This month, Inkitt.com is paying tribute to the late, great Science Fiction and Fantasy author, Terry Pratchett. I wasn’t planning on entering another contest right away, but Inkitt reached out to me asking if I’d like to participate. For Terry Pratchett, I’ll write.
The contest is free and open to all ages. I encourage anyone to enter who has been influenced by the great fantastical worlds of Terry Pratchett. Create your own worlds in his memory.
In honor of the great Terry Pratchett, I wanted to write a story that explored a fantastical world. Then I decided to write from the PoV of a genie, because they get to experience all sorts of worlds.
Here’s a link to my story, “The Crystal Skull Infinity.” If you like it, please vote for it. And post your own stories in the comments section so I can return the favor 🙂 LLAP. http://www.inkitt.com/stories/11988
Aaron: “Is this just some kind of twisted Stockholm syndrome?”
Cassie (sardonic): “Oh, that’s what it is.”
         I chose this quote for Dr. Railly’s kick-ass post because these five little words say so much about her. It’s not even the words themselves, but how she says them. The moment I heard these words come out of her mouth in the pilot episode of 12 Monkeys, I knew she and I would be life-long friends. Cassie doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. This is easier said than done. It’s so hard turning off caring how others, especially those in your profession, or those closest to you, perceive you. But with this quote, Cassie brushes off what her ex thinks of her. Aaron thinks his ex has gone weak in the knees for Cole, who kidnapped her in episode one to explain her important role in the future plague. Railly doesn’t believe him at first, but once she has proof, she never looks back. Railly is a strong woman of conviction. She knows what she saw and isn’t afraid to stand by that belief even if it costs her a prestigious career in neuroscience, respect, friends, and her relationship. In fact, she has no trouble telling off her ex when he tries to discredit her with some bull shit about Stockholm syndrome.
         Because, a woman can’t possibly be acting in a way you don’t approve of without her being on her period, or it being some kind of psychological condition, right? Granted, Cassie has openly professed her faith in something difficult for people to believe: time travel. But even when the rest of the world turns its back on you, and you lose respect in your profession, the one person you’re supposed to be able to count on to stand by your side, no matter how crazy you sound, is your significant other. Instead, Aaron calls her crazy too, and they break up. Instead of listening to Cassie, and believing in her, or at the very least, standing proudly by her side anyway, he basically just accuses her of being a nut bar, and rather than acknowledge his disrespect with a tirade or counter argument, Cassie realizes that sometimes you just can’t fix stupid, and responds in beautiful sarcasm: “Oh, that’s what it is.” You nailed it, buddy, I’m just a crazy chick in love with my kidnapper. It couldn’t possibly be that I, as a scientist and a medical doctor, could have decided that there is some legitimacy to this supposed plague in the future? Nope, Stockholm syndrome. Douche.
         I mean she’s a brilliant doctor, respected in her field. She’s a neurologist specializing in diseases. I know the time-travel part sounds insane, but the woman knows what she’s talking about. She’s smart, spending much of her time in a science lab…
Or in the field helping those in medical need around the world…
Or with a gun, even though she is against killing.
         This is something she disagrees with main character, Cole, about. And it makes me like her even more. Cassie isn’t afraid to disagree with Cole openly and adamantly. When Railly shows disapproval for Cole’s dirty work, he reminds her of the larger mission saying, “we can’t save everyone.” Cassie retorts, “I thought that was the point.” She also isn’t afraid that not knowing how to use a gun will make her appear “weak.” She lets Cole teach her to shoot a gun, but her real strength lies in refusing to use one.
         Cassie’s faith in Cole and his truth has often left her isolated, and constantly gets her into trouble. Yet she pursues this path anyway because she believes it is the right thing to do. Though there is strong indication in the show that Railly is in love with Cole, she won’t let personal feelings jeopardize or interfere with their more important mission. Aaron, the ex, often speaks of saving one person you love being worth the rest of the plague, to which Cassie gives him an incredulous look and simply says “no.” Because if Star Trek has taught us anything, it’s that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. If a consequence of saving the world is losing Cole, even though that would be difficult, Railly has proven that she will do what must be done. True strength lies in the conviction of her character. If anyone can stop the plague, Railly can. I’m rooting for you, girl! Go!
         12 Monkeys airs Fridays at 9pm on SyFy. If you aren’t watching it, you should be.
As promised, every week leading up to the X-Citing X-Files revival, I’m posting something nostalgic and with a certain paranormal bouquet. This week, let’s take a look back at some of the wonderfully unique gifts Mulder has given to Scully over the years.
In the season 2 episode, “One Breath,” Scully wakes up from a negative prognosis after her family has literally pulled the plug and given up on her. Mulder, who has been having an extremely difficult time dealing with his first ever taste of losing his best friend, visits her in the hospital with a unique gift. He doesn’t bring her flowers, or candy, but a VHS tape:Â “I brought you a present,” he says. “Superstars of the Super Bowl.” To which Scully sarcastically replies, “I knew there was a reason to live.” There’s so much to love about this scene. Is that really the movie he brought? Or was he making a joke to cover for something more sentimental? Or is that really what it is–something he had lying around his apartment? After all he’s been too worried and preoccupied to shop, and couldn’t just show up empty-handed. Is it something he feels they can enjoy watching together later? It certainly wouldn’t be the only time on the show that he tries to get her interested in football. And it’s not as though the two don’t watch movies together. At any rate, the gift reflects the stage in their relationship: we’ve known each other for over a year, and I’m doing my best to show that I have valued that time with you, and care for you.
In the season 4 episode, “Tempus Fugit,” one of my all time favorites, Mulder and Scully eat dinner where he surprises her with a dessert with a sparkler shining in it, a “Happy Birthday” song, and a pretty little gift box. Scully remarks that in 4 years working together, he’s never remembered her birthday, to which he retorts that he prefers to do it like dog years. I always figured that Mulder, often joking to deflect genuine emotion, simply has found something worth giving her this year. Think about it: the less someone makes a big deal of holidays and occasions, the less they give gifts, the more meaningful that gift will be when they finally decide to give it. In this episode, Mulder gives Scully a gift worthy of tears, though it may not seem that way at first.
Scully opens the gift box to reveal an Apollo 11 medallion commemorating that mission, and is grateful but relatively confused. As Mulder is about to explain why he gave it to her, all X-Files hell breaks loose and the agents embark on a tragic two-episode investigation. At the end of part two, “Max,” after losing friends but not faith, Mulder and Scully stare at the stars, and Scully tells Mulder she figured out what he was going to say:
“I was thinking about this gift that you gave me for my birthday. You never got to tell me why you gave it to me or what it means. But I think I know. I think that you appreciate that there are extraordinary men and women; extraordinary moments when history leaps forward on the backs of these individuals. What can be imagined, can be achieved. You must dare to dream, but it is no substitute for perseverance and hard work. And teamwork, because no one gets there alone. And while we commemorate the greatness of these events and the individuals who achieve them, we cannot forget the sacrifices of those who make these achievements and dreams possible.”
Mulder, as per usual deflecting the depth of that sentiment, jokes that he just thought it was a cool key chain. But of course, Scully is right. This gift is made all the more important by the stage of the relationship that it is presented in–the season of Scully’s terminal cancer diagnosis, where Mulder once again will be struggling with the reality of losing her. Mulder realizes that things he used to be able to do alone, aren’t worth it anymore, and that he no longer wants to continue this quest without her. That’s what the medallion means.
In the season 6 episode, “How the Ghosts Stole Christmas,” even though the agents said they weren’t going to exchange gifts, at the end they reveal that they “got each other a little something.” The audience doesn’t get to see the gifts revealed, but only Mulder and Scully smiling while excitedly shaking boxes and untying ribbons. I actually like that we don’t know what they got each other, because we get to speculate, and that’s so much fun.
To me, it looks and sounds like Scully got Mulder a VHS tape (oh, 90s). But what is it? The two obviously enjoy watching movies together, if the season 7 episode “Je Souhaite” is any indication. But what movie would she choose for him? Or maybe, she is re-gifting Super Stars of the Superbowl simply so they could share in the memory of that moment, when their relationship, and the gifts themselves were less evolved. And it looks like Mulder gets her….I don’t know….a salami? But I rest assured that whatever it is, his explanation is better than the gift itself. After all, things don’t matter–it’s only stuff. Words, loyalty, friendship, love, trust, and showing appreciation for those qualities is what matters.
Later, in the season 6 episode, “The Unnatural,” (another episode that appears in my top 5 favorites overall) Mulder is prompted into an emotional epiphany by Arthur Dales, who stresses that Mulder need pay less attention to the heart of the mystery, and more to the mystery of the heart. Mulder is touched, and moved by Dales’s story of love–all kinds of love–being more important than any alien truth, so again, he decides to show his ever-growing appreciation for his partner. He calls Scully to meet him for a “very early or very late birthday present.” In other words, he gives her a “no-reason present,” which are often the best kinds because they prove you don’t need a special date or occasion to show your love and appreciation for someone.
Under the stars, and with a beautiful song playing in the background of the episode, Mulder teaches Scully to play baseball–to momentarily forget her cares and worries that he and his quest have inflicted on her over the years, and to let her know that her loyalty has never been undervalued. Though of course he doesn’t have to, Mulder insists on putting his arms around her, helping her position her hips, and hold the bat. The gifts are becoming more romantic as their relationship does. It is a truly beautiful moment on the show, and with all the horror the two experience, those are so wonderful and rare.
By the time we reach the season 8 episode, “Empedocles,” their relationship has evolved pretty much as far as a romantic one can. Our dynamic duo is having a baby together, and to a pregnant Scully, Mulder presents a doll. This is such a sweet, and truly touching physical gift, that Scully makes this face when she opens it:
Mulder explains that the doll is a family keepsake that he discovered while going through his late mother’s things. Scully helped Mulder through his mother’s tragic death, and we know how much a special family heirloom would mean to him. That he would give it to Scully solidifies that she and the baby are now his family. And as always, the thought behind Mulder’s gift makes it all the more meaningful.
Well, X-Philes, did I miss any wonderful, unique Mulder gifts over the years? What are your favorites and why? Please comment below, and don’t forget to visit every week for more X-Files nostalgia as we move closer and closer to the revival.
It’s no secret to regular readers that I’ve been this show’s most enthusiastic advocate, not for being well-written or providing well-developed characters, or keeping me in suspense–all of which it does–but for investing me emotionally in the journey of Jimmy McGill. I’ve loved every episode of Better Call Saul in this pilot season, but I have to say, I enjoyed last week’s show much more than this finale.
I just wasn’t buying Jimmy’s epiphany in the final minutes that seemed to come from nowhere. He didn’t hit rock bottom, he didn’t get desperate. Sure he got screwed by his brother, but Kim and his clients still believed in him. In fact, Jimmy had everywhere to go but down. He was excited when Kim called and told him about the job. He was on his way inside. Prestige, money, respect, proving his brother wrong, proving to himself that he is a good lawyer–he would have had all of these things.
I don’t care if as a writer, you want Jimmy to have an epiphany and literally walk in the opposite direction, but there has to be something in the story to support that decision, and something in his character that makes the audience say, “Yes, that’s the Saul we know from Breaking Bad.” As of now, I’m not sure why Jimmy is in that place. I can see that in the season finale, you might want Jimmy taking a step toward the dark side, but it seemed rushed, and forced.
In this episode, Jimmy returns to Chicago to find his old friend Marco literally sitting on the same bar stool where Jimmy left him a decade ago. During that time, Jimmy has of course graduated from law school while working in the mail room at HHM, developed a great relationship with Kim, and passed the bar exam. Jimmy and Marco have a fun week together scamming rubes, and then duty calls Jimmy back to New Mexico. Marco, however, calls this the “best week of his life” with his dying breath. Really? If this was the best week of your life, and these are your last words to Jimmy McGill, I’m thinking something has gone horribly wrong in your life.
And Jimmy is thinking….what? That’s the problem. Is he thinking “I gotta get me some of that amazing life that Marco described?” Why? For what reason? I’m not buying it. I need a reason. And I need a better one than Jimmy suddenly deciding that he and Mike should have taken the Kettlemans’ money. I’m disappointed. I was expecting more.
Remember during the final season of Breaking Bad, where they ran promos of Bryan Cranston reading Shelley’s “Ozymandias?” I’m getting chills just thinking about it. Essentially, these ads featured Walter White describing a “colossal wreck” where once stood a great king.
Where is Jimmy’s colossal wreck? Where is the great, insurmountable, depressing, fiasco that starts Jimmy on a downslide into Saul? We saw the beginnings of such a downfall when chuck betrayed him, but with so much still going so right in his life, what we saw last night cannot be it. So why, why didn’t Jimmy go into that meeting? What are your thoughts?
On a side note, Kudos to the writers for the Belize reference, and for the Kevin Costner scene. Both were nice touches for fans of Breaking Bad.
“I logged over 100 hours in enemy airspace during the Gulf War. Is that tough enough for you? Or are we going to have to arm wrestle?”
Samantha Carter is still an Air Force Captain when she’s introduced on Stargate SG-1. Until her appearance, the pilot episode, and prior Stargate movie, centered around Colonel Jack O’Neill, and Doctor Daniel Jackson. The first episode picks up where the movie left off: with Jack leading a team to extract Daniel from an alien planet. As this mission briefing commences, General Hammond declares to the table of men that he’s assigning Sam Carter to the mission. Jack gripes that he prefers to assemble his own team (one apparently comprised entirely of men). The General insists that Carter is the leading expert on the Stargate, so Jack asks “Where is he transferring from?” And the rest is gold:
Carter appears saying, “She is transferring from the Pentagon. I take it you’re Colonel O’Neill. Captain Samantha Carter reporting, sir.”
Here is the rest of that scene’s dialogue from “Children of the Gods:”
KAWALSKY
But of course you go by Sam.
SAM
You don’t have to worry, Major. I played
with dolls when I was a kid.
KAWALSKY
G.I. Joe?
SAM
No. Major Matt Mason.
KAWALSKY
Oh.Who?
FERRETTI
Major Matt Mason, astronaut doll. Did
you have that cool little backpack that
made him fly?
HAMMOND
Let’s get started. Colonel?
JACK
Thank you. Those of you on your first
trip through the Stargate, (obviously referring to Sam) you should
be prepared for what to expect.
SAM
I’ve practically memorized your report
from the first mission. I’d like to
think I’ve been preparing for this all
my life.
KAWALSKY
I think what the Colonel is saying is,
have you ever pulled out of a simulated
bombing run in an F-16 at 8-plus Gs?
SAM
Yes.
KAWALSKY
(pauses, stunned) Well, it’s way worse than that.
FERRETTI
By the time you get to the other side,
you’re frozen stiff like you’ve just
been through a blizzard. Naked.
SAM
That’s a result of the compression your
molecules undergo during the millisecond
required for reconstitution.
JACK
Oh, here we go, another scientist. General,
please.
SAM
Theoretical astrophysicist.
JACK
Which means?
HAMMOND
It means she is smarter than you are,
Colonel. Especially in matters related
to the Stargate.
Kawalsky and Ferretti laugh.
SAM
Colonel, I was studying the Gate technology
for two years before Daniel Jackson
made it work and before you both went
through. I should have gone through
then. But sir, you and your men might
as well accept the fact that I am going
through this time.
JACK
Well, with all due respect, Doctor.
SAM
It is appropriate to refer to a person
by their rank, not their salutation.
Call me Captain, not Doctor.
HAMMOND
Captain Carter’s assignment to this
unit is not an option, it’s an order.
SAM
I’m an Air Force officer just like you
are, Colonel. And just because my reproductive
organs are on the inside instead of
the outside, doesn’t mean I can’t handle
whatever you can handle.
JACK
Oh, this has nothing to do with you
being a woman. I like women. I’ve just
got a little problem with scientists.
SAM
Colonel, I logged over 100 hours in
enemy airspace during the Gulf War.
Is that tough enough for you? Or are
we going to have to arm wrestle?
Carter ends the discussion by confidently stating that she can handle anything the guys can. Like, why does this even need saying? She then attempts to alleviate the Colonel’s misgivings by saying “You really will like me when you get to know me.” To which he replies, “Oh, I adore you already, Captain.” And it’s certainly lucky he does, seeing as she ends up saving his life and the lives of her team members on countless occasions through her tenure in the Stargate program. Carter is as smart as Daniel, as tough as Teal’c, and as strong a leader as Jack.
In the show, after Sam corrects Jack for calling her Doctor, Jack jokes that Sam is “Captain Doctor” because she has so many rankings and degrees. She has no problem putting him in his place when he refers to her as doctor, saying it is appropriate for her superior officer to address her by rank. He won’t forget it. Captain Carter is so tough, smart, and capable, that over the course of the show, she is promoted to Major, and eventually Colonel, taking over leadership of the team in the final seasons.
While Carter is always strong, her physical abilities are showcased in three particular episodes that stand out. In “Emancipation,” she helps liberate a tribe of women who are thought of as property in their culture. The girls can be bought or sold by their fathers to other men to be used as brides, and for cooking, cleaning, and other menial duties. Girls are also forced to cover their faces in public, and if they disobey a man, they can be stoned to death. Does this planet sound like any place we might know right here on present day Earth? Hmm…. After a tribe leader makes the mistake of trying to buy Carter, she challenges him for authority, kicking his ass in hand-to-hand combat in front of a crowd, and demanding freedom for his daughter whom he’d planned to marry off. To show they will remember Carter’s influence, the women of the village remove their facial veils. View her fight below:
In “The Warrior,” SG-1 agrees to provide supplies and weapons to a group of Jaffa fighting for their freedom. The mostly male group of Jaffa appreciate the gesture but insist that their weapons are far superior to Earth ones. Jack tells Sam to demonstrate the P90’s effectiveness. The Jaffa leader scoffs at the idea of an Earth woman providing any kind of weapons demonstration. Jack, now fully aware of all Carter is capable of, adds something to the challenge: he wants her to hit a moving target. What I love about this scene is that Jack chooses Carter, his second in command, as his best shooter. Â he shows so much confidence in her abilities (because he knows full well by now) that all the while he’s smirking at the Jaffa’s dubiousness, just waiting for her to show them all up. View Carter’s demonstration below:
The third moment comes from “Death Knell” where Carter is stranded on a planet alone with an Anubis super-soldier drone hunting her. If you haven’t seen the show, these things are scary deadly and all but indestructible. Injured from an explosion, Carter hobbles around the woods, dripping blood, and somehow eluding the drone, though there are a few close calls. By the end of the episode, dehydrated, bleeding, wounded, exhausted Carter saves herself by finding a downed SGC drone and configuring it to fire a missile at her enemy. This buys her enough time for Jack to find her with the only weapon capable of stopping the super-solider. When they finally do, Jack asks Carter if she’s ready to go home, completely perplexed as to why she’s not on her feet, putting on a tough front. He stares at her, confused, as she says she needs to rest for a minute. And then you realize, Jack is thrown off because in seven years, he has never seen her this vulnerable. This moment shakes him so much, that he sits down beside her and puts an arm around her for comfort: a big military no-no. And she’s never needed comfort before. That she accepts it in no way diminishes her strength. It accentuates it.
Carter no longer has anything to prove to Jack, or any other member of her team, or any other man in the military. Jack knows. They all do.
Alright, so we’ve covered the toughness. What else? Samantha Carter is so smart…. “How smart is she?” She’s so smart that you can barely understand half of what she says. “Could the beam we saw be a means to access the gate’s subspace field in order to create some kind of time inversion outside of subspace?” An uncomprehending Jack stares back at her. She says, “I’m going to go run some simulations.”
Which leads me to another thing I love about Carter. When she isn’t out exploring strange, new worlds, kicking ass on every planet in the galaxy, she is in her science lab on base doing experiments, inventing world-saving technology, and writing books on Astrophysics and Wormhole Theory. Is she out at the bar trying to find a man? No. Is she worried about aging as a single woman? No. Is she worried about getting married and having kids? As if! She is married to her work. You mean, gasp, a woman can be completely happy and fulfilled by something other than romance and family life? Who wouldn’t be? She has the best job in the world! Who wouldn’t drop everything right now to travel through the Stargate? Why should men have all the fun?
One last thing, Sam is a problem solver who never gives up. Given enough time, her brain will devise the solution to any problem whether it’s saving a planet or an individual life. And if there’s a sun in her way?
Yes, one time, Samantha Carter actually blew up a sun! I should leave it there, because that one’s pretty difficult to top. But then there’s that time she punched Ba’al in the face because he was stupid enough to question her intelligence:
Simultaneously, she makes Teal’c smile: a rarity indeed. Alright. I’ll leave it there, or else I’ll go on all day. But the evidence speaks for itself. Colonel Samanta Carter is and always shall be a kick-ass woman of Scifi.
As promised, every week I’m bringing you new X-Files related posts in conjunction with the excitement for the new revival. If like me, you grew up with the show and simply can’t get enough, then please discuss the show here with me and other X-Philes like yourselves. Last week I brought you 10 lessons I learned watching The X-Files, including some particularly poignant moments. This week, let’s listen to some music that helped give those moments such profound emotion.
There’s no better place to begin in a post like this than with the iconic theme:
Even people who have never seen an episode of The X-Files know this sound when they hear it. The high-pitched whistles and unmistakable echo have become synonymous with the show. Mark Snow once said in an interview that he was having trouble getting the theme just right, but a happy accident with a feedback machine led to the wonderful dadada dadada dadada that fills our hearts with joy. Let me say to the lucky children of this generation, that when I was a teenager, we didn’t have Netflix, or DVR, or Hulu, or YouTube to watch anything we wanted, whenever we wanted. And until I was 16, got my first job, and saved up $100 for my first collector’s edition DVD box set, I had to wait until two in the morning to watch X-Files reruns on SciFi (yes, before it was SyFy) This theme song was the sound I waited all day for.
Mark Snow didn’t only write the theme, but almost all of the music ever heard on the show throughout all nine seasons. One of my favorite pieces of his plays at the end of “Triangle” in season six when after a near death experience, Mulder tells Scully he loves her for the first time. Snow created a lighter, happier variation of The X-Files theme song, minus the creepy, slow overtones:
I don’t know if it’s just the emotionally charged scene behind it, but every time I hear this my heart nearly explodes with joy. If you were to express the concept or emotion of love musically, this is how you would do it. It’s light and happy, but also passionate and fierce at times. Contrariwise, Snow is a master at evoking tears of sadness. His “This is Not Happening” theme all but kills me, biting at the pain already inflicted by the scene it plays over: Scully discovering Mulder’s corpse, left behind by his alien abductors. Fans of the show know, that we got our beloved Mulder back thanks to alien physiology, but at the time, with Duchovny discussing leaving the show, he really might have been gone forever. At around 1:40 is where this one really starts breaking your heart:
But what The X-Files is most widely known for, is its horror factor, and Snow has no problem bringing the creep either:
The first time I heard this in the episode “Soft Light,” it was all I needed to give me Goosebumps, before even the first death occurred for the agents to investigate. So many of his themes are downright nightmare inducing, especially when you fall asleep watching your DVDs and then wake up to a horrifying picture on your menu screen accompanied by such an eerie tune.
It isn’t always Mark Snow alone, but a collaboration of writers and musicians, choosing the right music for the writing and story. In “Closure” when Mulder finally learns the tragic fate of his sister, Samantha, “My Weakness” by Moby is playing, and while this isn’t at all my type of music outside of the show, it was the absolute perfect piece for this scene. To illustrate this point, I’m using a video by XFyellowbee, one of my favorite Youtube fan vid makers. Yellowbee incorporates the song into one of many beautiful themes on the show: that souls reside eternally in starlight:
If you enjoy this video, be sure to check out more of Yellowbee’s compilations; you won’t be disappointed.
Gillian Anderson used another Moby song, “Sky is Broken,” in an episode she wrote entitled “All Things.” In the episode, the song plays over a number of profound moments for Scully, where her world seems to slow down and she contemplates how every decision she’s made has ultimately led to her sitting on Mulder’s couch with him, a part of his quest.
At the end, it plays over a conversation between Mulder and Scully about fate, during which Scully falls asleep, and Mulder covers her with a blanket and pushes her hair behind her ear. Taking a moment to admire her face, and how lucky he is to have her in his life, his whole world slows down.
In addition to the music you hear in the individual X-Files episodes, the show has spawned a soundtrack of pieces inspired by the show, though a few of them don’t necessarily make an appearance in the episodes. The first was entitled Songs in the Key of X, and featured incredibly fitting melodies for the theme of the show such as “Unmarked Helicopters” by Soul Coughing that one of my favorite characters, Max listens to in the episode “Max.” It also features “Red Right Hand” that can be heard playing in Duane Barry’s car after he’s kidnapped Scully, “Frenzy,” from the episode “Humbug” and my personal favorite, a Foo Fighters cover of Gary Numan’s “Down in the Park” that never appeared in an episode:
I also just adore the artwork on Songs in the Key of X, but that’s a post for another day.
The second soundtrack, Fight The Future, was a product of the first X-Files feature film by the same name. Some of the more memorable tracks were the “Crystal Ship” cover by x , and “Walking After You” by the Foo Fighters, a song that never fails to make me remember the hallway scene where Scully tries to quit, and the almost kiss that follows. You can view both below:
On the third soundtrack from the movie I Want To Believe, the clear winner is another spin on Mark Snow’s theme blending into an UNKLE song that fits perfectly the feel of the film, playing over the end credits:
Some other favorites include:
“Come and go with me to that land” from “The Unnatural,” an episode written by David Duchovny. This song plays over Josh Exley’s death and then over Mulder and Scully playing baseball under the stars. I’d be lying if I said it never made me shed a tear.
“Walking in Memphis,” from “The Post Modern Prometheus” playing suring Mulder and Scully’s first dance. I always loved how Mulder doesn’t ask, but nervously sticks out his hand while bowing his head. As soon as Scully takes it, he pulls her in and doesn’t let go. Then of course there’s the black and white and the animated freeze frame finish: perfection.
“Twilight Time” from “Kill Switch,””Wonderful Wonderful” from “Home” are other standouts. I always find it so eerie when happy music plays over a brutal murder scene. On a lighter note, I also love when “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” plays over the gift exchange at the end of “How the Ghosts Stole Christmas.”
The photo I featured at the beginning of this post is the cover of The Truth and The Light album that was released for The X-Files 20th anniversary. I highly recommend it because it not only compiles all the best Mark Snow scores, but includes audio from the show including character quotes, and commentary by Executive Producer, Chris Carter.
The X-Files also inspires music. If you don’t believe me, ask Bree Sharp about her song “David Duchovny” that describes falling in love with Mulder while watching the show, or listen to Catatonia’s “Mulder and Scully.”
Philes, what are some of your favorite scores or musical moments in the show? Please comment below. until next week, you can check out my other X-Files related posts by clicking on The X-Files link under categories on the right hand side of the home page. Until then, don’t stop believing 🙂
When I first learned there would be a Breaking Bad spinoff about Saul, I was mildly interested. Breaking Bad isn’t what I normally look for in a T.V. show, but if Vince Gilligan writes it, I’ll watch whatever. Breaking Bad turned out to be one of the best-written shows I’ve ever seen. Still I thought, there’s no way a spinoff could possibly live up to it. Why should I be emotionally invested in Saul, the sleezebag lawyer, like I was in say, Jessie Pinkman? Better Call Saul offers the “why” in abundance.
I expected to find humor in this show, good writing, drama, and suspense. I did not expect to become so emotionally invested in Jimmy McGill’s character that my heart breaks over and over every week, or that when Jimmy cries, I want to too. I like him more than I ever liked Walt over the course of Breaking Bad and it’s only been one short season.
Jimmy is so utterly and painfully human, you can’t help but love him. Here’s someone who’s been so beaten down while trying to change his flawed character and walk the straight and narrow, but who still tries to do the right thing. Yes, he gives into temptation, like he did with the Kettlemans’ bribe, but that was understandable. He couldn’t make ends meat being good, so he opted for making a lot of money by being a little bit bad. That part wasn’t surprising to me at all. What did shock me was that he gave the money back, turned the Kettlemans back over to Kim and HHM, and completely righted his moral misstep by taking $20,000 of his own will money to make the county whole again.
So in true Gilliganian fashion, we see rewards for bad behavior in this working world (a sad commentary on the working world, quite the opposite for his writing) and pain and poverty in return for doing the right thing. Jimmy does the right thing and loses his shiny new office, loses $20,000 and his dream desk, loses Kim whom he is still so obviously in love with (ow, there’s that pain in my heart again) but at least he’s done the right thing. The right thing leaves him crying in his would-be office–one of the most heart wrenching scenes I’ve ever witnessed.
Still, Jimmy is trying to be the good guy–the guy Chuck is proud of and a guy good enough to earn Kim’s affection. He works his ass off in the mail room at HHM where he receives no respect and Kim seems to be his only friend, and receives an online law degree and passes the bar. How can you not respect the hell out of that? Still he gets beaten down. HHM won’t hire him.
Well, we found out last night that the reason why is Chuck. It turns out Chuck isn’t proud of Jimmy at all, and doesn’t even consider him a “real” lawyer. When Jimmy finds out (and not because Chuck confessed, mind you) he is crushed, and so am I. Jimmy has been taking care of Chuck, bringing him everything he needs, checking up on him regularly, grounding himself, rescuing him from the hospital with so much genuine care it made my heart swell, defending Chuck’s claim that the condition is physical and not psychological, not committing him, not cashing out with HHM by becoming his legal guardian, and rooting Chuck to get back outside and back to work. In the beginning I saw two brothers with fundamental differences, who at the end of the day, were really there for each other. I am so disappointed. What a great show, that it can evoke all these emotions.
Mark my words, the difference between Jimmy being good, and Saul being bad is ultimately going to amount to the fact that Chuck doesn’t believe in his brother. You live up to people’s expectations of you (at least those you care about). When Jimmy thought Chuck was proud of him, and encouraging him, he was working hard and doing so well–going so far as to dive into dumpsters and reassemble shredded documents, pulling all nighters. Now that he knows how Chuck really feels about him, he will be what Chuck accused him of: Slippin’ Jimmy. Why not? That’s all he’ll ever get credit for. The pain…my God, the pain…
Speaking of emotions, I rarely ship characters outside of SciFi, but I just want Jimmy to apologize to Kim and kiss her. At first I thought she sold him out to be partner (I’ll make you partner if you get your friend to take the deal) But she didn’t do anything wrong. She stood up for him. I still have a bad feeling (but I really hope I’m wrong) that Kim is involved with Hamlin in more than just a professional way. If that happens, then Hamlin will have everything Jimmy wants, and Jimmy will have nothing and no reason not to become Saul. Kim never appears in Breaking Bad. Why? What happens to her? I really like her. There’s finally a cool female character in this world who doesn’t suck like Skylar, Jane, and Marie did. She too has me emotionally invested. Why does she stay with a firm that treats her like garbage, threatening to fire her, and moving her to a closet office? Way to show loyalty, Hamlin. I’ll tell you why: for the almighty dollar. She wants to be partner, and that means more to her than accepting Jimmy’s offer. They’d have less money, but they would have both been happy, respected, and really enjoyed their job together. She also might have rejected Jimmy’s offer (ow, the stabbing pain is back) because of my Kim/Hamlin theory. Again, I really hope not.
There’s only one episode left in this first season and I’m already bracing myself for the inevitability of Jimmy’s downfall into Saul. What do you think? Please share your thoughts below.
Let me get the bad out of the way first, because, as always, there’s very little of it:
I don’t like when the characters have to be stupid in order to create the desired scenes in the story. Obviously, Nicholas is up to no good, making sure Glenn sees him leave the community after Glenn specifically told him not to and made Nicholas feel like the childish moron that he is. So why does Glenn follow Nicholas out into the woods to his doom without taking Maggie who was right there, or anyone else with him, or at least telling someone where he was going? At least if he mentioned it, maybe someone, like his wife, would have shown the slightest bit of concern that he’s out in the woods with an enemy Alexandrian after dark even though he said he’d be at the meeting.
Rick isn’t there either. And, like, the meeting is about him. There’s no “Michonne, why don’t you go wake up Rick, and tell him we’re about to start?” They just go on with the meeting like it’s no big deal that people are missing at this hour, especially the person in question to be exiled.
Where’s Rick? Off fighting a walker. Because the gate to the gated community was left wide open. Okay, I know you Alexandrians are completely inept and unqualified to handle the apocalypse, but come on bro, close the gate. It’s important. Instead of completing his extremely important duty, the Alexandrian asks Gabriel to close the gate for him and skips off to the town meeting. Gabriel has meanwhile flipped his lid, so you might say, he meant to leave the gate open. If that were the case, wouldn’t he just have come inside without even touching the gate? Or did he want it to look like he really meant to close it? Either way it comes off as just outstanding vigilance on everyone’s part /sarcastifont/.
So Glenn and Rick are missing in the dark, and didn’t it get dark really fast? In one scene it’s high noon, and then in the next it was black of night. I think this was because the writers wanted a cool, creepy-looking meeting around a campfire for Porch Dick to crash. That’s fine. Just start the scenes a bit later in the day so it doesn’t feel like we lost a chunk of hours in between.
Speaking of missing time, how did Glenn get away from those 3 walkers while he was writhing in agony? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he did. I guess it’s just one of those things you have to suspend your disbelief for. At any rate, I’ll take Glenn alive because I thought for sure he was going, what with that “I love you,” to Maggie and all the heavy foreshadowing and close calls they’ve been giving him. But Glenn’s not out of the woods yet. (literally and figuratively) He’s injured outside the walls with the wolves nearby. (How chilling was that scene at the end where they looked through the pictures of the community?) I don’t read the comics, simply because I stumbled upon the show first, and now don’t want to spoil myself by reading ahead. From what I understand, people can die in the comics and live in the show or vice versa, or like Daryl, only exist in the show, so I’m holding out hope for Glenn to stay for the long haul. Sigh, I’m going to end up sad aren’t I?
Finally, a lot of people had a problem with the scene where Carol threatened Pete saying things like “Why would a guy who beats his wife be afraid of an old lady?” I’ll tell you why: Because Carol is a badass who stands up for herself, and Jessie is a pathetic blob of weakness. Pete is used to his tiny wife, and tinier kids taking his shit. He’s probably never come up against a strong woman in his life, and when it finally happened, he melted into a puddle of his own cowardice like all bullies do when finally confronted. I loved this scene. A victim of domestic violence herself, Carol is done taking shit from abusive husbands. I only wish Jessie could have stood up to Pete herself. Now she’s missed her chance to show strength, letting Carol, Rick, and the community solve her problem for her. All Jessie seems to do is cut hair and cry. Hopefully at least, she’ll inspire real women to take a more active role in their own abusive relationships. Hopefully she also starts showing some strength now, or she’ll surely be one of the next to die. Anyway, rock on, Carol.
Which leads me to the rest of the good:
There’s been so much good writing this season. I love how Rick told Jessie that you keep the windows in tact, you keep society in tact, and then he and Pete crashed through the window. I love how when Rick left Jessie’s house the first time, he saw kids walking dogs and holding balloons as though their society was storybook perfection. Rick is of course thinking, like the rest of us no, no it’s not. Your policy is to leave your own people behind to save yourselves. You’re weak. You allow women and children to be beaten so you can have a doctor. Your society actually kind of sucks. And after the fight with Pete, the red balloon flies into the air, the societal facade finally shattered.
But one of the best surprises from the last episode was Morgan! When I first saw him I thought “Wow, he’s become Donatello from the Ninja Turtles.” We learn that Morgan, now totally un “cray cray” values all human life. One of the most depressing recurring themes in the show is how little hope survives. As Rick says, people measure you in what they can take from you–how they can use you to live. There are very few humans left, and the ones who are left seem to only want to kill each other. Characters suffer and die, and rarely achieve any small victories that offer hope for any kind of future in this world. Morgan, like Glenn, offers hope. I loved the end scene, where he looked at Rick with fear and disgust, because something clearly has broken in Rick (and understandably so) that he no longer feels that value for everyone. Remember back in season one where he would put walkers out of their misery just to be kind?
Another good thing: Michonne really is with Rick! She had me wondering for a while. But not only did this episode solidify her loyalty to Rick, she took her katana back and the group is finally starting to seem like themselves again. They will not be lulled to sleep.
Despite some writing flaws in the finale, this episode was thoroughly entertaining. I heard some fans say it was the worst finale ever and bereft of action, and all I can ask is “What finale were you watching?” My heart was hammering the entire time, and I found it so refreshing that for once, no one (important) died.
The dead: Only Reg, Pete, and some unknowns and walkers! Yay!
I guess this was a sore spot for some people who were promised tears and blood, but I don’t want anyone to die. Enough main characters have died over the years. If the writers keep up their promise that no one is safe, soon there will be no one left, or at least no one we care about. You hear a lot of fans say if __________ dies, we riot. Or no matter who dies, we keep watching because it’s not just about one person. Both sides have merit. If everyone was safe, the show wouldn’t be suspenseful or real or hold our interest. But if too many of the main core die, I have to tell you, I’ll be part of the group who quits watching. I’m only partially invested in how the apocalypse affects human behavior. What I’m really interested in at this point is how it affects these particular characters’ behavior. Rick, Carl, Glenn, Maggie, Daryl, and Carol are who I am interested in. Maybe you can kill one or two more of them, (and fans would still be pissed) But what then? If they keep killing off one or two per finale, we don’t have too many finales left. And even if we do reach the end, without any of the characters who were on the journey, why should it matter? Right now, Rick, Carl, and Glenn are the deal breakers for me. I’d be sad to see the others go too, but I wouldn’t stop watching. For these three I think I would. Glenn is the most descent character left, as last night proved. His courageous act of forgiveness towards Nicholas solidified his unwillingness to kill unless absolutely necessary. Let me tell you something about Glenn: all he wants to do is help people and love Maggie. Please leave him alone.
As for Rick, he’s the main character. I’ve been watching HIS journey, really, since the beginning, and the journeys of those around him. I don’t want to see the others complete the journey without him. I keep saying “complete journey” but I don’t even know if that’s a possibility. As of now, it looks like the writers will keep bringing in new characters and killing off others. It could go on ad infinitum in that way. Whereas in Breaking Bad, they had a set number of seasons in mind, a clear ending in mind, and made every moment up until that ending count. I’d quite like to see something like that on The Walking Dead, but I have a bad feeling that I won’t.
Carl has to be the future of the show, and of the world. It’s so interesting to see kids grow up in this world. It will be all Judith knows. I want to see someone reach adulthood with this as their normal, and see how it continues to affect them. Plus, if Carl dies, Rick will be destroyed, and I don’t want that. Besides, terrible things can happen to characters without them dying. It doesn’t always have to be death to equal conflict and drama. Sometimes things get much more interesting when there’s more characters alive to harbor all that conflict. Now that Pete’s gone, so will that conflict be.
Feel free to disagree. In fact, I insist on hearing all opinions! What were your thoughts on the season finale? Please comment below.
The X-Files is back and I just can’t keep calm about it! I’ve been watching since I was six years old, and have waited thirteen years for new episodes, but I know without doubt it will be worth the wait. This show and its characters have meant so much to me, and I know I’ll share the excitement with many other Philes when we see Mulder and Scully light up the dark places with their flashlights again on January 24. While we’re waiting, here are ten important things I learned from growing up watching The X-Files.
1. Don’t give up. Or the value of hope.
This is a theme on the show that runs from season one, all the way to the most recent movie, I Want To Believe, and I expect to see it in the new revival as well. No matter how much adversity Mulder and Scully face–and it’s a lot–ranging from loss of family members, kidnapping, threatening, disease, memory theft, near-death experiences, mind games, and Cigarette Smoking Man burning their life’s work to ash–they never, ever quit. Scully got close once, in the movie Fight the Future, when she had finally reached her limit of never having acquired any physical evidence to back up their claims. And her wavering almost made Mulder lose his faith too. But in the end of Fight the Future:
And at the end of the series:
Scully: Why would I accept defeat? Why would I accept it, if you won’t? Mulder, you say that you’ve failed, but you only fail if you give up. And I know you – you can’t give up. It’s what I saw in you when we first met. It’s what made me follow you… why I’d do it all over again.
Scully: And what has it gotten you? Not your sister. Nothing that you’ve set out for. But you won’t give up, even now. You’ve always said that you want to believe. But believe in what Mulder? If this is the truth that you’ve been looking for, then what is left to believe in?
Mulder: I want to believe that… the dead are not lost to us. That they speak to us… as part of something greater than us – greater than any alien force. And if you and I are powerless now, I want to believe that if we listen, to what’s speaking, it can give us the power to save ourselves.
Mulder and Scully will never give up. They don’t have it in them. I don’t want to have it in me either.
2. The importance of wanting.
“I want to believe” is so much more than just words on a poster. It’s a mantra–a way of life. What we want, if we want it badly enough, can become what’s real.
“I want to believe” means never accepting the futility of the quest. If Mulder loses his belief, his passion, he would give up. Those are the darkest points in the show–the moments where Mulder thinks he wants to believe too badly, and that he has believed lies, and that his willingness to believe has led to all the misfortune in his life. But Mulder is that guy who everyone thinks is crazy, and is completely right about the oncoming storm. There is a conspiracy, there are aliens, people are out to get him, and if he ever stopped believing that, we would all be doomed, because there would be no one left advocating for the human race.
Hope, drive, goals, something to live for, the idea that there must be something more than what we know–what’s the point of living without that feeling?
3. Science and faith are not mutually exclusive.
Mulder shows little to no interest in religion in the show. However, he does believe in the paranormal, in ghosts, in at least some type of afterlife. Scully, the skeptic scientist, was ironically raised to believe in God, and never takes off the gold cross she wears around her neck. She refuses to believe in anything paranormal without hard evidence, yet believes God is watching over her unquestioningly, and this has often helped her cope with the most difficult moments in her life. A few of those moments have even swayed Mulder to her way of thinking, especially in the last episode when he touches his thumb to Scully’s cross and then to her lips, and the two confess that they ultimately want to believe in the same things.
But one of the most interesting moments in the show comes at the end of “Redux II” in season 5. Desperately seeking a cure for Scully’s terminal cancer, they’ve tried everything from radiation therapy, to Cigarette Smoking Man’s magical computer chip placed under the skin of her neck. It is never revealed to the viewer what officially sends Scully’s cancer into remission, but what we do know for sure is that she doesn’t start getting better until she embraces her faith and starts praying for a miracle.
“You’ll be in my prayers.”
 When it comes to science and faith, you can hold them both sacred. And it doesn’t hurt to believe in something divine.
4. Small victories matter, and they’re sometimes the only ones we get.
Through all of Mulder and Scully’s hard work in Fight the Future (and if you want to know exactly how much hard work, you need to watch the movie because I can’t possibly list it all here) all they are ultimately able to do is get the X-Files reopened:
Conrad Strughold: Oh, you look hot and miserable. Why have you traveled all this way?
Conrad Strughold: [reads it, then drops it with a worried look] Oh…
[we see that it reads: “X-Files reopened. Stop. Please advise. Stop”]
This doesn’t seem like much, after you’ve rooted for them throughout the entire movie, but a small victory can lead to a big one later. The X-Files being reopened will lead to Mulder and Scully continuing to fight the good fight, uncover more truths, and most importantly, keep their faith alive.
They may never be vindicated, but that doesn’t mean the journey wasn’t worth while. The universe is vast and we are so small. We can only control what we do. And Mulder and Scully stand up and fight the good fight every time, no matter how often they fail. Small victories matter, and they’re sometimes the only ones we get.
5. Teamwork: because no one gets there alone.
One year for Scully’s birthday, Mulder gives her an Apollo key chain, and Scully has a nice, long, tear-filled, two-part episode to ponder its meaning. At the end, while Mulder and Scully look at the stars, she says:
“I was thinking about this gift that you gave me for my birthday. You never got to tell me why you gave it to me or what it means. But I think I know. I think that you appreciate that there are extraordinary men and women–extraordinary moments when history leaps forward on the backs of these individuals. What can be imagined, can be achieved. You must dare to dream, but it is no substitute for perseverance and hard work. And teamwork, because no one gets there alone. And while we commemorate the greatness of these events and the individuals who achieve them, we cannot forget the sacrifices of those who make these achievements and dreams possible.”
Mulder jokes that he just thought it was a cool key chain, but it really is a symbol for the hard work they put in with each other and for each other, and an expression of his gratitude that she is in his life.
In Fight the Future, Mulder tells Scully:
“I don’t know if I wanna do this alone. I don’t even know if I can.”
Mulder and Scully only trust each other, and can only count on each other. All you need is one person. But you at least need one. If you try to go it alone, you will eventually perish under the weight of the solitary journey. But with a good friend shouldering half the burden, anything is possible.
6. Friendship is just as important as romantic love.
Chris Carter kept us waiting for seven long years for the obvious love between Mulder and Scully to come through officially on screen. But even if they’d never had a physically romantic relationship, what they had–each other’s company–would have been enough.
Having someone to depend on, lean on, who is always there for you, makes all the other tragedy in their lives worth it.
7. What true love is.
Mulder and Scully’s relationship did finally evolve into a romantic one, and I think it’s the truest love I have ever seen on television or elsewhere. In the beginning, all their affection was shown through concern for one another, worry, jealousy, a hand-hold, a touch, a hug, a meaningful look, a poignant moment. There was zero kissing for seven years, but it was obvious there was love between them. As Chris Carter says, Mulder loves Scully, and Scully loves Mulder.
When Scully informs Mulder she has cancer in season 4, Mulder is forced to confront his feelings for his partner. He can’t live without her. Later, as Scully lies dying of cancer in her hospital bed, Mulder all but falls apart. He realizes how close he is to losing her, and cries at her bedside while she sleeps, holding her hand.
The tables are turned in season 7 when Mulder is the one in danger. After a horrifying ordeal with CSM tampering with his brain, and imagining living an entire other life of creature comforts without his quest, in which aliens end up destroying the earth, Scully saves Mulder in more ways than one. She physically gets him out of the operating room, but in his hallucination, she snaps him out of his metaphorical slumber demanding he “get up and fight the fight.” When he recovers he tells her: “The end of my world was unrecognizable and upside down. There was one thing that remained the same. You… were my friend, and you told me the truth. Even when the world was falling apart, you were my constant… my touchstone.”
Scully sacrifices a prominent career in medicine, her sister, and her health to follow Mulder on his quest. Mulder goes on an epic, dangerous journey multiple times to cure Scully’s inoperable brain cancer, and save her from alien experiments. He literally goes to the ends of the Earth for her in Fight the Future when he rescues her from Antarcica. Mulder and Scully are there for each other in the good times and bad, can always count on the other, and always feel safe, comforted, and loved in the other’s company. That is true love.
8. The underrated value of truth.
It’s rare in this life that we ever actually know what’s true. Greed rules, lies reign, dishonesty often prevails. Even if Mulder and Scully never made the truth known to the world (yet*) To have it just for themselves, to know it, is something they never stop searching for. At times, it may not seem important, but why should we just accept whatever we’re fed? Why not try to uncover it? When you really think about it, it starts to eat away at you, like it does Mulder.
Agent Monica Reyes (In defense of Mulder): “What is the point of all of this? To destroy a man who seeks the truth or to destroy the truth so no man can seek it?”
Fox Mulder: “I’d like to congratulate you. On succeeding where so many before you have failed. A bullet between the eyes would’ve been preferable to this charade. I’ve learned to pretend over the past 9 years. Pretend that my victories mattered only to realize that no one was keeping score’. To realize that liars do not fear the truth if there are enough liars. That the devil is just one man with a plan, but evil, true evil is a collaboration of men which is what we have here today. If I am a guilty man, my crime is in daring to believe, that the truth will out and that no one lie can live forever. I believe it still. Much as you try to bury it, the truth is out there. Greater than your lies the truth wants to be known. You will know it. It’ll come to you, as it’s come to me, faster than the speed of light. You may believe yourselves rid of your headache now, and maybe you are, but you’ve only done it by cutting off your own heads.”
The truth wants to be known. And it deserves to, for the vindication of those seeking it everywhere.
 9. Self Confidence.
Don’t care what anyone thinks of you. Mulder certainly doesn’t:
“I’m the key figure in an ongoing government charade, the plot to conceal the truth about the existence of extraterrestrials. It’s a global conspiracy, actually, with key players in the highest levels of power, that reaches down into the lives of every man, woman, and child on this planet, so, of course, no one believes me. I’m an annoyance to my superiors, a joke to my peers. They call me Spooky. Spooky Mulder, whose sister was abducted by aliens when he was just a kid and who now chases after little green men with a badge and a gun, shouting to the heavens or to anyone who will listen that the fix is in, that the sky is falling and when it hits it’s gonna be the shit-storm of all time.”
This show teaches you to be confident in yourself no matter what anyone else thinks. It doesn’t matter if the whole world thinks you’re crazy. Be you, believe what you believe in, and one day, even if it takes decades, you will prove everyone wrong. And even if not, you lived your life in a way that was true to you, and that’s enough.
This is something every character on the show struggles with. For some, like Skinner, the decision is made more difficult by threats and precarious situations. Krycek can never decide what side he’s really on, but in the end, is usually just out for himself. Even Kersh has a moral epiphany in the series finale, and saves Mulder, doing “what he should have done a long time ago.” Mulder and Scully, will fight to do it every time, no matter the cost. That cost is usually the highest–the loss of family members, health, respectability, your life’s work, your sanity. But they never give up. They keep at it because they believe in what they do, and that bringing about justice is always right.
Even if you become an annoyance to your superiors and a joke to your peers, stand up for what you believe in, like Mulder does. The world will always need people like Mulder. Mulder not only stands up for the little guy, but represents him. This is why I love the Max storyline. Even though it’s short, Max is one of my favorite characters. Max’s story ends tragically, but that’s why we need Mulder to live on–so that Max and others like him will never be forgotten. Mulder is the only one who believes their stories, or cares about their plight. Mulder represents the Maxes of the world: The losers, the nerds, the geeks, the weirdos, the uncool, unpretty, and unbelieved–people who are never heard, people who when heard are called crazy, those beaten down by life at every turn, losing friends, family, and respectability, while acquiring diseases and alien tortures. Max is that weird guy, with the glasses and crazy hair that everyone always made fun of, only to die a horrible death without ever being vindicated. We need Mulder and Scully investigating that death, making sure it wasn’t for nothing, or at the very least, that the one thing Max has at the end, is that someone knows the truth. Mulder is the voice of the voiceless.
I want to shed new light on Scully’s quote from earlier:
“And while we commemorate the greatness of these events and the individuals who achieve them, we cannot forget the sacrifices of those who make these achievements and dreams possible.”
We can not forget the Maxes. If we do, nothing in our own journeys will be meaningful or right.
Mulder keeps Max’s hat on the coat rack in the X-Files office as a constant reminder to keep fighting for the truth.
These were just 10 of so many poignant moments on the show. There are so many valuable truths to be discovered in the writing of The X-Files, and I discover more each time I delve back in. What are some things you learned from the show? Share your favorite moments below. Until the revival episodes air, I’ll miss it so.
“Baby’ me, and you’ll be peeing through a catheter.”
Dana Scully….
She was on The X-Files in 1993, and as one fan says:
If you don’t understand what we mean by most women on T.V. today being portrayed as complete idiots, watch two seconds of any episode of Two and a Half Men. Go on, try to formulate an argument that women on Two and a Half Men are portrayed in any quasi realistic way.
But as it always has, the science fiction genre shows women in strong and intelligent roles. On the cult SciFi classic TheX-Files which aired in 1993, Dana Scully became an inspiration for strong women everywhere.
Despite her small stature, rest assured that Dana Scully can kick ass. She’s handy with a microscope as well as a gun, physically fit, can take down a man twice her size, and has on multiple occasions. Remember when she beat the bajesus out of Donnie Pfaster, destroying her apartment in the process? Man, did that guy have it coming. In addition, Scully is mentally and emotionally strong, not only holding her head high through her sister’s murder but always demanding answers, even if she had to find them herself. The characters on this show go through a lot–A LOT–of emotional destruction, and Scully is strong through it all, even giving Mulder a shoulder to cry on when he breaks down over his mother’s death.
Dana Scully is a medical doctor, forensic scientist, and an FBI agent, making it all look easy in a “man’s world.” She gave up a promising career in medicine to the disappointment of her father, because she’s a strong, confident woman who does what she wants, and doesn’t live her life to please others. Scully thought she could make a difference at the FBI. And she has.
Scully totally legitimizes Mulder’s division, the X-Files, which is often subject to ridicule due to the paranormal nature of the cases he investigates. Let’s be honest. Mulder is such a nutbar when we first meet him that he was going nowhere fast. Dana Scully humanizes him and evens him out, providing a logical counterbalance to his crazy.
Chris Carter has said that when he created the show, women were still generally thought of as emotional, artistic, right-brained characters. He wanted to do a role reversal in making Mulder the emotional one, and Scully the scientist. The result? Dana Scully’s character has inspired hundreds of little girls to go into STEM majors, particularly the sciences. Scully made it not only normal for a woman to go into this kind of work, but cool. It’s what’s known as The Scully Effect–the noticeable uptick of women in STEM majors since 1993. Gillian Anderson still receives letters from girls she inspired with her character, and we owe her for bringing Scully to life, because she’s the absolute perfect actress for the job.
Chris Carter has also said that the role of Scully was meant to be played by a tall, blonde, voluptuous vixen. Don’t forget this was the era of Baywatch, and Pamela Anderson was the epitome of what was considered sexy. You might be thinking that today “geek chic” is all the rage with shows like CSI, NCIS, Bones, and Fringe. Well let me tell you, that’s only because The X-Files took a risk by going in a completely different direction. In walks Gillian for her audition at 5’3 with red, unruly hair, freckles, and a healthy body weight that would make most models want to throw up their 3 daily calories. Luckily for us, her chemistry with David Duchovny was phenomenal and she was cast in the part. I’m so glad it was Gillian above anyone else, and here’s why:
Gillian Anderson, of course, is gorgeous. But she wasn’t the “ideal woman” people wanted to see on T.V. She was short, un-anorexic, hadn’t yanked out all her eyebrow hair, and since it was the 90s, dressed in baggy clothes with enormous shoulder pads, and wore short heeled shoes, doing nothing to elongate her short stature. She was beautiful, but she was REAL, not some plastic, airbrushed, complex-inducing swimsuit model. Scully looked like a woman you might actually see working at the FBI. She was real, and she was gorgeous anyway. Dana Scully never compromised a damn thing about herself or her appearance.
To illustrate this point, Scully falls in love with Mulder, and watches for seven years as past flames, and a few new ones, come in and out of his life. These women are always beautiful, tall, and thin, and sometimes wearing short shorts (Bambi), or undressing in his apartment for no apparent reason (Diana Fowley). Scully never changes her appearance or her clothes to get Mulder’s attention. She never wears a shorter skirt, or unbuttons her blouse. Her outfits become more modern as the seasons progress, but that’s more the styles of the time changing than her character. She is a complete professional, never allowing Mulder to see her out of full FBI attire (I think we see her in jeans a total of once, while she’s on vacation) and always closes her bathrobe tightly before answering the door in her pajamas. Scully is what’s known as a lady–something that’s becoming out dated, and old-fashioned.
But guess what. She get’s Mulder anyway! And she doesn’t have to compromise one iota of her integrity to do it. He falls in love with her without the short shorts, or overt sexual advances. Scully did it with brains, wit, grace, strength, personality, and often by showcasing her unadulterated honesty in telling him the truth. Scully doesn’t try to be anything other than what she is (she has rather more important things to do, like discover the origins of an ancient alien virus) and gets exactly what she wants because of it, whether it be a job, answers to a case, or a relationship.
Earlier this week concerning a post on strong female television characters, I read a lot of comments complaining that we are just looking at actresses, and that actresses are nothing special–not like strong women in real life. I disagree. Little girls watch T.V. and see that it’s not only men in exciting professions, and that it’s not only normal, but cool to speak your mind, be authoritative, strong and go on adventures. Fictional characters can inspire real greatness, just like Uhura inspired a young Whoopi Goldberg, and just like Dana Scully inspired thousands of girls to go into science majors. Words matter, and so do fictional characters. They can make a difference. If I may borrow a magnificent quote from Albus Dumbledore: “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?“
Remember our discussion on Uhura, and if any little girls out there were paying attention? They were. They still are. I was a nerd in school, in both Science and English. I still am a nerd. I’m short, and certainly don’t have the face of a model– something the mean people in my school never failed to call attention to. I’ve had friends say “you seem like the kind of girl I’d have hated in high school because you’re blonde and skinny,” (It doesn’t matter. Mean people can, and will, find something wrong with you) and “I always just assumed you were popular in high school because you’re always so confident.” Part of the reason I’m confident today is because when I was growing up, Dana Scully made me feel cool even though I was a smart “nerd,” beautiful even though I was short and imperfect, tough even though I was a small girl, and strong especially when it was most difficult to be. For still inspiring girls all over the world to this day, including myself, Dana Scully is and always will be a kick-ass woman of SciFi.
Needless to say, The X-Files was my absolute favorite show growing up, and still is. We X-Philes have been waiting with bated breath for the return of Dana Scully in the show’s revival later this year. Perhaps it’s fate that the week I decided to write about Scully, Fox confirmed six new episodes! I’m moving my post up, in conjunction with this most joyous event! I can’t wait to see this kick-ass woman back on T.V.!
Alyssa Waugh 