By
Pike on
Thursday July 18, 2024 04:32 pm
As Ryan Coogler is currently working on his reboot of The X-Files for Disney with "a diverse cast", I'm thinking: let's have a thought about how to reboot The X-Files and list the lessons learned from the event series .
1. MYTHOLOGY & MOTW
When season 10 was announced, I thought that the limited-series would focus on one single story, spread out on six episodes. Imagine an abduction of a young woman and Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigating in a Canadian forest, with cliffhangers at the end of each episode, etc. Something a bit more resembling the return of Twin peaks, although less... spooky.
That seemed more logical to me than continuing with the classic recipe of the show, being a mix of mythological and monster-of-the-week episodes.
I would have preferred being wrong, but the event series told me how much I was right. The mythology didn't just fail, it was a complete and utter disaster. The
My Struggle tetralogy (I, II, III & IV) was a complete embarrassment. Instead of creating a new and interesting mythology, Chris Carter reused the same dead old and overused storylines:
- The CSM back from the dead, as already seen in
The End (5x20) and
The Truth (9x19-20).
- The CSM dying, as already seen in
Redux II (5x02),
Requiem (7x22) and
The Truth (9x19-20).
- Scully getting pregnant, as already seen in
Requiem (7x22).
- Introducing a new duo (Agents Miller & Einstein), as already seen in season 8 (Agents Doggett & Reyes).
Not only that, but the original ideas were equally as bad:
- The infamous Mulder & Tad O'Malley conspiracy theory, which made absolutely no sense and was just plain stupid.
- The CSM revealing years later that he medically raped Scully.
- The CSM being called Bush.
- Mulder just randomly killing folks (My Struggle IV).
- Scully suddenly not caring about her own child!?
I could go on, but I'm sure many of you will agree that the mythology of the series is dead and buried, and that any new tentative to resuscitate it will actually make it even worse ??yes,
The Truth is a masterpiece compared to
My Struggle IV.
2. CHRIS CARTER MUST GO
As much as it hurts me to say, Chris Carter is
the author of the worst episodes of seasons 10 and 11. Not only that, but every single episode he wrote was awfully bad. Plain terrible. Therefore, it seems evidently clear to me that any reboot of
The X-Files must absolutely be done without his involvement. Please, do not even give him a small producing role. Nothing. Chris Carter has entirely and forever and ever lost the plot of his own creation and had more than enough opportunities to prove that he could turn things around. He failed and failed and failed and failed again so many times that I am convinced we need to move on and let new writers coming up with their own vision of what the show could and should be. Or simply let Glen Morgan & James Wong taking over, their stance on the reboot was ??for the most part ??excellent.
That's literally what Gillian Anderson said as well. Time for a quote:
"It's so funny because for most of my life since I finished The X-Files, every interview I do, people have asked, and the answer has always been: 'Nope, not going to happen'. Now, Ryan Coogler, who's the director of Black Panther, brilliant, brilliant director, has approached Chris Carter to say that he wants to do a take on it. And I cannot think of a better way around for a reboot to happen. I think he's a bit of a genius. Whether I'm involved in it is a whole other thing. But in his hands ? I'm not saying no ? because I think (Coogler) is really cool, and I think if he did it, it would probably be done incredibly well, and maybe I'll pop in for a little somethin'-somethin'."
3. DAVID & GILLIAN ARE IRREPLACEABLE
In the first years of the series, Chris Carter used to say that the show would not live after a 5th season. His view was that after a while, the series would become bad and that it shouldn't continue for too long.
Later on, he changed his stance and said that the concept was so great that an infinite amount of seasons could be produced.
Then, he changed once more his view and said that, to him, The X-Files was Mulder and Scully. Period.
Ironically, as he was saying this, he still tried to introduce these two awful characters of Miller and... Einstein (sic!), which miserably failed, as we all know.
So, the question must be asked: could the show live on without Mulder and Scully?
What seems clear to me is that we cannot replace David & Gillian. David is Mulder and Gillian is Scully.
So, instead of replacing them, I think the show should focus on the next. And please, not a duo of agents, with one that lost a family member! My view is that seasons 8 and 9 failed to replace Duchovny and Anderson because the Doggett and Reyes duo tried to emulate the Mulder and Scully duo. But you cannot replace Mozart. That's not how it works.
When Miller and Einstein were introduced, they felt like a cheap version of the original. And what we want... is classic Coke, as Walter White would say.
So, instead of copying the M&S dynamic, we should come up with a new concept, still focused on The X-Files (that can stay), but different.
5. DIVERSE BUT WITH A STORY
This one might be political, so allow me to tell it how I feel and if you disagree, then that's fine.
My view is that Disney has recently released some content that was overly focused on being woke without truly focusing on the actual content, aka the story. I think that if the reboot of
The X-Files is mostly done in order to focus on a diverse cast, it will utterly fail. The motivation cannot be to solely create diverse characters without having a killer story.
NBC recently rebooted the sci-fi television series
Quantum Leap and introduced an Asian main character as well as a transgender as a recurring second character. You know what? It failed and the series is already cancelled. My personal opinion is that you cannot think that way and in such a blunt way. Nothing is more important than the story. I repeat: nothing.
Right from the pilot episode, The X-Files was sublime. Fox Mulder was inhabited by his search for his lost and beloved sister Samantha. Dana Scully was this strong woman that could both fight a monster as well as show her vulnerability. I don't care about the color of the skin of Mulder or Scully, nor of their sexuality.
That's why I actually feel uneasy by hearing about the reboot of The X-Files with "a diverse cast". I would prefer to replace diverse with awesome, regardless of anything.
6. PULP v DARK
Another very important aspect. I think that the reboot should be going back to the roots of The X-Files and have the storylines in an extremely realistic environment. I absolutely adore the first season, as the characters evolve in a city-like real environment. As much as the seasons evolved, the show became more and more pop slash pulp and science fiction took a too big of a place, according to me. Pilot, Deep Throat, Ice, Fallen Angel, Beyond the Sea, E.B.E., Darkness Falls, The Erlenmeyer Flask. There were no kiss, not a lot of smiles and the series was outstanding. That's also the quality of the first season of MillenniuM.
I would without any doubt choose a very dark tone for the Disney reboot. The anti-Babylon, if you catch my drift.
What do you think? I'd be interested to read your thoughts!
