Cherish the Past: On the Fond Memories of The X-Files: Fight the Future

The X-Files was my first obsession. 

I vividly remember watching the pilot episode of the landmark sci-fi television show alone in my room. When it premiered in 1993, I had to have been around seven years old, eyes glued to the TV, and thrilled to watch the adventures of two FBI agents investigating the “X-Files” while on the hunt for the truth about extraterrestrials. The show was fundamental for me on several levels: it felt more like watching short movies since it was shot so cinematically, the monster-of-the-week episodes were a gateway into horror, my distrust of the government is rooted in the conspiracy theories tossed around in the series, and, of course, Gillian Anderson as Agent Scully changed my life forever. Sure, David Duchovny as Agent Mulder was the mold for star-gazing, paranoid loners that I’ve subconsciously modeled my life after, but Scully is a smart, discerning figure I’ve held as the standard for characters in genre movies and TV from that point on. 

In the summer of 1995, young adult novelizations of various The X-Files episode began rolling out and I ate them up. My favorite was Squeeze, based on the first season episode of the same name (written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, who would later create the Final Destination franchise). In it, a serial killer enters the homes of his victims by literally squeezing himself into vents and chimneys. The episode itself has plenty of iconic moments; the early ‘90s CG of a man being stretched on screen like he’s a Stretch Armstrong doll is as crude as it is haunting. But reading a book made for kids about horrific murders wherein the killer steals and consumes human livers certainly left its gleeful mark on me. Not only did The X-Files make an impact on TV, I want to believe its novelizations and original book series influenced many young readers.  

The X-Files was appointment TV for me from the start and, luckily, its popularity grew over its first five seasons. It’d be one thing if the show was canceled after one season, although it affected me deeply so early in my life that I’m sure I’d still be writing about it 30 years later. But the X-Files craze spread in the ‘90s, spawning nine seasons in its original run, two movies, and two unnecessary revival seasons years later. And I was there for the height of its popularity, namely the summer of 1998, with the release of The X-Files movie. 

Looking back at the show’s Nielsen ratings tracking its viewership, season one of the show came in 111th overall, while season five came in at a series high of 11th, with an average viewership of nearly 20 million making it Fox’s top show. Eager to jump on the hype train, parent company 20th Century Fox greenlit a movie setting its release for the summer before its season six premiere in 1998. It was perfect timing. 

What makes the first five seasons, pre-movie, work is the chemistry between Anderson and Duchovny. It’s the classic, “will they or won’t they?” relationship. By the end of season five, there were firmly in the “won’t they” camp with every intention of putting butts in the seats to see the movie. Similarly, the underlying conspiracy of the show was never fully revealed for five seasons. Do you, the viewer, want answers as to why there are aliens among us? Well, you’ve waited five years so why not wait for the movie? And it wasn’t a long wait; the movie premiered just a month after the season five finale, which was titled “The End.” The episode effectively closed the eponymous X-Files, an appropriate cliffhanger and set-up for the movie.

The summer of 1998 for me, as a 12-year-old, was all about The X-Files movie. I watched every interview that series creator Chris Carter, and stars Anderson and Duchovny, gave to Access Hollywood and Entertainment Weekly. I analyzed the trailers—the first teaser was especially clever, hiding the fact it was related to the X-Files show until you hear Scully’s voice over a black screen, then flashing action mixed with a pulse-pounding techno beat followed. The trailer voiceover then says, “Cherish the past, enjoy the present, because the truth is coming.” And the cherry on top was that signature X-Files score at the end, with “Fight the Future” in big bold red letters. Since the start, Mulder’s motto has been “The Truth is Out There,” and I become Mulder, searching for the truth before seeing the movie myself. I went as far as collecting the special TV Guide covers with Mulder and Scully that had a secret message that I remember deciphering and I can’t for the life of me remember what it said except that it ended up as nothing more than a tease.

Turns out the movie ended up being nothing more than a tease, too, for some. That sexual tension hit a peak with Mulder and Scully on the big screen, sure, but the moment fans were waiting for, a passionate kiss between the two was cut short before their lips touched. Personally, I was delighted watching the movie. Instead of a kiss, Scully gets kidnapped by the government agents and almost gets taken away by an alien spaceship, eventually saved by Mulder in a thrilling third-act sequence. There’s so much alien conspiracy absurdity that as a die-hard fan I was sufficiently satiated—Martin Landau co-stars as a high-knowledge loon who brings up FEMA and a deadly virus as part of the government’s decades-long plan (eerily coincidental, but what conspiracy isn’t?). Yes, it does all feel like a feature-length episode of TV with a higher budget. The action setpieces take us to acts of terrorism reminiscent of the Oklahoma City Bombing and to giant cornfields where Mulder and Scully run for their lives from killer stealth helicopters. It never forgets to give us the drama of two agents with a stern supervisor (hell yeah, Mitch Pileggi) that’s always been a the heart of The X-Files. For a show that’s been cinematic from the start, the movie was a joyous payoff after five stellar seasons. 

The show did gradually lose viewers and lost quality after the movie’s release when it came back for three more seasons of TV. The movie was a hit but it didn’t start a trend—sure there were movies based on TV shows after the show ends but this was akin to The Sopranos or Breaking Bad releasing theatrical movies in the middle of their respective runs; it hasn’t happened like this before or since. The X-Files movie holds a special place in pop culture, but most importantly it’s the catalyst for my love of many of my favorite things. The summer of 1998 was the height of that, and like that teaser trailer told us, we must cherish the past.