User Reviews

It's really difficult to say why you don't find something funny, just that you don't. Maybe it's that the number theory (the way it's used in the show) doesn't have enough thought/detail behind it for me. Maybe it's that I find Burt R makes everything he's in feel over the top, and don't like this feel in x-files. Anyway, I was surprised Improbable is rated so high.

Stuff I did like:

• The numerology description of Doggett and his response (funny).

• S and R pairing. Nice dynamic + they work well together. Would have enjoyed more of this in season nine.

• Because of S and R pairing, there's no pushing the R and D romance because they're not together much. Pushing R and D has made enjoyable episodes less enjoyable. - interesting teaser. - numerologist realising it's her.

• liked dour task-force guy- good for them to have someone to play off.

• the basic theory is really interesting.

Stuff I have no idea if I love or hate:

• Burt.

• R embarrassing herself by telling her theory to the task-force. It was funny but would see throw away a career opportunity by telling in that way.

• reusing some of the numbers for different theories about the murderer (and his MO) i.e. 6 or 9 on the board.

Stuff that annoyed me:

• the music. The music set a tone that said you should find this episode hilariously light-hearted, and if you don't then it's quite annoying.

• Burt's motives. He helps R and S in the car park but not any other time. Why bother? Why do anything?

• Some events were too silly for me.

No doubt it's destiny that I'm giving this a 6.

Unlike some previous reviewers, I actually enjoyed this episode, Burt Reynolds brought a happy charm to the X Files playing what I would describe as an "omnipotent" being, I couldn't work out whether he was going to turn out to be God, the Devil or maybe an angel of sorts, but whatever he was meant to be, he gave the episode some intrigue and buckets of that charm of his. As for the story-line, well, another serial killer, another episode where our FBI heroes are placed in mortal danger, so what was new was really Burt Reynolds and the quirky music, very nice.

I had only seen this episode once when it first premiered, but it came on tonight and I saw it again. This was a very fun episode, too bad Duchovny wasn't involved. Burt Reynolds makes this one, no question. And the various musics & songs...great! It is a true X Files episode in that it's confusing and makes you think, but it is also extremely lighthearted and comical at the same time.

One thing confusing is who Burt Reynolds' character truly is. It appears he has the advantage of knowing the patterns people make and can thus draw conclusions as to what they're going to do, but at the same time not to give the appearance of knowing this. I wouldn't say that he's just a man, but it could be argued that he's Fate or God. The discussion Scully & Reyes have about God playing checkers would be very ironic if his character somehow was God. Either way, a stand-alone episode not to miss!

So Reyes is really into numerology. And because of this she is able to make connections to a number of unsolved murders and tie them all to one serial killer. I love the part where she makes a total moron out of herself by explaining to everyone her numerological profile of the killer. And then answers her phone all proud of herself completely clueless that everyone there now thinks she is a total moron. It is kind of a shame too because numerology and this sort of thing actually are quite interesting to me. But this episode takes an interesting topic and turns it into filler material for the series.

I don't really like this episode. The main reason is I just am not a fan of Burt Reynolds. Everyone always rants and raves about how great he is but everything I've seen him in he just bugs the crud out of me. Another problem I have with the episode is that it is not very obvious what the crap Chris Carter is trying to say with this episode as he explains in the commentary. Apparently Burt Reynolds is supposed to be playing God. This makes the episode make a little more sense but doesn't exactly improve my liking of the episode as Burt Reynolds is the exact opposite of what I would imagine God to be. And I'm sorry Chris but I doubt God would wear a bunch of tacky clothing just because he likes nature. And I doubt he follows serial killers around trying to teach them how to gamble.

I have one good thing to say about the episode but even this is kind of bittersweet. I like the music used. The problem I have is the part where Burt Reynolds does the lip sync. This entire scene could have actually worked really well without his terrible attempt to lip sync. He looks like some dork in the car trying to pretend like he really likes a song but he's not even sure of the lyrics. And at the end although the whole Italian festival is kind of humorous to watch it seems like Chris Carter just didn't have any idea what else to do with such a lame story because this honestly has nothing to do with the episode. Oh and of course if you ever want to make a character mysterious just have them be able to disappear out of a parking garage. How predictable was that? Oh man what a bad episode. 3 out of 10.

The music of the episode is the first deal breaker; it's relentless and very niche.

The second is Reynolds character - that lip syncing scene? The "dancing" scene?? "God" just wants a couple games of checkers with agents before they're killed?

The third is Reyes' character. The writing for her character is not good and the actress doesn't bring a lot of likability to it. When Duchovny would say crazy theories, he understood they sounded crazy. Reyes blathering her random numbers with supposed meanings to the rest of the FBI with a grin on her face just looks completely absurd by comparison. She even says a couple of times her theories don't help the investigation. It's like she's just indulging her hobby instead working on the investigation.

This one is on the level of First Person Shooter for me.

Although this had nothing to do with the story line of the season or series, I found this to be one of the best distractions (sidebars, segways, etc.) they made. I'm not really sure if numerology was the main topic, but on other hand just a minor. The plot is not "impenetrable" nor "impossible" to understand, it just took a little deeper understanding. Perhaps it was "improbable".

One thing I will add, was the clue of the colors of the Checker's game and the players. Everyone picked up on the agents corresponding hair colors, but I pose one of a few questions. What color was Mr. Burt playing with?

While I can play with the idea of him being God, Fate, or even Death. There is only one conclusion that keeps clicking all the right buttons for myself. There is a very old name for him, being 'Pitch' (funny also because of it's musical reference).

For those jumping up and down screaming "Mr. Burt helped the agents catch the serial killer", I ask back, did he? Or was he just really trying to collect on a damned soul? Or was he defying God's plan of each victim's death, by interfering? Hell, was he just having fun at our expense?

For those wanting a little more, I submit a few more overt clues: the cards used in the con game; the domino numbers shown and not shown; the ring on the killer; the Doggett map that led him; the count of the lead agent's (Fordyce, James) hand. I'll leave that to the numerologist's forte.

For the rest I submit a few more things, you should polish up on your french and Italian. There were quite a few jokes in there, but there was some very old songs also, passed down from age to age through lore. It's about the age old struggle between 'good and evil'. It's hard to translate. One is about "I of my Mother, and You". Another is "S**t Happens).

Please refer to 'Dante Divine Comedy' for more references.

despite below reviews, this was one of the best of the "XFiles", it's to bad that the minds out there couldn't understand (wave to AZ)...

I won't even pretend to understand what this episode was all about. If anything, it's all right there in the title - 'Improbable'. That describes everything that's going on in the story, because the explanations and rationalizations everyone uses, particularly Agent Reyes, make no sense at all. The writing for the story is so convoluted that the result is nothing short of brilliant, a fun episode that's punctuated with all that lively offbeat music that it's impossible not to laugh. And Burt Reynolds - is it pretty safe to say that he was the biggest name celebrity to appear in any X-Files episode? Kudos to the series for bringing him on board. If he could get Scully and Reyes to play checkers in a garage under lock-down while a murderer's on the loose, well, that's a feather in the cap of any guest star on the show. The Italian street scene at the end of the story was reminiscent of the Seventh Season's 'Hollywood A.D', and on top of all the nonsense going on, this felt like the shortest episode in the entire run of the show, that's how quick it flew by for me. And it was all expressed best in the words of the immortal Mr. Burt - "We have a winner."

Here in dear old England we have a pantomime tradition descended, and I mean descended from the commedia dell'arte. Mainly consists of kids shouting 'Look out behind you' at has-beens who sing a few songs, and unknowns who promote their latest reality TV It's theatre for the season of Christmas when no-one really cares. This was the X-Files panto offering. The music made me hit the mute button, the acting made me nip out to the kitchen for a cup of tea. I suspect someone will say it was magic realism. It wasn't. It was panto, worse, it was, as the more vulgar in the UK say,pants. Sadly it's lazy although flashy. It wasted an intellectual idea drowned in snake-oil. Numerology may have been used for centuries. Doesn't make it credible. It's always interesting at some time in one's life, but like general astrology it's one size fits all.

I rarely write reviews, but I signed in to review this.

If you are not delighted and amused by this light hearted feather dusting of some of the great themes of literature in this episode, then maybe you missed out on what mankind has been thinking about for more or less a million years.

1. Are our lives more or less predictable from the moment, location and circumstance of our births?

2. If there is a God, and he is benevolent, then why does he leave evil running amuck so often?

3. If God is amongst us and making delicate and nuanced modifications to our activities here and there, exactly what would this look like?

The episode takes a shot at showing interference in the activities of a serial killer by a checkers playing, game of chance purveyor who seems to know evil when he sees it, but apparently is not allowed by some unwritten rule to directly interfere. Our lighthearted, other-worldly character actually challenges the serial killer at one point (just before an act of violence) by saying "why don't you just walk out the front door into the sunshine, take a breath of fresh air, go ahead, surprise me".

All the elements of the primary themes are right here in this single line of dialogue. It gets better as our intrepid agents run directly into our checkers playing friend pursuing the serial killer. Our friend says that he "is here to play a game of checkers with a guy.". To me, this appears to be a reference to good and evil being a nearly nim like game which routinely ends up being a tie.

It is hilarious as Sculley tells Reynolds to "stay right here" and Reynolds replies "I am hard to get rid of"

The evil is well represented as a killer who seems to quickly and violently end the lives of women with no understandable motive. The only thing that the women have in common is that they are alone and beautiful.

Free will does show up, and maybe ,just maybe, the interference of the odd character (played perfectly, looped or not, by Burt Reynolds) does aid in some way, and contribute to the end of the killing spree. This is not really a spoiler, as by now the audience knows that the killer is just about to be stopped (fated?)

If you like the X-Files, especially when they drift away from monsters and conspiracies, and tackle timeless spiritual questions, you will love this episode.

Improbable is about a serial killer case involving numerology and a wise man who likes to sing, dance and play checkers.

Out of the box, brilliant. I always look forward to this episode and have a blast each time. Burt Reynolds guest "stars," you could say. A few minor negatives in this almost perfect concoction; the FBI head honcho for a day and the killer's entire lack of performance.

This episode revolves around numerology, which is accepted in new age beliefs just as much as astrology or tarot, which have been used in previous episodes and sometimes help and sometimes don't. The numerology aspect was instantly deemed a child's game (I had certainly never heard of it as a child), which I find odd because most people who don't like tarot or astrology can at least potentially accept numerology since it has it's roots in math, with people like Aristotle praising it. It's also a broader idea rather than a defined outcome.

My first problem was that Monica simply went to numerology instantly, despite never bringing up an interest in it before and for no apparent reason. She then consults a fairly respected numerologist, who flat out says she does believe in it. What? Why go to an "expert" who thinks that what she does is bull? Monica also randomly brings up karmic numbers without explaining them at all. Most people who have looked at it have never heard of them. They're technically a karmic debt that can affect any of your numbers, just adding additional challenges along the way. They were too late to save the last victim, and they way they caught the murder really had nothing to do with numerology at all.

Essentially they did just enough research to where people who have never heard of it would instantly debunk it as the show did, and to people who have even a slight grasp of it, it comes off as just making stuff up because it's not explained or even correct in its basic theory. This was the last season, the show was already going down hill, but if the writer had actually researched the method he was using at all it could have been a good episode. As it is, regardless of it being a new age thing or historical baseball stats, don't just make stuff up and pass it off as real. That's just insulting and lazy.