‘The X-Files’ Pilot is Still Fresh 25 Years Later

I have the best notification ringtones in the world. There are two of them and both are Fox Mulder. One says, “Have you ever had the suspicion that you were abducted by aliens?” and the second says, “Don’t hate me ‘cause I’m beautiful.” Why do I share my fantastic ringtones with you? Because The X-Files in general (and Fox Mulder in particular) is an amazing thing; it was the perfect show then and now, it is celebrating a hefty 25 year anniversary of the first episode premiere.

Why do we love The X-Files so much? It’s just so damn lovable, and it’s the total package. The chemistry between Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny is so thick, you could cut it with a butter knife. It has humor, danger, conspiracies, a hot leading man, monsters and aliens! While the plot went downhill just slightly around seasons 6-9, it shot right back up for seasons 10 and 11. The X-Files had us hooked from the get go. It was that first episode that premiered on Fox on September 10, 1993 that started it all.

The pilot episode, aptly named Pilot, introduced us to Dana Scully, Fox Mulder and the Cigarette Smoking Man. It centered on Scully’s first investigation after being transferred to the X-files department to monitor and find the truth of Mulder’s wild theories on some strange unsolved cases. Mulder is the believer while Scully is the skeptic. They investigate a series of disappearances and deaths that Mulder thinks is the work of aliens. Scully, of course, thinks there has to be more to the story, since aliens aren’t real (that’s what you think), despite the strange goings on that happen during the investigation. The episode ends like many, with more questions than answers, but it left audiences with the seed of conspiracy and hungry for more, and we are still celebrating it 25 years later.

I will always fight for the fact that The X-Files is the perfect show. I can still remember, as a child, watching episodes from behind a pillow in the dark. The X-Files was an event in my house and, hell, it STILL is. Duchovny and Anderson are as wonderful as ever. Happy 25^th anniversary to the out of this world perfection that is The X-Files, and thank you for a quarter of a century of making us question the world around us and outer space above us… and also, for Fox Mulder.