r/XFiles • u/13onFire • 4d ago

Bill Scully Discussion

Does anyone else absolutely hate this dude? Does his character get any better? Im on S5 EP 8.

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u/LadyRowanHawthorne 4d ago

Doesn't get better. And yes, I hate him. It's not just a matter of him being a protective older brother. It's controlling, arrogant and bullying behaviors and it's demonstrated from the time they were kids in flashbacks.

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u/Inevitable_Discount Agent Dana Scully 4d ago

He’s VERY controlling. He’s a controlling idiot!!!

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u/ZealousidealHunter98 4d ago

Yes. It’s not protective, it’s controlling.

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u/Backdoorpickle 3d ago

What are the ways exactly in which he is controlling?

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u/SwivelTop 3d ago

There were some scenes cut from the series. He berates Dana for not becoming a practicing doctor implying she disappointed their parents. He also believes her cancer is a sort of karma for joining the FBI. He usually does this when she is sick and possibly dying. Honestly he comes across as sociopathic. Who takes digs at their dying sister?

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u/Due_Pin2723 I LOVE JOHN DOGGETT 3d ago

But those scenes you mentioned were cut. Other than those, what else shows he's controlling? This is a serious question, not meant to be challenging or sarcastic. I am just curious when people say he's controlling. Thanks.

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u/Backdoorpickle 3d ago

There's another counter-argument I have for you. I suspect, and I may be wrong so if I am, then I apologize, but I suspect that you haven't been through a series of close family deaths.

Scully's timeline goes something like this: She's a Daddy's girl and grows up wanting to be a doctor. Her father, who is probably a LTJG in the Navy thinks that's awesome. She goes on to college, doctoral school, and then decides to chuck the degree in favor of law enforcement.

Now. One COULD say that is sexist, for her pops to be pissed off. But let me give you a real life comparison. I was a music major in school. Came from a single mother home, so no pops in the picture. I am also female. I decided to chuck my degree away for a career in law enforcement. I don't know if my mom was pissed off, but she certainly wasn't happy. Now, some of that came from probably spending a shit load of money on my degree, but I think, looking back, she was WORRIED. Male or female, it's an inherently dangerous job, vs. a job that isn't really dangerous at all.

So fast forward now to Bill Jr. His father has died young (i.e. before his time), and from a traumatic way, and Bill can't be there because he's followed in his footsteps so now he's deployed. He's probably heard from his Dad (and from Maggie Scully, because she wasn't thrilled either) that Dana is off following this hairbrained scheme no one approves of. Not only that, she's fallen in with this WEIRDO that's going to tank her career before it's even started, and she's already had to go tend to him for gunshot wounds. Then she's abducted. Then she almost dies. But yet, still, despite everything to the contrary, she stays with him.

Now. Put yourself in his position. You're fucking PISSED. Because you KNEW this entire road was going to lead to your baby sister getting killed, just like your older sister was, because of this quest that this joke of a guy has lead her on for no other reason than that he's selfish. You've told her again and again to get out, the job is killing her, she's going to die, and she's already taken a part of your family with her.

Is he an asshole to her in the cutscenes? Sure. But even if they weren't cut, death is UGLY, especially when it is unnecessary. Families fight and dissolve over death sometimes. My aunt and my cousin almost never talked again because my cousin, flying to my mom in the ICU, got drunk in the airport and missed her flight. They fought. And it turned into a scene that almost got the police called.

Memento Mori and the cancer arc are what happens when there is a death involved that happens and is drawn out and you don't suspect it. It gets ugly. People start to turn on each other, for not doing enough, for not doing anything, for having to focus on themselves. And yes, sometimes, that anger manifests onto the person that is dying. It's fucked up, but it is human.

Hashtag Team Bill.

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u/SwivelTop 3d ago

Been through many first degree relative deaths, before the age of 40. Bizarrely I have a lot of parallels to Scully’s life but reality plays out differently than fiction. They dramatize a LOT of family deaths on the show. think it’s important to remember that there were many writers for the show and they didn’t necessarily line up with their philosophies.

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u/Backdoorpickle 3d ago

Well, you're lucky that your family is functional then. Scully has just as much blame as everyone else in their disfunction.

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u/SwivelTop 3d ago

You’re making a LOT of assumptions about me. No, they are not functional. My main beef with Bill’s portrayal is it’s uneven and sometimes villainous for no reason. The conflict from Bill is forced and awkwardly written. I understand his anger towards Mulder who often puts Scully in risky situations needlessly. However, making him cruel towards her while undergoing chemotherapy was not in line with his previous behavior. People often say things they regret while grieving but he was just…a dick for no reason in that scene.

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u/Backdoorpickle 3d ago

I mean... have you ever been a dick for no reason and done something you later deeply regret?