The Inevitable Downfall Of The X-Files

The X-Files was once the premiere sci-fi mystery show in television. Stretching 9 Season, and Multiple Feature Films, The X-Files had a legacy most shows dream of achieving. Until the powers at be decided to bring Mulder and Scully back for a tenth season of The X-Files. With this new season, old X-Files fans had many complaints about how their favorite investigators were handled. The X-Files should never have been rebooted, by doing so they may have tarnished the legacy of Mulder and Scully for new generations of fans.

#xfiles #mulderandscully #thexfiles #foxmulder #nerdstalgic

[chitownmo]

The show ran its' course, that is why. It should have finished after the first movie(at most 7 seasons) and then only been a film series.

[Ou_phrontis]

Classic X-Files were seasons 1-5. Once they moved filming from Vancouver to LA, a lot of the spooky atmosphere was lost. There are a handful of good in seasons 6 and 7, but nothing close to the earlier seasons. Once Mulder left the show died. I was a die hard X-Phile from season one on, but I had to bail after season 8. I came back for the series finale, just to see how they were going to wrap everything up. It was a mess. The revival seasons were embarrassing. The X-Files is a wonderful time capsule of the 90s, just let it go….

[GiovanniAlckmimRusso]

First problem with X Files is that it never had an ending plan. The second was the changes and retcons, which started with the mystery of Mulder's sister. They changed like four times until they revealed what actually happened to her. It's a great and well written and acted show for the most part, but they should've ended with five seasons and the movie

[carlrood]

When your premise is a mystery, you need to know how it ends and what the steps are to get to that ending. Classic episodic TV isn't conducive to that because it's either canceled prematurely or it's successful and they stretch it out, leading to fatigue.

[bornjusticerule]

That theme music is absolutely iconic.

[MikefromTexas]

That whole "The X-Files and aliens are really just the government" plot was originally used in S4 and 5.

[Styrophoamicus]

The X-Files theme song scared me as a kid. Actually, most of X-Files scared me as a kid.

[LawlietKM]

Started this show recently, into the middle of the season 3 right now and I love it a lot

[braxxian]

Some things are just better left alone. The first few seasons of X Files were fantastic back in the day.

[Mrfox]

1-6 and the first movie…I miss those days with my old man watching every Sunday night 9pm…

[danielt.]

Episodic storytelling is key in a show like this. Turning it into a Mulder and Scully novela was Carter's first mistake.

[skatealex]

Even though the show went off the rails i think even in the most recent seasons, there were good stand alones in there.

Chris Carters handling of the mythology was horrendous though.

[agm]

On the other hand, and this is my personal opinion as a fan of the series, the reasons why the xfiles died out were the following:

One: the overarching plot of the syndicate and the colonization conspiracy was stretch out for way to long to the point that they had to keep adding things throughout the seasons to keep the intrigue going but this just made things more confusing. They should have ended the thing in the fifth or fourth season and create a new overarching story/plot.

Two: no new overarching villian/opposite force for the X-files investigators after the destruction of syndicate. Without the "overarching conspiracy" the show lost its focus and it felt like they were just throwing anything at the story hoping something would stick. They could have replaced them with another group in the gov that also investigated the scifi/supernatural elements for the purpose of using the knowledge for the good of the military or something or have a new more private shadow organization, that maybe the greys had contact with behind the backs of the syndicate as a plan b, that combined the alien knowledge they got from the greys with the supernatural aspects of the show (demons, witchcraft and all that) for their own benefits and plans which could've been use a a link between the series and it's spinoff Millennium.

Third: the constant scepticism of both Mulder and Scully on different topics. Why was Scully still a hardened sceptic after all the crap she's witness? She could've still be the one asking questions and going by the book and scientific method without dismissing the possibility of the unnatural after all she's seen. And why would Mulder, the open minded believer, just dismiss some of the supernatural things like angels while being open to others. He could've just put his own spin to it as theories, like saying that angels are just extra dimensional beings/aliens or something.

Fourth: No Mulder in later seasons. Like seriously what the heck? Is one thing to have a few episodes without Scully or adding new characters to the xfiles like Doggett, wich I personally had no problem with, but having the xfiles without Mulder, who basically represents everything the show is about, is like having the series Buffy without Buffy.

[MightyElemental]

For me, the show ended after John Doggett was introduced. And most certainly after Scully left.

[speeta]

When the first movie came out and there was STILL no significant reveal regarding the "mythology" arc it became increasingly clear there was nothing planned there and it was just being strung along. And so was the audience.

[General_reader]

Our baby has superpowers! Let’s put him in the foster care system! What could go wrong?

[jimmywhyte]

The X-files went off the rails when they tried to be more than a "monster of the week" show, its like the writers were actively trying NOT to be the X-files after only a few seasons, the actors are very compelling though and you want to watch more even when the stories turn into an exercise for the writers to try and distance themselves from the X-files ! lol. wish they had stayed true to the original feel.

[kylereece]

Season 6. Episode 1. The follow up to the movie's finale had to deliver. After Mulder rescued Scully from a UFO in the deep depths of the Antarctic Ice and said UFO whirred and hovered over them both up into the skies, I remember being psyched to see the s6 kick off. I was dismayed when then, despite all that happened, Scully was STILL a skeptic! Her happening to be 'passed out' as the UFO made a deafening buzz over her, and left a gigantic crater in the Ice behind them was a terrible excuse to delay proper character development. Carter was absolutely not able to fully forward character development - the Believer-Skeptic dynamic could only work for so long, before by season 6 it was boring, predictable and unbelievable.
Season 6 was also laced with toned down, light hearted comedic episodes that ruined any progress the Film made, and made the whole show feel and look like something else entirely. Season 7 could and should have corrected this back on track, but what happened? Even more wild tangents to OTT sci-fi, even more light hearted muck, resulting with "Fight Club'- the worst episode of the entire shows run. Dreadful. I admire season 8 in many places for attempting to return to the dark roots of before- Robert Patrick was superb. And the episode 'Via Negetiva" is up there with anything from the early years- a FANTASTIC episode. But, season 9 derailed things again with the mythology being so overblown- the entire "William' arc was a mistake. One of the all time best shows, that, because of network insistences and no clear endgame from Chris Carter did'nt know when to end.

[robertobuatti]

I'm a huge X-Files fan since I was 12 in 1993 but they stretched it out way too long, with storylines never being concluded or giving the audience vague answers, if they just stuck to the 5 seasons and gave the audience definitive explanations to the mythology episodes it would of wrapped them up better and more clearly.

[AlejandroVarasHinojosa]

Watching this video made me remember The Lone Gunmen, great spinoff of the series.