la grande bellezza

I’m 1/4 into the fourth season of The X-Files. I don’t know if I’m just imagining it, but why does it seem like there’s a change in the dynamic between Mulder and Scully compared to the previous seasons? Mulder even acts like a slightly different version of himself (although I can see how this is peak hot Mulder — a bonafide hunk).

I understand that there seems to have been a deliberate creative choice to emphasize that the two are just platonic partners (see: The Field Where I Died), but it feels odd after the first three seasons, where the subliminal yearning/pining was so thick and palpable, you could reach into the TV screen and cut through it with a knife. Or maybe it was the portrayal by the actors? No idea.

The tension feels different. I kind of miss the soft look in Mulder’s eyes whenever he looked at Scully. In previous seasons you could believe that he was a lost puppy without her and that he’d descend to the circles of hell and kill Satan himself to bring her back if he had to. And you could believe that she was so devoted that she would sacrifice her life and career for him if it came down to it.

It’s so weird because the pilot episode is what I started out this rewatch with, and it’s still so clear in my mind. Those two were exactly like infatuated teenagers getting to know each other, and you could really see that they were going to find themselves falling in love someday and no one, not even the plot gods themselves, could do a damn thing about it. This season feels like light years away from what they initially were.

Finally have the time to watch the entirety of The X-Files starting with the pilot and in the first season they were really not subtle at all? Like how on earth could people possibly think they were meant to just be platonic co-workers? Even as a kid I thought they were married and rewatching this as an adult I realize it wasn’t even subtext or anything — those two wanted to bone so bad like damn it was right there.