Scully's skepticism is pretty rational

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

This was a pretty fun topic now and again.

I first heard it from my dad when the show was on, and I can't remember ever seeing him watch the show. Then I heard it more and more, and just kind of assumed it was true. When I actually watched the show though I never got the impression.

The saying goes that Scully's rationality is questioned when she persists not to believe that what's going on is Aliens per se. After all she sees, how could she not? But having watched the show again in the past I never see her really dismiss her experience or anything; it's more of a matter of her mining facts from mulder that she can put into her report. That was her principal function in the X-Files division, and quite frankly Mulder was always just guessing at what the phenomena is throughout the episode like lol. I mean it's not even close as to be a credible report from him.

[ChiggyvonRichthofen]

The great thing about Scully is that by all rights she should be a stick in the mud from the audience's perspective. Audiences tend to dislike characters who get in the way of the main protagonist doing what he wants to do, particularly when it's a female. Even great shows have to deal with this. Characters like Carmela Soprano or Skylar White were meant to be sympathetic, at least relative to their husbands, but people ended up rooting against them.

Scully managed to stay likeable and keep people on her side even when she was the naysayer who was wrong almost every week.

[Riedquat]

Scully managed to stay likeable and keep people on her side even when she was the naysayer who was wrong almost every week.

Possibly because she was still willing to go through a lot of pretty grim stuff to help Mulder regardless.

[Fianna]

Outside of the mythology episodes, The X-Files encourages you to view each episode as a standalone unit, unrelated to all the episodes that come before or after. And within the context of a specific episode, Scully is the one actually taking a methodical and realistic approach to the problem, doing a lot of the hard work to figure out what's going on, while Mulder leaps to wild supposition after wild supposition.

It's just that, if you look at all the episodes together, Scully's skepticism becomes a bit irrational and head-in-the-sandy. Like, after your eighth or ninth tussle with a mutant who consumes a specific part of the human body, that should maybe be on your list of possible motives the next time a bunch of people turn up dead with a specific part of their body removed.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Outside of the mythology episodes, The X-Files encourages you to view each episode as a standalone unit, unrelated to all the episodes that come before or after. And within the context of a specific episode, Scully is the one actually taking a methodical and realistic approach to the problem, doing a lot of the hard work to figure out what's going on, while Mulder leaps to wild supposition after wild supposition.

It's just that, if you look at all the episodes together, Scully's skepticism becomes a bit irrational and head-in-the-sandy. Like, after your eighth or ninth tussle with a mutant who consumes a specific part of the human body, that should maybe be on your list of possible motives the next time a bunch of people turn up dead with a specific part of their body removed.

Nah man I think she was alright.

[Beastro]

She comes off as a contrarian to me often, especially when it comes to that part of an episode where they lay things out and its her turn counter Mulder's points. Often by the time that comes up there enough to be fairly open minded over, and she still does it.

With that said what makes her likable I find is that when finally pushed near the end she drops that without fully conceding.

Outside of the mythology episodes, The X-Files encourages you to view each episode as a standalone unit, unrelated to all the episodes that come before or after.

I wouldn't say that. The X-Files is from the older era of TV shows going back to the 50s that operated more on an archetypal level. Episodes weren't meant to be viewed as existing in bubbles, especially when it comes to the picky continuity shows have had that goes back even as far as back then.

The point to that style is to express the gist of what the show intends that possesses a level of incoherence kind of like a dream while being more structured than your average dream.

The more time goes on, the more I prefer this style. It allows the ideas and themes episodes wish to express more room to take center stage rather than the continuity hobbling each individual episode forcing the overall season to shoulder things.

IMO, the best balance was in the early trend setters of the modern style like B5 where they were a balance of the two.

[CharlesPhipps]

There's a subtle level of Fridge Brilliance (See TV tropes) that rarely gets addressed by fans, that is actually why Scully is likable. Specifically, the fact that Scully is right to question Mulder and usually correct-ISH. You see, at the start of things Mulder is almost invariably wrong. It IS something supernatural but it's usually far from what he thinks.

====

Mulder: We need to go investigate these cattle mutiliations, Scully! They're undoubtedly related to UFOS.

Scully: Mulder, that's ridiculous. Why would Aliens do that?

*later*

Mulder: Wow, it was vampires all along!

Scully: Ugh.

[Mecha82]

Scully's skepticism did create interesting dynamic between her and Mulder. Or at least that was impression that I got from episodes that I did watch. Mind you I rarely watched X-Files and only if it happened to be on so I didn't actively watch it so my impression is based on those limited number of episodes that I did watch.

[Zargon]

I never saw her that way. She is not a "My science is right and is the only science" type, she is more of the "Show me the science, and I'll accept it."

She does "see" a lot....but at least half of what she saw was faked by someone hiding something as part of a cover up. And what little ''real" things she does see, she has to just take them at face value with no evidence or science to back up.

She, and us viewers, never really get the hard proof.....just the "well, there might be something"......

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Very well put. It's a complex that develops over time; her understanding develops but they never quite get a grip by the design of the show. And I just don't really see it jump the shark with it, for the first so many seasons at least.

Really though the monster of the week episodes are all different phenomena. It's really great if Mulder is right, but even when he is, there's very limited exposure that doesn't give you enough to build upon. Scientifically you need more experience to be able to make any use of the first discovery.