The X-Files was a landmark television show. I don’t think anyone can deny that. It spawned two movies and more than one imitator (*cough* Fringe *cough*). When it comes to MacGuffins and how the show dealt with it, I think that The X-Files is a really interesting case.
Last week, I discussed Twin Peaks, and how their MacGuffin got the better of them. To me, it seems like The X-Files improved their management a little over Twin Peaks, but they still had issues.
It’s hard, and I think unfair, to compare Twin Peaks to The X-Files. They are very different shows. The X-Files was a procedural, whereas Twin Peaks was a serial drama. For the most part every week of The X-Files featured a unique case, unless, of course, it was an episode that had to do with the shows ultimate MacGuffin: aliens and the government conspiracy.
In my opinion, the MacGuffin really got away from the writers over the run of the series. The deep mythology of the aliens and their invasion of the Earth, and the government’s conspiracy to keep the whole thing under wraps was overly complicated and convoluted. It was certainly intriguing for the first few seasons. I can remember watching the show and wanting nothing more than one more crumb of information or another appearance by the Cigarette Smoking Man.
Unfortunately the more information I got, the more confused I became. Were the aliens oil that crawled into people, like we saw on the show, or were they humanoid creatures with UFOs, like we saw in the movie? The sad truth is that by the time things became clear in the later seasons, a lot of people weren’t watching anymore. A lot of that had to do with the exit of David Duchovny and then Gillian Anderson, who really made the show what it was, but I have to think that some of it was frustration on the viewers’ parts.
You would think that being frustrated with the main mythology of the show would have me cursing the show as a viewer, but frankly, I am still a big advocate of the show (and I’m really excited that Jason is doing a virgin diary for it). The fact is that because the show was a procedural and didn’t lean on the complicated mythology to carry the plot every week, it ended up working in spite of itself. It just goes to show you that the MacGuffin really isn’t the end all and be all of a show. On the contrary, if the characters are interesting enough, the mythology really can take a back seat.
What was your take on the complicated mythology of The X-Files? Did you stick around until the end to get all the answers, or did you just read the wikipedia entry after the fact?
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Jun 29, 2009 @ 12:04 EST5EDT
I stuck around to the very end. You have to remember that the show was intended to end after season 7. The mythology up to the mid point of season 7, where the fate of Mulder’s sister was revealed, made perfect sense. Everything by that point had been answered. The show should have ended. And to be honest it really wasn’t that convoluted at all.
Now when the show continued for an eight season (and subsequently a ninth) the writers were forced to continue a story that had ended and strains were visible. I must say season eight was incredibley good and Chris Carter and co. managed to produce a coherent and interesting story for the continuation of the mythology. Unfortunately in season 9 the story went a bit off the rails and became quite boring but that unfortunately is the reality of television. Few shows have the luxury that Lost has been afforded to end the story when the writers see fit.
Basically the original mythology had come to a conclusion but FOX didn’t want to end their big cash cow. Chris Carter had a choice to either let someone else take over control of the show or try to keep it going. He did keep it going with mixed results. It was never really bad, but after 7 seasons with these characters we got real answers on how it all tied together. Then we got new characters and the plot had to include them and stretch it out longer than was probably good for the series.
I always hear, oh yeah The X-Files was great until the last couple of seasons. The show ended on a lower note than it could’ve if it had just ended with the conclusion of the Samantha abduction, alien invasion/colonization main plot threads.
That’s why I’m gad that the LOST creators kind of forced ABC to have an end point. They were starting to fill a bit in the third season. Jack’s tattoo is a great example. They had no specific time frame of when the show would end. Any plans they had for the story were very flexible with no cut off point. I think this has really created a more even flow to the series. Instead of really great episodes then weaker ones, they can lay the plot across the episodes out more evenly. No matter how it ends it won’t be quickly thrown together.