7 TAKEAWAYS FROM WATCHING ‘THE X FILES’ IN ITS ENTIRETY
Spoilers + favorite episodes + writing prompts around a theme
We needed something to get us through winter.
We chose “The X Files.”
Sometime after the holidays, we decided to watch “The X Files” in its entirety. He’d watched it back when it aired. I’d never seen a single episode—although somehow knew the opening credits by heart (I guess because my mom and brother watched it?).
“There are so many seasons, we’re gonna be watching this till April,” he said.
He was right.
It required nothing of me, took absolutely no work on my part, but it did require persistent dedication, which is why I felt a slight sense of accomplishment when we were through. The sheer volume of content consumed seemed, in retrospect, was remarkable. The whole story arc and storylines within storylines—we’d seen them all through. I felt the same satisfaction I feel from finishing a long book.1
Here’s what I’m left thinking in the end.
1— The theme song is … possibly the best theme song ever?! But—I noticed in season 3 it changed (barely perceptible but I did a side by side comparison to confirm). The original song, in seasons one and two, was better.
2— It has aged remarkably well. Even the hokey CGI of the early ‘90s didn’t bother me. Twenty-plus years later, I think it’s safe to say this show is a classic.
3— I had to (begrudgingly) accept that some things are never explained. Like, how did the magician turn his head 360 degrees around his neck? We’ll never know.
4— The show took risks, and that was refreshing. Like the cockroach crawling across the screen in “War of the Coprophages” (S3 E12), or the remixed opening credits in the episode about the Mandela Effect (sorry, the Mengele Effect), or when we get watch nearly an entire episode from Scully’s perspective and then Mulder’s.
5— If you ever attempt this yourself, watch the two movies in sequence when they were released. They bridge the storylines of the TV episodes.
6— Mulder and Scully devoted their entire lives to finding the truth, and then they become romantically involved and it all falls by the wayside. They suddenly shift focus—from a devotion to their life missions to a devotion to each other. I think this is, unfortunately, a hallmark of romantic partnerships: losing sight of the bigger picture of your life and purpose (I think it helps to know this going in to them so you can keep yourself in check), but thankfully, they found a nice balance as their complex relationship progressed.
7— I feel a little lost without it. That first night after, was it a touch of withdrawal? Was it a touch of “what do we do now?” (Yes.) But it’s spring now. Who has time to watch TV?
FAVORITE EPISODES
S3 E4 · Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose :: The premise wasn’t funny, but he was—a psychic who could see how people are going to die (of course he is an insurance agent because who better to know how to plan
S4 E7 · Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man :: We get the full backstory of The Smoking Man, one of the greatest villains ever written. (Who knows how his life might’ve been different, were he not a failed novelist?)
S5 E5 · The Post-Modern Prometheus :: An old-timey, black-and-white episode that tells the story of a modern-day Frankenstein.
S5 E12 · Bad Blood :: When we get two stories of what happened: Scully’s account and then Mulder’s (priceless).
S6 E7 · Terms of Endearment :: I would very much like to tell you why I enjoyed this offbeat episode, but I couldn’t do so without spoilers. It’s the ending that makes it stand out in my mind.
S7 E11 · Closure :: This was emotional in the best of ways—bittersweet. Mulder finally learns what happened to his sister. The Moby song was a perfect soundtrack for this moment of reunion.
S7 E12 · X-Cops :: The “X Files”/”Cops” mashup episode that puts Mulder and Scully on reality TV.
S7 E21 · Je Souhaite :: A genie! A very wise genie, who has all but lost her faith in humanity after centuries of listening to their dumb wishes.
S10 E3 · Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster :: It’s not a man that turns into a lizard monster—it’s a lizard that woke up as a human after being bitten! His character was hilarious and perfect.
S10 E5 · Babylon :: OK, another little spoiler, but Mulder tripping on niacin. That is all that needs to be said about this one.
S11 E4 · The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat :: This episode about the Mandela Effect was so fun.
S11 E7 · Rm9sbG93ZXJz :: This is the updated AI episode (after a more archaic exploration of AI in an earlier season). It aired in 2018 and is not too far off from our lives today but in a comical exaggeration of it.
✴ How do your spiritual/religious beliefs influence your scientific/rational beliefs and vice versa?
✴ The power of the unexplained … why are some things better left unresolved?
✴ What’s your personal XFile? Have you experienced something unexplainable?
✴ Are you more of a Mulder or a Scully?
✴ “The Truth Is Out There.” Is it? Are there universal truths? And if so, are they ever really knowable?
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In full transparency, we skipped some of season 9—that sad flop of a season where they changed the opening credit sequence and gave us almost no Mulder or Scully.