I’ve watched the X-Files off and on in the original run and in syndication. I saw the movie, too, or most of it anyway (I kept catching bits and pieces on cable, so I seen it out of sequence and maybe not in its entirety).
I’m not clear, however, on the story arc. I guess there are multiple sub-plots, but what I’m wondering about it the alien conspiracy that concerns the Cigarette Smoking Man (CSM) and was the basis of the theatrical feature. What exactly is going on?
There are aliens coming to take over the Earth, right? And there are two shadow conspiracies, one intending to assist them and one intending to resist them? With CSM’s nefarious activities dedicated to resistance? How will they resist? By putting Scully in those pods in Antartica? Have I got any of that right?
Could someone summarize for me? Or point me to a cite/site that would do so? I googled but the only site that appeared to have a summary no longer functions.
CSM was part of an organization of men that made a deal with the aliens to save themselves once invasion day come (2012 I think). However, they always were trying to find a way to fight them. The bottom line is that if they didn’t find a way to beat them they would help them kill/enslave the rest of us.
They kidnap people sometimes to give to the aliens, and sometimes for genetic experimentation to figure out how the aliens work. Scully was part of this research. They like to use people with a personal involvement.
Despite what others say, I never had any trouble following the mythology arc. My biggest problem with the show was that I didn’t give a fuck about the monster of the week episodes and viewed them as filler while waiting for the good stuff.
CSM is responsible for the deaths of JFK and MLK Jr. He is also the reason that Buffalo has never won a super bowl. (In his mind anyway)
I never missed an episode so I was able to follow the arc. Although by the last 2 seasons I was convinced that Chris Carter was spending way too much time surfing and smoking crack.
God the arc was inane. It’s what finally got me to stop watching. Somewhere around season five or so it was clear that all the attention was going into the idiotic arc, and yet it was so poorly done, I can’t imagine why. It seemed obvious to me that the whole thing was being made up as they went along, and after a while they didn’t even bother to wait until the next episode to start contradicting themselves, they’d go ahead and do it in the same episode. (Such as, one episode where government-grown bees get out and sting some postal worker. Shady govt agency spends a lot of time and effort cleaning it up so no one knows what happened, and then, later that episode, lets the bees loose on small children (apparently there were no fuzzy puppies available).) Stupid, stupid stuff, but the uberfans on the newsgroup ate every bit of it up. If you complained about it you were judged an impatient philistine who didn’t get it, and were condescendingly told that in time, it would all come together and we’d all eventually appreciate the fine Swiss craftsmanship of Chris Carter’s plot. HA HA HA WHO’S LAUGHING NOW, IDIOTS? Ever notice how once the show ended it dropped like a rock and hardly anybody talks about it anymore other than to say, “Say, did that show ever ultimately make sense?”
It started out so promising and then went to hell. Carried the whole way by its adoring fans.
The group CSM works for, the syndicate, agreed to assist in the alien’s attempts at colonization. To ensure that the humans will be honest in their dealings, the aliens demand hostages, including Samantha Mulder and Cassandra Spender. In exchange the syndicate is given an (though it seemed to be more than one) alien fetus to get the dna for experiements from.
However, they’re lying to the aliens, and while attempting to create a race of alien-human hybrids to be the alien’s slaves once they’ve invaded, they’re actually trying to create a vaccine to the thing that will infect humans and make them slaves: the black oil. The black oil seems to be a semi- sentient virus, which willfully infects those few humans it comes in contact with(although that might just be how I see it). Mulder becomes infected with it while in Russia when he is captured by a program that is also looking for a “cure” to the disease. Since he lived through it, for all intents and purposes he’s considered immune to its effects. At the same time, the syndicate is hoping that by attempting to create alien human hybrids as the aliens demand, that they’ll actually create a race of people immune to the black oil.
In the movie the virus mutates to a humanoid parisite that uses the host to provide nutients while it incubates. There’s some stuff about the virus being the orginal inhabitent of earth…
Scully is infected with the black oil when she’s stung by a bee that was bred to carry the virus. Mulder tracks her down and gives her the antidote that the syndicate has been working on (the Well Manicured Man gives it to him, as well as her location, before blowing up in his car) and she’s cured of it too.
The ship she’s being held in takes off, taking most of the virus-aliens with it, although there’s one left on earth to kill a few people in the opener to season six. After that point the black oil doesn’t come into play much any more. OTOH, alien-human hyridization continues through season eight.
Ummm, think movies. The story isn’t over. I’m guessing it will take 3 flicks between now and 2012 to resolve.
Also, cite? Contradictions that can not be explained? I haven’t noticed any and I’ve seen every episode.
Thanks, elf, that’s fairly comprehensive and helpful. May I ask all two more questions? Ah, thanks … . .
Mulder’s dad was involved in the conspiracy, or just found out about it?
What was the deal with the shapeshifter guy (a science fiction story jump-the-shark if I’ve ever known one), who could assume the identities of other folks?
I don’t think it will get that far. As a film franchise, I think X-Files has maybe one more movie in it. Despite what “Star Trek” would try to have you believe and pay for, there are only so many times you can dip back to old TV shows for movie material. The original “Star Trek” (whose characters had a more iconic character when they first started making movies) only lasted 6 1/2, and only about four of those (2, 3, 4, and 6) were really watchable. Next Generation has probably hit the end of its cinematic run, because its crossover appeal to non-fans is less than the original series. X-Files is probably more like Next Generation than like the original series, only smaller.
Mulder’s dad was part of the Syndicate. He tried to be the “voice of reason” and wanted them to work with the other aliens, the faceless ones who were resisting the grays, but he was ignored by most of the other members of the Syndicate.
The shape-shifters were aliens with their own agendas. The Alien Bounty Hunter tracked down aliens and hybrids to kill them. He was last seen pretending to be Mulder to kidnap Gibson Praise (who had alien dna) in the beginning of Season eight. Jeremiah Smith was considered, by the grays and the syndicate, to be a traitor since he liked to heal people. Smith was taken back to where ever he was from in the middle of season eight.
I think it’ll be fun to see how far they take the christian nativity thing with Scully’s baby, and in what direction it’ll go. (Second Coming or Antichrist?) “I saw a light and I followed it.” Heh heh.
From what Carter and Spotznick said in an interview around the time “William” aired, they have no intention of bring Will back in a movie. They said they wrote him out of the show because it’d be impractical (in a movie) for Mulder and Scully to chase after bad guys with a toddler in tow. The article is on the scfi.com site, but I can’t find it again because their search engine hates me.
God is definately involved somehow. The major religious texts of the world were all written by the same source. It seems that the aliens didn’t take the baby and kill Scully because they feared the wrath of God. They kind of hinted in subtle fashion that earth may have protected status. I’m curious about that thread myself. Either way, with X-Files that “god” may just be the most locally powerful intelligence in the closest couple of galaxies.
There also seems to be a connection between the genetics of the aliens and the humans. I’m guessing that every living creature has the ability to become as powerful as a god (like the little mind-reader kid in some ways). Probably like in ST:TNG they will reveal a bunch of different species each contain a piece of the genetics created by the one entity and possibly regulated by the same. If spliced together the right way we have all the genetics data needed to create another “god”. Just guessing but they show definitely wants you to think there is a connection between religion and the aliens. They have never made it clear exactly how they are connected.
I know it’s been a long time since this was originally posted, and I have no idea if Enkidu (or anyone else!) is still interested, but the best place to go on the web for a detailed summarization of XF is The X-Files Timeline at:
Legomancer-I must agree with you. It was like the show was physically sneering at the audience, sometimes.
I could never understand the “on screen” rationale for the Monster of the Week episodes. I mean, if you have knowledge of an evil conspiracy that’s plotting to help aliens destroy humanity, and SOON, would you really still put any effort into investigating Bigfoot’s ghost, or what-have-you?
And killing off the Lone Gunmen in the lamest way possible…At least they could have had a UFO crash on 'em, or something. Grrr.:mad:
By the way, was it ever actually established the Scully and Mulder both were William’s BIOLOGICAL parents? I know there were quite a few “hints” that he might have actually been an alien-human hybrid.
So the aliens don’t like Magnetite, eh? Dang. Must have been hard getting out of the Bronze Age, then.
