Top 3 Most 90's Episodes of The X-Files

The X-Files was one of the most iconic TV shows of the 90's for pretty much anyone who lived through the decade, regardless of whether or not they actually liked the show. But, over a decade after the 90's ended, in a show that practically defined the 90's what are the most iconic of the 90's episodes that The X-Files has to offer? Occasionally while revisiting the series I'll come across an episode that is just soaked in 90's culture, and that's what today's brief list is all about!

D.P.O 

Season 3, episode 3. Original air date Oct. 6, 1995

D.P.O is a rather depressing episode about an outcast who doesn't do a whole lot more than play video games who also just so happens to be able to control electricity and uses it to get revenge on people who've bullied him and who he sees as being in the way of his teenaged dreams. Jack Black stars as his equally loserly friend in an era where Jack Black was young enough to play a high school student. James (a band most people are only familiar with because of their hit single "Laid", you know you've heard it before, even if you claim to have never heard of it), Filter, and The Vandals are featured in this episode's soundtrack. If you're unfamiliar with The X-Files's soundtracks, this is an unusually musical episode, which really hammers it home just how iconically 90's this episode is. 

Syzygy

Season 3, episode 1. Original air date Jan. 12, 1996

Two nice girl high schoolers get wrapped up in some Satanic styled witchcraft (except, surprise, the episode's twist is that it's not really Satan) and turn into vicious, eyeliner smeared, hair-spray loving murders. I might say that Syzygy is The X-File's version of The Craft, if only it didn't come out almost half a year before The Craft was released! Like D.P.O, this episode features some iconic 90's music in the form of Live's "All Over You".

Kill Switch

Season 5, episode 11. Original air date Feb. 15, 1998

Kill Switch was actually co-written by cyberpunk icon William Gibson, and it really shows! This episode comes right before the late 90's dystopic sci-fi obsession that movies like The Matrix spawned. There's no iconic 90's music, arcades, or witchcraft in this episode (although there is a lot of eyeliner), but the themes of digital obsession that was really prevalent in a lot of sci-fi works in the age where the internet was just becoming a thing really makes this episode so iconic of it's time.

In a series that was so definitive of the 90's, there are, of course, other episodes that practically oozed ninetiesness, but these 3 are some of my all time favorites!

If for some reason you never got into the series the first time around, or during any of the subsequent reruns, The X-Files is available streaming on Netflix instant. For me, and many others, this show was the show to watch in the 90's and it's not surprising at all that it's held up over the years.

Mattel's Spectra: Barbie's Distant Space-Cousin With More Awesome Fashion Sense

Note: This post was moved from my Hail Kawaii blog to this one.

Let's start this blog out with some rambling about some super old school cute toys! First though, let's side track a little bit so I can talk about myself: I love toys. Especially a) weird toys, b) plastic character toys and c) scifi stuff. I actually never really played with Barbies when I was little, and never really got into that whole thing even later but I was really excited to stumble across Mattel's Spectra online a few weeks ago because it fulfills all of my "OMG I really want this!" needs, it's weird, from outer space, and it's a little plastic person (Not too big into retro plush or animals really). A little plastic person to obsess over and pose goofily on a shelf or table somewhere. As an added bonus, as soon as I saw a picture of it, a great and ancient mystery was solved. The mystery of "WTF is up with this weird pink-bodied robot Barbie?" that either my sister and I, or one of our friends, used to have when we were little. Mystery solved, she's not Barbie's subservient robot friend, but rather some distant space-cousin!

My absolute favorite thing about this line of dolls is their amazing fashion sense. They're dressed in uber 80's outfits that look a bit like if Madonna (of that decade, obviously) descended from space. It's all glittery lace and iridescent organza in all the colors that didn't make the cut for Barbies various prom dresses. It's pretty much exactly like if we blasted a bunch of teens from the 1980's into distant space and then checked on them in a couple hundred years to see what sort of society they built. Obviously, it is a pretty awesome society, because, hey what could ever go wrong with a plan like that?

Photo from Flickr

One of the major bummers about this particular line is the second hand online price. I sincerely doubt that everyone is hurrying to the internet to buy these as fast as they pop up on ebay, but ebay seems to be loaded with a few sellers who've managed to get loads and loads of these still in box (complete with giant markdown stickers for $4 on them) and are selling them for around $60. I don't really have a problem with this normally, hey, it's their giant box of discount space Barbies, they can sell them for whatever they want, but checking out the sold listings, these are largely going unsold. There are a handful of them that ended up selling for about $30, and a ton that sold for $15, but all that remains are the overpriced boxes. Unfortunately, like most retro fashion dolls, the out-of-box ones tend to be pretty beat up and are generally nude, dirty, and have matted hair (Hey, Spectra, I'm not going to judge what you've been doing these past 25+ years...) and aren't exactly very appealing for the prices people are trying to sell them for. I guess I'm going to have to take my search to yard sales and Goodwills for Lacy Spacy Out-of-this-World doll.

   

You can find some more info about Spectra and her futuristic friends here:

• Ghost of the Doll
• Mod Colors of Barbie (check out the awesome official Barbie space outfits too!)
• In The 80s