X-Files Pilot

Kate says it is interesting how characters crystallize after a pilot: the pilot is where the characters are "tried out." Like in Bones, the female scientist character in X-Files changes the most between the pilot and the show. Mulder's character changes too--he becomes less self-mocking and flip--but since Mulder is an eccentric, any extra self-mockery/flippancy can be put down to Mulder's mood that particular day. But Scully, like Bones, has to be consistent.

Which is a long-winded way of saying that Scully is a tad Martha Stewart hostess-y and hysterical in the pilot. She becomes far more confident, deadpan, and straight-shooting later on.

In point of fact, my image of Scully is pretty much Season 3 Scully. I think Gillian Anderson is a very beautiful woman, but the spare, elegant, Bleak House woman she became didn't show up until post-motherhood (there's a good reason to have kids). That's how I see Gillian Anderson: post-Season 2.

In any case, I think the crystallization matters because, although Mulder and Scully can be funny, they take themselves more seriously than they do in the pilot. The point of Scully isn't that her skepticism makes her anti-Mulder. Her skepticism is a necessary state of mind. Without it, Mulder would never be legitimized. The point of Mulder isn't that his sister's kidnapping was an interest hiccup in his life but that the uncertainty and guilt associated with that event consume him.

As you may be able to tell, it is extremely hard for me to react to the pilot separate from the show. I'm a huge X-Files fan, so I tend to see the pilot in terms of where Chris Carter was going rather than an episode in its own right. For instance, a number of motifs show up here that show up later: bleeding noses, people running around in the woods, small towns, institutionalized settings. There's also that grainy look which is a X-Files specialty (until Season 6). It almost feels like a show that someone just made on the spur of the moment, especially since nobody seems to have rehearsed their lines. I think this is part of the appeal. It did change once X-Files became popular. And I do really like Season 6. But I still associate X-Files with this spur-of-the-moment quality.

But I really can't tell you if I liked the pilot or not, I've seen it so many times. All I can say is: if the pilot put you off, check out Seasons 4 and 6 to see where Chris Carter was headed. All the material is there in Season 1; it crystallized in Season 4. It got super professional (although the camera work and lighting got stranger) in Season 6.

Mike says it's a good thing the show got better from here. While I've watched plenty of X-Files episodes (I think... I was talking with Kate and I'm shaky on exactly how many I've really seen... though I've seen both movies!), I'm not a devoted fan. I like X-Files, but I've never dedicated a lot of time to watching it from the beginning. I had seen the pilot before, but that was back in the first or second year of the show. Where I was blown away then, watching it now was kind of disappointing.

The main problem, I think, was that the characters and concept were not solid. While they were there in a rough, prototypical form, they just weren't the refined elements that they were later. While you can't really expect this from a show's pilot, being a Whedon fan has kind of spoiled me, as he starts with the characters and moves to the story. In X-Files, the concept was first, the characters second. While watching Mulder and Scully, I kept flashing on the generic stereotypical jerky FBI agents from Die Hard. Mulder was a little too snide and sarcastic, and Scully a little too intelligent, lofty, and skeptical. In other words, not likable characters in any way! Which is weird, because they grow into two of my favorite fictional characters.

Being a teenager in the late 90's, Gillian Anderson and the girls from Friends were the big sex idols- they were everywhere. I've always though Gillian was beautiful- something about the straight, smooth line of her jaw... sorry, I got a little distracted there. ANYWAY, while I like to think I'm not a shallow person, Scully from the pilot was just not the Scully I spent most of my teens trying not to think about. I think they were going for the look of a educated professional, lab bound look for Scully, which pre-CSI was how these woman were usually (note: I didn't say always) seen on television. Later in the show, Scully became sultry and more of a flashy dresser, which wasn't that common on TV for an "intelligent" character (in my memory of that era). Now, it's the norm!

The story for the pilot, while not too far from typical for an X-Files episode, was pretty ridiculous. That they left it on a close to unresolved note was maddening. But sometimes, that's how the show was. Anyway, having seen later X-Files, I didn't lose hope, I may even continue to watch. But I do have to say, X-Files had a pretty rough start. Though an intriguing idea, the show doesn't work without the characters of Mulder and Scully, and, oddly, I think the pilot proves that.

Lanae says that it's hard to know what to think of this pilot. When it comes to watching a series, it usually takes a few episodes for me to get into it. And while I'm pretty sure I liked the pilot, it was definitely strange. The story was a little outside the normal area of things I watch, though the FBI element was familiar.

I did like the "twist" at the end, with the coma boy being the kidnapper. But I didn't really understand why everything was happening, but neither did any of the characters. I think if I watched the show, and every episode ended the same way, with nothing explained, it would be a really frustrating show to watch.

As for the characters, it's really hard for me to know whether I liked them or not. While Buffy helped me to like the characters right away, I feel like I don't know the agents from X-Files very well at all, and it would take me a few episodes to decide whether I liked them or not.

In the end, I think I would probably give the show a few more episodes before deciding if I really liked it or not. While I'm not dying to keep watching, I's be open to the idea. (Note from Mike- Once again transcribed by me by Lanae's request from a conversation Lanae and I had about the show).