been thinking about the x-files place in media and how the show, and mulder and scully’s relationship influences how tv is created. i think any show that is a police procedural with the skeptic/believer dynamic is genuinely inspired mulder and scully. i’m talking about bones, castle, and lucifer among many others.
i enjoy this dynamic but have been wondering why, aside from lacking david and gillian’s chemistry, these shows and ships cannot capture what the x-files and msr did so effortlessly.
i’ve come to a few conclusions.
first: the msr dynamic is misunderstood. people think that this dynamic is man is an annoying manchild and woman puts up with him. the msr dynamic is not that. not really.
mulder is, at his core, a deeply traumatized person on a mission to find his sister who was abducted by aliens. he becomes blinded by his mission, but he is highly intelligent and accomplished on his own. scully is also highly intelligent and accomplished, and they see that about each other in very first scene that meet. there is immediate respect between them, which is VITAL.
i think a lot of modern media thinks that the man has to be kind of an actual idiot (or overly sexual in his advances) at first and the woman has to help him “grow up” when that is not the case with mulder and scully at all. mulder and scully challenge each other’s world views and beliefs and help each other become the fullest versions of themselves, which is not always easy. but it is always with fundamental respect and true friendship. if mulder becomes a more mature and serious person because of scully it’s because of her influence on him, just how he influenced her to have the courage to open herself up to belief in the unknown.
and mulder and scully’s “slow burn” is so iconic because their moments of flirtation and intimacy early on is subtle. but it is there. mulder doesn’t have to ask to see scully’s tits for us to know he wants to. (but it’s a hell of a long time til he does.)
and, unlike instances with caskett and deckerstar - they are not “forced” or tricked to work together, they choose to. they actually refuse to be pulled apart because together, they will find what they’re looking for
which brings me to my next point! i think something a lot of shows don’t do is give a real reason for the copaganda other than it just being copaganda, especially a fantasy show like lucifer. on the x-files, mulder and scully are fbi agents- but them working for the fbi serves for the plot as a way for them to gain access to government secrets and lies by working from within. in a lot of ways, it is a criticism of the fbi and the government at large. mulder and scully are fbi agents because of their mission, their mission is NOT to be fbi agents.
