Would XF have been more interesting if. . . -- X-Philes World-X-Files Movie 2

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Date Posted: 16:41:07 10/21/01 Sun
Author: Islandgirl
Subject:

Would XF have been more interesting if. . .

This question kind of ties in with the "What eps weren't supernatural" post a couple of us have going on the "Games, Trivia and Stories" board, so you might want to read that first, but you don't have to.
Recently, I came across the press guide Fox TV issued for its 1993-94 season, which was when "The X-Files" debuted (I work as a newspaper archivist; I'm always coming across interesting stuff). The intro for XF told a little bit about Mulder and Scully, then said something like "He's a believer in aliens and the paranormal. She's a scientist who believes every unusual occurance has a rational explanation. Together, they investigate cases that fall outside the normal parameters of F.B.I. jurisdiction. Sometimes he's right. Sometimes she is."
However, as Mulder pointed out at the beginning of "Field Trip" in season six, *he* was the one who was right about 90 percent of the time! In the first seven seasons, there were about eight episodes with a clear cut, rational explanation for what was going on, and another seven or eight where what was going on *could* have had a scientific explanation (or just been a weird coincidence) or could have been an example of telepathy or something and the viewers were just left to come to their own conclusions.
So my question is. . .would XF have been more interesting if Scully had been "right" more often?? Or would having five or six episodes every season where the "monster" was unmasked as a college kid playing a prank or a mentally ill person committing crimes in a weird way have made the whole show seemed too much like "Scooby Doo"??
I'm kind of torn on this one. Part of me thinks it would have only been fair, and would have also made the show more believable, if more of their cases had had more rational explanations. In real life, even people who actually believe that alien spaceships have visited earth or believe that some people have telepathic powers, freely admit that at least 90 percent of the cases they investigate are hoaxes or coincidences or have some sort of rational explanation. On the other hand, of course, I *LOVE* "The X-Files"(classic XF, I mean; seasons 1-7) and, with the exception of a couple of "clunkers", it's hard to see how they could have "improved" the show by having more eps where Scully was right.
Here's what I think might have worked: in most of the "official" XF novels, the first chapter deals with Mulder and Scully wrapping up some case that has an utterly mundane, perfectly rational explanation. Then they move into the heart of the novel, which is always some eerie, supernatural type case, similar to the XF TV eps. (Fanfics also often begin with Mulder and Scully wrapping up some case that has an utterly mundane, perfectly rational explanation. Then they move into the heart of the story, which is usually Mulder and Scully having sex for about the next 37 pages, *NOT* similar to the XF TV eps.) It would have been nice if, at the beginning of several episodes every season, Mulder had said something like "Okay, Scully; I know that the *last* time I dragged you off to investigate a supposed werewolf killing it turned out to be a bunch of frat boys in masks, but this time I think we're really onto something weird."
That way, we would have known that they *were* investigating some cases where Scully turned out to be right but, at the same time, the ones we actually saw would have been the weirder ones.

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Replies:

Hmmmm.... -- Melissa, 16:16:23 10/22/01 Mon
Interesting thought . . . -- CW, 20:16:04 10/22/01 Mon