#txf cast

[viikkah]

Behind the scenes of The X-Files

[teiasviago]

David Duchovny joking about what Mulder and Scully get up to when we don’t see them (x)

[nachosncheezies]

In defense of late-canon x files (including the revivals)

I was thinking about this poll after I commented on it, and I kinda want to be brave and say more.

Short answer to the poll's question before I go any further: If you're a new fan and a sensitive sort who thinks you'll struggle with your blorbos Really Going Through It and you really need a happy ending, I suggest you stop at the end of season 8. Do not pass go, do not look at spoilers. Disregard this post entirely, close the internet, and go look at something that makes you happy. (Also fuck every part of society that characterizes sensitivity as inherently weak and bad and some kind of personal failing, you are valid.)

That said, "quality" as a concept is entirely subjective, and the question of whether or not there's a decline in quality for any story is wholly subjective, too. In the case of x files? I'm not convinced there is a decline. I am going to be upfront that I haven't yet watched past season 8, though I am almost completely spoiled on events after that - and the reason I haven't watched yet is not because of how I know events are going to unfold, but simply because I don't want it to end!!! Ohh, the tension between "I CAN'T WAIT!!!" and "Nooo don't be over D:"

When I first came to txf fandom on tumblr and gradually became spoiled about what happens in late canon though, I was often left uncomfortable and tbh kinda queasy about it. As I said in my comment on the poll, the hate for especially the revival and IWTB, or to a lesser extent even seasons 8 & 9, is very well documented. But! There are other takes to be found here on tumblr if you figure out where to look, and my feelings have changed!

The thing is, I have yet to find myself in any fandom where there isn't a vocal subset of fans who dislike the story after a certain point. I am not joking when I say that no one hates the things they love as passionately as sci-fi and fantasy fans. In my experience, it often hinges on the extent to which a viewer has strong notions on where they would like the characters to end up. In particular with series where shipping is a dominant component for the bulk of a fandom, I have almost universally found that there comes some turning point in the story where "let them be happy you cowards" is the dominant view, and things that compromise the attainment of a degree of romantic stability and/or domesticity are, to many fans, annoying at best and despicable at worst. But! As one tagset on the linked poll said:

and I think for any fandom, that last tag especially is so so so important. (I think that's harder for people watching a weekly series live, bc you have so much time to analyze and speculate and dream before the next breadcrumb drops, but I digress.)

So why am I saying this and how do I apply it to x files? Well, I eventually found that there are also a subset of fans who find redeeming things right up to the very end and actually quite like the whole thing! The things that I had seen people rage and ventpost so much about honestly never quite sounded to me as "out of character" or "untrue to the story" etc as those same ventposts made them sound. And I've discovered I'm not the only one who felt that way. Do I love that the spooky squad had to go through all of those things? No, those poor guys D: Life is hard and they have been through so much trauma. But do those events and their choices make sense to me in light of everything that came before? Yes! And I honestly can't wait to see them fight to overcome those things, breaking, healing, always learning, always growing, always getting better.

So if you're wondering "where does it go wrong"... well, I'm a completionist, as many people who've answered that post are, but also my personal opinion is that I don't think it does go wrong. If you're new and interested in exploring why I've gone from "vaguely queasy" to "excited" about the whole thing, or want to maybe balance out the impressions you're getting about the later seasons before deciding whether or not you want to see the whole thing, I'll put a few blog names in the comments.

Final admission: even once I started feeling a little more confident in the possibility that "actually ok maybe I'm not crazy, maybe this all kind of is in character and does make sense", there was one big plot point that I was NOT looking forward to and I thought I would never be comfortable about. In hindsight, I think my discomfort came from the negative responses being SO seemingly universal that I hadn't stopped to let myself truly consider other possible interpretations on that point. (I mean my initial instinct when I first read about it was, why are we mad about this?? CSM is literally the most unreliable narrator in history???? it's obviously fake news?????? this must be either a fever dream someone's having or it's a misdirection ploy against whatever shadowy forces might still be lurking?????????????? but for whatever reason I guess I had halfway written that off.) Happily, just last month there's a new post-s11 novel out, and although reviews for the book as a whole are mixed, it seems to have laid the groundwork for resolving that plot issue in a way I think most fans would be broadly happy with. If you're interested in being spoiled about that and seeing how, I recommend searching #perihelion on @agent-troi who liveblogged reading it with receipts, scroll back chronological-style to the first post on the subject and see how it unfolded. (And never forget that Dana Katherine Scully is the queen of denial as a coping mechanism lol)

Everyone's mileage will vary. Each person can feel however they want! But for anyone new, I wanted you to know that the very many ventposts you might be seeing are not all there is to this show or its fandom. Some of us love it despite - or even because of - all the things that went "wrong". I think we just don't talk about it as much.

[randomfoggytiger]

Shiban on giving closure to William's open-ended adoption:

Shiban gives away very little about the finale but does answer some questions about baby William, who we last saw being given up for adoption in the episode William. “We all discussed it and knew we wanted to bring some closure to that story as we were trying to do with everything on the series. There was some debate about what to do and what the best thing to do was. That idea (giving William up for adoption) was from Chris and Frank. It’s a safe place for the baby. I don’t think anybody wanted to continue playing jeopardy for the baby any longer. It started to become for all of us painful. The great thing about this solution is that it was a way to cure the baby in a very satisfying manner because it was a part of this revenge plot of Spender’s. It leaves Mulder and Scully with a huge emotional burden. You see in the finale that they do carry that with them. It’s not just ignored by any means. This is a family issue that must be dealt with. It’s a very, very emotional scene, a touching scene. I think you’ll be happy with the result.”

Poor Shiban--

Looking back at the life of the series, Shiban says his two favorite episodes are Leonard Betts, which he co-wrote with Vince Gilligan and Frank Spotnitz, and Existence.... 

Shiban’s other favorite, Existence, is purely personal. “That was my son’s acting debut. He was Scully’s first baby. So that will always stick in my mind as a high point.”

[mindibindi]

Hello

I am a new fan and do not know about the ten minute post existence hug. Would love to though. :)

Hello and welcome! So my smooshy lil brain seems to have misremembered/exaggerated this piece of Gillovny lore cos it was a 5-min hug (which is still a long time to embrace someone actually). As I said y'day, people in the vicinity of David and Gillian can and have given insight into them as people and their working relationship. This particular bts story is told by veteran XF director Kim Manners (RIP) on the audio commentary for "Existence." A helpful fan has cut it together (see below) with Manners' finale reflections on "The Truth", the M/S relationship and David and Gillian's relationship. This part is also pertinent to the previous ask I responded to. He too describes David and Gillian's relationship as being like a marriage. But marriage takes work. It has ups and downs that, if negotiated in good faith, yield great rewards. Anyway, I will let him tell it. Enjoy...

Some extra XF lore: as a new fan you may not know that Manners was parodied (affectionately) by Duchovny in "Hollywood AD" (the director of the movie yells "kick it in the ass!" which was Manners' fave phrase. Apparently, despite his last name he was quite sweary. Darin Morgan's Detective "Bleep" Manners is an earlier and more obvy homage). Manners has since passed away and you can see a headstone for him in the graveyard scene in 10.03. Mulder takes a moment to pay his respects. Manners directed the most (or second most ??) XF episodes of any of their regular directors.

*** Edited to say: I found the 10 min source! I knew I'd seen it recently! And it's in print so let's call it the definitive version:

Original post by @welsharcher

[patchesofuniverse]

Oh Teryl Rothery had an X-Files episode! She plays a nurse instead of a doctor. Sadly her character has a pretty tough time of it.

[subarulesbian]

very much forgot that bryan cranston was in an episode of the x files where he played an antisemitic conspiracy theorist whose head exploded

[iowiymiw]

“will guillermo ever become a vampire” is kinda like the question “will scully ever believe in aliens” because i’m not saying it will never happen, but it would involve changing likely one of the biggest dynamics, even the core of the show, and so obviously the writers are going to draw that out as long as humanly possible

[salaciouscrumbb]

jodie foster’s foster child on a payless budget??? 🤬

[viikkah]

The X-Files behind the scenes

[spookysexy]

Always, Repost

special agents fox mulder and dana scully on a dinner date in red museum (2.10)

[sassmill]

Oh I recognize him from The Gift

[patchesofuniverse]

Oh hello there Maybourne

[fine-nephrit]

🥏 TXF Fic Rec #47: "An Alluring Indiscretion" by Beduini & M Taylor Harrison

Today’s rec is a truly outstanding novel-length casefile, where the case and the romance share equal weight, and both are equally awesome.

Involving a senator and call girls, this intricately plotted case is among the most compelling I’ve read, with suspense holding tight till the very end. Add a generous dose of authentic, very real MSR, by turns torturously angsty and heartbreakingly sweet—you know, the best kind. An exhilarating read!

---

🥏 on whisperofX 🥏 on x-libris

length: novel, 72,000+ words season: season 6, 6x18 Milagro, 6x21 Field Trip pairing(s): M/S UST to RST, established relationship tags: casefile, episode-related, angst, fluff, smut, rift, canon supporting casting, theGunmen rating: explicit/NC-17

Tagging @today-in-fic

[randomfoggytiger]

Do you think that some episodes where Scully and Mulder work separately were written that way because the actors didn't get along?

I saw your post in Bruckman's repose, and it made me think that we got a memorable scene of Mulder and Scully doing their special handshake in the hospital scene. Now, ( I by no means have done the excellent deep dives and analysis that you have provided) I started asking, "are some of the most memorable little MSR gestures when Scully and Mulder spend time apart, or when a previous episode has them apart"?

The answer may be no. This is my first time thinking about this, and I haven't paid attention to these patterns. I like the "little" gestures that say so much more than words because it's such loud communication and a reflection of the truth of their relationship even if their words say otherwise.

I hate this about myself but lately, I have been paying attention to their nonverbal communication (dilation of pupils, eye contact, staring at each other's friggin mouths, etc.) because this is part of the layers that this shows provides. There is so much detail in the show that I think the editing is purposeful that, in my head, I think the director would also be paying attention to these elements for the overall appeal. Of course, I understand that it could be a nothing burger and just an obsession of a crazy mind:)

Have you watched D and G in their other projects? If so, do they do the same level of nonverbal communication with other actors, or is this just the special element seen in TXF that is hard to replicate?

To answer your last part first, I have seen DD in other projects and some of GA here and there. They do have the same acting "ticks" with other costars; but the chemistry between David and Gillian is on another level, and hasn't been replicated.

I was thinking over your hypothesis, and came to the conclusion that I don't thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiink that's the case.

Mulder and Scully have touchy-feeling or memorable MSR moments every episode, largely because both actors are so tactile. Even an episode as throwaway as Tesos dos Bichos (and other later examples) had a look, a touch, a glance, a gaze.

David and Gillian have stated numerous times that they were, essentially, fed up with each other because of how much of their life revolved being on set together. Still, they also stipulated they didn't talk outside of work or between scenes-- essentially, they saved up their mandatory talk time for the camera. It kept everything as fresh as possible on how-many-hour days. And even in their up-and-down times (where she said something, and he took offense, etc. etc.) they were still doing their work like normal-- because it wasn't just about "them", it was about The X-Files as a job. Both were (and are) consummate professionals, and it was a larger picture to them than just their working relationship (with DD forming closer relationships with CC and the cast and crew than Gillian, for example.)

Per your second ask--

I just asked you about the time apart of Scully and Mulder.

When you first saw Ed Jerse and Scully interact, did you notice a spark between them? I did not see the show in the original run but a long time later, and when I saw that episode, I had to look up whether that was G's husband/boyfriend because there seemed to be "something" there. It could also be that the director was just awesome.

--I do know that Ed Jerse was written as "the perfect man" (or given the appearance of one) for Scully; and Rodney was probably cast accordingly. Don't know if he had readings before being on-set with GA, but I wouldn't be surprised if they hired for chemistry, too. The episode also skews for a false positive, perhaps, because Scully was temporarily enamored by Jerse. Both actors had to act that out, even if they had or hadn't fallen into each other's arms in real life.

For me? I never picked up on a special connection between Gillian and Rodney in their scenes (though they had to probably tap into something for her more "erotic" ones.) They did excellent work, and the characters seemed to click; but I didn't find out they dated until after stumbling into to the fandom here.

I'm probably missing a lot of points and perspectives; but these were what of I thought of off the top of my head. :DDDDDDDD