# I'm going to start the X-Files (a show I've never seen before). Ongoing thread about my opinions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [February 19, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740 "2014-02-19T23:14:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/21 "2014-02-21T01:38:51Z")
I loved the one that everyone waited for breathlessly where Scully and Mulder kiss… and then it turns out to be a dream or hallucination or something. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/22 "2014-02-21T01:48:58Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Different strokes. > I actually thought that it was most likely to occur in the “real world.” Of course it was. IIRC, it was the only non-supernatural case they ever investigated. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I loved the one that everyone waited for breathlessly where > > Scully and Mulder kiss… and then it turns out to be a dream or hallucination or something. “Triangle”!!! That one does hold up. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/23 "2014-02-21T02:08:51Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Of course it was. IIRC, it was the only non-supernatural case they ever investigated. > > “Triangle”!!! That one does hold up. Nope. They investigated several “non-supernatural” cases. They include: [ol] [li]The one with the underground giant fungus [/li][li]The one with the giant fluke[/li][li] The Jersey Devil[/li][li]The Firewalker Parasite[/li][li]F. Emasculata episode[/li][li]The Big Blue episode[/li][li]The AI episode[/li][li]The Brand X episode[/li][li]The episode with the tree parasites[/li][/ol] Among others ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/24 "2014-02-21T04:07:57Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > Loved the one with the > > Alex Trebek cameo. Also the Genia that needed a REALLY specific wish “Jose Chung’s _From Outer Space_.” Charles Nelson Reilly playing the writer of a UFO book with Alex Trebek and Jesse Ventura as Men in Black. One of my favorite episodes! ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/25 "2014-02-21T04:12:34Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Lastly, if this seems popular, I wouldn’t be opposed to doing it a few more times with other shows that I’ve never seen but that are extremely popular, for example: The Wire. Never seen any of those and may do a thread on that once I’m done with the X-Files. Keep an eye out for Det. Munch. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/26 "2014-02-21T10:17:56Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > We’re into the third season on Netflix, and I’m loving seeing all the cameos of people before they were famous (or “famous”). Hey, that’s Gabrielle Miller (Lacey from “Corner Gas”)! You know the actors “those guys” and “that woman”? 😃 Pretty much _everyone_ who worked in TV at the time had an appearance on X-Files (or West Wing, or both). A running joke between my wife and I - she’s a big fan of both - is “Which episode of X-Files was he in?” Re: > [@](#): > > It seems to be building up (already) to an eventual moment where the skeptic believes (somewhat), but no idea how far off that is yet (or to what extent it will be). Nope, despite her supposed intelligence, she remains a skeptic. Bloody annoying bit of bad writing, that. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/27 "2014-02-21T10:22:44Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Of course it was. IIRC, it was the only non-supernatural case they ever investigated. ISTR one with an “impossible” robbery. Scully thought it was supernatural, but Mulder worked out that it was a conjuring trick, pulled off by a stage magician. Many years since I saw it, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/28 "2014-02-21T10:50:13Z")
Remember to use spoiler boxes! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/29 "2014-02-21T12:59:36Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > You know the actors “those guys” and “that woman”? 😃 > Pretty much _everyone_ who worked in TV at the time had an appearance on X-Files (or West Wing, or both). A running joke between my wife and I - she’s a big fan of both - is “Which episode of X-Files was he in?” With the demise of those shows and _Law & Order_, are there any shows that feature those kinds of cameos any more? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/30 "2014-02-21T13:01:58Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Remember to use spoiler boxes! Fair point. I’ve reported my own message, for spoilers ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/31 "2014-02-21T14:41:15Z")
I learned a wonderful word from watching the x-files. Exsanguination. That was one of my personal favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/32 "2014-02-21T18:24:52Z")
> [@Zyanthia](#): > > I learned a wonderful word from watching the x-files. > > Exsanguination. That was one of my personal favorites. You’ve gotta include the whole quote. It is the single greatest episode of the show, after all… [spoiler]From “Bad Blood” Mulder: “Hope you brought your cowboy boots!” [Slapping plane tickets on the desk] Scully: “You want us to go to Dallas?” Mulder: “Yee hah! Actually a town called Chaney about 50 miles south of there, population 361, by all accounts very rustic and charming. But as of late, ground zero of the locus for a series of mysterious nocturnal exsanguinations.” Scully: “Exsanguinations? Of whom?” Mulder: “How does that grab you?” [Showing Scully a slide of a cow] Scully: “It’s a —” Mulder: “— Dead cow. Exactly. Or more specifically, a dead 900 pound Holstein, its body completely drained of blood, as was this one [another slide] this one [another slide] this one [another slide] this one [another slide] and so on. Six, all in all, approximately one a week over the past six weeks.” Scully: “Is there any sign…” Mulder: “Two small puncture wounds on the neck?” Scully: “That’s not what I was going to ask…” Mulder: “Too bad! We got them! Check it out!” [Slide of two puncture wounds] Scully: “Well, those may be syringe marks, or placement meant to emulate fangs. Such ritualistic bloodletting points toward cultists of some sort in which case…” [Mulder looks at her strangely] “What?” Mulder: “Yeah. That’s probably it. Satanic cultists. Come on, Scully!” Scully: “You’re not going to tell me you think this is that Mexican goat sucker, are you?” Mulder: “El Chupacabra? No, they got four fangs not two, and they suck goats, hence the name.” Scully: “So instead, this would be…” Mulder: “Classic Vampirism.” Scully: “Of a bunch of cows?” Mulder: “And one dead human. Last night. A vacationer from New Jersey. Come on, we got to go.” Scully: “Why the hell didn’t you tell me that from the beginning?”[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/33 "2014-02-21T18:26:46Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > With the demise of those shows and _Law & Order_, are there any shows that feature those kinds of cameos any more? A few. Bones, The Good Wife, Law and Order: SVU all bring in a lot of guest stars. But no where near the number that original flavor L&O did in its heyday. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/34 "2014-02-21T18:45:20Z")
A few of my opinions: 1. It is a great show over all and worth watching. 2. The two leads are wonderful and it’s amazing how quickly the characters and world are fully formed. 3. Unlike many sci fi shows that came after, for the X files the “Monster of the Week” episodes are vastly superior to the “Mythology” episodes. Even early on the Mythology is basically nonsense and gets old fast. 4. Rewatching some episodes recently has made me realize the show feels very much a product of the 90s. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing; just an observation. 5. The quality drops off after the first few seasons. Every season has some highlights but those become more and more isolated as the years went on. Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/35 "2014-02-21T19:09:48Z")
I’ve actually been considering doing a rewatch myself, for the specific purpose of debunking the idea that Scully is unrealistically skeptical. Seems to me, the way it usually worked was something weird would happen, Mulder would propose a crazy theory, Scully would propose a rational theory, and then they’d find out that it was some third thing (that was, admittedly, usually pretty crazy) that neither of them had thought about. In the mythology arcs, Scully comes around pretty quickly to the idea that aliens and government conspiracies are things that actually exist, and doesn’t protest the idea past the first season. She does often question if individual phenomenon they encounter are part of the big alien cover-up, but that’s different. There’s also a handful of episodes where it turns out Scully is right, and nothing supernatural or sci-fi-y is going on, and a further handful where there is something weird going on, but it’s only revealed to the audience, not Mulder and Scully. And, presumably, a whole bunch of cases that we never see, because they turned out to have boring explanations. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/36 "2014-02-21T22:19:13Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > A few. Bones, The Good Wife, Law and Order: SVU all bring in a lot of guest stars. But no where near the number that original flavor L&O did in its heyday. _L&O_ did a marathon recently where they showed past guest appearances of almost all the _Modern Family_ stars. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/37 "2014-02-21T22:32:33Z")
The episode _Improbable_ (S9,EP13 – Episode 195 of the series) prompted me to buy [_Songs For Cabriolets And Otros Typos De Vehicluos_](http://www.amazon.com/Songs-Cabriolets-Karl-Z%C3%A9ro/dp/B00369E6KC) by Karl Zéro. The music from this album featured prominently in the episode. I still think of _Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose_ (S3, EP4) whenever the subject of autoerotic asphyxiation comes up. Also Queequeg. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/38 "2014-02-21T22:36:51Z")
As you get started, please note that there are definitely some really bad clunkers in Season 1 before they hit their stride. Keep on truckin’ and you’ll get to the really good stuff. And I will also add that, unlike most others here, I remember mostly looking forward to the Conspiracy episodes as opposed to the Monster of the Week. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/39 "2014-02-21T23:35:02Z")
Also note that in Christian mythology episodes, Scully and Mulder will trade place regarding the skeptic-true believer positions. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740/40 "2014-02-24T02:14:48Z")
I’m on S1 e9 right now. “Space” I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying that I’ve hit the biggest nitpick thus far in the series. This isn’t a swamp monster or headless horseman Mulder and Scully have run into. They seem to forget they’re Goddamn FBI agents. Just the _possibility_ of sabotage would require a massive investigation and innumerable agents to be called in to help. This is NASA not a radio telescope in Hawaii or something. But you wouldn’t think so what with the (apparently) only 7 people or so manning Mission Control. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-start-the-x-files-a-show-ive-never-seen-before-ongoing-thread-about-my-opinions/681740.md?page=3)