We’re a couple decades late, but we finally started watching the X-Files on Netflix. We’re about halfway through Season 2. Now, when we started watching Babylon 5, of approximately the same vintage, it was really easy to find the Lurker’s Guide online which has a lot of stuff on each episode - quotes from the creator, notes about stuff you might have missed, things in the background, that sort of thing. (With no spoilers.)
I was expecting to find the same sort of thing for the X-Files, because I know it was a show that had a huge internet following and obsessive nitpickers, but a little Googling only got me episode summaries and such. Is there one particularly well-regarded site?
And, um, where’s all the best slash fic? Just in case my friend wants to know.
Back when the show was big, Fox went to war against fan sites: sending cease and desist letters for copyright violations (cast and show pictures, usually), threatening to sue ISP’s that had X-Files content on them (even fanfic), stuff like that. So a lot of the good sites were shut down. (Anybody remember X-Files University?)
Since then, the show has ended and the fans went to other shows and haven’t bothered to keep up the fight. Especially since the last few seasons of the X-Files
sucked harder than a Electro-Lux. Seriously, you might want to stop @ season 6 or 7.
The next few seasons are fine, but if you push through to the end you’ll understand why the finale for the X-Files is considered one of the worst final episodes ever.
Well, the web wasn’t in the public consciousness when the show premiered in 1993. However, one could make the argument that the finale was written using a timeline from a fan site. I mean, it’s a clip show fer Chrissakes, one that spends much of its time recapping What Went On Before.
I watched all 9 seasons. Yes, some of the things people have said here are true, but I wouldn’t give up entirely. Sure, some of the stuff at the end sucks, but I really ended up liking Doggett a lot and even Reyes and those two alone were worth it. The mytharc crashed into a wall and then lit on fire but the monsters-of-the-week mostly remained good.
What pissed me off though was the other X-Files movie. “I want to believe”, I think? The second one, with the crazy pedophile and the psychic? YUCK.
Man alive, I am searching my brain for the X-Files site that seemed to be pretty popular at the height of things, and drawing a complete blank. I have few X-Files books at home, I will check tonight and see if any sites get a mention.
Well, as long as I’m talking about the books, I always found The Nitpicker’s Guide for X-Philes (which covers the first four seasons) to be a fun resource. A used copy can probably be found for reasonably cheap.
Good fansites these days seem to be wikia sites. Makes sense, since the wiki format is fantastic for cataloguing information. This site was the first hit for “xfiles wiki”, and at a glance it seems to be at least somewhat what you’re looking for.
Back in the early days of the show there were some beautiful X-Files fan sites with really cool content and amazing artwork, but as others wrote already, Fox had them shut down. I wonder if, had the network not alienated the show’s hardcore fans, would the ratings have held on better the last few seasons? Sci Fi fans tend to be super loyal. Heck, the first X-Files movie remains the only film I ever purchased opening night tickets to days in advance.