The X-Files

Huzzah! Another installment of Things I Really Should Have Watched by Now!

This time around it is the X-Files. I had somehow managed to never seen an episode of the X-Files. This is less of a TIRSHWBN show because I was very young when it was actually on, but it was on all of the time for nine years and for a great many years of reruns after that, so I don’t know how I missed it completely.

BUT because I am such a huge lover of science fiction and like to try and appreciate things that paved the way for the stuff I love today, I went into my Netflix, lined those nine seasons and two movies up in my queue, and got to watching.

Firstly, I’ll say that I really enjoyed it. Even at its worst, I was entertained. I thought Mulder was an interesting character in and of himself and that adding Scully’s skepticism to his hungry inquiry was a great match. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson worked very well together in the roles and I was glad to see that their renown was well deserved.

Unfortunately, my second point is a little less positive. While I enjoyed the entire series, I do think it should have ended earlier than it did. The overall conspiracy didn’t hold up over nine seasons and began to seriously deteriorate after the first movie. Also, the core of the show, which wasn’t the aliens or the conspiracy but Mulder and Scully’s relationship, began to deteriorate at the same time. Mulder was absent due to abduction and, later, his own exile and we lost that element of the show. They tried to patch it up by making Mulder and Scully lovers and then tried to replace it with Doggit and Reyes, but it never really returned to the relationship that drew us into the show.

Still, it was entertaining and full of science fiction goodness. Like many long running 90s shows, there were troped up episodes that amused me greatly and I could see how this show influenced the science fiction that had come afterwards.

Good times. On to the next thing!