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Saturday Social Post
Hello, television viewers! Welcome to the weekend!
Feel free to talk about any TV-topic you want, below is an optional texty to use.
I ran across this from tvline.com: Summer TV Calendar: 90+ Premiere and Finale Dates to Save for June/July
I think it's more updated than the one I ran across a couple weeks ago. *ahem*
Name
What TV have you been watching?
Anything coming back in June that you're excited for?
Any renewals or cancelations that you found surprising?
What I didn't like about The X-Files season ten - SPOILERS
Thank you for asking. I appreciate being given the opportunity to clarify my thoughts and clear my head. However, I don't want to upset you, or anyone else who feels differently, but this is going to be harsh. (Also, there are spoilers for the entire series.)
EDIT: Sorry if that made me sound like a pompous idiot. I probably take this stuff way too seriously for my own good.
1. I didn't even ship them--well, maybe I was a secret End-Shipper--but Chris Carter's lame excuse for separating Mulder and Scully was unacceptable. He wanted us to believe that Scully left Mulder because he was depressed and obsessed with his work? Really? Really? After everything they had been through together, I can't imagine her leaving him for something that--shallow.
2. As Mulder and Scully, Duchovny and Anderson had no chemistry. They had plenty of chemistry off-screen, when they were doing promos together, but once the cameras were rolling, zip. Nada. Worse yet, I thought Gillian Anderson phoned it in. I never believed in her character, which broke my heart. Dana Scully is my favorite character of all time. Duchovny was a little better but without that chemistry, his performance fell short, too. I know they can still act when they care about the material: see Aquarius and The Fall. Also, they are too old to be field agents. It strains credibility. With a threat that serious, they should have been given a real division, not a two-person joke. They should have been supervising and directing a fleet of younger agents, trying to unravel the conspiracy, and save humanity. This was no time to be chasing after were-monsters.
3. The scripts were mediocre, at best. At worst, they were repugnant. All of these guys used to be able to write, so what happened? And why are there just the same old white dudes in the writers room? It's the twenty-first century, Chris. Let's see. The Islamaphobia in "Babylon." The transphobia in "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster." The heartless way Mulder and Scully reacted to those suffering children in "Founder's Mutation." The way Carter turned Dana Scully, whose scientific rationalism defined her character, into a vaccine denier in "My Struggle, Part II" made me furious. In the final episode, Mulder and Scully spent less than five minutes together--yes, I timed it. I could have done without all of the silly fan service and in-jokes, too. I can go on (and on and on...) but you'd probably rather I didn't.
4. The secondary characters. Let's start with William. I hated that Scully got pregnant in the first place. In fact, I hated that plot arc from beginning to end. I did not need that character to return to torture Scully again. The CSM was burnt to a crisp in "The Truth" and should have stayed dead. Since you mentioned Krycek, Carter could have brought back him, if he wanted to resurrect a villain. Carter turned Monica Reyes into a traitor and a coward. He made the Lone Gunmen into a stupid joke. He gave Skinner next to nothing to say or do. If you're going to bring back characters, use them well, for pete's sake.
5. Last but by no means least, I absolutely despised the way CC swept away nine years and two movies of established canon. I get that the old canon got convoluted and hard to understand. He could have fixed it. There are fic writers who managed it--and they did it for free! Having the cliffhanger be The End of the World As We Know It was a big deal. I don't think Carter understands the magnitude of what he did, and I don't trust that he can fix the mess he made.
As far as I am concerned, season ten isn't canon at all. It is Chris Carter's craptastic AU for The X-Files. I was/am as passionate a fan of The X-Files as anyone currently in or out of the fandom. Over the years, I've written thousands of words of fic and helped run a half dozen communities. It gives me no pleasure to say this, but unless Chris Carter retires as a scriptwriter, season eleven is a no-go for me. I will stick to reading prufrock's love and amalnahurriyeh and leiascully and kiss me goodbye, and the many, many other wonderful writers, new and old, in our fandom.
Re: What I didn't like about The X-Files season ten - SPOILERS
I can only say - I wasn't really a fan of the series when it was on, I watched it after, and mostly I watched it as a conduit for Krycek (ops, my bad). In that sense, my knowledge and appreciation of the series is nowhere near yours :)
I always thought that making them a couple was a mistake (I hated it, and hated the baby storyline too). That said, they being separated now, not for lack of affection because that is still there, but becase it is hard to live with a depressed man...that I do accept and take in my stride, simply because I have been there and done that. And I like them better separated, so that works for me :)
And yes, I absolutely see your points re: SM being burned to a crisp! (I think Krycek could come back because he may have been cloned or something).
For a long time invested fan such as yourself, those are all valid points. I'm sorry it disappointed you :(
I do think, however, that fanfiction has spoiled many of us - there are amazing fanfiction writers capable of giving us 'verses better than the original - in that sense, I think most or all sequels will disappoint us, and the original creators are, after all, only human and not 'fans' :)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!