The X-Files #1.1: Pilot
At the risk of making it seem like all I do is watch TV all day, I’m gonna (re-)delve into The X-Files. This won’t go near as quick as with Lost, since I watched it when it aired and am in no rush to see what happens, and because I have to get them through Netflix. I went to watch the new X-Files movie a few weeks back, which made me recall how much I enjoyed the characters. Also I read an article about Scully, and how amazing a character she is, and realized I didn’t remember many of the episodes to which it referred. So I wanted to watch them again.
Knowing the show then made watching the Pilot very interesting. It sets up a ton of things that would become common throughout the series: Mulder’s fantastic paranormal theories, Scully attempting to debunk them with science before becoming somewhat convinced, the story about Mulder’s sister is told (she was abducted when he was 12, with no evidence how or why), Scully does an autopsy on something not human, there are hints at government corruption, there is an alien abduction, and Cigarette Smoking Man lurks.
On its own, without all that, the show was fine. The story was creative and original: bodies have turning up in a forest, with what looks like bite marks on their back. After developing through some Scully Explanations which end up not quite fitting, the story settles on Mulder’s Explanation. They were abducted by aliens, and had some sort of homing beacon stuck in their head. This caused them to various problems (one was in a coma), but when the light appears, they’re called to the forest and killed.
The highlight of the series is of course how Scully and Mulder interact. Scully was assigned to keep an eye on Mulder, and both already knew everything about each other’s professional backgrounds when they meet. Mulder comes up with a bunch of theories, which Scully considers crazy and impossible. But, they have an immediate connection. Mulder knows Scully can help him, and Scully sees Mulder and the X-Files as a challenge. Mulder is excitable, sarcastic and brilliant, while Scully is logical, determined and brilliant.