172: A Goodly Length in Times Past

[thefourthvine]

Okay, so, um, before we get to the recs (and there are recs - I know! I'm as stunned as you are), I have a question. Sadly, these leads us into deeply contentious waters, and I seriously considered hiding this behind a cut tag, because I love Best Beloved and don't want her to be lynched. But I trust you guys

Comments

[thefourthvine]

I would say that Scully’s arc kicks up after her abduction at the beginning of season 2.

Good to know. To the best of my ability to understand it - it's, um, kind of hard to grasp specific issues with TV shows you know nothing about - BB is uncomfortable with Scully being the sidekick to Mulder's hero, with Scully being set up to be wrong all the time. She likes Scully too much to see her being put in that position again and again. So if that ends, that would be very good news for BB with respect to future seasons.

Uhm, yeah, BB should try to watch at least till Scully’s return without doubt the fourth season, which is in my opinion overall the best followed closely by season 5.

You seem to be the second vote for "it's all downhill after season five." Did something bad happen then? And you're also the second vote for seasons four and five being the best ones. So, okay, this is sounding like good news, because at this point, I think BB likes the characters a lot more than the show, and it sounds like the show will get better. Yay! And thank you!

[vaznetti]

BB is uncomfortable with Scully being the sidekick to Mulder's hero, with Scully being set up to be wrong all the time. She likes Scully too much to see her being put in that position again and again.

This irritated me as well, quite a lot, and I don't think it ever gets much better. The show pattern is almost always that Mulder's crazy theory turns out to be right, and Scully's scientific objections end up being misguided. But it's been a long time and I may be letting my grumpiness about this particular issue cloud my vision. It does certainly get a lot more personal for Scully after S2, and is worth BB watching a little more of, to see how she feels about it.

[astartexx]

I don’t think season 6 and 7 is too bad. Some answers actually make sense; others are entertaining enough that accepting them is like expanding your brain into a whole new level of Zen. But the move to LA shows in all the wrong places and hurts the atmosphere people got used to like puritybrown said. It lacks the dark X files vibe of bad lightning and constant rain, plus the final solution of Samantha’s abduction still makes me want to bleach my brain to get rid of the memories. BUT it’s in my opinion still better than most shows and easy watchable. What happens in S8 is something I can accept and at the end I felt like okay, this is it. This is the end of the show, I want to remember them happy for once and in a place that has some hope.

Needless to say, that I didn’t watch season 9 for years. I caved in earlier this year and bought the DVDs and besides watching the final, couldn’t work up the nerve for more. It’s too painful to lose the respect for characters you loved for years.

Anyway, I don’t think that ‘Mulder is always right’ hurts Scully’s character, because his ideas are so far out there that rolling your eyes is just too easy and understandable. They get to a point of taking it as sarcastic premise. She hears him out, pretends then they live in a normal world where science is more than a word and gets back to investigate the shit with open eyes.

The really work as a team and partners, which is one reason why watching Mulder cope without Scully during her abduction changes a lot of the dynamic in a good way. He gets more paranoid about her well-being, when she is back and her showing him his boundaries of over-protection is still a sight of beauty. Especially once the cancer arc kicks in. The quest for the truths becomes her very own for very personal reasons in S2 and 3 and this completely crushes the sidekick status. It’s not about Mulder, it’s about her life and they both depend equally on each other, it’s unhealthy, but wonderful to watch. Plus she saves his ass a lot more then the other way around.