So. Let’s take a look at one of the greatest TV shows of all time. Great because it was the best in any category? No. Great because it was consistently good. No. Great because it had an X factor that cannot be quantified: Yes. It is my humble opinion that with this show, TV more or less peaked in the crossover between analogue (wait a week) shows and the new age of stream when you like content. In short, it set the mould from which all other similar and rip-off shows would ever be judged.
First airing in 1993 to huge vibes and instant popularity, I didn’t immediately take to it, having drama school and a focus on high-brow cinema going on. In fact, for most of its initial 9-year run, I more or less ignored it, thinking of it as something mainstream and trashy. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t like it, just that I never bothered to watch it properly, and so for two decades I missed out. Of course, it was impossible to avoid its cultural resonance completely, and I was fully aware of the theme tune, the catchphrase, and the apparent chemistry of Mulder and Scully.
Then, around 2014, I started to catch the occasional re-run and begin to realise the extent of my mistake in judging it as something non-intellectual. From what I could catch, it seemed to be doing for the paranormal and conspiracy theories what Star Trek: Next Generation had been doing for Science and Futurism; creating a mythology based on solid arguments and good writing that never condescended or dumbed down. However, it wasn’t until the dreaded lockdown in 2021 that I had enough time to commit to 11 full series and 217 episodes.
Starting at the beginning was daunting, but it wasn’t long at all before I was properly hooked and, in fact, in awe of the dynamic between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. It was all so sexy, clever, and dark and brooding: tense and magnetic. I loved how there seemed to be a long-term story arc as well as the “monster of the week” episodes to break it up. Making it both an episodic series and a coherent serial at the same time – a trick some of the best shows have since copied to great effect.
It is hard to binge 217 episodes, and it became important to take breaks for other things between seasons.. So, in that way, this felt more like a genuine addiction, as I always looked forward to an excuse to go back and imbibe more. Naturally, a lot of it was pure disposable fun, and I couldn’t pretend to remember everything that happened. But, I do remember the main arc of paranoia and conspiracy leading up to the big climax around season 8. In fact, I got so involved with it that I began to dream about episodes and events that hadn’t yet happened! Explain that?! Culturally subliminal memes or something genuinely unexplained?
True, it did peak before the end and become a little silly; season 9 proved the time had come to bring it to an end. Also, Duchovny was off on other projects, leaving Anderson to carry it on her own whilst Mulder had been “abducted” – which worked, because Anderson by then was such a consumate screen actor, but not as well. In the same way, the reunion seasons in 2016 and 2018, together with both feature films, never quite captured the same vibe and worked only out of a sense of nostalgia, if truth be told.
One of the most remarkable things about it is watching how Gillian Anderson / Scully starts tentatively, clearly young and inexperienced, both as an actor and a character, only to grow into the best thing on the screen, eventually eclipsing and surpassing Duchovny / Mulder and exposing his limitations and appeal. It was all about her towards the end. Yet one could not exist without the other partner, and together, they created one of the most iconic partnerships in small screen history.
I loved the tension, the cliff-hangers, and the genuinely scary and disturbing aspects of some storylines. I would never put it in a top ten list of the “best” ever TV shows, but I would certainly consider it amongst the top ten most culturally influential and amongst my personal favourites. It did indeed have an X-factor that can’t be easily quantified. It takes a great show to exist for 9 consecutive seasons and to still maintain enough of a fan base to warrant a re-boot 15 years later. If you were never a fan in the first place, you may be surprised how little it has dated and how entertaining it still is. Many shows could definitely still learn a trick or two about pacing and writing traits from its best episodes and storylines.
I wouldn’t rule out a still further twist down the line before Mulder and Scully are done. Both actors are still performing to a high standard in other projects, and I, for one, would welcome one final definitive chapter in the tale. The truth is still out there, somewhere.
Rating: 8.5/10
The Wasteland 