That would turn it into Scooby Doo. In the end it always turns out to be done by some greedy prick trying to cover things up with mysticism.
My first thought
I just read a book that somewhat follows this kind of premise: A person believes in ghosts, and all these things happen, and, as the reader, I’m totally on board with it being ghosts. Then a new character enters, and gives logical explanations for everything, and the main character, and me, the reader, realize that, oh damn, it’s not ghosts at all. Except then it turns out it WAS ghosts, and the shit hits the fan.
It was a really fun read.
What’s the book called?
Tap for spoiler
The September House
I too am curious, even though now it sounds like the premise has been spoiled.
Yea, I didn’t know how to write about it without spoiling it 😩
Loses*
And belief*
Partly what made the TV series ‘Evil’ so good was that it was horror from a skeptical perspective.
That’s literally what happened in the reboot that came out a few years ago…
I would love this except the twist would be everything he gave up believing in turns out to be true
Every episode, Scully is “right”, but they show the comedic rush of the Illuminati-like group to patch up the cover-up as they’re being investigated.
It’s called Scooby Doo
Reverse Scooby doo
You mean X-Files is, right?
NO. Do NOT meddle with my X-Files just because you want to satisfy some selfish bullshit. Good DAY, sir.
I said good DAY
This idea but with MAGA instead of Mulder.
Haha, but the show sounds like a fun twist, but probably only good for 2-3 seasons. It’d get really hard to keep interest in a show like that for very long. I.e. the good place ending itself after 4 was perfect.
Perhaps more of a Miniseries. And the thing driving the plot would be not just the investigations but Mulders Struggle to rethink everything he belived in.
That’d work, 8-12 episodes of him on the rollercoaster, maybe even seeking therapy in the end. Scully babying him less and less as she gets more sick of his bullshit and stops pulling punches.
Plottwist in the finale: It turns out there really was a conspiracy after all. The alien Invasion happens unopposed while Scully is just annoyed and Mulder sits at home depressed and confused.
MUSH ROOM
“Swamp gas”
Maybe with one subplot coming up occasionally that simply cannot be explained rationally, which drives Scully mad.
I hear you but nah. We have more than enough “realistic” and “gritty” shows. The whimsy of X-files was what made it tick. Taking that away would just make it boring which is the worst possible outcome for such a show.
We don’t have nearly enough shows that promote healthy skepticism and the scientific method though.
True, but I feel the original X-files had that in droves with Scully and practically everyone else opposing Mulder at every turn. It took a damn long time for him to finally be vindicated, arguably until the movie.
Even in the movie they weren’t technically aliens. It was just ancient sapient black goo that was here long before we evolved.
Did it promote skepticism and science though? It showed them being applied, sure. In the end though, the show was always on Mulder’s side of the “truth”. Of course it also kind of said “Scully’s work is important” but it was always assumed that her view of any situation would ultimately be the wrong one. Her science-oriented methods break down when it comes to (in the broadest sense) “supernatural” phenomena - because they are, by definition even, outside science.
Her science-oriented methods break down when it comes to (in the broadest sense) “supernatural” phenomena - because they are, by definition even, outside science.
I only watched the first 2 or 3 seasons of The X-Files, so I there’s lots of episodes I haven’t seen, but this seems incorrect to me. Scully and Mulder were chasing unexplained phenomena, which are entirely within the realm of science. Humans tend to call things “supernatural” when we don’t know how to explain them (ghosts, monsters, aliens, etc), but those entities (in the context of The X-Files where they are actually real), once observed, can be subjected to the scientific method the same as anything else. Aliens and cryptids and such in The X-Files aren’t magic; it’s just extremely rare for humans to be able to observe and study them.
Counterpoint: there’s an episode where a genie kills a man by giving him a giant penis but not enough blood to fill it and keep his brain alive, then turns another person invisible. It’s a monster-of-the-week episode, but still. Definitely magic.
Belief*
Nah, go for the darker more realistic version. Mulder just goes further down the rabbit hole, ends up going full Qanon, and ends up being killed trying to storm the capital building.
Great 1st season arc. I would add, not killed. Arrested then pardoned, but not before befriending some right wing militia that swears they captured Bigfoot and are breeding and training him to make super soldiers.
