#we just get a LOT more mulder-centric time in s1 than we do scully.

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

my favorite mulder moments from s1

that time he was straight up reading a porn magazine in his office because it mentioned some alien stuff and he needed to Research (a million bonus points for scully's reaction)

when in episode 6, he knocked at a suspect's door, asked if they could come in, and then barged in without waiting for an answer (it was at this moment i knew i was gonna be down bad for this man)

giving a random guy off the street his hotel key in episode 5 so he can do a stakeout from the road, which leads him to getting arrested

every single time he guides scully into the room with a hand on her back... i could not even begin to list all of these times because it's at LEAST once an episode

when he gets ripped apart by the jersey devil but still speaks about how beautiful she is and tries to protect her

(and when he tries to protect the alien hybrid guy in the s1 finale as well, but both times he fails to do so)

when he runs into his old friend in episode 16 and greets him by singing his name

seeing him beg on his knees in a church, praying for his sister's return

"scully! it's potato" <- god tier. to me.

bringing a picture of his sister to the hotel on their trip to tennessee in episode 18

when he knelt down and opened the dead guy's mouth in episode 19 knowing there would be fangs in there and then did not elaborate

when he clarifies that he isn't lying, but "willfully participating in a campaign of misinformation"

"only one man's successfully faked his death... (in a god-awful southern drawl) elvis" proclaimed in such a matter-of-fact tone

when he finds his alien-obsessed stalker having a seizure in episode 10 and carefully tucks him back into bed

(and then we see he took alien guy’s hat as a souvenir, which he leaves hanging in his office, after he passed away. no it’s fine i’m fine!!!)

when he remembers the agent he lost during his first case in episode 16, storms out of the building in grief, and goes to watch the dead agent's son play football

when he gets very angry at deep throat for being willing to conduct some corrupt bargaining with the government (despite. y'know. all the other horrible things the FBI has done. his morals were outraged here)

when he finally takes the shot at the guy who vowed to kill him (big character development here! who cheered! while also mourning the damage to his optimism!)

and in a similar vein, when he faced his fear of fire in episode 12 to go rescue the kids in the burning building <3

when he and scully arrive in tennessee to do some alien sleuthing and he busts out a ton of little gadgets

every single time this insufferable man fell asleep on his couch

him ripping his entire apartment apart at around 3 am on a mission to find tracking devices

that time he just really wanted to go see the liberty bell at the end of episode 6

the guilt in his voice when he sees scully in a hospital bed at the end of episode 20, and he says "i told her it was going to be a nice trip to the forest" ... pain.

when he defends openly proclaiming eugene tooms to be a lizard monster in court, no matter how wild it makes him look, because “I don’t care how it sounds as long as it’s the truth” (ah truth motif, my beloved)

also, jumpscaring tooms with the tale of his lost elkhound with whom he hunts moose