I promise this isn't just me being horny on main (not that there's anything wrong with that).

The other day I saw someone discuss their beef with CC retconning William's parentage, specifically his refusal to give Scully a child through anything other than loving, consensual sex. And that made me think, there is so much violation of physical autonomy in this show. Obviously there's the whole medical rape thing, and the torture and experimentation on humans regardless of gender (I just watched Duane Barry the other night, it was awful), but even outside of the main mythology, all sorts of horrible things that happen to people's bodies, like in The Gift where people were laying out for that poor creature to eat them alive. For heaven's sake, there's a genie *that travelled up people's butts.* And I'm not sure this would go in the "violating autonomy" category, but even stuff like the silicone-based fungus that was erupting out of people's throats. Horror derived from something awful happening to people's bodies and there's nothing they can do about it.

So basically, we pretty much never see people naked who are not dead or being tortured (except for the occasional bubble bath). As such, I think the show could actually have benefitted from some genuine love scenes, to balance it out. We don't need to even see the actual sex, but enough to confirm that Mulder and Scully, two consenting adults, in control of their bodies, share a physical relationship as an act of love and nothing else. To confirm that loving, consensual sex still exists in their lives.

My history of shipping failed "couples" is long, like Joey and Phoebe from Friends for example, Ripley and Hicks from Aliens too.

Just kidding, I also ship Mulder and Scully, but Doggett and Reyes have my heart for some reason, I think they're very cute and the actors also ship them, just like the actors who played Joey and Phoebe.

POV: This post was kind of a "provoke society" post because I know 99% of this group hates this duo. Those who like them, the 1%, can speak up if you want!

Am I the only one?

Any of y'all see this?
She just had to take a shot at MSR / DD & GA, didn't she?
It kind of perturbed me, not so much that she said it, but that she said it without explaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u66sTWpxswM

In the later seasons, I'm seeing this trend where Mulder consistently manipulates Scully to do autopsies, travel, etc. he's often right in the grand scheme of things, but he does it in suck a dickish way it bothers me.

Longtime fan of the show, but I have to say that my biggest hot take is that I am generally not a fan of the comedy episodes. I know this is controversial because many of them are widely considered to be among the best episodes of the series, but they don't work for me because they break the internal consistency of the show's world. I fell in love with X-Files for the mystery, the atmosphere, the darkness and ambiguity that Mulder and Scully must navigate together, and the procedural aspects contrasted with the paranormal. Episodes like Humbug, Jose Chung's From Outer Space, War of the Coprophages and Bad Blood (among others) don't fit into that framework. They're essentially parodies of the show set within the show, and the tonal deviation from the norm, while obviously a positive for many, is a negative in my mind because it works against the show's verisimilitude. No shade to anyone who enjoys them, they just aren't for me.

There are exceptions, which I'll discuss below:

1. Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose: the only Darin Morgan script that works for me, and it's because it's not really a comedy. It's funny, but being funny isn't the main goal; it's a melancholic study of Bruckman and how his unwanted powers shaped his worldview. There is a dramatic arc here that exists independently of trying to make the audience laugh. Not a perfect episode imo but a very good one.

2. Syzygy: maybe my most controversial take but Syzygy is great to me for two reasons. The first is that I think it's genuinely hilarious. I love grumpy Mulder and Scully's banter, especially since it's rooted in aspects of their dynamic we've witnessed in previous episodes. The second is there is a plausible in-universe explanation for why everyone is acting so weird, ie the cosmic alignment.

3. The Unnatural: like Clyde Bruckman, I feel that this one has a greater dramatic purpose than trying for laughs. The story of an alien falling in love with baseball is such an absurd premise that is written and directed with such sincerity that it loops back around into being moving. Plus the scene with Mulder and Scully playing baseball is one of the best romantic scenes in the show.

Anyway I'm sure this won't endear me to the community but I wanted to share my thoughts and see if anyone else agreed.

MulDerp, Faux Mulder, come on, give me better, clever options!

hi everyone!

how skippable is scully’s cancer arc? i’ve just got to the beginning of scully’s cancer arc in S4, which i knew was coming but not in the leonard betts episode haha, i thought it would come a bit later on.

i suffer with really bad health anxiety/hypochondria and have had a pretty rough time with it the past few weeks, so i try to avoid things with too much medical/illness content.

would you guys say i can just read a synopsis of what happens and be on my way with the next set of episodes? are there some eps i could watch and some i’d be better off skipping? i know that it goes into the first few eps of S5 but as long as i understand the story i’m willing to skip any amount of it. thanks! :)

I’m fairly new to the fandom. I heard two consistent things since I entered, that David and Gillian hated each other’s guts at one point, and that they had a situationship. Does anyone care to elaborate? Is there like an hour long video or a long ass article diving into what they were, or are, because my curiosity is kind of getting the best of me. Thanks in advance, lol.

I’m 38 so no issues watching tv shows from the 90s. Should I start from episode 1? How long will it take to get into it? I know I’ll love it I’m sure

Why is this episode so highly regarded? My gf and I watched this for the first time and it left a bad taste in both of our mouths. The plot is messy and as a whole I found this one to be not very charming, not to mention it downplays sexual assault. I just couldn’t find anything to like about it, even the dance scene at the end which should be silly just made me frustrated. Just felt like there’s some kind of generational disconnect that is preventing me from finding anything to like about this one.

increasingly i am noticing posts that clearly spoil the show with the picture/s on the post or in the title of the post. this really spoils the show for those of us that are watching the show for the first time slowly making our way through all the seasons or rewatching it after many years and can’t remember what happens. would really appreciate the correct use of flairs on posts as per group rule no. 2 - avoiding spoilers in the title and marking spoilers as ‘spoilers’ (and not ‘discussion’). thanks in advance

edit: i know the show is 30 years old. but that doesn’t excuse marking spoilers as something other than spoilers. i’m simply asking to choose the correct post flair

Lmfao I’m trying to finish out my rewatch but it feels like watching a REBOOT happen live in season 9. Scully feels displaced without Mulder. And i can just FEEL the show telling me to get comfortable with Doggett and Reyes. I just wanna hear Mulder’s wild theories and see his eyebrows wiggle with excitement. Likeeee

Also some cases feel like they’re just flipping old GOOD cases. Like the Creepy little boy who was still 7 (s8) was a spin of the boy with the dead twin episode. Right now I’m watching an episode about a devil that just feels like a spin of the other episode about a devil. Idk

I think imma skip around for William relevant episodes just so i can make it out of this. End rant

Title.

Sometimes it’s hard to even see what is going on in the scenes. Is this a 90s thing or an x files thing?

The guy who played the detective in the episode 'Mind's Eye' looked familiar. Thought it was the same guy who played the head the security in the episode 'Ghost in the Machine'. Thought I was racist, but turns out it's actually the same guy lol.

I know they've reused actors for different roles in the show, but they were usually to play monsters or other non-human characters with a lot of make-up.

Are there any other actors they've reused like this, to play different human characters without hiding the fact that its the same actors?

I started season 1 today and this is my first time watching a show made before the 2000s before, is this normal? where is the closure?

After finishing the episode with all the Eve’s I actually thought it was so interesting but is it really over? Will there ever be follow up episodes? And what about that one episode where this mysterious man takes the alien nose thingy that Scully gave him and adds it to the creepy collection? Idk it’s just kind of annoying

I saw bits of it on a repeat in the U.K. many years ago, and didn't like it - so gave up before seeing it through

Watched it on Disney+ just now in full - and still didn't like it

How it won awards I have no idea

"Humbug" was much better as a comedy-drama type episode

Down-arrow me all you want - I still don't see what all the fuss was about for it!

This is my first watch through, I'm halfway through season 7 and have been thoroughly enjoying the series so far, seasons 1 to 5 are amazing and the movie exceeded my expectations and even though I was expecting a bit of a letdown afterwards, it actually keeps the pace! While I don’t like the LA setting I think the series is just as good so far… except Scully.

Is it just me or does Scully's skepticism gets actually worse after the movie? Her skepticism borders on parody and it seems to be almost unintentional comedic relief, not only has she witnessed truly supernatural stuff, like a demon child about to kill her or even aliens ffs yet every episode she mocks Mulder every step of the way but it gets worse as every single episode has Scully looking exasperated at Mulder and even downright petulant.

They’ve been together for 7 years now and his theories are right 98% of the time yet every time Mulder opens his mouth is like Scully is ready to slap him for daring to think different.

Oh… but as soon as a case involving catholicism or god comes her way, her supposed love for facts and science goes out the window! An angel is taking nephilim girls? yes no doubt about it! A priest kills serial killers because god told him to? What is there to doubt?

ETA

• Ugh stop trying to make this political “Scully Bashing” geez that’s just… asinine.

• I forgot to mention, it comes a point where one has to realize how many innocents would be in jail if it was up to Scully! Every episode she’s quick to blame the first subject just because she already wants to go back home…

ETA 2

Because apparently nuanced thought is lost on most everyone and the default answer is to cry “Scully bashing!”

Scully had consistent growth through the first 5 seasons and up to the movie, she still favored a science based approach and waited for hard evidence before accepting paranormal events BUT from season 6 on it seems like that is lost and the character gets a hard reset every new case.

Seasons 1 to 5 showed us a consistent character arc and we even got hints of a really cool personal storyline where Scully is seemingly afraid the new paranormal world Mulder has brought her in will destroy everything she thought was real so she chooses to willfully ignore evidence in an attempt to keep her world together, which was immensely interesting but that seems gone.

Like I really didn't like season 10 and 11. I thought the series should have never gone past season 9. Maybe another movie after 2008 movie. Like a movie to where Mulder and Skully have to stop the alien invasion in December 2012. Because the whole no more aliens in season 10 and 11 was just freaking dumb. What do y'all think?