Even if you know absolutely nothing aboutThe X-Files, you’re likely aware that Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are married to their shared pursuit of the truth. Of course, over the span of nearly a decade, these two eventually got together in a romantic context as well, but whenThe X-Filesfirst started,the studio had a different idea about how to create tension with the characters, particularly by introducing a love interest for Scully in the very first episode. Yes, seriously. Scully originally had a boyfriend in the show’s exceptional pilot, but he was cut out before it made it to air.
The Original ‘X-Files’ Pilot Gave Scully a Boyfriend
Played byTim Ransom, Scully’s one-and-done boyfriend was a reporter named Ethan Minette. In the first episode,the two were meant to share a scenewhere Scully has to inform Ethan that the vacation they had been planning for six months will have to be postponed after she’s assigned to the X-Files. Rather than taking a trip abroad, she was sent to Oregon with Mulder instead.Ethan reveals that he tried to do a story about Mulder’s connections to a U.S. senator who allegedly assisted in a UFO investigation, but the story was curiously axed by a higher power. Later in the episode,another deleted scenewould have revealed Scully and Ethan in bed. Here, Mulder calls his partner in the middle of the night to inform her that there are no existing files about Billy Miles (Zachary Ansley) after their investigation. Ethan has even less to do here, but it continued to cement the idea that Scully was to be kept romantically separate from Mulder. At least, that’s what the show would’ve wanted us to think.
Though he only gets two deleted scenes and a handful of lines, it’s clear that,if Ethan had been included inThe X-Files, the show would’ve gone in a much different direction. Aside from Mulder, Scully never had a long-term relationship on the series. Being chained to someone back home would likely have given her pause when it came to jumping in the line of fire, and would certainly have limited their work together. Upon realizing that Ethan wasn’t the type of character worth keeping around onThe X-Fileslong-term — especially since the entire concept is really a two-person show — he was removed entirely.Though IMDb still lists Ransomas an “uncredited” member of the pilot’s cast, Ethan never actually appears in the final cut.
Ethan Would’ve Messed Up Mulder and Scully’s Winning Formula
According to creator Chris Carter in"The Truth About Season One"documentary on the Season 1 DVD, it was the studio that wanted Ethan to be included in the series.The executives argued that a boyfriend character was necessarylargely because they didn’t believe there was any real chemistry between Mulder and Scully. Obviously, that was a misguided idea, but the studio insisted, and so the scenes were filmed anyway. Still, Carter ultimately had the final say, and he decided that the pilot was better off without the reporter boyfriend. “It was very easy to cut Ethan out because he just slowed down the scenes where youwould see Mulder and Scully together, which is where all the heat really was,” Carter explained. It’s clear that Mulder and Scully were better off without any romantic entanglements (although Mulder wouldn’t be free from that forever), and, unhindered by any others in their lives, Duchovny and Anderson’s chemistry was always at its best when their characters could only rely on each other.
‘The X-Files’ 10 Best Quotes, Ranked
The quotes are out there.
While there’s an argument to be made that Ethancouldhave worked as a character investigating the greater alien conspiracy, the chances were astronomically high that he would’ve been killed off pretty early by the Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) or one of his hired guns in the process. This would have dramatically changed Scully’s own motivations on the show going forward, and would’ve made their pursuit of the truth a crusade for not just Mulder (who sought to learn what happened to his long-lost sister), but Scully as well. Alternatively, a character like Ethan, who is trying to unravel the truth about the shadow government working behind the scenes,could easily have been an ally to Mulder while simultaneously being a romantic rival.But that’s not the showThe X-Filesever was, and it would have certainly distracted from the show’s main goal. It also would have redirected the focus too much from Mulder and Scully, who were always the show’s bread and butter.
The Mulder and Scully Dynamic Was Established in ‘The X-Files’ Pilot
In the end, it was the right move on Carter’s part to remove Ethan. The character didn’t add enough creative value to the pilot to be worth keeping around, and, as stated, would have been more of a creative hindrance than a help. This is especially true since, despite the studio’s belief,Mulder and Scully clearly have intense chemistry from the very first episode. We see this throughout the episode, of course, but especially in the scene between Mulder and Scully at the motel where the latter has her partner check her disrobed body for marks that may or may not relate to alien abduction. Immediately after that,Mulder shares with his new partner— who he knows is basically there to spy on him for the higher-ups — one of the most intimate details of his life. To say these two didn’t have chemistry before is a serious misstep and misunderstanding on the part of the studio. It’s no wonder that Chris Carter opted to ignore their suggestion by the time the pilot was ready to air.
The X-Files
Two F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.
