#first time viewing

Watching this classic for the first time.......in my 20s.😅 Only seen a handle of episodes and duuuuuuuuude there's just something about the quality of each individual episode. But I guess due to shows being aired weekly, you'd HAVE to make the most of each episode.

I’ve finished watching Hannibal. And honestly idk how y’all survived that finale back in 2015. Goddamn.

Anyway, I took notes. Spoilers, obviously.

Is arguably the weirdest episode so far. I’m seeing people who are typically aliens, but they’re not in costume and I don’t know how to process it.

Yes it’s 2021 and I’ve finally finished a show I should have seen ages ago. Normally I might make a YouTube video with all my thoughts but I feel like doing something more immediate and since no one I know has seen it...here I go.

Going in nearly blind (besides knowing “Mulder’s the believer and Scully’s the skeptic” thank you ATS, Mulder/Scully is one of the quintessential ships of fandom history, and there was a reboot or something a couple years ago) I found myself rather hooked from the beginning. I enjoyed the practical effects, the seasons-long mysteries (though sometimes not knowing the answers got frustrating), and the way the show managed to stay fresh for its original 9 season run. It was definitely a well-crafted show with a good balance of monster of the week episodes (further divided into procedural monster of the week - your average monster/witch/freak of science killing random people - and character-based monster of the week - the haunted house on Christmas is the first episode that comes to mind) and lore/mythology building episodes (everything tying back to the alien conspiracy aka anything that said “Written by Chris Carter”)

I can see where the Mulder/Scully chatter has come from. I was definitely shipping them very early on, and not just in a “ooh they’re rivals so of course I’m gonna ship them” kind of way I was expecting going in. They are one of those examples of fictional soulmates, platonic, romantic, two people who are essential in the others’ lives. They are the epitome of “the best romances come from people who work well together”. Literally. They balance each other, even when sometimes the roles would get flipped. You need a logician and you need a believer in your search of The Truth. I also appreciated overall it seemed an equal balance between each of the pair getting “damseled”. It wasn’t Mulder saving Scully all the time (another thing I was kind of expecting). The one thing I’m still puzzling over is which one I would consider the one main protagonist, if I had to choose. My gut says Scully, she’s the audience insert brought into this fantastical world who grows to open her mind a little. But by the end, it’s Mulder who has all his questions answered, his purpose for coming to the X-files complete. Mostly. Pretty much. There’s always another conspiracy, though.

I will stand by my early observation that my absolute favorite parts of the show are Scully’s right arching eyebrow and Mulder’s inability to function like a normal human when she’s out of the office. I never thought I’d get emotional over pencils stuck to the ceiling but it happened.

And now a rundown of thoughts on all the main characters...

Mulder: Two things I said most often to the TV: “you cheeky little shit, you’re gonna get yourself killed” and “oh honey I want to give you a hug!” I also wish I had done a little more BTS research besides figuring out where and when to watch the 2 movies because that would have saved my two season litany of “he’s gotta come back, they wouldn’t kill one of the main characters off offscreen, he’s written and directed episodes, I would have heard at some point if he got fired, Chris Carter’s just pulling a conspiracy of his own, he’s fucking with the audience by pulling him off the credits, right right RIGHT?” and then I should have figured out the reboot was LITERALLY STILL THEM so that would have saved my The Truth litany of “well all his mysteries are solved so I guess his arc’s complete, it’s a supernatural show so I GUESS you can kill off one of the mains in the finale, but there’s too much build up to save him, I would have heard about it if it had THAT kind of ending, right right RIGHT?”

Scully: Two things I said most often to the TV: “Yes you go girl!” and “oh honey I want to give you a hug!” Gillian gets all the credit for wearing those fucking heels for that long and probably didn’t get paid enough for it (though I appreciated their little callout to it in the movie episode). I’m glad they only went to the mystical pregnancy well once, though the build-up was a little too heavy-handed. I can’t wait to rewatch and see the gradual development of her knowledge and understanding, so much so that by the time it becomes her and Doggett as the team, Scully is absolutely without question the “Mulder”.

I also would say, about both of them, that they need a vacation...which they did get...probably not the vacation I was hoping for them.

And now for many less thoughts about the rest:

Skinner: flip-flopped maybe a couple too many times for my liking. Wish we knew a little more about him. Definitely the first person to ship the two of them.

The Lone Gunmen:

AKA “ahh it’s my boys!” (me squealing every time I saw their actors’ names appear in the credits). Nice little extension of the team and interesting to see technology from “back then”. Loved how they used their stories as little breathers after really heavy two-parters. 

Frohike: adorable little grump who knows his kung fu

Langly: did he just choose not to cut his hair for 9 years or did they not let him?

Byers: marry me

Smoking Man: or whatever nickname you want to call him. Yes, I know they revealed his name but I’m not bothered to look it up now. The definition of “you aren’t dead in a supernatural show unless you die on screen” (though he goes and breaks that trope too because hey fan service!). Had me saying “ugh this bitch” every time he appeared on screen so I guess he got the job done.

Krycek: also had me saying “ugh this bitch” and I wish I didn’t learn his actor’s name so early on so I would be more surprised when he showed up in later seasons. I think he worked pretty well as a secondary bad guy and is another I’ll be watching more for in my rewatch.

Marita: grew more tired of her the longer she stayed on. Became less interesting when she was revealed to be in with the Syndicate. Nice to have another female character, though.

Jeffrey Spender: my catchphrase with him was “I wanna slap his little weasel face”. I figured out who he was before it was revealed, though that I blame on my ability to recognize actors...unless it was supposed to be an easy enough twist to figure out? (I guess the actor made enough of an impression in the “greatest hits of Smoking Man: America’s assassin” episode for them to want to keep him around). Did not like him one bit until Season 9. Then my thoughts were mainly “JEFF!? They’re entrusting the safety of William to JEFF!?”

William: okay the episode “William” was pretty much me saying “what the FUCK was that?” and I’m mad I didn’t figure out the Jeffrey twist that time. As for the character, kid deserves better. I was waiting for a Once Upon a Time style knock on the door “hey, I think you’re my mom” at some point but NOPE he had a purpose and they were sticking to it! The ambiguous powers (AKA which came first, this or Stranger Things 2?) were a little annoying, I suppose, but there wasn’t enough time, or interest, to explore it all. Also, pandemic? That sure hit differently to a viewer today than it would have a couple years ago holy shit.

Doggett: didn’t like him at first, which I guess you’re not supposed to, but then he turned into a big old teddy bear. Whatever happened to him? Dude deserved a shout-out in the reboot.

Reyes: loved her from the start, a different kind of “Mulder”. HATE what they did to her in the reboot. I thought she and Doggett were supposed to live happily ever after.

Is THE star so far.