Wine and an X-Phile #X-525652
I'm nothing if not absurd and weird and unpredictable, especially with this blog, and starting today I’m going to be adding a new element to that will become a regular Friday thing. The date just worked out a little too well to start now and I just jumped at the chance. 28 years ago a show premiered that is very near and dear to my heart, and while I wasn’t around for the very start of it (being a 9-year-old), I did watch it from very early on. It is the single television series that has stayed with me for most of my life. One that I love dearly and have always saved a place for it even after all these years. September 10,1993 the first episode of The X-Files premiered on Fox.
I’ve wanted to do some sort of passion project with The X-Files for a really long time. Start a podcast or something, I just never sat down and did it. I think a bit of that was because of life and school, and over the past years my attention on the Asian entertainment world. Not just watching things, but starting this blog, and eventually starting the podcast. I focused my work elsewhere and kind of put this in the back of my head. The series never left, I just kind of gave up on doing something specific with it. But the world is all sorts of messed up right now, and I’m just as messed up and what perfect time to dive into something that’s just going to make me happy. Relive those days of being surrounded by the fandom and consuming the product, remembering bits and pieces that my brain has let go of cause I’m not a teenager watching them in a row. I’m an adult. When I saw that this year September 10th would be back on a Friday - the day that it premiered back in 1993 - I just knew that I had to do something.
Do you remember back when Geocities was a thing? Like mid/late-90’s? My first official website was an X-Files website. I remember very clearly sitting at the computer figuring out the layout of each page, and what was going where. My friend Michelle helping. I had a page that was titled YKYAXPW: You Know You’re An X-Phile When. I taped episodes, was active on message boards. I obsessively checked smartania.com/Church of X. I saved every magazine article that even slightly mentioned the show. I have a numbered Fossil watch still in it’s test tube display. I bought all the books, both the lexicons and the fictional works. I was there every Friday (and then Sunday) night religiously. Time stopped at 10:13 and 11:21.
X-Files was such a huge part of my life, and it still is. I’ve done re-watches in the past, so it isn’t something I have completely let go. I’m sure if you follow my Twitter or the podcast you’ve heard about me mention it. I was present for the last two season reboots, watching them as soon as they aired, have bought the books that have come out since then, and kept up with what Gillian and David were doing. It’s always just tucked away in my pocket and it’s now time to take it out. I haven’t properly sat down and watched the series in full in a number of years. The last time I really remember a dedicated full watch (with movies) was back in 2016 before the 10th season, and a proper re-watch has been a long time coming. Why not add another element to my watch by reviewing the episodes on the blog?
I’ll be starting reviews next week. One of the things that I personally like when I’m looking for X-Files content is a look at the series as a whole, and not confined to non-spoiler talk and observations. The reviews will focus on that. Obviously it’s been a while since I’ve done a re-watch so I won’t remember every connection, but I hope that the reviews will dive into what I remember: extra tid-bits, fun facts, how the episodes tie with later revelations on the mythology, and all the fun that is part of the lore both onscreen and off. While I loved the whole of The X-Files, what I loved most about being part of the fandom was those fun extra things and insight that was huge with the show. Chris Carter and the rest of producers and writers working on the show were really big on Easter Eggs, and there are loads of them that aren’t just one-offs and carry through the entire series.
While I intend to go pretty much in order, I might end up bouncing around. I made a specific page where I’ll keep things updated to see what episodes I’ve reviewed so far. I might also do other posts. I mentioned I have books, so I could do a review or maybe a top ten list. Mostly for fun, but also so I’m not tied to a review every week, especially since I’m still going to be working on my other posts for this blog. Which brings me to that point, I’m not changing this blog into a strictly X-Files blog. I’m still going to be doing a lot of the other things that I already do, just adding this as another thing. I know that it seems weird that I’m doing posts on Asian entertainment stuff…and then X-Files, but it’s the type of person I am, and I’ve always wanted the blog to reflect me more than anything else - and this is a part of me.
In a perfect world I’d go through all of the reviews by the time the show turns 30 in 2023. While a re-watch before that is entirely possible, I don’t think I can churn out reviews that fast and kind of don’t want to. So for now, this is a one episode a week (save the weeks I end up doing a non-review post) thing. It might change with how I’m feeling, or time commitments, but that’s my plan for right now.
So, if you are already a reader of the blog, I hope maybe some of you are also fans of the show and will have fun with these. Or if you are a new reader who already has a love of the show and have stumbled upon this I hope that you have fun reliving The X-Files with me.
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