#diana fowley
Why Diana doesn’t work:
The character Diana Fowley is a generally hated character in the series. It is honestly rare when I hear anyone say they like her and, to be honest, I haven’t heard anyone say that. I have heard some people defend her, but defending someone isn’t the same as liking them.
Diana’s existence and the friction she caused between Mulder and Scully was not only convoluted, it was unbelievable.
If Chris had allowed Mulder to have an ex wife who things ended with on a bad note, that would’ve been one thing. But no, Diana had to be the x files’ co-founder. You mean to tell me that Scully didn’t read old cases and see Diana’s name there? You mean to tell me no mail accidentally came for her to the basement. You mean to tell me that Diana literally never came up at all, accidental or intentional. That no other FBI agent brought her up? That blevins didn’t mention her? Scully knew about spooky Mulder and his reputation, but not how his ex dipped out, which would’ve been huge in the gossip mill.
Naw, Diana was never mentioned as if she didn’t exist because, well, she didn’t. I know this is a show, so no one has to explain this to me. But Tom Colton cracks a joke about Scully being Mrs. spooky and Diana isn’t mentioned??? Scully isn’t called the new Mrs. spooky?
So, I could see Diana being Mulder’s ex wife who he failed or disappointed in someway. Maybe Diana talked about wanting a baby and Mulder flaked out on an appointment to check if his sperm count was good and her eggs were viable or whatever. Maybe she miscarried and he couldn’t be reached and this was the last straw. Maybe one of her parents died and, again, Mulder wasn’t able to be reached.
Perhaps they fought over him staying on the x files rather than trying to become a respectable agent again. And Mulder just checks out on the relationship.
Or he gets too lost in the cases and comes home late. All excited and absorbed in his work.
Diana doesn’t have to be an ex wife, I just think it works better that way.
Then she leaves and it’s a gut punch even if he checked out.
So when she comes back into his life, it throws Mulder off his axis. He feels bad about how things ended and because he’s partially/mostly/completely responsible.
But the thing is: Scully would know about her. Not the details, but that she existed. Maybe Mulder told her a few things just not everything.
Then Diana comes back and Mulder is acting weird. After avoiding the topic for a while, they talk about.
There is no way a man who traded his long lost sister for Scully is telling her, “you’re making this personal.” There is no way a man who knows his partner was abducted, given cancer, and was made infertile as a result of working with him and in the x files is telling Scully, “you’re making this personal.”
It doesn’t make any fucking sense.
Even then, Diana being an ex wife doesn’t make any sense because we’ve spent way too much time with them for it to never be brought up. So maybe she could’ve been a fling that went bad or something. Perhaps they got involved right out of the academy. Maybe she was married to someone else, but separated and Mulder a breath of fresh air. Things became intense between her and Mulder and it was hard to break it off with him when she reconciled with her husband. She didn’t at first, and then gave him a bullshit reason making him think it was his fault. Or maybe she took blame.
But having Scully find out from the lone gunmen and her and Mulder never having a real conversation about Diana and the havoc she caused on their relationship is bonkers.
There isn’t even any real reason why Mulder behaved the way he did. We saw the shit that went on with Phoebe, but it wasn’t nearly this bad and Phoebe played fucking mind games with him.
Chris tried so hard to make Diana important to Mulder by tying her to the x files and having Mulder one her ass, but didn’t think about the fact that viewers would immediately call bullshit on both things. 1. There’s no way in hell, as I’ve mentioned, that Scully would’ve just found out about Diana being on the x files 2. Scully is literally the most important person to Mulder and he’d never treat her that way over an ex. It doesn’t matter that she had an x file connection, Scully was his present and his future. She’s done way more for the x files than Diana ever had or could.
Her inclusion was so inorganic and far too late to introduce this type of character for a show that didn’t focus on long term romantic relationships or partners for either Mulder or Scully. Now we have to deal with an ex as a possible antagonist and who Mulder acts like a dick about???
If Chris had his characters talk outside of work, meaning heavily imply they did, and didn’t use sex or dating as means to show they were acting out or putting it to the side for their jobs, maybe introducing Diana wouldn’t have thrown people off.
Tonight, my tween and I watched The End and The Beginning. unprompted she said “I don’t like Agent Fowley.”
I am done parenting now, right? My work here is done.
Scully: I searched everywhere
Fowley:What?
Scully: I looked through hundreds of files
Scully: Looked through all of our correspondences
Scully: I even searched my closet
Scully: But I still couldn’t find where I asked for your opinion
