ChiggyvonRichthofen wrote:To me, Mulder's theories are no worse than technobabble. The difference is that Trek's science purports to be rationalistic and scientific, while Mulder's theories are based on the paranormal. If anything I'd be quicker to excuse The X-Files- Mulder's theories are supposed to sound a little crazy (Seven of Nine sounds a bit like Mulder in the episode Conspiracy), since they are based on gobbledygook in the first place. Chuck calls out Trek's mumbo jumbo too, but to me the conspiracy theory stuff is treated differently even though its only superficially different from technobabble. In this case some of the background details weren't even that far off.
It's more than that though- The X-Files is all about drawing on old legends and mythologies and creating modern ones that reflect modern society. Harping on this or that not being factually correct is missing the point in a lot of cases.
It's hard to characterize The X-Files in just one way, since flexibility might be the show's greatest strength. I agree that the second X-Files movie has already aged rather badly, as has some of the technophobic episodes early in the show's run. But the show dealt with a huge number of themes and idea, beyond just paranoia (which is hardly dead). Some of the evaluation of American culture is still worthwhile. A lot of episodes do have timeless messages, in my opinion, that deal with philosophical concepts at their core.
The difference, I think, is that a lot of X-Files episodes don't hold up under scrutiny. A lot of Trek episodes don't hold up either, but they're dealing with a made up one-off culture, that can be thrown away once the credits come. Most of X-files draws from real life, and more often than not, usually 9 out of 10 times, Mulder is right. We almost never see cases wherein it's a con artist trying to attract tourists, or something easily explainable by the evidence. Whether it's Native Americans, computers, Haitians, postal workers, homosexuals, military members, the mentally ill, etc., they all receive a bad turn from an episode, labeling them as freaks of nature. Trek mostly doesn't do that, and when it does, Chuck makes sure to drag them over the coals for it. ( "Code of Honor", "Tattoo")
The show also has a narrative trap. Mulder, while proven right by the circumstances of the episode, never has Mulder and Scully actually close a majority of their cases. Like in 'Our Town', Mulder and Scully just sort of walk away from the problem. They almost never stay around to make sure things are set right, close a case, or save lives. As Chuck has noted, a lot of the time, in order for the plot to continue, Mulder and Scully have to act more like the Scooby Gang than actual cops. How many times have they left people to die, so that the easily killed monster, creature, ghost, etc. can ensure that nothing of consequence happens from this X-file.
If they actually did, Mulder would have all sorts of actual evidence from an episode, and in-universe, he would seem more credible. Instead, Mulder is such an incompetent boob, that once he gets bored with a case, he leaves the problem, allowing more deaths to happen. We rarely see Picard and company getting involved with an anomaly of the week, finding out that it's going to kill some people, and go "Well, now that we have a general idea of what's going on, but people are still in danger. Oh well, not my problem. It's time to head out. Set course for Starbase 19." The X-Files does this all the time, so that they can have their "The End, OR IS IT?" endings before the credits.
If you're watching it casually, once a week, that can seem satisfying. If you watch it regularly, or with a more analytical mindset, you start to wonder if Mulder really wants proof of the paranormal, or if he is politically connected, and has job security, no matter how incompetent he is.
Summing it up, the X-Files generally operates more on Horror Movie logic, in which people do stupid things to keep the plot going, no matter how little sense it makes, and once the protagonists are out of immediate danger, the story is considered over. That's a little hard to swallow on a constant basis, especially in a show that operates as a mystery on a weekly basis.
