Lost vs. The X-Files

Over at Lost Weekly...er, I mean Entertainment Weekly...there's a series of "pop culture throwdowns," in which two shows are pitted against each other and two columnists have a point/counterpoint on which is superior. As the title of this post may have tipped you off, there's one pitting Lost versus one of its sci-fi forefathers, The X-Files.

I was a bit too young to get into The X-Files from the ground up (it debuted when I was eight), but I remember seeing the movie on video, really digging it, and watching a handful of episodes afterwards. I enjoyed it for what it did - bring high quality sci-fi to network TV - but never became invested in it.

The problem with a comparison of the shows is that about half of the X-Files episodes were self-contained, whereas every single hour of Lost is intensely serialized - not to mention also that Lost is an ensemble show and X-Files was definitely not. Still though, c'mon, we all know Lost is the superior show. Please. But here are some of their talking points anyway:

Ken Tucker (arguing for X-Files):

-"Lost has yet to yield as complex a baddie as the enigmatic Cigarette-Smoking Man."

-"X-Files had niftier monsters (mutant Flukeman or the alien host-grabber in the "Ice" episode versus...Lost's Smokey?)."

-"I find Lost's island-hopping far less provocative than creator Chris Carter's bedrock belief that a dangerous combination of corrupt politics and grotesque government intervention is at work in this world - for what is the alien-invasion mythology if not a metaphor for that?" (I don't know, maybe it was just an alien-invasion mythology?)

-"I'd argue that no one on Lost has shown Duchovny's acting range and wit."

And here are Jeff Jensen's rebuttals:

-"No villains?! Michael Emerson's Big Bad Ben is every bit the tragic fiend as CSM."

-"Lost has transcended its genre trappings (something The X-Files never did)."

-"[Lost] explores big themes too: redemption and change, faith and reason, existential ambiguity and mystery."

-"You're selling the cast egregiously short. As Jack and Locke, Matthew Fox and Terry O'Quinn in particular have created indelible TV icons."

The argument closes with Tucker admitting, "Sure, The X-Files didn't have the best final few seasons," but gets off the hook by saying that since Lost hasn't ended yet, we don't actually know whether it will be any better.

Nice try. That's pretty much like saying, "Okay, if we have this argument again in May 2010, Lost will definitely win."

The full juicy details can be found here. What do y'all think? Don't worry, we won't totally hate you if you say X-Files.

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Lost vs. The X-Files

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