Proudly hanging above my bed is a large poster with the phrase “I Want To Believe” directly below a UFO. My phone case mirrors the poster. There are collectable figures on my desk of fictional FBI agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. Last winter, after finishing Twin Peaks, I decided I needed some sci-fi mixed with cop drama; enter The X-Files.
After watching the entire series, I now know that it’s certainly not a cop drama with some sci-fi like I originally thought when I started the series. Over the past year, The X-Files has become a large part of my everyday life. Gillian Anderson has become someone I look up to in many ways. (Fun fact: I had a meet & greet with Anderson this summer but she had to cancel due to personal reasons. Sigh, someday Scully). The X-Files has become such a part of my life that when I called my mother to tell her a funny story relating to TXF she exclaimed to her co-worker, “It’s my daughter. She’s calling about David Duchovny again.” Ok, thanks mom.
Watching all nine seasons and both movies can only prepare a person so much for the experience of watching the series on television. Sunday night at about 10:20p.m., after a post-game show about a football game I didn’t care about, I heard Duchovny’s voice say, “My name is Fox Mulder.” I was so unbelievably emotional hearing Duchovny recap the decade long story arc in a few short minutes. As an active Tumblr stalker, I had known the show would be using the original credits.
I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I was watching a new episodes of The X-Files on TV. I never thought I’d see the day when I could watch the show as it premiered; I was so happy to be wrong. Scully and Mulder were back together again. Skinner was being his typical broody self. I was even able to catch a glimpse of the Cigarette Smoking Man. I am never going to get over this.
The premiere was all-in-all a good episode of television. It wasn’t my favorite episode, that will always be season five’s “Bad Blood,” however, it exceeded my expectation. The second night of the premiere was even better. I’ve always been a sucker for the standalone episodes. I can’t even begin to explain how many people have asked me about The X-Files this week–glad my friends know me at least.
I’m very aware that my experience is very different from fans who watched the show from the beginning. Alas, I wasn’t even born when the show hit the airwaves, and I was just eight years old when the final episode aired. Times were certainly different in the early 90s when the show premiered. There are some things I’ll never be able to relate to as a new fan of the show. However, I found myself sharing that sense of comradery with long-time fans and newbies like myself.
The new generation of “truth seekers,” like myself, get to experience The X-Files in all its glory. I just can’t believe I get to see Dana Scully showing the boys how it’s done, and Mulder yelling about aliens again. What a time to be alive, am I right?
*The X-Files airs on FOX on Mondays at 8p.m. for a limite 6 episode run.
** Enjoy this picture of me on the night of the revival premiere.