The Truth is Out There

I've been working my way through the X-Files at a pretty good clip and I've finally gotten to that point where I've already seen most of the episodes and so most of these are now familiar. I started watching the first time around somewhere in season 5 -- probably "Redux I" & "Redux II". The obvious 'shippiness drew me right in and that was that. However, watching from season 1 straight through to season 7 (where I am now), it's funny how my ideas of the relationship between Mulder and Scully have changed and I can see the evolution now, and how they've changed as people (I still can't forgive Chris Carter for season 9's Weepy!Scully though).

The X-Files is unbelievably well-written, so smart, so clever, and every now and then, it tells an absolutely amazing story -- for example, "Milagro", which is one of those episodes that really gets me every time I watch it. And oh, the acting isn't so shoddy either -- witness "The Field Where I Died" or "The Pine Bluff Variant". If I had to pick a season that has kept me absolutely riveted from begining to end, it'd be number 5, but season 1-5 are all amazing. I'm not as fond of seasons 6-9, for a variety of reasons, and perhaps it's the change from Vancouver to LA that changed the feel of the show to an extent, but perhaps it's also that you can start to see the weariness in David Duchovny's countenance.

It seems weird to go on about a show that's been off the air for two years now, but perhaps that's the truest test of time -- that the episodes still feel fresh and nuanced, and make me profoundly sad that I only have one set of DVDs left (I have season 9 on VHS) as rarely have I enjoyed two characters as much as I have Mulder and Scully.