Thoughts on The X-Files

Six years after the last episode of The X-Files aired, your beloved Finn5fel has managed to finish watching the show on DVD. I used to follow it when it was on, back in the late nineties, but, for different reasons, I never watched the last half of season seven and the last two seasons. I was a little bit scared, because everyone said the show went on a downward spiral during those three seasons, especially the last two. I was wary, because I loved the show and didn't want to see it ruined. On the other hand, I wanted to know how it ended, and I wanted to form my own opinion about the quality of that last couple of seasons. And I know this is going to shock you, dear reader, but I liked them. A lot.

The main reason why fans disliked the last two seasons was Mulder's absence. Even I, without having seen those episodes and having avoided all spoilers, knew he wasn't going to be in most of the episodes, because his repeated desire to leave the show had been widely publicized when The X-Files was on. So, knowing he would be gone for the better part of those forty- plus episodes, I got ready to watch the show.

Season nine is a bit weaker than previous seasons due not to Mulder's absence but to the writers' attempts at keeping the character in the storylines even when it was obvious he wasn't going to return. If the writers had simply accepted he was gone and had moved on, the show's last season would have been better. And still, I didn't think it was bad at all.

Season eight, on the other hand, was excellent, with ridiculously compelling episodes, stories, and characters. Agent Doggett is introduced right at the very beginning, and even though I was ready to hate his guts, he turned out to be a formidable addition to the show. Doggett was both a very well written character and masterfully played by Robert Patrick. Every fan out there who complained about him was just missing the point. The saw him as a replacement for Mulder, when in fact he was not, but that's not something they wanted to hear: they just wanted Mulder back, and no one else would do. I loved Doggett, though, and his interaction with Scully and Skinner was beautifully rendered. And when Agent Reyes was introduced later in the season and became a regular character, I loved her too. Not as much as Doggett, but I also enjoyed having her in the show and witnessing her developing friendship with Agent Scully.

Just in like any other season, some episodes in these last two were fantastic, some others were just good, and some others (not too many, though) left me a bit indifferent, but I don't think the show went down the drain at all. There was just a change of focus, and that's what made fans angry. I, however, accepted the change with an open mind, and waited to see how things would evolve. I liked what I saw, even if I would have kept the recurrent "absent Mulder" storyline down to a minimum (or eradicated it completely, actually). Still, and as it turned out, season eight was exceptionally compelling, and season nine was a more than decent follow-up that put an end to a formidable show.

So there you have it. It's taken me ten months to watch seasons one through nine, but it was time and money well spent. I can't recommend this show enough, and not just the first five seasons, but all of them. That includes Fight the Future, the movie that bridges seasons five and six, and, hopefully, I Want to Believe, the new X-Files movie opening on July 25. Now you know it: the truth is out there, so go ahead and find it.