"SKumm’s Thoughts"
X-FILES - Week VIII
“The X Files” (FOX, 1993, 9 Seasons)
Why Mulder Went Bye-bye
The end of season seven was the mother of all cliffhangers.
Mulder is abducted, Scully is pregnant, “dogs and cats,
living together! MASS HYSTERIA!!” But you could feel the set-up happening
throughout that season; with the tone of the show, how that season began, and
how it proceeded, was all about a change of the guard.
Think about it:
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson had been at it for seven years
straight. Plus a freakin’ movie! So when Duchovny entered contract
negotiations, the future of the show wasn’t so much in question as HIS future
on the show was. Chris Carter,
benevolent demi-God that he is, realized that Mulder’s character was starting
to fray a bit. There were too many
plots afloat by this juncture to end his role as lead on the show suddenly,
which would leave too many unanswered questions. The fans would have jumped ship—many of them did during season
eight anyways. Make major changes to a
show which features the best chemistry between two leads, and you are bound to
lose a few viewers.
Remember what happened to “Moonlighting”? “Cheers”?
At least those leads got to get it on before the demise of the shows,
even if that is what caused them to fail…
The big differences, besides Scully getting a new partner
before slowly being written out of the show herself, are these: during the main
titles, Duchovny’s name only appears during the episodes he is in, which was
roughly half of that season’s shows.
Scully has taken over the role of believer, and her new partner, John
Doggett, is the skeptical one. Anderson
does an excellent job making the transition believable. Half the time, she seems lost without
Mulder, and the look on her face when she is struggling with a plausible yet
fantastical explanation is a wonderful touch.
So the seventh season was an end of times move, and season
eight had the audacious task of transitioning to a new beginning (the ninth and
final season). Carter took the entirety
of the seventh to work Mulder out, and all of the eighth to try and get you
used to the changes. Carter never lost
his vision, but losing his leads would mean the death knell of a beloved show
that broke barriers and boundaries, and provided years of entertainment for a
voracious fan-base.
(Next week: Season Eight)
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