Written by Chris Snelgrove | issued
Its sex appeal is almost impossible to exaggerate. X files Back in the ’90s…in addition to the sizzling on-screen chemistry between charming leads David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, the pair also infamously snuggled up in bed She has appeared in several sexy photo shoots, including the cover of Stone magazine. To be honest, after that issue’s photoshoot became a sexual awakening for an entire generation, we thought this show didn’t even know what “too hot” meant. But as it turned out, one episode was too viral to air on TV. The season 1 episode “Gender Bender” continued to have its concept and story changed due to concerns that the network would reject it.
gender bender
For the writers of X filesthe first season was about testing the limits and deciding what was best for the show’s stories and characters, and what could get past the network’s censors. In Gender Bender, authors Larry and Paul Barber begin with a simple and provocative question: The question was: how can we make sex as scary as creepy aliens or chain-smoking government spies? Answering this question was essentially an order from higher ups, with co-executive producer Glen Morgan later saying that the creative staff had been requesting “episodes with a sexier edge.”
as X files Producers and screenwriters quickly realized this, and Morgan admitted that “it was hard to find stories that depicted sex as something horrible.” The episode “Gender Bender” was the answer to that question…sort of. The writers came up with the idea of an alien who could change gender, but there were concerns about how the FOX network would react to certain story beats and how viewers would react to episodes that questioned existing ideas. The episode was revised multiple times due to general concerns about how it would feel. Especially about gender and sex in the 90s.
missing parts
Even after many years, X files The writers and producers haven’t fully revealed what had to change for “Gender Bender.” But one thing we do know is that they originally developed a creepy moment for the episode’s teaser, where a character’s groin starts to rot. This emphasized the whole sexual horror angle a little too much, and co-executive producer RW Goodwin later provided a brief explanation as to why the moment was cut entirely. ”
The gender-bending element remained thanks to the transforming villain, but this X files This episode probably lost its original focus on sex and sexuality. As Glen Morgan said, the concept of the final broadcast episode was an answer to a completely different kind of question: “What if there were people like the Amish from another planet?” The answer wasn’t very appealing, and Gender Bender was pretty (well) limp, but it did feature Nicholas Lee, who would later return as fan-favorite villain Alex Krycek. It had the advantage of introducing it to the audience.
as X files Fans, I can’t look you in the eye and say “Gender Bender” is a good episode, but its development story is still fascinating. What’s interesting is that while the episode began with the intention of focusing on gruesome sexuality, network censorship and concerns about viewer backlash prevented the show from descending into David Cronenberg-style full-body horror. Without these constraints, we could have gotten a cutting-edge episode where the melting crotch was probably the least bizarre of the entire episode.
