Hmmm. There's no sitcom reset, the characters do change and grow. But. Scully is always going to believe that there's a rational, scientific explanation for something, and Mulder will always go for the paranormal explanation, and he will almost always be right. Somehow, the show manages to do this without Scully ever seeming dumb, maybe because she often gets to be right in the course of the investigation, or maybe because Gillian Anderson is just that good, but it doesn't matter how many wacky, unexplainable things Scully sees, it will be years and years before she accepts any kind of paranormal explanation. To me, that was the biggest mistake in the growth of the characters.

The X-Files was one of the first shows to really do a giant myth arc. It is the precursor to the Whedon shows, Veronica Mars, Lost, BSG, pretty much every sci-fi show of the past decade. And because of that, it makes A LOT of mistakes when it comes to the arc. Mistakes that the later shows learned from. You know how there's so many people out there who hate Joss Whedon and think he fucked over his shows (and I'm not even talking about the comics here, but the shows)? Well, I thought Joss was the most amazing showrunner ever because I had come from XF fandom and was used to Chris Carter. Joss is a master of continuity in comparison.

Heee, I don't want my lengthy comments to dissuade you from watching, I just think it's best to keep your expectations in check. It is simultaneously one of my favorite shows ever and the one that caused me the most bitterness over failed expectations.