Thursday, January 03, 2013

X-Files 20th Anniversary Blogging: Series Primer



“If there is one thing that gives the series a broad, universal appeal, it’s that we are all afraid of the same things.”

Chris Carter, in Starlog #221: “X-aminations” by James Swallow. (December 1995, page 31.)

It’s virtually impossible for me to believe that Chris Carter’s The X-Files (1993 – 2002) premiered three decades ago.  I still possess vivid memories of watching the first season episodes on Fox TV (Channel 35) in Richmond, Virginia. 

My girlfriend (now wife) and I were engaged in 1993 and lived together for the first time during that span in an apartment we rented in Henrico County, while I commuted downtown every day to a job at the Supreme Court of Virginia.  

I also remember that the fall TV season of 1993 -- at least as described by the press -- was shaping up to be a genre slugfest on Sunday nights between Steven Spielberg’s Sea Quest DSV (1993 – 1995) and ABC’s romantic superhero-lite adventure, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993 – 1996). 

Nobody in their right mind would have or could have predicted back in September 1993 that a series about the paranormal -- airing on upstart Fox -- would out-live both of the aforementioned high-profile genre programs, and garner much more popularity and critical success than either. 

In fact, as I’ve written before, when most people remember TV in the 1990s, they think, at least in my experience, of two specific series: Seinfeld and The X-Files.

Innumerable series since The X-Files have built upon its considerable successes, but few (if any) have surpassed the program or achieved the same level of wide cultural popularity. 

To me, The X-Files is indeed the Star Trek of the 1990s, and therefore one of the most important titles in the history of the genre, on a par with The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, certainly. 

Like Star Trek before it, The X-Files boasts a rabid and large fan base, has made the transition to the big screen, and seen its storytelling translated to the venues of comic-books, video games, and novels.  

Catchphrases from the series, (like “the truth is out there,” “Trust No One,” and “I want to believe”) have become part of our shared pop culture landscape as well. The X-Files also generated spin-offs (including Millennium and The Lone Gunmen) and literally dozens of (some quite worthy) imitators, from The Burning Zone to Prey to Strange World to the more recent Fringe.



As you likely recall with clarity, The X-Files is the continuing story of two F.B.I. agents of vastly different qualifications and temperaments, but a common ground in the quality of curiosity.

On one hand is the believer: Oxford-educated psychologist Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). 

On the other is Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), a medical doctor and devout Catholic who demands that all of Mulder’s “beliefs” about alleged paranormal events achieve a high-threshold in terms of scientific accuracy and empirical evidence.

Working out of the F.B.I. Building’s basement in Washington D.C., Scully and Mulder -- utilizing their vastly different “seeing” lenses of skepticism and belief -- investigate during the course of the series alien abduction (“Pilot,” “Duane Barry”), demonology (“The Calusari,” “Die Hand der Verletz”), local legends (“The Jersey Devil”), weird genetic mutants (“Squeeze,” “The Host,” “Teliko,” “2Shy”), prehistoric or ancient monsters (“Ice,” “Darkness Falls,” “Detour”), global conspiracies (“Erlenmeyer Flask,” “The Red and the Black”), serial killers (“Irresistible,” “Unruhe,” “Paper Hearts”) and even vampires (“3,” “Bad Blood.”)

They also explore cases involving astral projection (“The Walk,”) reincarnation (“Lazarus,” “The Field Where I Died”), telepathy (“Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose,” “Pusher”), and psychic surgery (“Milagro.”)

Yet this thumbnail description of the premise and characters hardly does The X-Files justice. 

Historically-speaking, there have been other TV series about the paranormal (One Step Beyond [1959 – 1961], The Sixth Sense [1972 – 1973] and Beyond Reality [1991 – 1993] to name just three), so the subject matter isn’t necessarily the thing that makes The X-Files so special.  That isn’t the key to the series’ continuing popularity.

Contrarily, The X-Files’ intelligent writing -- which assumed that audiences could keep up and pay attention -- was both cutting edge (focused often on the details of forensic pathology), and emotionally resonant. 

Similarly, stars Duchovny and Anderson developed a scintillating chemistry and rapport over time that made every new adventure a delight.  Scully and Mulder were partners…but also, in a way, competitors.  They were dancers circling each other and in some sense attempting to gain the higher ground in terms of their curiosity and world view.  The Mulder/Scully back-and-forth repartee elevated each story of the paranormal or supernatural on The X-Files to a new level, one where it was the human condition itself – and our assumptions about it -- that was up for debate.

As creator Chris Carter once noted of his two protagonists:  “They [Mulder and Scully] are equal parts of my desire to believe in something and my inability to believe in something.  My skepticism and my faith…I want, like a lot of people do, to have the experience of witnessing a paranormal phenomenon.  At the same time, I want not to accept it, but to question it.” (David Bischoff; Omni, December 1994, page 44).

In the points-of-view of characters Scully and Mulder then, the audience essentially gets one “whole” person: a complete but conflicted world-view.  It’s no surprise that the characters complete one another, because they form, essentially, a well-rounded, curious outlook on life.  This creative writing structure -- with Mulder and Scully each voicing one half of a “universal” personality -- plays an important role in the series’ ultimate success.

I would be remiss if I did not also mention the series’ photography, production design and overall look.  The series regularly makes use of film grammar to visually create tension, forge suspense, and develop an often trance-like mood or atmosphere.



There is a certain kind of shot, for instance, that I associate irrevocably with The X-Files.  It involves a low-perched camera, near floor level, untethered and on the prowl. The camera moves forward through unknown terrain (a high tech office, a Victorian home, or anywhere else) and constantly probes for something new -- something unseen or undetected -- in regular, daily life.  

The low-perched camera, moving forward into undiscovered countries thus mimics the series’ thematic material, which concerns the exploration of “extreme possibilities.”

The X-Files also arrived, historically, at the beginning of an era when television was moving away from standalone dramas to serials and “arcs.” 

What this means is that Mulder and Scully could not simply walk away from a case they were investigating and forget all about it. They didn’t begin their next story with no memory of what had happened before.

On the contrary, many cases caused repercussions for the characters that would last for seasons, or even for the duration of the series.  For instance, Mulder underwent a many-seasons-long search for his missing sister, Samantha, whom he believed had been abducted by aliens. Scully was apparently abducted by aliens in the second season, grappled with terminal cancer in the fourth season, and struggled with problems of infertility in the later years. 

The cases were connected in other ways too, by a thread that X-Files fans have come to understand as “The Mytharc.” These tales were of a global Syndicate or Conspiracy prepping for an alien colonization of Earth. But like the Hydra, this conspiracy of men had many heads, or many facets, and for years Mulder and Scully nibbled around the edges of the master-plan, able to discern only pieces of the larger puzzle.

Again, in the age of Dexter, Mad Men, The Walking Dead and other serials, The X-Files’ achievement of sustained, always-developing story lines may not seem like a big deal. But The X-Files remains a critical “bridge” series between the standalone era and the more heavily serialized era. 

By 1994, critics had begun to detect that The X-Files was something special.  Writing for Omni in December of 1994 (pages 43 – 50), David Bischoff noted that “The direction is atmospheric, the scripts are tight, the dialogue is crisp, the tone uneasy and grim….How can anyone not love this show?”

In The New Leader, James Wolcott called The X-Files “as scary as The Twilight Zone and much sexier…What’s erotic about the show is its slow progression from reverie to revelation, stopping just short of rapture.  It wants to swoon, but swooning would mean shutting its eyes, and there’s so much to see.” (April 18, 1994, pages 98, - 100).

In 1999, TV Guide’s Matt Roush accurately noted that “Many weeks…The X-Files is as good as any movie,” and indeed, the horror genre suffered something of an identity crisis in the 1990s while attempting to compete with Chris Carter’s sterling creation. Why go out to see an untested commodity (like a new film), when The X-Files promised quality “scares” week-in and week-out?

My friends, the truth is out there: The X-Files will live forever.


  

12 comments:

  1. No references to the movies though? I always thought Fight the Future was unique and cool in that it took place DURING the series it was spun off of. I often find myself drawn to the three-punch hook of The End, Fight the Future and The Beginning.

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    1. Hi The Horror! Addiction!

      I'm a big admirer of both X-Files movies.

      I reviewed Fight the Future (positively) in my recent book, Horror Films of the 1990s, and I reviewed I Want to Believe here on the blog in 2008 when it was released.

      Here, however, I was focusing on a general introduction to the series/concepts/characters for a 20 year anniversary retrospective. No slight against the movies was intended! We'll hopefully get to those too...

      best,
      John

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  2. You're a bad influence, John. I had promised myself I would re-watch The X-Files from start to finish some day, but not until I'd caught up on a few other shows on my DVD watch pile—BSG, Breaking Bad and The Twilight Zone amongst them! I can see that I may break that promise to myself this year. It feels only apt.

    Seriously, though, I will look forward to this series of posts. The X-Files has earned itself a wonderful legacy and remains a powerful influence, as well as a truly great body of work. I will certainly be joining you.

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    1. Hi Adam,

      I know what you mean. I'm a bad influence on myself too!

      I have so many series to experience for the first time (Fringe, Timeslip, Sliders, etc.) and yet here I am, going back to The X-Files!

      It's impossible, however, not to be drawn in, I think.

      I watched the pilot episode last week and immediately wanted to watch another episode, and another, and another. The series remains remarkably intelligent, well-written, sexy and fun. One of the best in the history of the medium, without a doubt.

      Thanks for joining up on the survey, and I look forward to reading your thoughts on the episode selections.

      best,
      John

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  3. The one thing that stands out to me about the legacy of 'TXF' is the writing, producing and director's tree that Chris Carter developed. When Frank Spotnitz, Kim Manners, Glen Morgan, Rob Bowman, or a James Wong appeared in the opening credits, you can rest assured that particular episode had a chance of being one of the season's best. I would bet that these people contributed to the best episodes of the entire series. Just the other day, I was watching the opening credits of American Horror Story and was not surprised to see James Wong as Exec-prod. Was not surprised to see Frank Spotnitz as Exec-Prod of 'Nightstalker' (2005). Chris Carter might be every bit as influential as Rod Serling.

    Speaking of 'Nightstalker' 2005, I think that series could qualify as a imitator even though it lasted only one season. Even I thought that Nightstalker was too similar to TXF in both tone and narrative. The career oriented, female professional and jaded skeptic, partnered with the angst-ridden, true believer who possesses an encyclopedia-like knowledge of obscure and morbid facts. Both working for an almost omnipotent big city newspaper, with a over-arching conspiracy. It might as well as been called 'The X-Files: Los Angeles' for all the similarities.

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  4. Trevor10:16 AM

    Sounds good to me. I wonder why The X-Files never got tv syndication? Or maybe it did (on FX)?

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  5. Anonymous11:50 AM

    I absolutely agree with Trent regarding Nightstalker 2005 series.

    In one episode of the Nightstalker 2005 the producers even digitally inserted a brief cameo of Darren McGavin from the original Kolchak. That was the high point of the 2005 series.

    SGB

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  6. Dave Colohan2:32 PM

    A great start to the year. Like Adam, I had planned to catch up on so many shows before returning to this wonderful series but now it looks like I have no choice! Looking forward, as ever, to your insights John. Hmm, I had a soft spot for Nightstalker. Might have to return to it also...

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  7. I was not actually onboard the first year of "The X-Files." I had just started grad school, and all mediums of entertainment were backburnered for those two years. It was my mother, a huge fan of science fiction, who told me about the show and got me started watching it right after graduation. I was hooked immediately. The feature film look was different for television. The content unthinkable for Standards and Practices at the time. (We were still several years away from HBO's first ground-breaking series.) And the writing was incredibly intelligent. Although the series did not live up to its potential for me -- I thought the segue from feature film to fifth season was a terribly botched and lost opportunity, and the constant changing of the mythology after season 5 lost me as a fan (something Chris Carter would do to me on a second series) -- the show still holds fond memories. I own the first season on DVD. What a perfect year to at least buy seasons 2-4, by far my favorite seasons of the series. I look forward to your look back at "The X-Files" this year.

    "Deceive, Inveigle, Obfuscate"

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  8. I come late to the party but having been an on-again off-again reader of John's blog for about five years, in part due to the frequent posts here about Carter's other series Millennium, this got me very excited!

    So a little bit of shameless self-promotion for info that you might find useful:
    A guide to the complex mythology of the X-Files: http://www.eatthecorn.com/primer.htm
    A guide with inspiration of the X-Files from literature, movies and TV (170+ references and counting): http://www.eatthecorn.com/dossiers/influences.htm

    Off to read the six entries already written!

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  9. Hi John. Having also decided to rewatch the whole X-Files in the run up to it's anniversary, I was really pleased to stumble upon your blog! Totally agree with what you and the other com mentors have said about the show, and am really looking forward to watching the coming episodes.
    However, one question: I'm finding it really hard to simply step from one of your X-Files blog articles to the next. Do you have a simple index of your X-Files episode posts? (I'm reading the mobile version of your site if that makes any difference).
    Anyway, looking forward to reading your other episode review (if I can find them!) as I watch each episode! Keep up the excellent posts. And if you do the sane for Fringe I'll join you for that too!

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    1. Ben,

      Thank you so much for writing, and for joining the retrospective.

      I have my retrospective posts labeled under "The X-Files" so you can follow each in order via that label, but I don't know if you can see those labels on the mobile version.

      f you can't see them, let me know at Muirbusiness@yahoo.com and I'll send you a list of links!

      All my best,
      John

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