Nearly 23 years after its debut, ‘The X-Files’ is returning to television in a six-episode miniseries premiering Sunday. In preparation, I watched all 202 episodes (and two movies), and in this bingeing, I, like many ‘X-Files’ fans before me, fell in love with the show’s Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), a doctor recruited from med school to join the FBI.
The revival brings fans who watched the series as it aired from 1993 to 2002 back into the world of paranormal investigations, and opens the doors to fans like me who came to the series via Netflix (I wasn’t alive when it originally debuted). No matter which type of fan you are, the badassery of Scully is undeniable. She takes pride in her brains, masters running in heels and gets shit done. To list everything I learned from Scully, it would take another 202 hours, so instead, here’s three.
1. Don’t let anybody ‘baby’ you.
In the sixth season, Scully (as always) finds herself in a tricky situation. When a former Man-in-Black assumes Mulder’s (David Duchovny) identity and tries to seduce her, she quickly realizes what’s happening and puts him in his place; because she’s Scully. After he pleads with her and throws out pet names that Mulder would never dare utter, she sets him straight. ” ‘Baby’ me one more time and you’ll be peeing through a catheter.” The message sent to women (and men) everywhere is this: Nobody has the right to talk down to you.
2. It takes bravery to trust your beliefs.
Typically, Mulder is the believer and Scully is the skeptic. But Scully was raised a devout Catholic, and her faith was a hindrance to certain cases. While investigating a boy with stigmata, Scully is unsure if her religiosity or the evidence is driving her. Ultimately she trusts herself, saving the boy’s life. Watching as a college senior, seeing Scully trust her gut gave me the courage I needed going into such an uncertain and head-spinning year of my life. Scully made it okay to stand firm in what I want, even if it sometimes goes against the grain.
3. It’s okay to yell if it’ll get the job done.
In the opening scene of the 1998 movie “The X-Files: Fight the Future,” Scully has to evacuate a building. She faces a roadblock in the form of a hesitating security guard. Scully, in all of her red-headed, 5-foot-3 glory, bears down and demands that he “Pick up the phone and MAKE IT HAPPEN.” Oftentimes, women are taught that they need to be nice and agreeable and cute, but Scully wasted no time throwing that out the window, saving lives and gettin’ shit done. If you learn nothing else from Scully, learn this: Don’t be afraid to yell.
@shelbielbostedt | sbostedt@redeyechicago.com
![Most spring-blooming bulbs are now finished flowering. To ensure you will have a nice bulb show next spring, resist any temptation to cut back the foliage of bulb plants such as tulips and daffodils to tidy up the garden. “The plants need those leaves for at least several more weeks,” said Spencer Campbell, Plant Clinic manager at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. “This is the critical time when they are creating and storing their flowers for next year, and they need leaves to do it.” All bulb plants—including hyacinths, crocuses, and glory-of-the-snow, as well as daffodils and tulips—form a new […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/CTC-L-morton-homegarden-0509-01.jpg?w=481 "Most spring-blooming bulbs are now finished flowering. To ensure you will have a nice bulb show next spring, resist any temptation to cut back the foliage of bulb plants such as tulips and daffodils to tidy up the garden. “The plants need those leaves for at least several more weeks,” said Spencer Campbell, Plant Clinic manager at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. “This is the critical time when they are creating and storing their flowers for next year, and they need leaves to do it.” All bulb plants—including hyacinths, crocuses, and glory-of-the-snow, as well as daffodils and tulips—form a new […]")
