by Amy Reese

The X-Files Re-Opened

Tonight the X-Files, the science fiction, supernatural series created by Chris Carter, returns to television on the Fox channel. That’s right. The X-Files will be re-opened. The show aired from September 10, 1993, to May 19, 2002, spanning nine seasons and 202 episodes.

In case you hadn’t noticed, my blog name has always been a kind of spin on this beloved show. The return of the show inspired me to create a new header in celebration. My mermaid is now underwater. I hope you can tell.  

Back in the day, I was a huge fan. I even went to an X-File convention. Yes, I did that! It was in San Diego and there I saw Alex Krycek (Nicolas Lea), FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and last, but certainly not least, the genetic mutant serial killer aka Eugene Victor Tooms, (Doug Hutchison), you know the guy who could squeeze his bones into sewer pipes. Remember him? He was sitting casually in a breakroom or something. I couldn’t believe the monster was before me. And Krycek? He was smoking hot! I had an extreme crush on him after that convention, eagerly awaiting each episode, hoping to see him once again.

Alex_Krycek_infected_with_black_oil
Alex Krycek, infected with the black oil. Image source: x-files.wikia.com.

The X-Files so inspired me, I even purchased a script at the convention, the first in my possession. Yeah, I was a little geeky about this. This was my Star Wars without the light saber. My Friday nights were built around catching the latest episode of the X-Files and nothing could ever interfere with that, an era when you waited for new episodes and nothing was leaked about them; social media didn’t even exist. Can you imagine?

Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) were so green. I felt like I was a part of something fresh. I had never seen either of them before and you felt like you, too, were a part of these moments they were experiencing for the first time. They had an edgy, natural chemistry. I mean were they ever going to have sex or what? They kept you guessing. The writing was inventive and intriguing, the stories spooky fun and strange, leaving you with the feeling something could be lurking around you or crawling under your skin.

xfiles
Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Are you guys even attracted to each other? Image source: observationdeck.kinja.com.

Admittedly, by the end of the series, I felt pretty twisted and turned around with each episode, and had more questions than answers. The movie which later came out, ignored all these questions with no answers in sight, but rather spawned more and more questions. Now, it’s more of a blur than ever. These questions still cling to my subconscious:

  • Whatever was that black oil coming out of their eyes and why did it have to come out of Krycek’s eyes?
  • More importantly, will Mulder ever learn what happened to his sister? Will he reunite with her? On a different planet perhaps?
  • What happened to Mulder and Scully’s son? What a minute, was it their baby?
  • Did the Cigarette Smoking Man light a cigar for Scully and her baby?
  • Are the super soldiers alien hybrids?
  • Are The Lone Gunmen still alive? Do they still believe?
  • Will Mulder and Scully still whip out those cool flashlights?
  • Did Skinner retire from the FBI and flee to a deserted island? Will Skinner be in a good mood?
  • Are the Anasazi Indians the missing link?  Maybe they can commune in the tent again and sweat out all the answers.

I’ve read there are 16 answers we must have from the 6 episodes scheduled to air. In all the pre-hype, I learned that the original theme was based on the How Soon Is Now song from The Smiths. Who knew? Chris Carter requested that  Mark Snow, the show’s music man, come up with something with jangling guitar and the iconic theme song was born! And now, a new theme song will emerge with these new episodes. Reviews have called these new episodes a little overstuffed and devoid of all their previous charm, leaving new watchers wondering what all the fuss was about. I’m just thrilled they’re back. 

As for me, my decision to discontinue cable prevents me from watching tonight’s episode. What?! Perhaps I will wander into a Best Buy searching for a new TV and just accidentally turn to the Fox channel. Or just maybe I’ll binge-watch previous seasons. That could be a whole new experience. Just maybe I could put the pieces together better, not having to wait so long in between. The silver lining is I can watch all these shows with my kids. We watched one episode and they wanted to see the next! Now that is something I could never have predicted. Watching the X-Files with my kids, while new episodes are waiting in the wings. It’s golden.

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68 thoughts on “The X-Files Re-Opened”

  2. I appreciated your take on the show, along with your explanation of your involvement with the show.
    As for me, I remember watching the first episode in a semi-friend’s apartment in Japan. Someone had sent her a videotape (yes, way back in those days) and we all gathered to watch it.
    Later a friend sent me a whole season of shows and I watched them several times. However, I missed the next couple of seasons and since this was before inexpensive DVD’s and even less expensive semi legal downloads…I just never caught up.
    My friend is a huge fan and still has a crush on Scully. I will be consulting him tomorrow to see how he feels.

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    1. Thanks for your comments. It’s my pleasure to think back on it and go down memory lane. Your mention of videotapes and gathering around the TV reminds me just how much time has passed. Those were the days! You have special memories. Well, with the series on Netflix, it is now more than ever easy to catch up on it. Do you have Netflix? I wonder how your friend will feel. She’s still a beauty if you ask me.

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      1. I asked my friend what he thought of her performance on Hannibal. According to him she is still incredibly attractive (and on his list of five–if this isn’t clear, you need to watch the Friends episode with Isabella Rosalini). They shot Hannibal in Toronto (nearby) though he did not try to sneak on set and see her (he claims). I think she is still attractive–and close to my age.
        I do not have Netflix–I have Shomi (a poor redheaded stepchild to Netflix) but I will be getting Netflix someday soon.
        I hope the program is awesome for you.

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      2. She’s still very attractive. I saw her in a Netflix original series “The Fall.” She was really great in that. She’s come into her own. I know all about the list of five. 🙂 I never heard of Shomi. I have no complaints about Netflix. I bet you would like it. Thank you!

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      3. Now that the program has aired, I look forward to your observations. You may have tivoed it and are going to watch it later, so I won’t push you–you also might want to take your time and digest it first.

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      2. I don’t know why I never watched it. I’ll have to look it up someday. Of course, now I have so many shows lined up, along with all the books I want to read. 🙂

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  5. My husband is more excited for the show than me, though we always watched it together. But I’ll give the new series a go, despite some negative reviews. Still, I always feel one step behind when I watch it. Guess some of it goes over my mind-wandering head. 🙂

    Did you switch themes? Something looks different. Nice though!

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    1. As I mentioned, it’s a bit of a blur for me at this point. I think even re-watching it will be a new experience, because I really have forgotten much of it. Still, if I had cable, I would totally jump in tonight. They know they will get people who have never seen the show at all. I’m interested to see what they put together. Yes, it’s a fairly new theme. I felt inspired I guess or I’m procrastinating. Haha. Thanks!

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  7. I loved that show too being a Trekkie. I loved how the stories and how it straddled being a procedural show with really out-there concepts. Many a time at Uni, I remember debating with friends about the previous show and the next one to come.

    So glad it is back 🙂

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    1. That’s a cool memory you have, Stephen, debating the show with your friends at Uni. It was that kind of show. I liked the story arc of the show couched between all the monster stories. You never knew what to expect. Me, too. I’m glad it’s back. I hope you enjoy it!

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  8. We’re getting it here in the UK in February, Amy. I never watched it from start to finish, but did watch quite a fair few episodes and was somewhat intrigued by it. I was surprised to see it coming back, but happy just the same!

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    1. I know I remember thinking I won’t believe it’s back until I see it. Well, here it is! They did it. I’m excited and hope to watch it soon. We’ll have to ignore all the news about in the meantime. Enjoy, Tom.

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  9. X Files got PVRed for us last night. Anything that starts after a lengthy football game gets recorded along with the programs after it so that we don’t get screwed out of part of it. So, we haven’t watched it yet but we are looking forward to it. We did have a bit of an X Files marathon last week when they played both the movies. The first was done in 1998 and the second was done in 2008. I thought the 2008 was more engaging and well done. It addressed some of the stuff about their son. I do hope you get to watch the new ones soon because once I watch it I’m going to want to know what you thought.

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    1. Cool! I didn’t get to record it, but I will watch it and be happy to give you my thoughts. I’m curious what will happen and I’m trying to NOT read anything about it, which is difficult. I better watch it quick!! It is a fun show. I’m looking forward to watching it with my kids, too. Enjoy, Michelle!

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  10. Never watched X-files but my sister always loved it. We are recording it and going to watch it all episodes in one sitting. I’d like to see what all the excitement is about. Your mermaid is underwater now. :).

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  11. I’m curious what this new incarnation will look like. I used to love that show when I was younger, although they lost me in later seasons since it was all about the aliens and if you missed an episode, it was hard to know what was going on. Now I want to go back and watch them again. 🙂

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    1. I’m with you. I got real lost at the end, too. It’s pretty fuzzy. I want to watch them all again now, too. I watched Episode 1 yesterday. It was really strange. They are so young and I was so young when I watched it! It was so fresh and innocent. Anyway, I do plan to watch them to see what I missed. I really want to see where they went with it but it will be more meaningful if I see where it’s coming from.

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  12. Of course you were an x-files junkie. Me too. Me too.(twin peaks too). And of course we have killed our cable both of us. But that was for the best. I get this feeling that it will be like that movie I just saw that had the Star Wars name attached to it. You’ll agree that the actors you once liked were in it but there was nothing new or interesting to it. And that’s that for that.
    Love,
    Shalagh

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    1. Yay, Shalagh! Of course, you liked X-Files and Twin Peaks. I liked Twin Peaks too but fizzled at the end. That happened with Lost, too. I’m sure the revival won’t be the same as before. It couldn’t possibly be. I do want to see what they make of it and hope they do something good. Love ya. xox

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    2. Yes you can’t help but watch. Loved Lost. I was weeping at the end. Husband tried to diss it the other day but I stopped him. I’m missing the current season of the Walking Dead but am all caught up with the last. Tomorrow’s post Amy is on how we need to turn off out TVs. But more in the news is bad kinda way. Because some television and film writers are brilliant and help us make sense of our humanity. And some entertain us in ways that we sooo need.
      Love Ya’,
      Shalagh

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      1. My TV watching is pretty minimal already. It’s definitely an escape and I don’t waste any time with commercials. I can’t do that anymore! I also don’t waste time with junk. There’s a lot of good stuff to watch now, thankfully. I could never eliminate it. It’s too much fun. What I don’t do is spend hours watching recycled news. I used to do that. No more! Love ya, too.

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    1. So far I haven’t been able to watch since I don’t have cable so it will have to wait! Bummed, but I’m going to reacquaint myself with the show in the meantime. Did your wife watch the new show?

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  14. I was going to ask you what you thought of the new episode but then got to the part about you saying you don’t have cable any more so can’t watch it! I’m sure it’ll come to Netflix in the not too distant future?

    I used to sometimes watch it, but never avidly, but I’ll take a look at the new series when we get it here soon. It’s hard to imagine it will be very good, remakes rarely are because they often lose the thing about it that made it great at the time, and often part of that is the era that it’s in – where science and technology are at the time for instance, and when things have moved on in the world, it just doesn’t work as well. But we shall see, it depends if they’ve reinvented it in a good way taking account of how the world is now!

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    1. Well, this new X-Files isn’t really a remake, it’s a revival with a new story entirely. From what I understand, they given us a completely new twist! I DON”T want to know what it is, Vanessa, if you know. The hardest thing will be avoiding all the social media about it. I just put my blinders on. I don’t think science and technology would have negative impact either. If anything, it would only enhance the storyline, if they pick up on that at all. The reason I liked the X-Files was because it was all about good stories. Hopefully, that won’t be lost. I think you’re right though in that what makes a show good at the time is much about the era that it’s in. When I rewatched the first episode, there was an innocence and freshness to it. They can’t get that back. It will have to be something else. We shall see. If you watch it, let me know!

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  15. I used to LOVE watching it and can’t wait for the new series to get to Australia (we’re always a bit slower to get these things than the States). I saw Gillian Anderson in The Fall and she was absolutely fantastic. What a great actress!

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    1. Yay, a fellow X-File fan!! I just knew you would like it. I saw her in The Fall, too, and was really impressed. I just loved her accent and thought she pulled it off really well!

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  16. ok… so you HAVEN’T seen any of the new ones yet? There was one Sunday and another one Monday night. I think you can stream them on Fox.com. As soon as I started reading, I thought I would ask you what you thought of the new episodes. I have only seen the one from Sunday. I haven’t seen the second one yet, but I will hopefully get to it this weekend. I hope you are still as intrigued as you were with the old ones! I have seen every single episode of the original series. I think we have a lot in common already, but this is really cool! 😀

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    1. No, not yet! Maybe this weekend, I’ll watch the Fox link. I may watch from the beginning because I think it would fun to do with my kids, but with so many episodes, I’m not sure I can hold out that long! I hope you’re enjoying the new ones. So far, I hear fans approve!

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  17. Hey Amy, I’m late getting around to this. I’m a huge xfiles fan too. We broke down and paid the Hulu fee to watch it. Best 11.99 a month I have spent. It’s great seeing them back on the little screen. Best duo ever on tv.

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    1. Oh yay, Audra!! But of course you’re an X-File fan! I knew you must be. Awesome. I’m so excited you liked it. I still haven’t seen it. Argh!!! I agree. I love this duo. We watched a few more episodes with the kids this weekend. 🙂 Watching them again was like watching them for the first time. They were so fresh!

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  18. I’m just catching up on a loaaaaddd of your posts I’m sorry. I love the X Files and have the entire collection on my shelf. I’m looking forward to watching the new series as soon as I can get hold of it!

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    1. Thanks for reading, Ken. How nice of you to catch up! Of course, I knew you were an X-File fan!! I still haven’t seen the series. But, you know, I have something to look forward to. I’m sure I will enjoy it!

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      2. That would be grand!! I have to tell you that you’re making my day! 😀 Thanks for reading all my posts. I will respond just as soon as I can. Thanks for all the lovely comments. I’m so touched.

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