The Lone Gunmen - The Complete Series

The series lasted a mere 13 episodes, and in retrospect probably plays better now than it did in the spring of 2001 when the peak years of The X-Files were still fresh in the memory. Thanks to direction and writing by the same creative talent and music by Mark Snow, The Lone Gunmen has the feel of Chris Carter's signature series, though without the impenetrable mythology and the sexual tension (Robinson is beautiful, but let's be serious). The episodes are generally stand-alone affairs reflecting the goofy humor that made the trio part of the comic relief in The X-Files. Light-hearted topics include a blind football team and a super-intelligent chimpanzee, but the closing episode dealt with the familiar themes of alien abduction and government cover-ups (a thread that after the series' cancellation had to be concluded in an episode of The X-Files, which is also included in this set). And particularly chilling is the pilot: aired six months before 9/11, it deals with an attempt to fly an airplane into the World Trade Center. The Lone Gunmen couldn't match the brilliant inspiration of The X-Files (few shows could), but for fans it might just be the next best thing. --David Horiuchi