The X-Files Season 11: 10 Things We Learned From Plus One
7. The Series Is Now As Much From Scully's Perspective As Mulder's
One of the more interesting aspects of the revived X-Files has been how the show has changed focus, albeit subtly. Perhaps not even consciously. In the original run, Dana Scully was a scientist/medical doctor assigned to debunk Fox Mulder's work on The X-Files.
It's all laid out in the pilot. Scully soon saw the importance of his work, and joined his search for the truth — while remaining a healthy skeptic. It made the character compelling. Yet despite her obvious importance to the show, the series was more often than not Mulder's story. Not that Scully wasn't half that, but rather, the truth was witnessed through Mulder's eyes. Think back to the first X-Files movie. Mulder sees a massive alien craft lift out of Antarctic ice, while Scully passes out. Through the years Mulder chased after his sister. Mulder struggled with the death of his dad, the loss of his mother, and the reality that the Smoking Man was his real father.
Scully's losses mostly came as subplots.
Not so now. Since the show returned, Scully has been front and center. There's a lot more equality in terms of perspective, and that's a good thing. We've dealt with Scully's yearning for her lost son, and in Plus One, we discover her uncertainty about the future. "What happens when we get old?" she asks Mulder. She worries that he'll find someone else, that they won't spend time together.
It's the most poignant scene of the episode, and it's important, because now, we're seeing things more from Scully's side.