BLOG Merry X-Mas To All

We’re well on our way to New Year, but Laura McConnell has been reminiscing about her favourite Christmas episode of The X-Files…

Looking back at a classic X-Files episode

For many people, the holidays are all about nostalgia, but I’ve never been one to really get into that. Sure, I pine for simpler times occasionally, but I’m not one to get hung up on the way things used to be. At least, not usually. This holiday season, however, it seems I’ve broken my own rules.

On Christmas Eve, I was overcome with serious longing for days gone by.

It was brought on by watching one of my holiday favourites.

No, wasn’t It’s A Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street.

It was, in fact, nothing of the sort. Nothing so cheery and bright.

No, what I watched involved blood, guns, and themes of overpowering loneliness. Good times, right?

Yes, actually, it was.

I watched “How The Ghosts Stole Christmas,” that singularly brilliant holiday episode of The X-Files. You know, the one with Lily Tomlin and Ed Asner. The one that doesn’t get all caught up in the mytharc of the series, like the other two episodes that try to do the holiday thing. (“Christmas Carol” and “Emily” – ugh.) This lovely bit of television gone by is part of the sixth season of The X-Files, and thus it oddly reminded me of several of my relatives, most of whom I only saw at holidays as a kid.

You know the ones. The ones who are fun for an hour and always manage to create some great stories that are told over and over again for years, but who drive you nuts by the time their weekend-long visit is over.

That’s how this episode felt for me. I don’t think many could argue against the fact that The X-Files went too long. Like those problem relatives, it overstayed its welcome by a lot. But that’s okay, because we’ll always have memories of the good times. We’ll always have “Pusher” and “Irresistible” and “Post-Modern Prometheus” and at this time of year, we’ll always have “How The Ghosts Stole Christmas.” For me, like that crazy relative, it’s an utterly irreplaceable part of the holidays.

And that’s how it should be. As we approach another new year, I’ll raise a cup for Auld Lang Syne indeed. (The X-Files are dead! Long live the X-Philes!) And with that, it’s time for me to go. Just one more thing to say, though, and I truly mean it.

Merry X-Mas to all, albeit it a bit late, and to all a good night.

This is a personal article by blogger Laura McConnell. Your comments on The X-Files are welcome as always…