Reel Life: X-Philia: Revisiting the '90s sci-fi icon

We all know the staples of ‘90s pop-culture: the epic Nintendo vs. Sega saga, grunge rock and the European music invasion and a whole new era of science-fiction TV. The introduction of digital special effects certainly made it easier for networks to greenlight fantastical shows with otherwise riskier and more elaborate premises, but The X-Files held a special place as science fiction that relied on strong story alone rather than newfangled visuals to dazzle us.

With the world having been relatively X-Files-free since 2008’s The X-Files: I want to Believe, it’s hard to understand the hype surrounding the show. With the new generation of hard-edged, mature television, the show seems to fall flat on the wayside, almost dated, corny and contrived. The standard “you had to be there when it happened” response from X-Philes aside, what reason do you have to watch this show in 2014, when new and exciting TV that allows for language more explicit than ‘damn’ and ‘crap’ being produced near-constantly?

Watching The X-Files nearly 20 years after its start offers a lot to the viewer. Not only do you see the unravelling of the giant on whose shoulders many modern TV shows stand upon, such as Breaking Bad’s Vince Gilligan, but you get to experience just exactly what a lot ‘90s pop culture was talking about. Having watched The X-Files, you realize just how huge the show’s influence was on an entire generation of television, and others that followed.

Of course, besides all the technical, academic reasons to examine a piece of entertainment, the main reason to watch The X-Files is because it’s damned fine entertainment. And for those put off by the corniness of some of the early season’s plotlines, The X-Files only suffers from Seinfeld-is-unfunny syndrome. Seinfeld-is-unfunny syndrome is when a show, having been so influential, has its elements copied, aped and derived until the original seems just as trite as its mimicking successors. Never, however, will this show bore you with its exploration of government conspiracy, corruption and cover-up.

Every tin-foil hatter’s favourites, from the John F. Kennedy assassination to the secret chemical experimentation on the population, is dived into by the show’s immortal FBI agents, “Spooky” Fox Mulder and the ever-skeptical Dana Scully. Their hairdos may not be timeless, but the dry wit and camaraderie they share makes it easier to dive into the show’s world of blurred faces and shadowy figures, where no one but our two heroes can be trusted.