to that being really hit and miss.
When it goes off the rails, though, it can be really fricking annoying. cf: Mulder going rogue. Weeks of buildup, and then suddenly he's back, everything is forgotten and forgiven, and we're back to the status quo. W. T. F?? (The Invisibles Vol 2 did the same damned thing, and my wife still hasn't forgiven Morrison for it.)