ohhhhh MAN X-Files was my major junior high obsession. i was about ten when it came out, and i was a tween when it started getting really good. it was before i discovered fandom, so i used to sit on the phone with my best friend as the new episodes aired. i filled up tons of vhs tapes with recorded episodes. my bedroom was PLASTERED with x-files posters and toys and pictures cut out of magazines. i even had two of the soundtrack albums. so, uh, yeah, i'm always here for X-Files. :D
Would you, as someone who actually experienced it, that it defined a new wave of television horror or is not accurate?
it was definitely a cultural phenomenon, and unlike anything on tv at the time. at its core it's a procedural show, which wasn't new, but the big cinematic plots that Chris Carter brought to the table were not the norm for television at the time. and for this nerdy cryptid-loving kid, at least, it was hugely significant.
Did you like the one offs or the overarching plot episodes better at the time? I dunno. It's interesting to hear what someone who lived through yhe debut period of it has to say.
Because Scully is hot as hell and Mulder is a paranoid ball of poorly-hidden conspiracy theories (SPOILER: he's usually right even if he doesn't know it.) Because shows like WTNV and Warehouse 13 wouldn't exist without it Because it has over 10 seasons and at least 7 of those are extremely entertaining Because everyone and their mother has, so why not you? XD
because ... scully's really cute and exasperated and i love her. mulder frustrates me with his CONSTANT RIGHTNESS (GOD, writers, give scully a BREAK) but i love him anyway. the arc plot is... confusing and silly, but has its good moments, some of the serious one-offs are really good, and some of the other one-offs are genuinely incredibly funny. AND THEN SOME OF IT IS VERY BAD. but the good parts are good.
at the time (age 11-14ish) i liked the one-offs better, because i had a hard time following the big plot and the one-offs are usually funnier. now i have a better appreciation for the plot-- and it's actually a bit like watching a whole new show, because as a kid i totally did not follow the big stuff so watching as an adult i'm getting a whole new side of the show. why watch the X-Files? because it's sometimes campy as hell, but sometimes really well written and touching, and sometimes genuinely scary. because David Duchovney and Gillian Anderson have amazing chemistry and just watching them bounce lines off each other is a delight. because it is a touchstone of '90s culture and you will see some amazing outfits and hear some amazing music. and yes, aliens, but also chupacabras and vampires and weird incest families and cockroaches (each the subject of at least one episode.)
I've been watching it on Netflix and I just started season 9... It's my background binge show. I love it. I love Scully. Also I really love complaining about the bad science and the wildly inaccurate biology. Which is what I am going to do in this thread from now on. >:3 Behind spoilers, though, because I'm late in the series and I tend to go on about bad science... The latest egregious misuse of chemistry: Spoiler: Early Season 9 Spoilers The were talking about chloramine, which is 1) a water disinfectant and 2) a specific set of molecules derived from ammonia, but to my understanding usually refers to H2NCl. They vary by the amount of hydrogens and chlorine atoms, either 3 Cl, 1 H & 2 Cl, or 2 H and 1 Cl. (NH3 is ammonia itself.) One of the agents, I think either Scully or Reyes?, said something like "what if it is chloramine, but they changed it on the molecular level?" ...chloramine, in any of its forms, is a molecule. If you're changing it on the molecular level, you're either changing it to one of the other mundane forms of chloramine or it becomes something other than chloramine. I am pretty sure they didn't mean the former!! I think I am more upset by the failure to English than the bad science. I'm okay with bad science in shows like this, it comes with the territory of literal magic existing, but come on! You could have at least blamed it on isotopes or something! Just swap out the word molecular with atomic!!! EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!
At some point when I'm not about to go to bed and it would be a less terrible idea to get wound up about it again, remind me to complain about the episode with the ""dhole"". (I really love this show, I really do, but I have complaints.)
unrelated to bad science, but: let me tell you guys about one of my favorite episodes. it is the ridiculous Christmas special one with the murder-suicide ghosts in love. it's so SILLY and so GOOD... and the ending is very sweet.
X-files was my JAM when I was little, and then again when I rediscovered it when I was about 13. I have vivid memories of sitting on the kitchen floor with my dad watching the vhs recordings on our tiny kitchen tv. I was born in 1993 (same year it started airing) so I mostly came to it after the fact, but i have a lot of memories of my parents watching it. As for which I like better, one offs or mytharc, I like both for different moods. The one offs are great for entertaining friends, or when you want a laugh or a genuine scare. The mytharc is what i binge alone in the dark with tears running down my face because they tend to be a bit sadder and focus more on the characters. It's not perfect. It becomes clear in the later seasons that Carter didn't know where he was taking the plot. After season 7 things become a bit of a mess because David wanted to leave. Really, while the supernatural stuff is tons of fun, you're gonna stay for the characters. Mulder and Scully are the best, and Scully was a big part of my queer awakening. She was so cute and so competent and her chemistry with Mulder is just amazing. But even side characters like The Lone Gunmen and AD Skinner will capture your heart. And as stated above, it is really a cultural touchstone. Shows like Bones and Fringe take copious inspiration from it. I don't know if it was the /first/ show to have a big overarching plot and a focus on character development, but it was the show that really made it a big thing in television (same with Buffy). And it's cool how many things reference it. Like The Illusive Man in Mass Effect is an Expy of the Cigarette Smoking Man. "Scully" is a verb that means "obnoxiously point out all the rational reasons why you're wrong."
Something I noticed when the X-Files engaging in self-parody such as Hosé Chung's From Outer Space or that vampire pizza episode, they nail Mulder's traits way better than Scully. Like they get the skepticism but it seems like her rationality comes across as controlling and that just seems odd to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
