BY MIKEY MIGO
Well over a year ago my girlfriend and I agreed to sit down and watch every episode of The X-Files. She was a casual fan when she was younger but I had no real frame of reference other than "oh, that sci-fi show that was on Fox". I don't think I watched one full episode at all during its run. Maybe a clip here or there, but I always sorta of shunned it. I've never been a science fiction guy. To me The X-Files was that show I had to turn off after The Simpsons back in the day. Still… I made an agreement. We'd watch a few episodes here and there. Sometimes we'd go a few weeks without watching, but we'd always go back to it. Finally, after well over a year of semi-persistent viewing we watched all nine seasons, all 202 episodes, and both of the theatrically released movies. I think we're a better couple for it.
I can't and won't get into every episode or season. There are plenty of very detailed reviews out there. I'll keep it brief and summarize. I felt the first few seasons were a little ho-hum. I found myself falling asleep more-so to those episodes than any other group of episodes. Then the show just started getting really good. Creator and main writer Chris Carter kicked ass. For every show that was dreadful there were two that flew by with action and intrigue. He wrote characters you could invest in. I really wanted to see Mulder (Duchovny) and Scully (Anderson) hook up and live happily ever after. The last season or two took that from us. Robert Patrick stepped in for a while. I have no complaints about his work. His southern accent came and went early on and seemed to be gone by the end of the series. He's most known for his work in Terminator 2 so I found myself making the clinging-metal sound from the movie over and over again. He wore me out and I started to appreciate his character. I also dug Annabeth Gish's character. At first she had some sort of psychic ability but by the end of the series it was never brought up or utilized again. She was still a solid character. Law and Order branched off with other brands within their franchise. X-Files could have done that with Gish and Patrick. A subtitle would make the world of difference. Like "X-Files: Aliens" or "X-Files: Spiritual Encounters", etc. Better names of course, but they could have carried on. I know they tried "The Lone Gunmen" and others, but a direct take off could have and could STILL work. I'd give it a chance.
Overall, I'd say The X-Files is one of the best science fiction shows I have ever seen. It lasted nine years for a reason. It had some moments that weren't that great, but in general it was a pretty fulfilling television experience. I never understood the hype it got as I was growing up… now I do. Duchovny's "Mulder" and Anderson's "Scully" could easily be my favorite law enforcement partners of all time. On a personal level, I'm not sure if the show swayed me one way or another in terms of being a "believer". For sure ‘I want to believe' that ‘the truth is out there', but I can 100% confirm that this show was a lot of fun.
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