When is the “Real” Anniversary of Mulder and Scully’s Partnership?
In The X-Files, March 6th marks the anniversary of when Dana Scully became partners with Fox Mulder.
While you can anticipate many commemorative tweets, you might notice a discrepancy when it comes to the year. Is it the 30th or 31st anniversary?
Find out in the following exploration 🔎
[As always, because of Tumblr’s photo limit on posts, this thread looks a lot better on Twitter]
The Pilot episode of "The X-Files" aired on September 10th, 1993 on the FOX Network, but it took a long time to get there.
Chris Carter first conceptualized the idea for the show in March 1992, and he began working on the first draft in September 1992 (Lowry, 16). The FOX Network ordered a script by November 1992 (Lowry, 13). The first draft of the script was submitted in December of that year. Further revisions – from which the shooting script was compiled – were made in March of 1993.
Principal photography took place over fourteen days in March 1993 (Lovece, 47). Post-production work on the episode was finished by May 1993, with the final version of the episode being assembled only three hours before its preview screening for FOX executives (Edwards, 37). With that, "The X-Files" was slated to join the 1993-1994 FOX Network lineup.
While many television shows are flexible with timelines, "The X-Files" tends to generally reflect real-world time. So with most production occurring in 1993, what's the problem?
According to research done by avid fans at Eat the Corn, Chris Carter set the "Pilot" in March 1992 to honor when he first conceived of the idea. A small ode to the birth of "The X-Files."
While a small detail, the 1992 v. 1993 debate has plagued fans every March for decades.
While the timestamps in the "Pilot" indicate 1992, there's a plethora of in-show, direct references to support that it's canon Mulder and Scully started working together in 1993.
In honor of Mulder and Scully, let me present you with the facts so you can make an informed decision
To begin, here is a screenshot from the "Pilot" that indicates 1992. Mulder and Scully met the day before they begin investigating the case, so they were partnered together and first introduced on March 6th.
While "Deep Throat" (1x02) doesn't reference a date, a timestamp in "Squeeze" (1x03) indicates 1993. You can also see/hear references to 1993 in "The Jersey Devil" (1x05), Shadows (1x06), "Ghost in the Machine" (1x07), "Ice" (1x08), "Eve" (1x11), and "Lazarus" (1x15).
This is a trend "The X-Files" typically follows. The first half of the series is generally set in the fall while the latter half is set in the spring, mirroring the traditional television schedule (barring finale/premiere two-parters and post-production changes in episode order).
Based on "The X-Files"’s tendency to reflect the year a given episode is airing, it can be presumed the "Pilot" is included in that (barring Carter's self-referential Easter egg).
While I recognize the hypocrisy of saying "don't believe this timestamp" by providing evidence of other timestamps, I hope to demonstrate that if you believe it's 1992 solely because it was shown in canon, there is an overwhelming amount of similar evidence to prove the contrary.
Additionally, if they met in 1992, that means there is a whole year of their partnership we never see.
Many of the lines in season one were written to highlight the newness of their relationship and would sound awkward coming from partners of over a year.
In seasons one and two, there aren't many allusions to the "Pilot" or Scully being assigned to The X-Files. However, as I'll demonstrate below, there are several references made in every season for the rest of the show's run that solidify 1993 as the correct date.
Keep in mind that "The X-Files" generally uses the year of the episode's airing as the in-show date, so while many of my examples will only have a Month/Day reference, we can assume from the airing year.
Syzygy (3x13)
Written By: Chris Carter
Airing Date: January 26th, 1996
SCULLY: Look, we’ve been working together for, what, two years now? We have different opinions, but I didn’t expect you to ditch me.
Evidence: Presuming the three-year mark is March 1996, this indicates 1993
Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
Written By: Glen Morgan
Airing Date: November 17th, 1996
While watching CSM's history, we see the moments leading up to his appearance in the "Pilot" wherein the 1992 appears on screen once more.
Evidence: 1992 Timestamp
This moment of Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man is the piece of evidence (often the only) that pro-1992 fans use to justify the 1992 date.
It could be said that, while writing his connections to the "Pilot", Glen Morgan rewatched the episode and used 1992 to keep continuity.
Tunguska (4x08) and Terma (4x09) - Same Dialogue
Written By: Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter
Airing Date: November 24th and December 1st, 1996
SCULLY: I left behind a career in medicine to become an FBI agent four years ago because I believed in this country.
Evidence: 1992
Tempus Fugit (4x17)
Written By: Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter
Airing Date: March 16th, 1997
SCULLY: Mulder... you have never remembered my birthday in the four years I've known you.
MULDER: [...] It's every four years, it's like dog years that way.
Evidence: 1993
It is valid to point out that this one could be discounted being that we know Scully's birthday is in February and they met in March -- meaning that they would've only been together for three of her birthdays.
However, her line is very explicitly "four years I've known you"
Elegy (4x22)
Written by: John Shiban
Aired: May 4th, 1997
MULDER: What is that look, Scully?
SCULLY: I would have thought that after three years you'd know exactly what that look was
MULDER: What, you don't believe in ghosts?
Evidence: ... 1994 (we can discount that one haha)
Gesthemane (4x24)
Written By: Chris Carter
Aired: May 18th, 1997
SCULLY: Four years ago, Section Chief Blevins assigned me to a project you all know as the X Files [...] I come here today, four years later...
Evidence: 1993
Redux I
Written By: Chris Carter
Aired: November 2nd, 1997
This episode has multiple
SCULLY: That would mean that for four years we've been nothing more than pawns in a game.
---
MULDER'S VO: In four years, I have shared my partner's passionate search for the truth.
-----
BLEVINS: Agent Scully. Please have a seat. Some time has past since you were first in this office.
SCULLY: Yes, sir. Four years.
Evidence: 1993
Redux II
Written by: Chris Carter
Aired: November 9th, 1997
This episode also has multiple
SCULLY: He's been in a position to know everything from the beginning, everything that we've done over the past four years.
----
MULDER: Four years ago, while working on an assignment outside the FBI mainstream, I was paired with Special Agent Dana Scully, who I believed was sent to spy on me.
Evidence: 1993
Patient X (5x13)
Written by: Chris Carter
Aired: March 2nd, 1998
Multiple references
WERBER: It's been some time.
MULDER: Almost five years.
-------
MULDER: I've had my head up my rear end for the last five years.
Evidence: 1993
The Red and The Black (5x14)
Written by: Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz
Aired: March 8th, 1998
Another episode with multiple.
SCULLY: Mulder, when I met you five years ago, you told me that your sister had been abducted ... by aliens.
----
SKINNER: Over the past five years I've doubted you, only to be persuaded by the power of your belief in extraterrestrial phenomena.
Evidence: 1993
Folie à Deux (5x19)
Written by: Vince Gilligan
Aired: May 10th, 1998
MULDER: Five years together, Scully. You must have seen this coming.
Evidence: 1993
The End (5x20)
Written by: Chris Carter
Aired: May 17th, 1998
Multiple references
MULDER: That’s all I do. That’s all I’ve been doing for the last five years.
-----
SCULLY: This would be quantifiable scientific proof of everything Agent Mulder and I have investigated over the past five years.
Evidence: 1993
Fight the Future (1998)
Written by: Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz
Released: June 19th, 1998
MULDER: Five years together, Scully. How many times I been wrong?
Evidence: 1993
Tithonous (6x10)
Written by: Vince Gilligan
Aired: January 24th, 1999
We can see Scully’s career timeline on screen, but I, personally, cannot discern the date. Maybe it says 1992, maybe it says 1993, maybe it gives me cataracts.
Evidence: ???
Field Trip (6x21)
Written by: Frank Spotnitz
Teleplay by: Vince Gilligan and Chris Carter
Aired: May 9th, 1999
MULDER: Scully, in six years, how... how often have I been wrong?
Evidence: 1993
Hollywood A.D. (7x19)
Written by: David Duchovny
Aired: April 30th, 2000
GARRY SHANDLING AS MULDER: You know, seven long years I've been waiting for just the right moment, Scully.
Evidence: 1993
Fight Club (7x20)
Written by: Chris Carter
Aired: May 7th, 2000
MULDER: No, the interesting thing about these agents is they had worked together for seven years previously without any incident.
SCULLY: Seven years?
MULDER: Yeah, but they are not ... romantically involved if that's what you're thinking.
Evidence: 1993
A tounge-in-cheek reference to Mulder and Scully’s relationship taking a sexual turn a few episodes prior.
Je Souhaite (7x21)
Written by: Vince Gilligan
Aired: May 14th, 2000
SCULLY: You know, Mulder, in the seven years that we've been working together I have seen some amazing things, but this?
Evidence: 1993
Requiem (7x22)
Written by: Chris Carter
Aired: May 21st, 2000
Multiple direct references to the pilot
MALE VOICE: (on phone) My name is Billy Miles. I don't know if you remember me.
MULDER: Oregon, seven years ago.
-----
SCULLY: I watched Agent Mulder paint that there seven years ago.
------
MULDER: Seven years ago you came to Agent Scully and I for help.
Evidence: 1993
Per Manum (8x13)
Written by: Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter
Aired: February 18th, 2001
DUFFY HASKELL: I contacted you about my wife About eight years ago because she was an alien abductee.
SCULLY: That was before my time here.
This episode is one of those “back from break” episodes that takes place in Fall of the previous year, so the “present day” parts of this episode occurs in 2000 -- meaning the eight year anniversary hasn’t happened yet. It more than implies 1992 would be “before her time.”
Evidence: 1993
DeadAlive (8x15)
Written by: Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz
Aired: April 1st, 2001
DOGGETT: What?
SCULLY: I heard the same speech come out of my mouth seven years ago.
Evidence: Would you look at that, two accidental 1994 references.
Three Words (8x16)
Written by: Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz
Aired: April 8th, 2001
Multiple references
KERSH: From this report, you and Agent Scully have had more arrests on percentage than she and Mulder over seven years.
-----
MULDER: Truth is, this is a bullet that was fired about eight years ago.
Evidence: Mulder went missing in 2000, so for Kersh’s statement to be correct, they had to have worked together from 1993-2000. 1993 is further backed up by Mulder’s line.
Dæmonicus (9x03)
Written by: Frank Spotnitz
Aired: December 2nd, 2001
SCULLY: Dr. Dana Scully. I have just been assigned to the Academy as a forensic investigator. For the past eight years I was part of a unit known as the X-Files.
Evidence: 1993
Sunshine Days (9x18)
Written by: Vince Gilligan
Aired: May 12th, 2002
SCULLY: It very well could. I mean, I've... I've been working this unit for nine years now. I-I've investigated nearly 200 paranormal cases. We are due for some incontrovertible proof. I want vindication, for ... for Mulder and ... for all of us.
Evidence: 1993. This was the 200th episode of the show, meaning we’ve watched nearly every case they ever worked together.
The Truth (9x19/20)
Written by: Chris Carter
Aired: May 19th, 2022
Several references
SCULLY: My name is Dana Katherine Scully. I was assigned nine years ago to the X-Files to spy on Agent Mulder whose methods the FBI distrusted.
------
MULDER: Because this is greater than you or me. This is about everything we worked for for nine years.
------
KALLENBRUNNER: She gave up the miracle child? The proof of everything that she and Mulder claim that they've risked their lives for over the last nine years - she just sent it off to some strangers?
------
REYES: You don't care what these people have sacrificed over the last nine years - what's been lost to their cause.
------
MULDER: I'd like to congratulate you on succeeding where so many before you have failed. A bullet between the eyes would have been preferable to this charade. But I've learned to pretend over the past nine years - to pretend that my victories mattered only to realize that no one was keeping score.
Evidence: 1993
My Struggle (10x01)
Written by: Chris Carter
Aired: January 24th, 2016
MULDER: In 1993, the FBI sought to impugn my work, bringing in a scientist and medical doctor to debunk it, which only deepened my obsession for the better part of a decade, during which time that agent, Dana Scully, had her own faith tested.
Evidence: Can’t lay it out much more than that. 1993.
Babylon (10x05)
Written by: Chris Carter
Aired: February 15th, 2016
SCULLY: Nobody but the FBI's Most Unwanted. I've been waiting twenty-three years to say that.
Evidence: Direct reference to the “Pilot.” 1993.
To sum it up, there are 23 episodes (over 1/10th of the series) that reference 1993 as being the year Mulder and Scully met, 4 episodes (technically 3 since it’s a repeated line in Tunguska/Terma) that indicate 1992, 2 that imply 1994, and 1 that I can’t read.
It is worth noting that many television pilots end up looking different than the rest of the show (I mean... we don’t even get the classic X-Files theme in the Pilot, and Scully’s hair isn’t quite the red we’ve all come to know and love). Pilots are the ‘pitch’ in the hopes they’ll be approved for more, and sometimes the network exectutives say “okay, but change xyz,” resulting in actor changes, character alterations, and pivoting directions. One could say the Pilot date shouldn’t be taken at face value for this reason.
Also worth noting, 1992 isn’t treated like an accident. Like many other shows, The X-Files has made alterations to certain details they wanted to change before the DVD releases. One such example is that Gillian Anderson’s wrist tattoo was accidentally left in during a scene that aired, but you can see it has been edited out on subsequent releases because Scully doesn’t have a wrist tattoo. This proves that they want the show to be as accurate as possible when they release it. Since they haven’t changed the 1992, it serves to illustrate that it is likley a meaningful Easter Egg for Chris Carter, and not a true canoncial fact he sticks by seeing as many of the above references to 1993 were made by Chris himself.
Despite my 1993 propoganda, I know damn well we will all see a bunch of “Happy 31st Anniversary” posts here in a few days. I’ve been on those X-Files Facebook fanpages enough to know that if you post “Happy 30th Anniversary,” an angry, self-righteous bro will post a screenshot of the timestamp and say “Actually, it was 1992.” The X-Files’ popularity made it a hit with general audiences who see 1992 on screen and take it for what it is, and The X-Files’ appeal to cult fandoms inspired anal-retentive fans like myself to look deeper and find the 1993 written in the margins (over-and-over).
Above all else, I encourage everyone to celebrate it however they want, at the end of the day, I think it’s beautiful that a thirty year old show is still being celebrated by its fans and recognized as an important piece of pop culture and television history.
I will end this thread with one final quote from Scully: “The truth is out there... but so are lies.”
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Tiptoeing through the guest cast of “Glory of the Sea”
The press release mentions Deeks helping his Mom find an apartment but Pamela Reed is not in the guest cast. In the “Flesh & Blood” press release, not only was Reed listed in the guest cast, the sub-headline of the press release mentioned her return.
Duncan Campbell as NCIS Special Agent Castor
Returns from “Of Value” in mid-October.
John O'Hurley as Navy Rear Admiral Ted Gordon
Longtime working actor in dramas, comedies, animated series, soap operas and as a game show host.
Was Robert McSwain in Over the Top, J. Peterman in Seinfeld and Christopher Neff on Devious Maids. Was the sixth host of The Family Feud, hosted the revival of To Tell The Truth in 2000 and currently hosts the National Dog Show on NBC every year on Thanksgiving,
Soap opera roles include Greg Bennett in General Hospital, Greg Schaeffer in The Edge of Night, Keith Lane in Loving, Dr. James Grainger in The Young and the Restless, Stephen Slade in Santa Barbara, Allen Cooper in Valley of the Dolls and Kit Sterling on All My Children.
Guest starred in dramas including Heartbeat, Nurses, Dark Justice, Silk Stalkings, Baywatch, Sisters, Murder She Wrote, Baywatch Nights, The X-Files, Diagnosis Murder, Hercules, Ghost Coup, Sunset Beach, For Your Love, The Mullets, Come to Papa, Quintuplets, The Mentalist and Gravity Falls.
Comedy guest roles include appearances in Frasier, PigSty, Platypus Man, A Whole New Ballgame, Living Single, Ned and Stacey, Coach, Weird Science, Mad About You, Boy Meets World, The John Larroquette Show, Life with Roger, Lost on Earth, Men Behaving Badly, Damon, Ellen, The Weber Show, Son of the Beach, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Style & Substance, Josh & Drake, Hope & Faith, The Wizards of Waverly Place and Retired at 35.
Bryan Lillis as Jessie Fiore
Lillis guest starred in episodes of The Suite Life on Deck, State of Georgia, Big Time Rush, Modern Family, Fam, 9-1-1 and Shining Vale.
Audrey Wasilewski as Meredith Huxley
Voices characters in many animated projects.
Was Gwen Sheridan in Push, Anita Olson Respola in Mad Men and Pam Martin in Big Love. Played Shirley Wilkes in the “Season No Evil” season two premiere of NCIS.
Guest starred in episodes of George & Leo, Total Security, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Sunset Beach, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, It’s Like You Know, Party of Five (2000), Ally McBeal, FreakyLinks, Charmed (2001), Even Stevens, Diagnosis Murder, State of Grace, The Nightmare Room, Providence, General Hospital, VIP, The Agency, For the People, 7the Heaven, ER, The West Wing, Columbo (2003), Friends, Tremors, Wonderfalls, Two and a Half Men, Without a Trace, Cold Case, Gilmore Girls, Inconceivable, Strong Medicine, Boston Legal, General Hospital: Night Shift, Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, Private Practice, Monk, Bones, Saving Grace, 10 Things I Hate About You, Grey’s Anatomy, Outsourced, Last Man Standing, Southland, Hart of Dixie, Scandal, The Mindy Project, Shameless, Stalker, Justified, The Night Shift, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Criminal Minds, 9-1-1, Homecoming, Good Girls, Young Sheldon and Love Victor.
Charles Kohut as Jim Bones
Was in episodes of Driven and Forbidden.
Hanging with Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J.
Brent McGregor as Long John
Was Kurt Kaster in Friday Night Lights. Had guest roles in My Own Worst Enemy, The Middle, We are Men and Shameless. Was Rodney Romano in the season 10 “Detour” episode of NCIS.
Tre Hall as Marcus Moore
Hall guest starred in episodes of Rebel, Ten Days in the Valley, Bosch, Lethal Weapon, Dear White People, Criminal Minds, The Rookie, Black Monday and was Carl Hammond in the “All Hands” season 19 episode of NCIS.
Hall on set with his co-stars Caleb Castille and Daniela Ruah.
Written by: Faythallegra Claude wrote season 13’s “Perception”.
Directed by: Terence Nightingall directed "Expiration Date", "Old Tricks", "Warrior of Peace", "The Sound of Silence", “A Bloody Brilliant Plan” (which he co-wrote) and “Divided We Fall”.
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