No Ship

A Note from a Non-Shipper

By far, the most persistent question among X-Philes is whether Mulder and Scully should ever get together in... well, that way. The shipper argument is supported by reasons such as the perception that they're just too good for each other for it not to happen, that it's happened already and the involved parties just haven't realized it, and that it's the only reasonable direction in which the characters can go in order to avoid stagnation. Well, why don't I believe this?

First of all, the primary reason we watch is for the interaction between Scully and Mulder - true - but also for their interactions with paranormal phenomena and governmental conspirators. Once the two were to deepen their relationship into that particular area, it's inevitable that it becomes the focus of the show. Shippers say that this isn't so, but check the history. The two obvious examples are Moonlighting and Lois and Clark. Both started out as unique ways to rework old formulas and make them seem fresh. Once the two lead characters developed eyes for each other (due to demands from fans, by the way), however, they both lost their edge, and fans began to find other things to watch (and because viewership dropped off so drastically, one can only assume that a large part of that lost viewership included the very same people who were demanding that the couple get together in the first place). When Dave and Maddie or Lois and Clark were left with few things to do rather than make goo-goo eyes at each other, people tuned out because, in general, love stories are only of supreme importance to those involved. Once the novelty wears off, the viewer realizes that they're going to ease up in the types of activities in which they had been involved before - the very activities for which the viewer had started watching them in the first place. Shippers can say, "Maybe that's happened before with other shows, but it's not going to happen here." Maybe not, but I can't see anywhere else it could lead.

Consider Picket Fences. For three years, it was one of the best shows on television. Week after week, it found more unique and original ways to look at questions with which the U.S. (and many other parts of the world) were dealing, doing it within the microcosm of Rome, Wisconsin. Character development, which is crucial to any type of fiction, came from questions and issues as they confronted each of the characters. This was the stroke of genius that made the show great: we got into their personal lives without realizing it. Then, a new producer comes in and decides that the show needs to be character-driven, apparently not realizing that it already was. Suddenly, rather than dealing with questions that were confronting society in general, the characters were now dealing with their own psyches and how to spend the hours of their everyday lives. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself, it sounded an instant death knell for Picket Fences. Why? Because viewers were now getting the same thing there as they could on many another show. An emphasis on personal lives was added, but the show's distinctiveness was lost.

Do we really want The X-Files to become a show about a couple who hunt monsters and try to expose the truth? Lest we forget, we've already seen that, and it was called Dark Skies. Okay, so that's an unfair comparison. The main point here is that it's fine as it is for Mulder and Scully to have their relationship at its present level. If, however, the unresolved sexual tension begins to head toward a resolution, they will consequently become more involved with each other and less involved with the elements that hooked us on the show in the first place. Experience has shown that it's just a simple fact - it happens. First there's the novelty of the consumation having finally taken place. Where is there to go after that? They can still work together to track monsters and uncover conspiracies, but the edge of the paranoia is taken away, replaced by an expanding relationship that would probably be done better on other shows. The protest to this point is that a blossoming relationship doesn't have to interfere with the fundamental aspects of the show, but there's simply no way around it. It seems to me that the most logical conclusion to exploring this new relationship could only be an eventual decrease in Mulder's interest in what's been driving him for so long as well as in Scully's interest in scientific analysis of encountered phenomena - the two primary rooting interests of the show - as they found themselves getting more wrapped up in each other and the work taking a back seat to this new relationship.

I'll be the first to admit that maybe I'm wrong, and maybe the escalation of a relationship would only enhance the show. However, when I think about that possibility, I always think of the disastrous turn taken by Picket Fences a couple of years ago. Then I remember that The X-Files has finally found a mass audience using only the current situation between the characters (along with the help of a better time slot). Finally, taking all things into consideration, I think this is yet another example of a situation to which the old saying is perfectly applicable: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

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