The X-Files has become so much a part of my daily life lately that the characters, Mulder and Scully, literally blend together in my mind. Almost as if they are the new Bennifer on some metaphysical cover of People Magazine (did I really just make a reference to that?). Baffled in fits of excitement, I find myself yelling, "Sculder! Watch Out!"
There is something wrong with me.
Becoming heavily interested in pop culture icons long post their time in the spotlight is really hilarious. Something exciting will happen, and all you want is some kind of water-cooler to huddle around and discuss deep thoughts like, "Why does Mulder always puts that X in the window?" Oh, everyone talked about this fifteen years ago? Dang. Well, better late than never.
With The X-Files, it's like having a huge epiphany; "So THIS is what everyone was thoroughly enjoying when I was too scared to watch it in middle school." Really, when the show began in 1993, I was in Kindergarten! Even over that much time, it remains fantastic and, of course, addicting.
Currently the entire series is streaming via Netflix, which makes it irresistible. I already had the Duchovny love, and feeling pretty confident that it would no longer scare the crap out of me, I decided it was about time to check out this classic.
The first season, is a little hard to stomach at first, where only the episodes involving extraterrestrial activity kept me wanting more. It was hard to fight against grabbing the remote to skip past extremely cheesy and low budgets episodes, involving Sasquatch babies and killer computers, but a little more than half way through the season the show gets into its groove (and it helps that, obviously, the production was given more money as the show progressed). Any first time watchers, shows always gets better, stick with it!
Currently, I am deeply into the third season, and the quirky episodes, not involving aliens, have become the crave worthy ones. This show excels in the ways they craft each episode into something that can be serious, as well as wacky and fun. At times it bridges on Twin Peaks crazy, which is always a good thing. The agents will be tracking a serial killer, but then by the next week they end up with a bunch of sideshow circus performers.
The latter, a Season Two episode called "Humbug", where Mulder and Scully find themselves in the presence of a side show performer who pounds nails up his nose, a guy who eats everything in site, and something called the Fiji Mermaid, might be my favorite episode so far, and literally has a Twin Peaks connection. It also fits well in my curious fascination with circus people and old-timey circus life.
This clip only captures a snip-it of the bizarre and comical tone of the episode (Mulder's stance...classic), but alas, it is the only one I could find.
After this episode, the show regularly hits high notes on the comedy scale, which I wasn't expecting. From teen witches in a small town, to an episode that literally functioned as a B-Movie with killer beetles and poop jokes (hilarious. always.), and even the last episode I watched, involving an author writing a book about an alien abduction, had an INCREDIBLE cameo by Alex Trebeck that nearly had me collapse to the floor with laughter. Love me some Jeopardy.
Lets talk about cameo's for a minute; this show has got to have a record for putting a jolt in the most actors careers. Nearly every episode features someone who later became famous or is currently a hot ticket in Hollywood, so much so it has becomes a game of wondering who will appear next. Just to name a few: Felicity Huffman was stuck in the arctic with a huge case of cabin fever, Jack Black was the friend of a guy (a twofer cameo episode with Giovonni Ribisi) who gained powers through getting struck by lightening, and Ryan Reynolds got tricked by a duo of witches.
Being a proud member of the born and raised in the Pacific Northwest club (I'm from Washington, about 45 minutes South of Vancouver), I can't deny that I love the way our homeland is showcased.
The entire show was filmed in and around Vancouver [Editors note from the future: whoops, it moved to L.A. for season 6!], and every outdoor location is utilized, from the surrounding mountains to the scenes in serene, yet vast and ominous, Evergreen forests. All of these locations clearly defined the look of the show and added to giving the series its spooky tone.
Over the years tons of TV shows and movies have filmed in Vancouver, but nothing else captures our beloved atmosphere as much as The X Files. I don't know about British Columbia, but maybe the vibe of this whole area works well for this show, specifically, because Washington has always had a strange connection to alien abductions.
The fan base for this show is still going strong (there is even a racing horse named Spooky Mulder), and the difficult part now is avoiding all these fans and their excessive clips/articles/anything on the internet that will ruin what happens. You can't escape looking up anything! Even that stupid new Google Instant screwed me over; you type in "Mulder and Scully" and the second option is, "Mulder and Scully Kiss". DAMN.
Do I care if Mulder and Scully ever get together? Maybe.
Do they?
Okay, don't tell me! When I get to the end, I will finally know what everyone else knew, nearly ten years ago.
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