# The "X-Files" got kind of muddled for me at the end. What was the conclusion re the aliens? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463 "2012-05-10T02:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/21 "2012-05-12T02:58:30Z")
> [@Slade](#): > > I stuck with _The X-files_ longer than any sane human being would, because no matter how ludicrously tangled and self-contradictory it got, I assumed Chris Carter must have some blueprint in mind which would tie everything together at the end. Eventually I realised that simply wasn’t true and that the writers were, in fact, just making this shit up as they went along. > > On the plus side, that realisation did save me from ever being tempted to watch _Lost_ which - from what I can gather - would have proved an equally gigantic waste of time. I had basically the same reason for avoiding _Lost_, a show that I never watched once even though a lot of my friends were into it. I had an evening class for the first part of the first season so I couldn’t have watched it then even if I’d wanted to, but I kept hearing about how this great new show had a complicated, mysterious plot and that people couldn’t wait to find out how things would work out because they were sure it would be really cool…and I just thought “Yeah, that’s what they said about _The X-Files_.” ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/22 "2012-05-12T03:05:54Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > It wasn’t just you. > > I’m reminded of an incident from the old Usenet days. When “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” was broadcast, somebody posted a message: “I missed last night’s episode. Can somebody post a brief plot synopsis?” (The only possible, and literally correct, answer to that question would be “No”.) And it’s still better than any of the aliens arc bullshit later on. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/23 "2012-05-12T03:35:55Z")
I, for one, would have watched a X-files spinoff starring Dogget and Reyes. However, I feel bad for them having to come in this mess of a show when they did. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/24 "2012-05-12T04:40:37Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I had basically the same reason for avoiding _Lost_, a show that I never watched once even though a lot of my friends were into it. I had an evening class for the first part of the first season so I couldn’t have watched it then even if I’d wanted to, but I kept hearing about how this great new show had a complicated, mysterious plot and that people couldn’t wait to find out how things would work out because they were sure it would be really cool…and I just thought “Yeah, that’s what they said about _The X-Files_.” Me too! Won’t get fooled again! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/25 "2012-05-12T04:51:21Z")
I too gave up on the X files before the last season. Did they ever finish the story on Mulder’s alien abducted sister? Was she ever found? Is she dead? Why she was taken? etc. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/26 "2012-05-12T05:48:27Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Did they ever finish the story on Mulder’s alien abducted sister? Was she ever found? Is she dead? Why she was taken? etc. She was given up by her father because all of the conspirators had to surrender a loved one as, uh, collateral for the aliens they were working with. She was taken for experimentation by the Cigarette Smoking Man. She was able to escape from the facility and reached a hospital. The bad guys went to retrieve her, but good spirits called “walk-ins,” who find and rescue people who are about to suffer a horrible fate, got to her first. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/27 "2012-05-12T09:03:45Z")
I’m just getting started with this show. For obvious reasons,I’m avoiding reading too many responses that actually spoil the entire mythology and not just the final episode (which I knew from word of mouth was poor). So could someone quote me and tell me a good place to actually stop watching? Or, better yet, is there a point that makes for a satisfying finale? It doesn’t mean I won’t watch the rest, just that I’ll take my time and go in with decreased expectations. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/28 "2012-05-12T09:27:39Z")
In terms of the mythology stuff, it really goes downhill after the first movie (which takes place after season five, IIRC.) But there are many meritorious episodes after that, just not in the mythology arc. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/29 "2012-05-12T14:23:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m just getting started with this show. For obvious reasons,I’m avoiding reading too many responses that actually spoil the entire mythology and not just the final episode (which I knew from word of mouth was poor). So could someone quote me and tell me a good place to actually stop watching? Or, better yet, is there a point that makes for a satisfying finale? > > It doesn’t mean I won’t watch the rest, just that I’ll take my time and go in with decreased expectations. The seventh season finale makes a satisfying series finale, the primary villains are replaced after this point with an entirely new group that never makes a lick of sense(Mulder offers a theory on who they are in the finale but it is still debated on fan boards). So without spoiling too much if you are interested only in the myth arc season seven is a good place to stop at. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/30 "2012-05-12T18:29:57Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I, for one, would have watched a X-files spinoff starring Dogget and Reyes. However, I feel bad for them having to come in this mess of a show when they did. Me too, I liked Reyes and Doggett! > [@Snooooopy](#): > > She was given up by her father because all of the conspirators had to surrender a loved one as, uh, collateral for the aliens they were working with. She was taken for experimentation by the Cigarette Smoking Man. She was able to escape from the facility and reached a hospital. The bad guys went to retrieve her, but good spirits called “walk-ins,” who find and rescue people who are about to suffer a horrible fate, got to her first. Didn’t she get turned into stardust or something equally bizarre and inexplicable? ---
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/31 "2012-05-12T20:54:35Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Or, better yet, is there a point that makes for a satisfying finale? I remember thinking that they should have held back “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” until the end of the next season, and used _that_ as the finale. It’s perfect. Silly and profound. If they could have done a one-two with “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” the show would be more fondly remembered nowadays. People would talk about _that_ ending instead of trying to forget. Imagine if _Blake’s 7_ had carried on for another two years and ended with Ewoks. Imagine that.\* See, I watched it when it was new, and it had a buzz, and for a brief moment it seemed that _we_ had won. Quality sci-fi programming without budget problems, with engaging performances, well-written scripts, a grown-up sensibility. The first few episodes were standalone mysteries, a kind of sci-fi _Twin Peaks_, and although the pacing was slow the whole show reeked of quality. And the arc plot was a bonus. But I remembered what happened with _Twin Peaks_, where they ran out of story. And if your story is a grand, massive alien apocalypse, you can’t very well finish it and then start up _another_ arc, because it would be a huge anticlimax. So they needed to wrap things up before they went off the boil, which meant that the show couldn’t go on forever. But unfortunately it did; long after normal, everyday people had ceased to care about it. Arc plots were the in thing at the time. _Babylon 5_ was never a ratings hit, but it was influential; the mystery shows that were greenlit after _The X-Files_ (_American Gothic_, _Dark Skies_ and so on) all had arc plots, although most of them didn’t last long enough to complete the arc. _The X-Files_ was in the unusual position of being too successful for its own good. Also, on a tangent, has there been a _Millennium_ reappraisal yet? I remember it being almost parodically _dark and edgy_, and the title and general pre-millennium angst has dated. Is the millennium going to be this generation’s equivalent of my generation’s mid-80s nuclear paranoia? Or did it just waft away? And now Gillian Anderson does British period dramas! She’s in a new film called _The Curse of The Buxom Strumpet_, which seems to be a cash-in on the Pride & Prejudice & Zombies fad from a while back. Presumably she doesn’t play the buxom strumpet. If they do a sequel about a man, it could be called _The Hex of the Well-Hung Hooker_, and I would like to trademark that title. - You could have a “shows that were extended beyond their prime” thread, with _Blake’s 7_ as a good example. It was supposed to end with series three, but the BBC hurriedly commissioned a fourth series. They couldn’t commission a fifth, though, because ICARUS HAS FOUND YOU!!! RUN WHILE YOU CAN!!! ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/32 "2012-05-13T06:31:35Z")
> [@Corcaigh](#): > > Didn’t she get turned into stardust or something equally bizarre and inexplicable? Oh, even better … starlight! But I try not to dwell on which star-related thing she was transformed into. I was always really happy about the fact that the show, once it had established that this was her ultimate fate, didn’t keep pulling the rug out from under us with new revelations. Wouldn’t that have been a completely tiresome slog? ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463/33 "2012-05-13T11:08:41Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > Oh, even better … starlight! LOL > [@](#): > > But I try not to dwell on which star-related thing she was transformed into. I was always really happy about the fact that the show, once it had established that this was her ultimate fate, didn’t keep pulling the rug out from under us with new revelations. Wouldn’t that have been a completely tiresome slog? I wrote a fan-fic where Samantha turned up in Mulder’s life completely by accident with no memory of her life pre-abduction. Wacky adventures ensued. (was better than the twaddle “they” came up with - even if I do say so myself) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-x-files-got-kind-of-muddled-for-me-at-the-end-what-was-the-conclusion-re-the-aliens/621463.md?page=1)