Original artwork, not a still
The answers are there. You just have to know where to look.
— The X-Files · 1993
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
This is Scully's thesis statement, set against Mulder's. She is a scientist who believes every mystery has an explanation, and the series keeps testing whether she is right. The twist is that the line works for both of them: for Scully it means look harder at science, for Mulder it means look in the places the Bureau won't, which is why fans quote it as a gentle sceptic's rebuke or a nudge to dig deeper.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The X-FilesShow the scene
The line comes from the series pilot, first aired 10 September 1993 and written by Chris Carter. Scully, a newly assigned FBI agent, visits Mulder's basement office, where he shows her slides of strange marks found on abductees' bodies and asks if she believes in extraterrestrials. He then draws her to a case in Oregon: a young woman who is the fourth person in her graduating class to die in unexplained circumstances. Mulder asks whether convention and science failing might lead to the fantastic. Scully replies that the girl surely died of something ordinary, a missed post-mortem or sloppy investigation, and delivers the line. Mulder quips that this is why the F.B.I. has an 'I' and tells her they leave for Oregon at eight.
Sources (2)
- The X-Files Wiki: Pilot, transcriptScene 2, Mulder's office, slideshow and Scully's replyReference checked
- The X-Files Wiki: PilotInfoboxReference checked
Context reviewed
