The X-Files has the distinction of being among the longest-running Sci-Fi shows of all time. When the show hit it didn’t take long for numerous fans to be swept up in it. I happened to catch the werewolf episode, “Shapes,” and was immediately hooked for life. There wasn’t really anything like X Files on TV when it came out. When was the last time in the 80's-early 90's you saw a prime-time show in which the heroes fought monsters? It was dark, edgy, mysterious, and gripping. It had a way of grabbing hold of the imagination and not letting go.

 

Going back and watching these early episodes again I’m reminded of exactly why it became so ragingly popular. This is fantastic stuff! Later episodes would become more comedically or dramatically driven, but the early episodes are almost purely suspense/thrillers. If Jaws made you afraid to swim in the ocean X Files would make you afraid to do pretty much anything.

 

There is no Smoking Man-lead conspiracy at this point. For that matter, there is no real continuous story line yet. These are individual stories told on a cohesive premise but on the whole not linear like later seasons (although retrospective viewing can make it feel more linear because of how it ultimately ties together).

 

Fox Mulder is a brilliant criminal profiler. He is obsessed with FBI’s oddest cases deemed “unsolvable” and filed under “X” to get them out of the way. His obsession stems from a belief that his sister was abducted by aliens and his hope that something in these strange files will guide him to the truth of what happened to her. Members of the FBI and govt. are unhappy with Mulder’s investigations but have been unable to prevent them. They recruit the scientifically-minded Dana Scully to watch over Mulder’s shoulder expecting her to be able to pick apart his investigations.

 

These men make two fatal flaws, one in assuming Scully will blindly follow orders rather than investigate with impeachable integrity and another in assuming, as Scully herself often does, that the things Mulder investigates can’t possibly be what he claims they are. Aliens, monsters, ghosts: these things aren’t real. Right?

 

David and Gillian instantly own Mulder and Scully in a way that made them irreplaceable from day 1. William Davis’ cigarette-smoking man is legendary. Mitch Pileggi’s Skinner endured so well that he became an increasingly large part of the show and is now almost as vital to it as Mulder and Scully themselves. The Lone Gunmen team became so popular they got their own series (sadly short-lived though it was). So right from the start many of the most loved characters are part of the series, though there are plenty more yet to come.

 

Production value certainly isn’t what it could be today, but the show looks terrific. The dark tones create a strong atmosphere unmatched by the majority of anything shown on TV. At the same time the show manages to deliver laugh-out-loud lines in perfect comic-relief tradition.

 

In total this is a well-crafted series that remains my absolute favorite TV show ever to air. The characters are memorable, the stories are gripping, the scares are scary, and the emotions are emotional. No other series has ever handled the paranormal with this level of grace and imagination.