I have been a fan of "The X-Files"
since the summer of 1998 when I was convinced, by my
sister, to watch season 4 reruns on the FX Network.
Early in October of 1998 I was finally able to watch
"Fight The Future" (a week before it was officially
released too!). I had wanted to see the movie in theatres,
but I couldn't find a single person who wanted to go
see the X-Files movie.
The mythology (The Mytharc) of "The X-Files"
is what interests me the most about the series. Yes,
I do love nearly all the characters, but I enjoy the
mytharc most of all. I remember watching my first season
in "real time" (season 6) and getting all
excited when I saw names like William B. Davis, Mimi
Rogers, Nicholas Lea, Laurie Holden, etc. because that
meant that the episode was going to be good.
I know that I just said that season 6 was my first
season so what I say next is going to sound ridiculous,
but... by the 7th season I became bored with the series.
I felt that the writers were forcing insincere Mulder/Scully
relationship moments on us, I felt the actors were bored
playing Mulder and Scully, and as a result I nearly
stopped watching the show. I swore I'd never watch again
after Scully announced in "Requiem" (season
7 finale) that she was pregnant. One, I hate pregnancies
and babies in any television storyline. Two, the Mulder/Scully
'shippers were flipping out and I just have little tolerance
for girly adolescent behaviour, and three, David Duchovny
(Mulder) wasn't coming back so why bother?
To answer that question: Robert Patrick joined the
cast as John Doggett.
If it weren't for the addition of the John Doggett
character (played by Robert Patrick whom I've been a
fan since 1991, "Terminator 2") I never would
have tuned in for the season 8 premiere. For me, the
John Doggett character was the breath of fresh air that
"The X-Files" needed after a very lackluster
7th season. Yes, Scully's crying and mopy attitude weighed
down some of the episodes, but why did I care, Doggett
was gracing my television screen! I list season 8 right
up there with the 4th season of the series (season 4
is my hands down favorite season of the series).
I'm not really the biggest fan of season 9. Yes, Doggett
is in every episode and there are a few good MOTW episodes,
but it really was the inclusion of Annabeth Gish as
Monica Reyes that didn't work. Nothing against Annabeth,
but she just didn't mesh well with the role, and she
had little chemistry with anyone in the cast. To me,
the partnership between John Doggett and Dana Scully
worked a gazillion times better than what the writers
tried to sell to viewers with the partnership of Doggett
and Reyes. On top of that Scully had given birth to
her baby, and it seemed to cry every time it was shown
(and who isn't annoyed by the sound of a crying baby?).
Then to make things worse the writers made baby William
a part of the mythology and for what? To make him normal
again and then in one of the last episodes have Scully
put him up for adoption? Why not realize the baby plot
mistake earlier and get rid of him early on in season
9? It would have made the season a bit better to watch.
Get rid of baby William, keep Reyes as a guest character,
and keep the Doggett/Scully partnership and that would
have been best for the series.
Not that I actually thought the show would get renewed
for a 10th season, but still.
And then there was "I Want To Believe", the
second feature film for "The X-Files". I wasn't
impressed with it. It had its moments, but really Chris
Carter and Frank Spotnitz should have addressed the
mythology of the series. This MOTW movie was dull and
didn't inform me of anything that I didn't already know
about the characters. Well, except that even Mulder
thinks that it's not good for he and Scully to be together.
It was also great to see Scully address this fact too
when she broke up with him. I really was hoping that
the writers were finally smart enough to acknowledge
the fact that these two characters just aren't happy
together romanticaly and that a friendship is best between
them, and then along came the end of the movie where
they made up and kissed. My eyes hurt from rolling them
as far back as I could when that happened. Fortunately,
watching other movie-goers get up and leave the theatre
as this make up scene happened, made me realize that
I wasn't the only one disappointed with how the relationship
was brought back together.
Unfortunately, the people who think that the relationship
between Mulder and Scully is an ideal are the majority
in the fandom and I don't expect Chris Carter and Frank
Spotnitz to do right by the characters if a third movie
is made. I don't believe they have the balls enough
to do what's right. I think that they are afraid of
the rabids in the fanbase, but then from my experience
with the rabids in the fanbase, I don't blame them.
A part of me wants to have a third movie just so the
mythology can be resolved (finally), then there's a
part of me who doesn't want to see a third movie made
simply because I don't think I could sit by and watch
even further character destruction. I know that I run
the Doggett In XF3 Please campaign, but if "I Want
To Believe" was that out-of-character for Mulder
and Scully, how would they (the writers) ruin the John
Doggett character if he were included in a third movie?
I don't want to know.
I am happy to be involved in the small X-Files groups
that I am a part of. After so many years of being rejected
by the majority of the fandom I have finally found a
couple groups of people who accept me for who I am,
and who enjoy having a different opinion ready to go
for any given discussion topic. I really don't think
that I NEED closure for the mythology of "The X-Files",
I think anyone can guess what would happen and how it
would end, so there really isn't a NEED to see it unfold.
I am content with reading and writing fanfic, creating
collages, manipulations, and discussing "The X-Files"
with my little online family.
If a third movie is made, I'll probably go see it,
but I won't make the mistake of seeing it multiple times
(as I did with "I Want To Believe") just because
I wanted to believe that the movie would be better if
I saw it a second time, or a third time, or a fourth
time, etc. I knew in my heart upon first viewing that
the movie wasn't going to be better if I saw it again.
I just really, really wanted it to be enjoyable. I have
very low expectations for a third movie if it gets the
greenlight.
But no matter what happens with the actual series,
the second movie, any future movie, the fandom, I will
always be a fan of "The X-Files". It is the
first television show that I fell in love with.
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