Random observations on the X-Files from a 2020 perspective
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Quarantines and social distancing lend themselves to making your own fun at home. As such, we've been mowing through TV shows, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc. and keeping up on new offerings. There's always a draw to come back to the shows of one's youth and cult classics. X-Files falls into both categories and has been something I've been meaning to revisit for a while, curious as to how it would look now and how it's aged in some 25+ years.
Going into this I realize the following:
Suspension of disbelief is crucial as it's, after all, a TV show. Characters need to do certain things that the plot and the over-arching mythology (more on that in the next section) dictate. Mulder and Scully are going to be exactly where they need to be to advance the story. We don't see them doing mundane things around their apartments or filling out expense reports or having to wait at the airpotr.
The series mythology is explained in far greater detail that I could ever hope to achieve by far smarter folks than me. I will probably keep to the "Monster of the Week" episodes as they're easier to diest in one sitting and rarely a 2-parter or cliff-hanger.
Mostly, I'm curious about what, if any, nostalgia I'll feel for not just this show but the simpler times of the 90's and early 00's. Will I get misty thinking about my old Nokia phone that would last 2-3 days on one charge? Eh, maybe. Will the technology focused episodes make me yearn for simpler GUIs and more command line? I honestly doubt it. I think what I'll probably pine for is the (overly romanticized) notion that during that time we had just enough technology and convenience where it felt like 'the future' but not so much where we were all constantly buried in our phone or tablet. This probably isn't going to be nearly as witty as I think...we'll see how long I stick with it.
