The X-files
is one of my favorite TV shows of all time and I’ve recently embarked on a
re-watch. I first watched the show in
re-runs on the cable channel FX in the mid-nineties. They would daily show marathons of at least
2-3 episodes all jumbled together from the first 3-4 seasons and I would sit transfixed. Even though I was completely missing huge
junks of the mythology, I was completely fascinated by Mulder and Scully,
sucked into their complicated working and fiercely suppressed personal lives. I
remember spending entire dog walks analyzing them and their motivations. I pretty much idolized Scully.
Around season 5, I started watching the show as it aired on Sunday nights. My best friend would come over to my
apartment and we would watch it together.
When I moved to IA a year and a half later we tried to continue the
tradition over the phone but it kind of fizzled out. Then David Duchovny left and I was in Grad
school so my schedule was much more erratic and basically my obsessive watching
ended. However, whenever I watch the
show it brings back strong memories and impressions from that part of my life.
I didn’t
revisit the show until about a decade ago when I set out to watch the entire 9
seasons of the series. Nine seasons is a
lot but I had no problem getting through.
Even the dreaded 8th and 9th seasons without
Mulder were not as bad as I expected though it definitely was not the same
show. I’ve recently gotten the hankering
to go through the series again and thankfully Netflix streaming is there to
support my psychosis. I thought this
time around I’d record some thoughts etc… for posterity. Basically posterity translates to me, myself and I, but if
there are any other fans of the show out there I’d love to hear your thoughts, memories,
analysis - basically whatever you’d like
to jump in and share. I’ll post on Sundays in honor of my old watching
engagement with my friend, starting with this, the general introductory
post. Next Sunday I’ll do season one,
the following Sunday Season 2 and so forth.
Hopefully I can keep up:0)
THE OVERVIEW
So. General introductory thoughts about the
show. It was developed by Chris Carter
and was first aired in 1993 on the Fox Channel.
The original idea was for a show about supernatural phenomena with two
main characters; one a believer, the other a skeptic. This was eventually enhanced to have the two
characters as FBI agents which gave them the means and opportunities to know
about and explore various cases. There
was a long developing Alien Mythology that was doled out in periodic episodes
with the ones in between representing a “monster of the week” type
formula. Pretty much anything and
everything paranormal or even just mildly creepy was fair game. The show had a very distinctive look and I’d
like to make all these claims, like it was the first show of that era to really
do the overarching and complicated story ark and that it established Vancouver
Canada as the place to shoot TV shows but I’m actually not sure any of that is
true. It certainly seems to have
influenced many shows that have come since.
There is a quote on Wikipedia (so take it for what it’s worth) from Joss
Whedon (who I also hardcore fan girl) that states that Buffy the Vampire Slayer
was a cross between X-files and My So Called Life. If this is true, it is no wonder that I count
BTVS as one of my favorite shows of all time as well.
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| Source: http://xfilesgifs.tumblr.com/ |
THE LOOK AND
POP CULTURE
One thing is
certain; it had a very distinctive look and feel.
The lighting is decidedly dark which not only
increases the foreboding and sense of threat but it also likely saved the
producers from spending too much money on special effects.
There is a lot of flashlight foo and brief
glimpses of unexplainable things.
The
music is also very distinctive - I’m betting most folks of my generation could immediately
start humming or at least call to mind the title music.
The role it has played in pop culture is also
still pretty huge.
The catch phrases - The
Truth is Out There, Trust No One – are commonly used and the iconic nature of
each of the characters is often used to illustrate a dichotomy between belief
and skepticism.
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THE PLOT
One of the
things I loved about the show, that eventually caused me to curse it, was the
over-arching mystery storyline about the existence of extraterrestrials and what said
aliens might be up to if they are on Earth. I love shows that have this kind of
through line and development and for most of its run the Alien mythology was
pretty fascinating. Unfortunately, it
became clear that Chris Carter had to be winging it or that at least the long
run of the show caused him to have to create artificial complexity that made no
sense. The truth may be out there but we
never do find it. The other thing to
mention here is how incredibly subversive the show was. Accusations of government corruption and conspiracy
are lobbed in almost every episode. The
government is definitely the enemy. It
makes me wonder whether there are countries where this show could not have been
made?
THE
CHARACTERS
And here it
is. The thing that I think made the
X-files super duper extra special awesome.
It was the single most important thing for me in the show. Mulder and Scully. The show almost completely
focused on its two leads. They were
eventually joined by a cast of enjoyable supporters like Skinner, the Smoking
Man, the Lone Gunmen and Krycek, but Duchovny and Anderson carried 99.9% of the
weight of the show. Carter was
apparently stuck on hiring Anderson though the network wanted a sexier and leggier
sort of actress for the role. Duchovny
was apparently a little bit more difficult choice for Carter as he thought he
came across seeming kind of dumb.
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| Source: http://imgur.com/a/fPxMV?gallery |
If there is
anything that I can say Chris Carter is brilliant at, it is this bit of
casting. Despite the fact that Gillian
Anderson was an unknown actress and 6 years junior to her character, she was
without a doubt the best thing to happen to the show. She is one of the better actresses out there
in my opinion and she brought the characters of Dana Scully immediately to life
and gave her a complexity and depth that I’m not sure was even written for the
character. And despite the network’s
misgivings that she was not more of a bombshell, I think Anderson is a stunning
woman and one with a distinctive look which worked better for the show. Looking at initial episodes, David Duchovny
did not impress me with his acting prowess but he did settle in to the role
and become Mulder - I can't imagine anyone else pulling it off. Most importantly
there was some pretty insane chemistry between the actors. There were rumors that they really didn’t get
along that well off screen (though who knows how valid this is), but they were
both good enough on screen for it not to matter.
No matter how much I love Scully, it must be said that Mulder is the heart of the show. There will be time to comment on this more in the later seasons when he's no longer around, because even though there were some good episodes in seasons 8 and 9, Scully alone did not work. Mulder's intensity and passion and unique perspective is what drives the show.
As I already
mentioned, I did and still do idolize Scully and I crazy ship she and Mulder. Beyond that, I will likely go on ad nauseum
about each of the characters within the context of each season so I’ll leave
off any more comments for now.
CONCLUSION
For now I’ll
wrap this very long post up. I need to
go watch some more X-files.:) See you next Sunday with Season 1.
