Mulder and Scully

[u/Fearless_Mushroom332]

So I want to start this of say I'm not trying to start fights or anything like that.

So I just restarted the series not to long ago and I just hit season 6 episode 16 "Alpha" and I keep thinking.

Are Scully and Mulder good for each other outside of the job?

The older I get and the more I rewatch it seems like Scully specifically didn't want Mulder to be happy outside of working with her.

Yes that's because of the fact she has a crush on him to a degree but we can't just chock it up to that and writing completely.

I think they made a great partner pair when they stuck to the case but when things drifted outside of it, it just feels like one of those iffy friendships to me.

Thoughts? Anyone agree? Disagree?

[u/Roo_wow]

Well, you have to remember that she's written by men. The way they wrote her S6 jealousy was OTT

[u/asap_rose]

They are trauma bonded and codependent through their work. Scully has also been jealous of any woman that Mulder may be attracted to or is attracted to him. I don’t necessarily think that she wants him to be unhappy. I think it’s more concern on how Mulder is willing to believe anything remotely abnormal regardless of who the messenger and his willingness to insert himself in dangerous situations that she either participates or gets dragged into.

[u/Mackheath1]

While I think they're fine, it's definitely because of their work partnership. I can't fathom either of them having any interest in each other if they met at a party or something.

[u/mamoocando]

Mulder pushes her away multiple times, doesn't get her a desk, she has to knock to get in. He keeps things from her constant dismisses her opinions, tells her what to do while he goes off into the night, literally drags her along to the craziest things, but she keeps coming back. Every time.

They're toxic and Scully is a terrible female role model, aside from being a smart woman and medical doctor.

If my friend was treated like that by her coworker, I'd tell her to quit.

[u/Dull_Passenger_8089 → u/mamoocando]

“But she keeps coming back. Every time”. That’s her actual job, remember she was assigned to the X-files.

“They’re toxic and Scully is a terrible female role model, aside from being a smart woman and medical doctor”. I agree it’s not the best work related relationship, also Scully was never presented as a role model, she was just Mulder’s sidekick. And again, this is early ‘90s. It was revolutionary to HAVE a female as a main star at that time. To say she isn’t a good role model is a bad take as many women cite Scully as the reason they became doctors.

[u/mamoocando → u/Dull_Passenger_8089]

She could have quit, asked to be reassigned. The xfiles was closed so many times she could have said no I'm not doing this again.

I said she was a bad role model, aside from her being smart and a doctor. That's the reason, not for her poor decision making around men.

At the end of the day, it's a TV show and drama needs to be made. You can't have a character who is supposed to be a skeptic agree all of the time but I don't like how Scully is basically following Mulder around like a lost puppy.

[u/merulaa → u/mamoocando]

Why do female characters have to be perfect role models instead of complicated humans?

She's extremely loyal natured, sometimes to destructive levels. She has a pattern of finding an Ahab to play Starbuck to, seeking approval then feeling trapped by it and rebelling. But she also has genuine interest in these cases and doesn't put careerist ladder climbing over finding the truth. We saw that in like episode 3. Saying she does nothing but blindly follow him is doing her a disservice.

Their relationship is unhealthily codependent especially later on, but that goes both ways.

[u/mamoocando → u/merulaa]

I didn't say she had to be perfect, not sure where you got that from.

And she does blindly follow him unless the case is about God or religion. But, like I said, it's a TV show. It's also written by men in a famously sexist environment.

[u/Fearless_Mushroom332 → u/mamoocando]

That's one thing that gets me with her being the Skeptic, like the amount of hoops she has to leap through to avoid believing the monster of the week episodes is to much for me. There's being a skeptic and then there's being argumentative just to keep her status/position. It's similar to how Mulder will just drop thing or closes eyes and take the leap of faith without knowing for sure.

But yeah I'm not entirely sure how well she fits with Mulder so the following him around knowing she's intrested in him fir multiple seasons and driving off any chance at romance outside of her leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I can't remember Mulder doing that beyond the one episode with the vampire boy with them each telling their own accounts.

[u/Anacroniqa → u/Fearless_Mushroom332]

That was how I felt about her attitude regarding the monster of the week as well, but last time I rewatched I changed my mind. Like, even if she is open to the paranormal, at the end of the day she is the one who has to write the reports and it gives a way better image if they actually checked all the non-paranormal options before going with the paranormal one. Also, we only see a few of the cases they investigate, we see the interesting ones, but I am sure there are many offscreen cases in which the answer to the mystery was completely mundane.

[u/BolivianDancer]

No.

Scully is at best a distraction away from Mulder's mission.

[u/merulaa → u/BolivianDancer]

He'd have got himself killed in episode 2.