X-Files: S04 - 1996 - 6/10

Initially, sheer joy. Behind the shelves, I spied a still shrink wrapped S04 box that I had purchased in 2005.
Opener was with Roy Thinnes. Great, great, great.
Turns out, this is not nearly as enjoyable as S02 and S03, at least for me.
Most of the one-offs, the monsters of the week, were decent.
The mythology arc, however, seemed to have run out of steam.
Revelations were incremental, no longer the eye popping leaps.
As the season advanced, a depressed, gloomy tone saturated characters and narratives.
I have my own theories about what happened. Key departures, film version distraction.
For me, this was where X-Files lost its appeal.
Note - For those who only want a few seasons, S04 does feature a conclusion of sorts you can end on.