On March 24th, after much speculation, Fox finally announced that The X-Files will be returning to television as a six-episode miniseries. “Think of it as a 13-year commercial break,” the original series creator, Chris Carter, told Huffington Post. Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny reprised their roles as FBI Agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder during production this summer. The miniseries will have a two-night premiere, starting January 24, 2016.
The X-Files premiered on Fox on September 10, 1993, meaning I was eight months old at the time of the pilot. It quickly grew to become a cult favorite; the show has been listed as #2 in TV Guide’s Top Cult Shows Ever (2004, 2007), #9 in Empire magazine’s The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time (2008), and one of Time’s All-Time 100 TV Shows (2007). Although the show ended in 2002, it is still considered one of the most influential television shows of recent history.
I really had no interest in watching The X-Files until a couple of days before the miniseries announcement was made. My sister began watching the show on Netflix at some point during the fall of 2014 and I remember watching a bit of one episode with her during one of our breaks and thinking the show was weird. Why would I watch a show that was as old as I was?
I made the terrible decision to start watching a long-running television show a couple of weeks before spring 2015 finals. (This tends to happen more often than I want to admit.) After watching a couple of episodes, I was hooked. Why?
Here are a couple of reasons why The X-Files is still worth watching:
It’s all* about aliens!
The X-Files refers to the FBI department specializing in unsolved cases, headed by Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Most of these unsolved cases involve extraterrestrial activity, though are large number of them revolve around cases that have more realistic problems, such as insects and inclement weather.
Nevertheless, there are no limits to the topics touched upon because there are no restrictions. A man squeezes his entire body through air ducts and other tiny spaces to eat human livers every thirty years to survive? Season one, episode 3 (“Squeeze”). A human cloning project gone wrong? Season one, episode eleven (“Eve”). A cockroach infestation that kills people? Season three, episode twelve (“War of the Coprophages”). Killer cats? Season three, episode eighteen (“Teso Dos Bichos”).
Even though it is a science fiction show, a lot of research was done to make sure that the stories are as close to realism as possible. Chris Carter consulted numbers of scientists throughout the series (and movies) to guarantee that the scientific aspects of the stories were true. You can read more about this here. Books have even been published on the science behind the X-Files and are still available to buy!
*It’s not only about aliens.
David Duchovny.
Young David Duchovny was a hunk. Duchovny plays Special Agent Fox Mulder, a strong believer in the existence of aliens. He’s an Oxford-educated psychologist, but what makes him so lovable is his passion for his beliefs. He is determined to prove the existence of extraterrestrials and will take any scrutiny he gets for it. He also has some great one-liners!
Duchovny has two English degrees from Princeton and Yale, so he’s a smart cookie. You might also know him from Californication and Zoolander.
Gillian Anderson.
Gillian Anderson (my #1 girl crush) plays Special Agent Dr. Dana Scully. She is a medical doctor AND a Special Agent, so obviously she’s #majorgoals. She’s arguably one of the best female characters in TV history and inspired many females to enter the sciences or FBI (AKA “the Scully effect”).
To juxtapose Mulder, Scully is absolutely skeptical of everything extraterrestrial. She believes in the knowledge science can define and often questions Mulder’s intentions regarding cases. Nevertheless, she learns to trust Mulder’s judgement, but that skepticism is consistent throughout the show.
The supporting cast.
Although the main characters are a great enough reason to watch the show, the supporting cast only enhances the greatness. Walter Skinner, FBI Assistant Director, for example, is Mulder and Scully’s boss and quickly became a fan-favorite. He is played by Mitch Pileggi.
Another awesome (but infuriating) cast member is The Smoking Man (played by William B. Davis). The Smoking Man (also known as Cancer Man and Cigarette-Smoking Man) is Mulder’s arch-nemesis and the show’s primary antagonist. He has been listed as one of the greatest television villains in history by TV Guide.
The Lone Gunmen (or Ringo Langly, Mevlin Frohike, and John Fitzgerald Byers) are a group of conspiracy theorists and computer hackers who help Mulder and Scully bypass technological hindrances. They quickly became fan favorites (even though they only appeared in one episode in season one) and eventually had their own spin-off series. Although the series only lasted for a season, the group still had a large fan following.
Guest stars.
Like most long-running, successful TV series, familiar faces will pop up from time to time. The X-Files has featured guest stars like Seth Green (season one, episode two: “Deep Throat”), Tony Shalhoub –AKA Monk— (season two, episode twenty-three: “Soft Light”), Jack Black (season three, episode three—“D.P.O.”), Ryan Reynolds (season three, episode thirteen: “Syzygy”), BD Wong—AKA Dr. George Huang on Law and Order: SVU—(season three, episode nineteen: “Hell Money”), Lucy Liu (season three, episode nineteen: “Hell Money”), Luke Wilson (season five, episode twelve: “Bad Blood”—see below), Shia LaBeouf (season seven, episode six: “The Goldberg Variation”), Kathy Griffin (season seven, episode twenty: “Fight Club”), Aaron Paul (season nine, episode five: “Lord of the Flies”), and Jane Lynch (season nine, episode five: “Lord of the Flies”).
History.
Because the show premiered in 1993, it displays the heyday of everything 1990s. According to Lily Rothman, The X-Files began pre-Y2K, when most technology was still in their baby-stages. In the first season, Mulder and Scully are sometimes without a cell phone, so they have to run to find a landline to call for backup. It’s also pretty common to see either Mulder or Scully typing case notes on clunky desktop computers.
As the series progresses, more and more technology is used. The cell phones become more compact, the security technology becomes more efficient. Nonetheless, The X-Files ended in 2002, so almost all the technology seems old-fashioned. It’s a visual example of how much technology has changed in the last 20 years.
With the emerging importance of technology came the opportunity for fans to connect with each other and, more so, the show. The X-Files is one of the first examples of the internet-centered fandom. Fans created the idea of “Monster of the Week” themes, spoilers became available online, and X-Files-centered fan magazines and e-zines were produced and published. The largest aspect of this new internet-accessible fandom, however, was “shipping” (short for “relationship,” when fans believe two characters should—or are—in a relationship, even if it is not distinctly written into the script).
“Mulder and Scully’s relationship was the show,” my high school teacher, Melissa Rife, who was a “SUPER X-Files fan,” said. “Some of my favorite episodes were ones that directly showed connection between them.”
When I asked Mrs. Rife why she liked the show so much, she said, “It had everything: interesting plot lines, phenomenal writing, and the most amazing chemistry between lead characters that I had ever seen. I was probably more interested in the stand-alone episodes, but was hooked by the mythology of the story, too.”
“I was also obsessed with David Duchovny,” she revealed. (Which is completely understandable!)
The X-Files is an important part of television history. It brought back the enthusiasm and excitement of science fiction-TV that had been lacking since Star Trek and created a path for the shows we see aired today.
“The X-Files was the opening of so many other shows that exist today,” Mrs. Rife informed me. “It was the first show to go full throttle sci-fi in such an open, popular way. It also was the first to create the kind of relationship that you see so often on TV today, like on Bones and Castle—that quasi-romantic partnership.”
So, when I asked Mrs. Rife how she felt about the miniseries, she replied, “Knowing [that Duchovny and Anderson] are in [the miniseries], I am very excited, while also a tiny bit apprehensive. The way shows are done on TV, especially those types of sci-fi shows, has changed a lot. The way to appeal to audiences is different. I hope that they are able to bring the same excitement and interest to the show that they had in the 90’s while pulling in new viewers.”
That is a question many X-Philes (the X-Files fandom) have: Can this miniseries bring back the same charm of the original series?
Although Chris Carter probably won’t bring back the ‘90s fashion or terminology, history shows that he and his team were generally receptive of the fandom’s wants and needs, so the general consensus is high hopes.
You can read more about the history of the X-Files fandom here.
Overall, The X-Files (and its corresponding movies) are worth watching, even today, twenty-two years after its first airing. In my opinion, it is a show that will never get old—it’s a show that memorializes the 1990s and helped shape the entertainment business to what it is today.
Even if you’re not a sci-fi fan, there is so much to love about the show—the stories, the characters, the writing, etc. And even if you can’t watch all nine seasons (and two movies) before the miniseries’ release, at least watch the first couple of seasons (they’re the best, in my opinion) to get a feel for the show and get a little bit of history on the way.
Watch the trailer for the miniseries!
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