Welcome to The Ultimate X-Files Study Guide
The study guide is actually an adaptation of my own intranet site, developed from necessity as I pay way too much for internet connection time and thus tend to download reams of material without reading it, which I sort through (well, kind of) at my leisure. It also comes from my own need to know 'WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT???' after missing all of Season 2 and having little idea what was going on in Seasons 3 and 4 due to severe language limitations. (Go on, try watching the X-Files in Czech. I dare you.)
After a great deal of trial, error and deletions, I managed to find what I was looking for - namely, good, insightful reviews, coupled with scripts for the shows that I missed (or wouldn't see in the near future - yes, I'm a spoiler slut), the official synopsis guide (dead, but still the best of the straightforward summaries, though some of the shipper ones are great fun), some random, deeply thought out essays, even some fanfic that would have made great episodes. About 150mg, to be (almost) exact.
Around this time, windfall profits and a 20 hour bus took me home to London for a few weeks where I was able to see some of Season 5 (I said I'm satellite-impaired) IN ENGLISH! OH YES! for the first time in years. Unable to face the prospect of listening to Scully sounding like Marlene Dietrich (I live in Germany now) until the end of the series (believe me, it's less interesting than it sounds) and STILL not having seen Pusher, Never Again or Memento Mori in ANY language, I used the rest of my windfall to purchase the boxed sets of Seasons 3 and 4. (Sadly, 1 and 2 don't seem to exist, and I guess 5 isn't out yet. If anyone happens to know where I could buy them please let me know. )
So, I thought, now I too can offer erudite opinions on Scully's faith, Mulder's guilt and where the hell the oilien fits in, but alas, the universe (and most X-Files lists) have moved well beyond the limits of my vision, chortling over a kiss I will not see until sometime next year. In an attempt to feel as if I hadn't been completely left out of the fun, I assembled the Study Guide to mimic what is for most philes normal life: see the show, think about it, discuss, read, discuss more, argue, spoil, etc. I wanted more than 'oh wow, wasn't it cool', and detailed descriptions of THUD moments that leave out everything else (though I like those too). I wanted overall analysis, psychological insight. And I grew tired of friends saying 'well it's just a bloody tv show, innit?'
It's true, it is just a bloody tv show. But we are denizens of the modern age, hovering on the cusp of the millenium. Is it any wonder that critical minds in 1998 would turn their gaze on characters and situations transmitted via television, submitting them to the same scrutiny their forebears might have given Shakespeare? Not that I'm necessarily saying the X-Files is the 21st century's Shakespearean canon, but hey those are just bloody plays, innit? (And we're not even sure who wrote them.)
The critique is out there. A joy to find and joy to read & think about and maybe even answer. If you are looking for a more scholarly debate and something of an X-Files history lesson, then hopefully you will find your way from here.
All suggestions, comments, discussion, welcome:
[email protected]
or
[email protected]
If you have written an essay and wish it to be included here, please send me the URL only if it is already on the Net (otherwise you may email it as a .txt file). Remember the tone of this site is 'scholarly', so if you are responding to another essay I will need either the URL for the original, or the relevant sections quoted, plus permission from the original writer.
WHEN
Now.
HOW