...a story of enduring romance....
The words "X-Files" and "romance" don't often appear in the same sentence when you're speaking to anyone who's not a Shipper. (And just how many of those are left, anyway? Almost everyone I've talked to recently agrees that they're an obvious and "right" couple even if they were a fan of a different relationship.)
XF did it differently. Sure, we were teased in the beginning in the way any series does: put your good looking male and female leads in close situations and there's bound to be chemistry. On XF, we had enough chemistry to blow up a hundred science labs - each episode.
Yet Chris Carter was adamant that Mulder and Scully would maintain a professional working relationship and would never lock lips.
To his credit, he almost followed through. And to his even greater credit, he didn't.
To be honest, I only began watching XF because I'd heard that this was a great relationship. Looking back, how empty and trite some of those season 1 moments seem. "If there's an iced tea in that bag, it could be love." A line that was quoted a thousand times, but knowing what we know now, this line was nothing but a harmless flirtation. Mulder and Scully of the early years had chemistry, they sparkled together, but they weren't in love.
Love for this couple came slowly, subtly. It's probably the most drawn out relationship I've ever seen on screen. 7 years. 7 FREAKIN' YEARS to realise and accept that you're in love with someone!
Yet that only makes it more natural. If Mulder and Scully had kissed in season 1 or 2, the impact of now would have been so much diminished. The impact of them able to kiss each other, to face the truth, would never have had more power.
M&S are two extremely dysfunctional people when it comes to love and romance. It seems that each of them is either psychologically scarred from the past (Mulder?) or incapable of allowing themselves to love (Scully). And there are real people like Scully - extremely successful in their careers, personable, close to their families etc - who just don't see a place in their lives for love. It seems she was scared of ever forming a deep relationship (possibly by past hurts) but in the end, she realised that she had already formed this kind of relationship with someone, just not accepted it.
Or did she?
One thing that's extremely interesting to note is that throughout The X-Files, and the three kisses we've seen ("Triangle", "Millennium" and "Existence" any good shipper should be able to instantly name these episodes!), Mulder was always the initiator. He was the first one to say "I love you". He took her hand at the start, he kissed her on the forehead many times before she felt comfortable to repeat the action to him.
Of course, Scully's behaviour during Season 8 spoke volumes about her true feelings. It was magic to watch, especially for the angst-junkies. Lonely Scully wandering through the desert, searching. Scully the incredibly strong actually crying as she tried to see things through Mulder's eyes. Scully losing it after Mulder's body was found. Skinner and Doggett treating her as if she were fragile when it came to the topic of Mulder - because she was. Her actions tell so clearly that she loved Mulder above everything else, including her own reputation/image which was previously so important to her.
And remember, this is XF, the master of understatement.
Some fans were upset with the final moments of "Existence". Others found that they just didn't care anymore. (And the new Scully/Doggett shippers weren't too happy at all.) The most common cry is that it was too 'inappropriate', that this kind of moment should have happened a long time ago or not at all.
As I've said earlier, M&S have big problems with love. But that's not the primary reason I love this scene so much. Why I love it is because of their acknowledgement of the relationship. It's said, as explicitly as XF will ever be (the show is the master of understatement), that the truth they've both been scared of is admitting that they love each other. After all they've been through, the "truth" as Mulder first defined it no longer matters. He found his true truth in Scully.
As for the argument that this scene should have happened a long time ago - look at The X-Files as a show. It's not about relationships and it never has been. What we've been offered are tantalising glimpses and no more. In the opinion of many, and what's strongly suggested by the show itself, is that Mulder and Scully began the intimate side of their relationship during Season 7 (the infamous "All Things"). From that point on, there seemed a new closeness between them, nothing that definitive, but ever present. With hindsight (William!) we can confirm this relationship. (Most believe that William is Mulder's, because XF has been explicit as it ever will be on the topic.)
Of course, Mulder's disappearance and subsequent difficulty at re-integrating himself into life, put their relationship back quite a way. Scully didn't know where she stood with him; Mulder probably didn't know what he wanted or where he stood with her. But soon, the deep friendship and love (romantic or not) re-established itself. You only have to look at her utter devotion to his cause to see that Scully never let go.
And so...we had the scene that Shippers never, ever dreamed they'd see. Honestly, if you'd told me even one year ago that Mulder's final scene on The X-Files would be kissing Scully while holding "their" child, I would never have believed it. It just wasn't XF-ish enough and I couldn't believe that CC would be so nice to us. Now he's joined my "list" of writers/producers capable of doing true and beautiful romance (the only other entry is jms, who did it with several couples). What makes it so great is that neither Mulder nor Scully were plagued with the "babe of the week/month" syndrome which would have destroyed the credibility of their loving friendship.
It was years of subtle flirtation leading into deep friendship, platonic love, and finally romantic love.
We have a lot to rejoice over.
8 years, friends. 8 years and we were finally vindicated.
Kudos to Chris Carter!
Analysis by Nic, May 2001 (stardestiny@bigfoot.com)
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