The X Files | The Truth Is Out There posted by imani , Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 7:03 PM, in Labels: something else

The X Files first hit the boobtube in September 1993. At least in the United States. I am unsure as to the exact month in year 1994 when RPN 9 started airing the award-winning science fiction series which to me, and possibly gazillions of other fanatics out there is, more science than science fiction. Chris Carter was the genius behind The X Files, he also was the creator of another series, the short-lived yet equally goosebump-causing series, Millenium.

I have read numerous articles that casting the right actors to play Mulder and Scully wasn’t easy - especially that the network – Fox – wanted a taller, blonder, ‘breastier’ and ‘leggier’ actress to portray Mulder’s alter ego, Scully. They had a Pamela Anderson-ish babe in mind for the role but Chris Carter insisted on casting Gillian Anderson, a theatre actress who vowed to never do TV, would change the face of primetime when she joined David Duchovny in The X Files. After its pilot episode, the chemistry between the two actors was very apparent, almost innate. Chris Carter was right about the choices he made. He has to have two people who are to act convincingly as a criminal investigator and a medical doctor. I honestly couldn’t care less if Gillian stands a mere 5’3” – she’s so good at what she does if I lived in the US I would probably ask for her to be my personal physician. Nyahaha. I think at one point Gillian can take the medical board exam and pass it.

They are FBI Special Agents Fox (William) Mulder and Dana (Katherine) Scully, MD – our heroes in the quest of finding the truth that is out there. The X Files lasted 9 years, bagged honors from probably over a dozen award-giving bodies and inspired millions and millions of couch potatoes to ‘want to believe.’ I was one of them, trust me.

When I started watching The X Files, I was maybe about 10 years old. My dad and I would ogle at the screen every Monday night at 9PM. Watching the show pretty much made my week. When I went to high school, I met yet another die hard fan in the person of one called Monette Fernandez, my bestest best friend (for 12 years now). After each episode, Monette and I would recount the kilig moments that Mulder and Scully shared. I would tape episodes one after another so I can watch them on weekends. That was before we had cable at home. (I remember that there was a phase I would watch the current X Files season in RPN, then watch reruns of older episodes on Star World and later on, in AXN). There was a time, however, when Monette shifted interests and we had an arrangement – she would tape The X Files for me while I tape episodes of Gundam Wing for her – but I know within she continued being an X-Phile at heart.

The X Files proved to be such a big hit after its first season that Fox Network agreed to sign a five-year contract with its creator, main actors and producers. More than that, Chris Carter satisfied legions of fans’ craving for The X Files by coming up with every imaginable X Files merchandise any fanatic would love to have. There were t-shirts, soundtracks, posters, books (official and unofficial), key chains, mugs, mouse pads, etc. I personally have a two or three posters at home (which used to startle my mom every time she wakes up in the morning), the series and movie soundtracks and a t-shirt.

Six years after the last episode of The X Files was aired, I chanced upon a DVD (yeah, I am a sucker for fake DVDs) of all of The X Files' nine seasons. I thought to myself…is this luck or destiny or what? I don’t care what Edu Manzano would say. I am an X-Phile, I am proud of it and I am sticking it out. For weeks my fingers itched, I wanted to write something about the series which saved me from my irreparably bleak youth.

Mulder and Scully were heroes because even with their training, their education and their capabilities as investigators, they sometimes failed (I didn’t want to say that they failed period, but that they sometimes failed because given the circumstance/s, they went on and continued with their quest). They faltered. They had their own share of shortcomings and misgivings. Fox Mulder (named after the network) was an Oxford-educated psychologist and a renowned criminal profiler, whilst Dana Scully (named after Vin Scully, Carter’s favorite sportscaster) is a medical doctor specializing in forensic pathology who pursued a career in the FBI. The former is a believer while the latter is a skeptic. The X Files isn’t just an office in the FBI’s basement but a repository of cases that the bureau deemed unsolvable because of their nature…which could be any or all of the three – extraterrestrial, paranormal, occult. Because of their beliefs, the characters encounter conflicts, yet they are each other’s Yin and Yang. The series itself is no fairy tale, we have a woman who needs no saving, who can climb out of Rapunzel’s tower and wear Cinderella’s shoes with grace even if it does not fit. Then there is Mulder, a man who is relentless in pursuing his passion (later on his obsession) who needn’t a partner. But of course we know the premise that Scully was assigned to The X Files to debunk Mulder’s work. Scully is to provide the scientific check to Mulder’s belief in the paranormal.

So the two protagonists who thought they do not need another person to give meaning to their work are thrown together to resolve irresolvable cases. So what’s in it for them? There are lessons to be learned. And there is the truth that they are uncompromising of their principles and their morals. They will go after what or who they need to go after to unlock the truth. There is also that undeniable understanding and love between them. Though it wasn’t the imminent love story between Mulder and Scully that drew me to the show…it was one hell of a bonus. Later on, the drama and furtive romance between the leads helped me, and other viewers, I think, to keep on holding on and keep on believing that there are good things to hope for, even when the very job they have would drive anyone to the point of madness.

So what is the truth and where is out there?

Out there are hundreds of episodes illustrating two people’s passion turned into national and international (and could be…extraterrestrial) craze. Out there are hundreds and thousands of meters of film worth keeping and preserving in any museum. The X Files introduced so many ‘truths’ to us – its faithful minions, or you can say unashamed members of the cult …and I am writing this so I can share with all of you some of the things that sparked my curiosity and nourished my addiction:

• Pilot: Scully and Mulder were investigating unusual deaths within a single high school class, with its victims found to bear a common mark – a protrusion on their lower backs. Later in the same episode, we see Scully in her undies showing Mulder that she might just have the same marks. Mulder dismissed this as mosquito bites.
• Squeeze: Eugene Tooms appear as a liver-eating mutant, with Scully as the next target. In this episode we saw Mulder ‘touch’ Scully’s necklace
• Ascension: Scully gets abducted by a lunatic named Duane Barry and Mulder was inexorable in his desire to save his partner, proof is his willingness to climb on top of a moving aerial tram
• 2SHY: Our killer this time feeds on voluptuous women, with Scully and Mulder puzzled by the state of the victims after death…as they all turn into literally a human soup
• Unruhe: Scully falls victim to a serial killer capable of psychic photography (don’t ask me to explain it now). She speaks a little German in this episode. Unruhe is German for unrest
• Never Again: Jodie Foster is in the episode, lending her voice to the fatal pin-up girl tattoo of a psychotic divorcee, Ed Jerse, who Scully would later on kiss. In this episode, Scully gets inked with an ouroboros (a snake eating its own tail, a symbol for creation and destruction)
• Memento Mori: Scully is stricken with cancer, which she finds out about for the first time. The opening sequence shows Mulder bringing her Scully a bunch of flowers. At the end of the episode, Mulder and Scully embrace each other, as the former assures the latter that they won’t give up in finding a cure for her illness
• Small Potatoes: Our protagonists are mistaken as a couple as they investigate consecutive mysterious births of babies with tails. The suspect has the ability to change his shape and looks and at one time disguises himself as Mulder then attempts to kiss Scully. The real Mulder appears in time to stop the kiss from taking place
• Detour: Mulder and Scully get stuck in the forest, Mulder was wounded while they were hunting down a ‘moth man.’ Scully sings to Mulder so he can sleep, and Mulder tells Scully that ‘the best way to regain body heat is to crawl in a sleeping bag with someone else naked.’ Scully tells him that ‘maybe if it rains sleeping bags you’ll get lucky.’
• Post Modern Prometheus: One of my favorite episodes. It was in black and white. After rescuing 'The Great Mutato' from crazed townspeople, Mulder and Scully head to a Cher mini-concert. Mulder asks Scully to dance with him. And they did.
• Triangle: Mulder gets himself in a ship stuck in a time warp where he meets a woman who looks just like Scully. This is set in the 1940’s (or at least the atmosphere of the episode). Mulder kisses the ‘Scully’ in this episode before he hurls himself to the sea
• Arcadia: Mulder and Scully poses as husband and wife to resolve mysterious deaths in California’s The Falls at Arcadia. They argue over toothpaste tubes and toilet seats. Mulder at one point asks Scully to: ‘woman, get back here and make me a sandwich,’ Scully flings the gloves to Mulder’s face
• Milennium: When the clock struck 12 MN, Mulder leaned and gave Scully a kiss. I think this is the first time the two shared a screen kiss that wasn’t cut during editing.
• Milagro: A recluse writer gets obsessed with Scully and tells the audience at the end of the episode that ‘Scully is already in love.’
• All things: This is mainly an episode for Scully, why?! Gillian Anderson wrote and directed the episode. In this episode, there was a hint at the onset that Scully and Mulder made love.
• Hollywood A.D.: Written and directed by David Duchovny. The plot is that there’s a Hollywood movie about the X Files. Gary Shandling plays Mulder and Téa Leoni plays Scully.
• Existence: Scully gives birth to son William, Mulder and Scully share a kiss (and this is not some time-warped place, so the two are aware of what’s really happening)
• The Truth: Season 9 finale. Mulder is placed under military arrest, blamed for the death of a super soldier (with that kind of name we know that they are deatless…but then that’s why we have government conspiracies). Scully sees Mulder after a long time, A.D. Skinner had to turn away to afford the two a very intimate moment…they kissed. At the end of the episode, Scully and Mulder are in a hotel, hiding as fugitives, but positive that ‘There is hope.

The truth is that I just spent about a couple of hours writing this, while sipping a really sweet concoction (Hershey’s French Vanilla Cappuccino), and I feel like my throat is about to get sore again. But what the hell…let the truth be known and heard. To my future daughter…yeah, Mommy is and always will be an X-Phile. Don’t worry, I will keep the DVDs and let you watch them as soon as you can distinguish colors. I wonder if your first words will be ‘Trust No One.’