Tag: mulder

Failure to Stick the Landing

The Great X-Files Rewatch Adventure has reached an important moment. Season nine episode 19. The first half of what was expected to be the series finale. Let’s ignore for the moment that they made a second movie a few years later, and then added two new seasons many years later. This was supposed to be it. A two part series finale.

And it was not good.

I mean, I remember it being okay but not nearly good enough. They had a chance to end it with a bang but instead they just failed to stick the landing. They failed to give the show the send off it deserved.

Now, in 2024, let’s see if it was as meh as I remember it. After that, I’ll watch the second movie for the first time since Jen and I saw it in the theater in 2008 (I think).

Some Thoughts on the X-Files

This post is going to be one for the ages, he said sarcastically.

So last Spring (I think) I started an epic rewatch of both The X-Files and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. At first I spent more time on the X-Files, but then I stopped both shows and embraced the insanity of 60 years worth of Doctor Who. When that ended I went back to Deep Space Nine and kept the X-Files on the side. When DS9 was over I slowly started getting back to Mulder and Scully-land and now I am burning through it once again.

I have seen every episode in the past. The original run of the show (nine seasons and a movie, I think) was completed on DVD and the later stuff (two more seasons and another movie, I think) were watched as they happened. I didn’t start watching the show when it originally aired until (I think) the movie came out. That was in between seasons five and six… again, I think.

As with most of America, before I started watching I was aware of the fan bases desire to see Mulder and Scully hook up. As far as I know the term “shipping” was coined for the two characters and the audiences desire to see them couple up. If I recall correctly, there is a moment in the movie where they almost kiss but are interrupted somehow. I don’t exactly recall.

Now that I am up to my eyeballs in a rewatch I am almost up to the movie. I am on season five episode eight right now. I feel as though there was a conscious decision made by the producers, writers, and show runners at the start of season five to buy in to the shippers. Maybe I am missing something here but I feel like there are oodles of examples of the show hinting at a possible romantic relationship that really kicked off at the start of season five. They are a little more flirty with each other, they are repeatedly getting physically close to each other, and there are instances where other people ask them if they are a couple.

Is it just me? Was there a change in the way they handled the two characters or was there a change (unconsciously) in the way I am watching the show? I don’t know. What I do know, is that when I started rewatching this incredibly long series I forgot about the movies. A quick search tells me that neither of them are available for streaming… which means I have to find another way to watch them. I also need to get cracking on that as I need to have the first one ready for when I finish my current season.

The truth is out there, kiddies, and I want to believe.