"Actor: James Pickens Jr"

  • Grey's Anatomy Season 15 Boxset [DVD] [2019]Grey's Anatomy Season 15 Boxset | DVD | (25/11/2019) from £15.49   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

    Share the love, heartbreak and secrets of ABC Studios' Grey's Anatomy: Complete Fifteenth Season. Romance is brewing in ways you did not see coming as doctor Teddy Altman is back in an explosive love triangle. And the drama continues as a windstorm blows through Seattle, causing the power to go out at Grey Sloan, leaving the doctors scrambling to save their patients' lives, including Meredith, who desparately needs to get a patient for her heart transplant. Expect the unexpected, in 25 epsiodes, with new relationships, lost loves, hot new doctors and the kind of jaw-dropping twists only Grey's Anatomy can deliver.

  • Grey's Anatomy Season 17 DVD [2021]Grey's Anatomy Season 17 DVD | DVD | (08/11/2021) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

    Grey-Sloan Memorial and its surgeons' lives have been turned upside down. It's all-hands-on-deck as Meredith, Bailey and the rest of the Grey-Sloan doctors find themselves on the frontlines of a new era. Trauma and pressure mount as Koracick is put in charge of the interns. Teddy learns her colleagues know more than she may like about her relationship woes with Owen. And Link accuses Amelia of overstepping while he is treating a patient remotely. Meanwhile, Jackson pays a visit to his father that helps set him on the right path. Maggie and Winston reconnect. And Jo makes a life-changing decision. Grey's Anatomy Season Seventeen doesn't disappoint as Grey-Sloan doctors try to find a path forward.

  • Grey's Anatomy - Season 12 [DVD]Grey's Anatomy - Season 12 | DVD | (03/10/2016) from £12.99   |  Saving you £-1.07 (N/A%)   |  RRP £11.92

    Sometimes the life you need to save is your own especially after a shattering loss, when the bonds of friendship and love at Grey Sloan Memorial are tested like never before. Experience the passion, the drama and every heart-stopping moment with ABC Studios' Grey's Anatomy: Complete Twelfth Season. Television's favourite doctors now find themselves simmering in a world of sexual politics. Bailey struggles with what it means to be a woman in charge of the hospital and her own husband, while Maggie faces the challenges of dating a younger man and Amelia battles her own demons. Meanwhile, in the wake of a brutal attack, Meredith finds comfort and love in the most unexpected place, Callie and Arizona find themselves in a fight for their lives, and tensions run high when Amelia and Meredith come faceto-face with the doctor responsible for Derek's death. Immerse yourself in the emotion and pulse-pounding romance of Grey's Anatomy 's exhilarating twelfth season with this 24-episode collection, and dive even deeper into the thrillingly addictive series with never-before-seen bonus features available only on DVD! DISC 1: 1. Sledgehammer 2. Walking Tall 3. I Choose You 4. Old Time Rock And Roll DISC 2: 5. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner 6. The Me Nobody Knows 7. Something Against You 8. Things We Lost In The Fire DISC 3: 9. The Sound Of Silence 10. All I Want Is You 11. Unbreak My Heart 12. My Next Life DISC 4: 13. All Eyez On Me 14. Odd Man Out 15. I Am Not Waiting Anymore 16. When It Hurts So Bad DISC 5: 17. I Wear The Face 18. There's A Fine, Fine Line 19. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) 20. Trigger Happy DISC 6: 21. You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side 22. Mama Tried 23. At Last 24. Family Affair + Bonus Features Bonus: Deleted Scenes Bloopers

  • Grey's Anatomy - Complete Season 4 [DVD] [2007]Grey's Anatomy - Complete Season 4 | DVD | (23/11/2009) from £9.99   |  Saving you £21.00 (210.21%)   |  RRP £30.99

    Season four of the hit ABC medical drama was on shaky ground from the season premiere, which left Cristina (Sandra Oh) at the altar by Burke (Isaiah Washington, fired after the press-frenzied third season); Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) downgraded to no-relationship-just-sex status; and George (T.R. Knight) pondering divorce from Callie (Sara Ramirez) to pursue love with his best friend, Izzie (Katherine Heigl). That last pairing made for one of the worst decisions in the series thus far; George and Izzie always worked so well as friends without the will-they-won't-they element, but suddenly throwing them into bed and watching them fumble their way to coupledom (an attempt that mercifully doesn't last) was painful to watch, in particular because Heigl, who had won an Emmy for the previous season, was reduced to a lot of whining and fretting. Meanwhile, Meredith's family issues come to a head when her half-sister Lexie (Chyler Leigh) begins her internship at Seattle Grace and instantly tries too hard to bond. And as she once again drives away Derek with her trust issues, Meredith finally gets smart and enters therapy (one of the redeeming elements of the season, with Amy Madigan as the hard-nosed counselor) to "get healed." The writers' strike became a welcome blessing for the show, which had seriously derailed before its hiatus; during the strike, creator Shonda Rimes has said she reexamined the direction of the show, making for an ultimately satisfying second half of the season. Standout episodes include "Forever Young," in which a high school bus crash leaves the staff pontificating their own adolescent cliques; "Lay Your Hands on Me," with a standout performance by Chandra Wilson as Bailey, whose crumbling marriage comes front and center when her toddler gets in an accident; and the season finale "Freedom," in which Meredith and Derek save two brain-tumor patients in love (Jurnee Smollett and Marshall Allman), leading to their own (lasting?) reunion, Bailey heads up an effort to rescue a guy who lay in concrete to impress a girl; and Callie finds herself attracted to the new cardiac surgeon, Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith). --Ellen A. Kim

  • Grey's Anatomy Season 6 [DVD]Grey's Anatomy Season 6 | DVD | (05/12/2011) from £12.00   |  Saving you £18.99 (158.25%)   |  RRP £30.99

    Expect more competition, more doctors and much more drama as Seattle Grace merges with a competing hospital in Grey's Anatomy's celebrated sixth season. Relive every gripping moment in this sensational 6-disc set!Meredith, Derek, Izzie, Cristina and the rest of your favourite characters face a brand-new challenge with the arrivalof the doctors from Mercy West. Battle lines are drawn and rivalries reach new heights in an unforgettable year at Seattle Grace.Commit yourself to one of primetime's most popular shows, complete with exclusive bonus features - including two extended episodes available only on DVD. It's the perfect addition to your Grey's Anatomy collection!

  • Menace II Society [1993]Menace II Society | DVD | (05/07/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

    Tyrin Turner may not have broken out into stardom as was initially expected, but his work in Menace II Society is one of the more powerful cinematic debuts. The film, from the brother writer-director team of Allen and Albert Hughes, chronicles life in the Los Angeles 'hood. Similar territory was covered in the equally commanding Boyz N the Hood, but what makes this cautionary tale stand out is not only the Hughes brothers' forceful story, (written with their friend, Tyger Williams) and direction, but the naturalness of then-newcomer leads Turner as Caine, Larenz Tate as O-Dog, and Jada Pinkett as Ronnie. They are so credible--occasionally frighteningly so--that the repressive universe of violent ghetto life is captured effectively. Life as portrayed here-and no doubt accurately so--is both figuratively and literally narrow. As a very young boy, Caine witnesses his dad murdered over something inconsequential, and his mom OD. His is a world where respect comes from intimidation, power from violence. Despite his understanding of right and wrong (values passed on by a good friend, his kind grandparents, a caring teacher), his life and its entrapments are too much to overcome. --N.F. Mendoza

  • Grey's Anatomy S1-14 [DVD] [2018]Grey's Anatomy S1-14 | DVD | (22/10/2018) from £169.95   |  Saving you £-89.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £79.99

    Wrap your mind and your heart around every twist and turn of ABC Studios' Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Fourteenth Season. As Miranda Bailey embarks on post-fire renovations, she finds it will take more than new walls and fresh paint to repair broken trust, stained reputations and fractured relationships. Against the backdrop of a year marked by love, loss and groundbreaking changes, Meredith pioneers a revolutionary surgical technique that puts her on track for the coveted award named for its founder, Harper Avery. But when a scandal involving the late, legendary Dr. Avery is revealed, Meredith's efforts, and the future of Grey Sloan itself, are in jeopardy. Binge on all 24 collectible episodes as you surrender to televisions's most addictive drama, Grey's Anatomy.

  • X Files: Season 8 [2000]X Files: Season 8 | DVD | (14/03/2005) from £16.96   |  Saving you £18.03 (106.31%)   |  RRP £34.99

    From the arrival of Agent John Doggett in 'Within' and Mulder's miraculous resurrection in 'Deadalive' to the birth of Scully's baby in 'Existence' these Season Eight episodes are a must for every X-Files fan! Episodes comprise: 1. Within 2. Without 3. Patience 4. Roadrunners 5. Invocation 6. Redrum 7. Via Negativa 8. Surekill 9. Salvage 10. Badlaa 11. The Gift 12. Medusa 13. Per Manum 14. This Is Not Happening 15. DeadAlive 16. Three Words 17. Empedocles 18. Vienen 19. Alon

  • The X Files: Season 1 [1994]The X Files: Season 1 | DVD | (06/11/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

    In the first season of The X Files, creator Chris Carter was uncertain of the series' future, so each of the episodes is a self-contained suspense story; they do not delve deep into the ongoing X Files mythology or turn to self-parody and humour as do episodes in later seasons. Yet, these episodes display the elements for which the show would become famous: the cinematic production values and top-notch special effects, the stark lighting of the Vancouver sets, the atmospheric halo of Mark Snow's score, and the clever plots dealing with subjects ranging from the occult, religion, and monsters to urban legends, conspiracy theories and science fiction. Most importantly, Season 1 introduces FBI agents Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox "Spooky" Mulder (David Duchovny), two of the most attractive government officials around. Scully is the serious-minded medical scientist assigned to join Mulder on the X Files, a division of the FBI dealing with the paranormal. Mulder is the intuitive thinker with a dry wit, a passionate believer in the existence of paranormal phenomena and one of the few characters on television smart enough to figure out who the bad guy is before the audience does. Their muddled relationship, a deep friendship laced with sexual tension, provides the human heart in a world where the bizarre and horrible lurk in everyday society. The materials on the bonus disc provide some interesting trivia and background, but it is the 24 episodes themselves that make this seven-disc boxed set a true find. Those unfamiliar with The X Files often view all the fuss with the same scepticism with which Scully first regards her new partner's ideas. But just as she comes to realise the uncanny accuracy of Mulder's outlandish theories, newcomers to The X Files who sample a few episodes in this boxed set will likely find themselves riveted to their television late into the night. And undoubtedly, the shadows and creaking noises in the house that evening will seem more menacing than usual. --Eugene Wei, Amazon.com

  • The X Files: Season 1 [1994]The X Files: Season 1 | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

    In the first season of The X Files, creator Chris Carter was uncertain of the series' future, so each of the episodes is a self-contained suspense story; they do not delve deep into the ongoing X Files mythology or turn to self-parody and humour as do episodes in later seasons. Yet, these episodes display the elements for which the show would become famous: the cinematic production values and top-notch special effects, the stark lighting of the Vancouver sets, the atmospheric halo of Mark Snow's score, and the clever plots dealing with subjects ranging from the occult, religion, and monsters to urban legends, conspiracy theories and science fiction. Most importantly, Season 1 introduces FBI agents Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox "Spooky" Mulder (David Duchovny), two of the most attractive government officials around. Scully is the serious-minded medical scientist assigned to join Mulder on the X Files, a division of the FBI dealing with the paranormal. Mulder is the intuitive thinker with a dry wit, a passionate believer in the existence of paranormal phenomena and one of the few characters on television smart enough to figure out who the bad guy is before the audience does. Their muddled relationship, a deep friendship laced with sexual tension, provides the human heart in a world where the bizarre and horrible lurk in everyday society. The materials on the bonus disc provide some interesting trivia and background, but it is the 24 episodes themselves that make this seven-disc boxed set a true find. Those unfamiliar with The X Files often view all the fuss with the same scepticism with which Scully first regards her new partner's ideas. But just as she comes to realise the uncanny accuracy of Mulder's outlandish theories, newcomers to The X Files who sample a few episodes in this boxed set will likely find themselves riveted to their television late into the night. And undoubtedly, the shadows and creaking noises in the house that evening will seem more menacing than usual. --Eugene Wei

  • Sphere [1998]Sphere | DVD | (23/10/1998) from £2.87   |  Saving you £12.38 (768.94%)   |  RRP £13.99

    From yet another derivative science fiction novel by Michael Crichton comes Sphere, an equally derivative and flaccid movie, in which three top Hollywood stars struggle to squeeze tension and excitement out of material that doesn't match their talents. You're supposed to find awe and mystery in Crichton's story about a team of scientists and scholars who discover a 300-year-old alien spacecraft deep on the ocean floor, but mostly you feel that this is all much ado about nothing. The exploration team consists of a psychologist (Dustin Hoffman), mathematician (Samuel L Jackson), biochemist (Sharon Stone), and an astrophysicist (Live Schreiber), and when they enter the alien ship they discover a mysterious sphere inside. What they don't know is that the sphere has the power to manipulate their thoughts and perceptions, and before long the scientists' undersea habitat is a veritable haunted house of frightening visions and creeping paranoia. Who can be trusted? What is the sphere's purpose, and why is it on the ocean floor? Sphere makes some attempt to answer these questions, but the film is a mess, and it leads to one of the most anticlimactic endings of any science fiction film ever made. There are moments of high intensity and psychological suspense, and the stellar cast works hard to boost the talky screenplay. But it's clear that this was a hurried production (Hoffman and director Barry Levinson made Wag the Dog during an extended production delay), and as a result Sphere looks and feels like a film that wasn't quite ready for the cameras. Though it's by no means a waste of time, it's undeniably disappointing. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

  • Gridlock'd [1997]Gridlock'd | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £3.99   |  Saving you £2.00 (50.13%)   |  RRP £5.99

    When their friend Cookie OD's best buddies and musicians Spoon (Tupac Shakur) and Stretch (Tim Roth) decide it's time to kick their drug habit by putting themselves into detox. But they soon discover that the road to rehab is paved with reams of social service red tape. Spoon and Stretch are just trying to stay alive until they can get treatment. But between the angry drug dealers the cops who have mistaken them for murderers and the people with forms and clipboards this turns into a task of epic proportions. Thus enfolds their comic adventure to sobriety.

  • The X Files: Season 2 [1994]The X Files: Season 2 | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £14.93   |  Saving you £20.06 (134.36%)   |  RRP £34.99

    Season Two, the 1994-95 run, of The X Files was the one where creator Chris Carter, having had a surprise hit when he expected a one-season wonder, started trying to make sense of all the storylines he had thrown into the pile in the first year. Moreover, he had to cope with Gillian Anderson's maternity leave by having Scully get abducted by aliens (back then, a pretty fresh device) for a few episodes and come back strangely altered. The season also inaugurated the tradition of opening ("Little Green Men") and closing ("Anasazi") with the show's worst episodes, both pot-boiling attempts to keep the alien infiltration/government conspiracy balls up in the air while seeming to offer narrative forward-thrusts or revelations. But it's also a show noticeably surer of itself than Season One, with its stars reading from the same page in terms of their characters' relationship and attitudes to the wondrous. Scully's no-longer-workable scepticism finally starts to erode in the face of Mulder's increasingly cracked belief. There are fewer marking-time leftover-monster-of-the-week shows--although we do get a human fluke ("The Host"), vampires ("3"), an invisible rapist ("Excelsius Dei") voodoo ("Fresh Bones")--and the flying-saucer stories at last seem to be going somewhere. The powerful two-episode run ("Duane Barry", "Ascension") features Steve Railsback as Mulder's possible future, an FBI agent burned out after a UFO abduction who has become a hostage-taking terrorist, which climaxes with Scully's disappearance into the light. The standout episode is also a stand-alone--"Humbug"--the first and still most successful of the show's self-parodies (written by Darin Morgan, who had played the Flukeman in "The Host"), in which the agents investigate a murder in a circus freakshow, allowing the actors to make fun of the mannerisms they have earnestly built up in a run of solemn, even somnolent, explorations of the murk. Other worthy efforts: "Aubrey", about genetic memory; "Irresistible", a rare (and creepy) straight psycho-chiller with little paranormal content; and "The Calusari", a good ghost/mystery. Rising deputy characters include Nicholas Lea as the perfidious Krycek and Brian Thompson as the shapeshifting alien bounty hunters. Notable guest stars: Charles Martin Smith, C.C.H. Pounder, Leland Orser, Terry O'Quinn, Bruce Weitz, Daniel Benzali, John Savage, Vincent Schiavelli, Tony Shalhoub. --Kim Newman

  • Grey's Anatomy - Season 7 [DVD]Grey's Anatomy - Season 7 | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £30.99

    Let the healing begin. Primetime television's most beloved doctors return for an unprecedented season of emotional twists and turns. Relive every mesmerizing moment with ABC's Grey's Anatomy: Season 7. It's a year of new beginnings for the medical team of Seattle Grace Hospital as they slowly recover from the tragedy that hit too close to home.New relationships emerge and the strongest commitments are tested in this moving 6-disc set. From successes in the operating room to mistakes in the bedroom - and all the thrilling drama in between - the doctors find a way to survive as long as they lean on one another. Relive every heartbeat and get even more - including the extended version of the moving Musical Event and music videos featuring the doctors like you have never seen them before - only on DVD.

  • The X Files: Season 3 [1994]The X Files: Season 3 | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

    Focused lightning bolts, stigmata, possession, and ancient curses become secondary in Season 3 of The X-Files as more episodes are devoted to pursuing the increasingly complex story threads. "The Blessing Way" is an explosive start, introducing the Syndicate's well-manicured man (John Neville), while Scully's sister Melissa is shot and Mulder experiences Twin Peaks-like prophetic visions. We learn of medical records of millions, including Scully, who have been experimented upon ("Paper Clip"): the fast-paced train-bound two-parter "Nisei" and "731" suggests the experiments are about alien hybridisation. Krycek turns out to be hosting an alien in the next double-act, "Piper Maru" and "Apocrypha", in which Skinner is shot by Melissa's killer. Two great one-offs outside the arc are "Clyde Bruckman's "Final Repose", a bittersweet tale of foreseeing death (featuring an Emmy-winning performance from Peter Boyle) and Jose Chung's "From Outer Space", a spoof of alien conspiracy theories through an author's investigations into abductees. --Paul Tonks

  • Grey's Anatomy - Season 1 [2005]Grey's Anatomy - Season 1 | DVD | (10/07/2006) from £9.31   |  Saving you £20.68 (222.13%)   |  RRP £29.99

    Operations. Relations. Complications. Welcome to Grey's Anatomy; it's Ally McBeal meets ER in this quirky drama driven by sex and giggles! Meet Meredith Grey. She's a woman trying to lead a real life while doing a job that makes having a real life impossible. Meredith is a first year surgical intern at Seattle Grace Hospital the toughest surgical residency program west of Harvard. She and fellow first-year interns Cristina Yang Izzie Stevens George O'M

  • Dead Presidents [1996]Dead Presidents | DVD | (13/02/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

    Twin brother codirectors Albert and Alan Hughes planned their first film, the 1991 ghetto crime drama Menace II Society as a response to John Singleton's Boyz N the Hood, which they considered wimpy and moralistic. They set their sights on The Deer Hunter in this ambitious follow-up, and they just about pull it off. Larenz Tate (from Why Do Fools Fall in Love) plays Anthony Curtis, an open-hearted African American teenager who gets shipped out to Vietnam with several of his pals, witnesses unspeakable horrors and then struggles to readjust to civilian life. The evolving textures of life in a declining inner-city neighbourhood over a period of a decade are seamlessly evoked and there's enough nuanced character development and personal interaction for a seven-hour miniseries. Still in their early 20s, the Hughes brothers are already poised and masterful movie makers; they cover an enormous amount of historical and emotional ground and every twist and turn is crystal clear. They betray their inexperience only at the very end, in an elaborately staged heist sequence that, while stunningly executed, feels a bit desperate, as if they were reaching blindly for a big pay off. Chris Tucker (Rush Hour) has a startling supporting role as a kid who becomes a junkie during the war and never quite recovers. --David Chute

  • Grey's Anatomy Season 1-6  [DVD]Grey's Anatomy Season 1-6 | DVD | (05/12/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £97.99

    Seasons Comprise:Season 1: Meet Meredith Grey, a brilliant intern but an indecisive woman, as she navigates through her first year at Seattle Grace Hospital. Together with her fellow residents in training, Meredith makes her way through the daily traumas and social landmines of life inside the hospital and out in the real world. Grey's Anatomy is a smart and witty look at young people struggling to be doctors and doctors struggling to stay human.Season 2: Experience every heart-stopping moment of primetime's sexiest, star-studded drama. Life intensifies in year two as the staff wage their own battles but never break the bonds that tie them together. Meredith and Derek's relationship gets even more complicated, and the hospital gets caught in a potentially explosive situation. This is powerful drama at its best. Season 3: They are doctors, lovers and friends. Join the staff of Seattle Grace Hospital as they learn there are no easy cures for life's challenges, and that each choice comes in shades of grey. With unforgettable drama and irresistible characters, Grey's Anatomy is the rare show that is all pleasure and no guilt.Season 4: Relationships change, jobs change, life changes. Enter a world of change in Grey's Anatomy's irresistible and unforgettable fourth season. Television's acclaimed drama reaches new heights as the doctors of Seattle Grace brace for a completely different kind of year.Season 5: Live for the moment. The hottest show on television burns even brighter in its explosive fifth season. Your favourite characters struggle and thrive as they enter uncharted territories of life. Discover what happens in the on-again, off-again world of Derek and Meredith, and witness the budding relationship between Cristina and Owen, Seattle Grace's newest doctor. Season 6: Expect more competition, more doctors and much more drama as Seattle Grace merges with a competing hospital in Grey's Anatomy's celebrated sixth season. Meredith, Derek, Izzie, Cristina and the rest of your favourite characters face a brand-new challenge with the arrival of the doctors from Mercy West. Battle lines are drawn and rivalries reach new heights in an unforgettable year at Seattle Grace.

  • Grey's Anatomy - Season 1-12 [DVD]Grey's Anatomy - Season 1-12 | DVD | (03/10/2016) from £120.13   |  Saving you £-31.14 (N/A%)   |  RRP £88.99

    Feel each and every unforgettable heartbeat from the first episode to the last in the most romantic and riveting drama on television, ABC Studios' Grey's Anatomy. Relationships may change, but the bonds among the staff of Grey Sloan Memorial are unbreakable. Revisit each and every irresistible moment as your favourite doctors and nurses discover there are no easy cures for life's challenges and that survival depends on the company you keep. Now you can relive the laughs, the love and the loss of this landmark drama, complete with captivating bonus features that invite you even deeper into the passionate world of Grey's Anatomy: Seasons 1-12 on DVD.

  • The X Files: Season 2 [1994]The X Files: Season 2 | DVD | (30/04/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

    Season Two, the 1994-95 run, of The X Files was the one where creator Chris Carter, having had a surprise hit when he expected a one-season wonder, started trying to make sense of all the storylines he had thrown into the pile in the first year. Moreover, he had to cope with Gillian Anderson's maternity leave by having Scully get abducted by aliens (back then, a pretty fresh device) for a few episodes and come back strangely altered. The season also inaugurated the tradition of opening ("Little Green Men") and closing ("Anasazi") with the show's worst episodes, both pot-boiling attempts to keep the alien infiltration/government conspiracy balls up in the air while seeming to offer narrative forward-thrusts or revelations.But it's also a show noticeably surer of itself than Season One, with its stars reading from the same page in terms of their characters' relationship and attitudes to the wondrous. Scully's no-longer-workable scepticism finally starts to erode in the face of Mulder's increasingly cracked belief. There are fewer marking-time leftover-monster-of-the-week shows--although we do get a human fluke ("The Host"), vampires ("3"), an invisible rapist ("Excelsius Dei") voodoo ("Fresh Bones")--and the flying-saucer stories at last seem to be going somewhere. The powerful two-episode run ("Duane Barry", "Ascension") features Steve Railsback as Mulder's possible future, an FBI agent burned out after a UFO abduction who has become a hostage-taking terrorist, which climaxes with Scully's disappearance into the light. The standout episode is also a stand-alone--"Humbug"--the first and still most successful of the show's self-parodies (written by Darin Morgan, who had played the Flukeman in "The Host"), in which the agents investigate a murder in a circus freakshow, allowing the actors to make fun of the mannerisms they have earnestly built up in a run of solemn, even somnolent, explorations of the murk. Other worthy efforts: "Aubrey", about genetic memory; "Irresistible", a rare (and creepy) straight psycho-chiller with little paranormal content; and "The Calusari", a good ghost/mystery. Rising deputy characters include Nicholas Lea as the perfidious Krycek and Brian Thompson as the shapeshifting alien bounty hunters. Notable guest stars: Charles Martin Smith, C.C.H. Pounder, Leland Orser, Terry O'Quinn, Bruce Weitz, Daniel Benzali, John Savage, Vincent Schiavelli, Tony Shalhoub. --Kim NewmanOn the DVD: The individual episode discs have a small selection of deleted scenes, foreign language clips and behind-the-scenes footage, but the bulk of the extra material is on the final disc. There's not a lot to get to grips with, but what there is consists of a 14-minute documentary about the making of Season Two, with contributions from Chris Carter, various directors, writers and actors (but not the two principals); Carter talking briefly about each episode in turn; a series of short TV spots and pieces about the show's FX and secondary characters; and three very short behind-the-scenes glimpses, one of which has the self-explanatory title "Gillian eats a cricket". There's also a DVD-ROM utility with Web links and a game. --Mark Walker

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