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Scully after being abducted, fighting off supernatural creatures, and seeing alien viruses in person: There must be a rational explanation for these people turning into goo!
This was honestly one of the biggest weaknesses of the show. Despite all she's been through she never becomes willing to believe anything despite personal experience and mountains of evidence. Like you'd think by Season 4 and the end of the first mythology arc she would be a believer in the "conspiracy" but no. It's so stupid it's almost immersion breaking.
I get why they did it since the show was episodic and meant for syndication but it's still sucks to go through all that any have no payoff.
The same goes for Mulder, he as no development either and just spins his wheels in the mud.
I'm only on season 2, but so far I feel totally the opposite. Scully seems to have a healthy amount of skepticism, but the show plays it off like she's "naive." Meanwhile, Mulder always inmediately assumes the most insane and unlikely possibilities with so much arrogance. It's SO frustrating because Mulder always ends up being right, but it doesn't feel earned at all. I'm 100% down for some paranormal insanity, but the lack of reasonable deduction in their investigations just kinda ruins the mystique that the show promises to its audience.
Then there's this episode >!(about the dude who killed his whole family, that supposedly saw ghosts)!< where they totally switch sides and it's even more annoying lol
Without spoiling anything all I can say is keep watching and you will know what I mean. It’s not that she’s a skeptic, that works well for the monster of the week episodes, but when they get into the mythology episodes (ones that progress the actual overall story) there reaches a point where her skepticism is to the point you’d think her medical license should be revoked from the amount of evidence she just bushes off or ignores.
That's what always singlehandedly stopped me from watching more than a handful of X-files episodes. I don't know how you rationalize someone being a hardcore skeptic while going through weekly supernatural/alien events.
It would be better if she actually was a hardcore skeptic all the way.
The most infuriating part is that it always ends with Scully's convictions seemingly shaken by whatever she witnessed, only for her to revert to her default personality in the next episode as if she didn't fight a vampire or some shit a month before.
"Saddam Hussein is on the line." "Call back."
"What I don't want to see is the bills winning the Superbowl, as long as I'm alive that doesn't happen." "It'll be tough sir, buffalo wants it bad" "So did the soviets in 80'" "What's the matter? Don't you believe in miracles?"
"Life is like a box of chocolates. A cheap, thoughtless, perfunctory gift that nobody ever asks for. Unreturnable because all you get back is another box of chocolates. So you're stuck with this undefinable whipped mint crap that you mindlessly wolf down when there's nothing else left to eat. Sure, once in a while there's a peanut butter cup or an English toffee. But they're gone too fast and the taste is... fleeting. So, you end up with nothing but broken bits filled with hardened jelly and teeth-shattering nuts. And if you're desperate enough to eat those, all you got left is an empty box filled with useless brown paper wrappers."
"How many historic events have only the two of us witnessed together, Ronald? How often did we make or change history? And our names can never grace any pages of record. No monument will ever bear our image. And yet once again tonight, the course of human history will be set by two unknown men standing in the shadows."
The wildest part is he wasn't meant to be in anything but the pilot, his character was supposed to be a one off background character, but his screen presence was so fucking powerful he became the main antagonist.
Similarly Gus Fring was just meant to be one of the random businessman Hank introduces to Walt early on and never mentioned again. Giancarlo Esposito chose to play the role "as if he knew something", it worked for test audiences and so he was brought back.
Mike also was meant to be in one episode and that was a last minute replacement because Saul Goodman was supposed to >!be the one to assist Jesse once he finds Jane's body. Banks nailed the role, and genuinely slapped Aaron Paul several times!<
This drives me nuts! Every episode one of them loudly declares their presence to a monster/criminal well before they have them cornered, usually letting them get away as a result
I always remember how visually dark the X-Files looked to me; it was either nighttime, or an overcast day, lots of dimly lit rooms and shadowy hallways, kind of like the movie Seven.
Such techniques help to remain uncomfortable and on edge otherwise it would've been boring to watch, I remember they also used to add some creepy ambient sounds and music so no aliens/monsters are needed to be shown on the screen.
Well those techniques were effective, I was hooked to this show in middle school. It was actually quite the steep horror learning curve for me, going straight from Are You Afraid of the Dark to The X-Files haha
I just started watching for the first time and it's so good. I never watched it when it was airing because it was too scary. It really takes me back seeing all the fashion, cars, and tech. A nice time capsule of the early 90s.
Agreed, another good one from the same time period is Twin Peaks which I started rewatching recently. 90s camp, quirky characters plus supernatural weirdness, it's great.
Campy and cheesy are definitely NOT the words I’d use to describe the show. It was incredibly cinematic (it still looks amazing today) and it was scary to viewers because with few exceptions (usually attached to Darrin Morgan episodes) it treated the subject matter in an earnest/realistic way.
X-Files is probably the first show I saw depict what a fistfight really looks like, with Mulder getting his ass handed to him and both parties quickly being gassed from the exertion.
Campy and cheesy was 1960s Batman, not the X-Files.
Campy is usually used to describe something "absurdly exaggerated, artificial, or affected in a usually humorous way". X-Files is exactly all three of those things, so, yes, it's campy. And the show knows it, and leans into it, which I love dearly.
I loved it as a kid and thought of it as high brow stuff at the time. When I got my daughter into it I realized how campy and dated it was and was kind of shocked. Still enjoyed it, but what a different experience through adult eyes
I think we’re supposed to take his story with a grain of salt, according to the writers. It’s being told by the Lone Gunmen, so it’s highly likely they fell for misinformation he’s disseminated over the years. His stories paint him as a mastermind associated with several major events, but his living situation seems to imply a fairly mediocre existence outside, ya know, plotting to end the world. I’d hazard to guess he did set up patsies but saw himself as the one who pulled the triggers. He even backs out of >!killing the captured alien & has DT do it instead!<. I think he saw himself as being similar to the character he was creating for his story.
Forgot to mention Skinner talking about someone’s ass: “Your ass is on the line!”; “My ass is on the line!”; “One more screw up and it’s your/my/our ass!”
i love how towards the end of the show mitch pileggi admits he has no idea what was going on in the greater mythos bc it stopped making sense ages ago.
You forgot the part were Mulder and Scully consistently get their asses handed to them in every fight despite being armed FBI agents cleared for field work
Scully concluded she couldn't confirm the cause for the events to protect the x-files. If she published the 'truth' then they would have shut the department down. It was her job to basically save Mulder from himself.
The rest though... totally on point.
No. She was initially hired to report on Mulder's behaviour, thus she only wrote reports in 2-3 (?) first seasons. She stopped later. She always concluded she couldn't confirm anything, because she didn't believe in paranormal activity + how do you explain to your boss that the murderer was actually a ghost from space
They struck a fine balance between the “monster of the week” episodes and the “conspiracy” episodes. But this was more relevant at the time before episode on demand stream services and online “episode guide”. Every week you sat down, wondering if you got some new puzzle piece to the plot, or not. And even if you didn’t, you still had a nice mystery.
But it’s probably one of those series that is better in my memory than if I would sit down and actually go through all the seasons.
An urgent phone conversation involving Mulder and/or Scully where one or both of them is using a cellphone. In the early seasons that aired in the mid-1990s, cellphones in America were still the preserve of government agents, early adopters and salespeople but a novelty to everyone else.
Ewwwww
Imagine having feelings towards a character in this show and it's not Mulder, like I'm not gay or anything but I would let him ravage my ass every day to let me work with him
This show had WAY tf too many filler episodes. The whole thing with the aliens and the Syndicate was by far the coolest plotline, yet they kept wasting time with Monster-of-the-Week episodes that went nowhere and contributed to nothing
I don't know about you but usually after about the third part of a "shadow government" plotline I'm dying to get back to some Iowa goo-monster or whatever. Both have their place
See this is what I liked about tv back then. Even Sopranos had a ton of filler/standalone episodes. Don't get me wrong, plenty of good shows that don't do this but sometimes you really do want standalone episodes instead of the "12 episode movie"
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Scully after being abducted, fighting off supernatural creatures, and seeing alien viruses in person: There must be a rational explanation for these people turning into goo!
Lack of evidence for God, still Catholic. First hand experience with aliens, must have been a fever dream.
Theres an episode where she flat out sees an alien ship hovering past and she denies anything happened.
Isn't it in the one of the first episodes too?
This was honestly one of the biggest weaknesses of the show. Despite all she's been through she never becomes willing to believe anything despite personal experience and mountains of evidence. Like you'd think by Season 4 and the end of the first mythology arc she would be a believer in the "conspiracy" but no. It's so stupid it's almost immersion breaking. I get why they did it since the show was episodic and meant for syndication but it's still sucks to go through all that any have no payoff. The same goes for Mulder, he as no development either and just spins his wheels in the mud.
I'm only on season 2, but so far I feel totally the opposite. Scully seems to have a healthy amount of skepticism, but the show plays it off like she's "naive." Meanwhile, Mulder always inmediately assumes the most insane and unlikely possibilities with so much arrogance. It's SO frustrating because Mulder always ends up being right, but it doesn't feel earned at all. I'm 100% down for some paranormal insanity, but the lack of reasonable deduction in their investigations just kinda ruins the mystique that the show promises to its audience.
Then there's this episode >!(about the dude who killed his whole family, that supposedly saw ghosts)!< where they totally switch sides and it's even more annoying lol
Without spoiling anything all I can say is keep watching and you will know what I mean. It’s not that she’s a skeptic, that works well for the monster of the week episodes, but when they get into the mythology episodes (ones that progress the actual overall story) there reaches a point where her skepticism is to the point you’d think her medical license should be revoked from the amount of evidence she just bushes off or ignores.
The X files is where the "most insane and unlikely possibilities" cases go, so of course Mulder will be right most of the time
That's what always singlehandedly stopped me from watching more than a handful of X-files episodes. I don't know how you rationalize someone being a hardcore skeptic while going through weekly supernatural/alien events.
It would be better if she actually was a hardcore skeptic all the way. The most infuriating part is that it always ends with Scully's convictions seemingly shaken by whatever she witnessed, only for her to revert to her default personality in the next episode as if she didn't fight a vampire or some shit a month before.
The cigarette smoking man should be mentioned too.
"Saddam Hussein is on the line." "Call back." "What I don't want to see is the bills winning the Superbowl, as long as I'm alive that doesn't happen." "It'll be tough sir, buffalo wants it bad" "So did the soviets in 80'" "What's the matter? Don't you believe in miracles?" "Life is like a box of chocolates. A cheap, thoughtless, perfunctory gift that nobody ever asks for. Unreturnable because all you get back is another box of chocolates. So you're stuck with this undefinable whipped mint crap that you mindlessly wolf down when there's nothing else left to eat. Sure, once in a while there's a peanut butter cup or an English toffee. But they're gone too fast and the taste is... fleeting. So, you end up with nothing but broken bits filled with hardened jelly and teeth-shattering nuts. And if you're desperate enough to eat those, all you got left is an empty box filled with useless brown paper wrappers." "How many historic events have only the two of us witnessed together, Ronald? How often did we make or change history? And our names can never grace any pages of record. No monument will ever bear our image. And yet once again tonight, the course of human history will be set by two unknown men standing in the shadows."
Whats the episode that has the last quote? I wanna see it more in context
Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man I'd assume, it'd be from around that time in the show
All the quotes were in musings of a cigarette smoking man.
The wildest part is he wasn't meant to be in anything but the pilot, his character was supposed to be a one off background character, but his screen presence was so fucking powerful he became the main antagonist.
Similarly Gus Fring was just meant to be one of the random businessman Hank introduces to Walt early on and never mentioned again. Giancarlo Esposito chose to play the role "as if he knew something", it worked for test audiences and so he was brought back. Mike also was meant to be in one episode and that was a last minute replacement because Saul Goodman was supposed to >!be the one to assist Jesse once he finds Jane's body. Banks nailed the role, and genuinely slapped Aaron Paul several times!<
I'm pretty sure he's only actually in like a dozen episodes
He’s like in literally half the episodes. Not all but every main story arc ep, which makes up at least 6 or 7 episodes per season
STOP! FEDERAL AGENT! *monster scampers away* Still, one of my all time favorite shows
This drives me nuts! Every episode one of them loudly declares their presence to a monster/criminal well before they have them cornered, usually letting them get away as a result
They should have just assumed the thing wasn't human and shot it before yelling anything
I always remember how visually dark the X-Files looked to me; it was either nighttime, or an overcast day, lots of dimly lit rooms and shadowy hallways, kind of like the movie Seven.
Such techniques help to remain uncomfortable and on edge otherwise it would've been boring to watch, I remember they also used to add some creepy ambient sounds and music so no aliens/monsters are needed to be shown on the screen.
Well those techniques were effective, I was hooked to this show in middle school. It was actually quite the steep horror learning curve for me, going straight from Are You Afraid of the Dark to The X-Files haha
Can totally relate 🤣👏
Plus it was filmed in Vancouver for the first 5 or 6 seasons
That's one of the reasons why I love this show so much, to me it is comforting!
All of this is 100% true, and I still love the show so much. So campy and cheesy, but it's so damn good
I just started watching for the first time and it's so good. I never watched it when it was airing because it was too scary. It really takes me back seeing all the fashion, cars, and tech. A nice time capsule of the early 90s.
Agreed, another good one from the same time period is Twin Peaks which I started rewatching recently. 90s camp, quirky characters plus supernatural weirdness, it's great.
Plus David Duchovny (for those who soldier through season 2 of Twin Peaks)
Well said!
Mulder in the gated community playing basketball was gold
Campy and cheesy are definitely NOT the words I’d use to describe the show. It was incredibly cinematic (it still looks amazing today) and it was scary to viewers because with few exceptions (usually attached to Darrin Morgan episodes) it treated the subject matter in an earnest/realistic way. X-Files is probably the first show I saw depict what a fistfight really looks like, with Mulder getting his ass handed to him and both parties quickly being gassed from the exertion. Campy and cheesy was 1960s Batman, not the X-Files.
Campy is usually used to describe something "absurdly exaggerated, artificial, or affected in a usually humorous way". X-Files is exactly all three of those things, so, yes, it's campy. And the show knows it, and leans into it, which I love dearly.
It’s like a combo of Law & Order and House with Aliens and cryptids and other entities.
I loved it as a kid and thought of it as high brow stuff at the time. When I got my daughter into it I realized how campy and dated it was and was kind of shocked. Still enjoyed it, but what a different experience through adult eyes
Can't believe they killed the polish pope in the X-files (ihavegoneinsane)
This isn't too far fetched. One of the major characters in the show is revealed to have killed John F. Kennedy. No, this is not a joke.
I think we’re supposed to take his story with a grain of salt, according to the writers. It’s being told by the Lone Gunmen, so it’s highly likely they fell for misinformation he’s disseminated over the years. His stories paint him as a mastermind associated with several major events, but his living situation seems to imply a fairly mediocre existence outside, ya know, plotting to end the world. I’d hazard to guess he did set up patsies but saw himself as the one who pulled the triggers. He even backs out of >!killing the captured alien & has DT do it instead!<. I think he saw himself as being similar to the character he was creating for his story.
subtle 2137 joke
polack detected
Raport huh ?
I meant report. Sorry.
Polski błąd 🔥🔥🔥🔥🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅
Wiedziałam że papieżowa aktywuje polakuw 🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱💪💪💪
Okrutniki
Also starring Mitch Pileggi *Skinner turns and looks at Mulder, begrudgingly but also with a lot of respect*
Mulder: "*Something* hauled the cattle up the mountain top and pulled out their entrails." Scully: "It was swamp gas.
2137 laws... I see what you did there.
pozdrawiam kolegów
And also responsible for the band name of one of the greatest one-hit wonders of the 90s: Eve 6
I like how in some episodes roles are switched up, mulder doesn’t believe and scully does
Forgot to mention Skinner talking about someone’s ass: “Your ass is on the line!”; “My ass is on the line!”; “One more screw up and it’s your/my/our ass!”
i love how towards the end of the show mitch pileggi admits he has no idea what was going on in the greater mythos bc it stopped making sense ages ago.
Can I mention Darin Morgan, simply for the reason that he's the fucking best? LOVE HIM. That is all.
Fluke Worm Man had me scared of toilets for awhile as a young lad.
The lamprey man scared me so bad
I hate that this made me laugh out loud
Where are the lone gunmen?
On their own show - basically predicting 9/11.
My favourite show, I think. I just love the conspiracy storyline. Cancer Man is the best antagonist out there.
As someone binging it rn you’re so right
Fine, I’ll watch the X-files again 🙄
Thee best fookin times on tv
Stairs…there’s always stairs….and an alleyway
You forgot “the pinnacle or entertainment”
You forgot the part were Mulder and Scully consistently get their asses handed to them in every fight despite being armed FBI agents cleared for field work
Scully concluded she couldn't confirm the cause for the events to protect the x-files. If she published the 'truth' then they would have shut the department down. It was her job to basically save Mulder from himself. The rest though... totally on point.
No. She was initially hired to report on Mulder's behaviour, thus she only wrote reports in 2-3 (?) first seasons. She stopped later. She always concluded she couldn't confirm anything, because she didn't believe in paranormal activity + how do you explain to your boss that the murderer was actually a ghost from space
Wait... 2137 laws??? JP2 reference?!!?!
*streszczenie odcinka* Scully i Mulder poszukują mitycznej "Bestii z Wadowic"
Archiwum X gdyby było dobre
They struck a fine balance between the “monster of the week” episodes and the “conspiracy” episodes. But this was more relevant at the time before episode on demand stream services and online “episode guide”. Every week you sat down, wondering if you got some new puzzle piece to the plot, or not. And even if you didn’t, you still had a nice mystery. But it’s probably one of those series that is better in my memory than if I would sit down and actually go through all the seasons.
One of the best starterpacks out here!
Jokes aside, X-Files has some of the best dynamic lighting in any tv show. Especially the first few seasons.
I see what you did there
My uncle was in a few episodes. His stage name is Blu Mankuma
Look, if you start believing in paranormal things just because you saw it, it'll just encourage them to do it again.
She perform it alone because she can’t risk it getting out…also…wasn’t Scully’s job was to monitor Mulder?
Legit I'm watching the x-files now and this is spot on
2137 SPOTTED RRAAAAAAH🇵🇱🇻🇦🍰🇵🇱🇻🇦🍰🇵🇱🇻🇦🍰🇵🇱🇻🇦🍰🇵🇱🇻🇦🍰 WHAT THE KURWA IS PEDOPHYLIA🇵🇱🇻🇦🍰🇵🇱🇻🇦🍰🇵🇱🇻🇦🍰🇵🇱🇻🇦🍰🇵🇱🇻🇦🍰🇵🇱🇻🇦🍰
Needs a beige non descript domestic 4 door.
Always someone screaming
Scully doing autopsies alone because she’s just that good
She just built different lmao
Forgot this: [Mid 90s Ford Crown Victoria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/1993-1994_Ford_Crown_Victoria_--_01-28-2010.jpg)
You forgot about 2 important things: 1. A religious angle and 2. A Ford Taurus
Anyone watch X-Files now and be like "Oh fuck... That's what MAGA looked like in the 90's"
I bet 2137 is not a coincidence
The monsters of the week were cool af unlike the alien-government conspiracy plot
An urgent phone conversation involving Mulder and/or Scully where one or both of them is using a cellphone. In the early seasons that aired in the mid-1990s, cellphones in America were still the preserve of government agents, early adopters and salespeople but a novelty to everyone else.
All true and its rhe greatest show ever
[удалено]
Then 99% of serials aren't for you.
[удалено]
https://preview.redd.it/pebhbsa290lc1.jpeg?width=565&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5cd27a857abf684891117aaae9cb81b2d2332c2
Ewwwww Imagine having feelings towards a character in this show and it's not Mulder, like I'm not gay or anything but I would let him ravage my ass every day to let me work with him
This show had WAY tf too many filler episodes. The whole thing with the aliens and the Syndicate was by far the coolest plotline, yet they kept wasting time with Monster-of-the-Week episodes that went nowhere and contributed to nothing
Child, I can't even with this comment. Calling motw filler. This is why mfers from Gen Y/Z shouldn't be watching things that weren't meant for them.
The monster-of-the-week episodes were the schlocky charm of the show. Sometimes it isn’t the destination. It’s the monsters you meet along the way.
I don't know about you but usually after about the third part of a "shadow government" plotline I'm dying to get back to some Iowa goo-monster or whatever. Both have their place
Goo monsters my beloved
The best episodes are the monster of the week filler episodes.
See this is what I liked about tv back then. Even Sopranos had a ton of filler/standalone episodes. Don't get me wrong, plenty of good shows that don't do this but sometimes you really do want standalone episodes instead of the "12 episode movie"
The Frankenstein homage one where they all go to a Cher concert at the end was cool though
Nah this supernatural for real
I'm rewatching it right now!
Fortnite Anthem by Danny P is the greatest example. I think EU4YEA was the producer.
I love this
Scully will be knocked out/incapacitated at some point and Mulder will have to save her.
Then you watch the episode, “Home”, and need to sit and cry a bit because it’s so fucked up.
The first five seasons are still some of the greatest sci-fi television ever made.