If you’re surprised our review of the new comeback season of The X-Files came late– then I don’t blame you.
The Monsignor just needed to soak it all in…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi_9YuMynW0
That, and how could I rush a review for a show I made my most anticipated of 2016? A show I’ve been covering at various Comic-Cons the past 3-years? That wouldn’t be fair to my TV uncle, Fox “Hank Moody” Mulder (Californication‘s David Duchovny); the inarguably more attractive-than-ever Dana Scully (Hannibal‘s Gillian Anderson); FBI A.D. Walter “Still Pissed” Skinner (Mitch Pileggi). And, hell, anyone who’s ever worked on the classic sci-fier 20-years ago not named Vince Gilligan.
Despite my full embrace for all of the still-included old school aesthetics such as Mark Snow’s classic theme (with an untouched opening credit sequence that will still give you the chills!) and the purposeful cheese of the guest star performances (at least I hope), everything about the premiere’s plot seemed a little too convenient. One could even call Scully & Mulder’s new mission a little too.. X-pository. Blatantly telling the audience the new end-goal, and the rebirth for the re-opening of the FBI’s X-Files might be OK with some who were OK with mainstream nostalgia (i.e. Terminator Genisys; Star Wars: The Force Awakens), which I mostly certainly was; it’s that the pilot missed all that wonder and digging for “the truth” that made this series such a classic in the first place.
Other folks might also have a problem with the plot’s blatant Libertarianism. Sure, I get it: our government (not yet run by The First Lady, Gump, or the “Bernie the Revolutionary”) is shadowy, shady, and conniving as shit. But watching their not-so-secret-ops blow up (rather than merely seize) a facility containing what can only be presumed as multi-billion dollar alien-tech — with the terror of erasing a large number of helpless scientists! — is a bit far fetched. I know it’s science fiction; but if you’re going to barrel us over the head with your politics, then the actions that follow need to appear as real as the modern day political climate.
Creator Chris Carter‘s plot in the first episode is nearly a “greatest hits” mix of threads from yesteryear, except with YouTube, text messaging, and…Joel McHale (Community, The Soup). The stakes are certainly raised when Mulder thrusts this next-generation into full vulnerability. Big Brother Eye is watching. But despite what our lovely duo say, there isn’t a whole lot of shared anxiety on the faces of Scully & Mulder in “My Struggle”. The now-separated parents are both solid in the opener, if not a tad theatrically exagerrated (Anderson) or scientifically mumbled (Duchovny); regardless, a heavy wave of notalgia will kick in when you see the two on-screen together again. Skinner hasnt changed either, despite all of the traumatic shit he went through way back at the end of both Season 3 & 4. Sadly, his stoic “charm” sees a one-note return.
With the even slimier Malcolm Merlyn-wannabe out of the way (McHale), leave it to Scream Queens/American Horror Story/Final Destination writer/producer and X-Files vet James Wong to give Episode 2 some much needed humor. The government sucks, we know. But what about all those mutated kids? Imagine the students of an Wolverine & The X-Men comic meeting the adolescent oddities of A.H.S. That’s the aptly titled “Founder’s Mutation.” Free-kay! Surely episodes like this — that mesh up an array of earlier episodes from Seasons 2/4/6, mind you — will never win Emmy’s; but one could argue that The X-Files is at its best when it tries to be at its campiest bad.
The only severe issue I had with the “All-New” X-Files, thus far, is Mulder’s vulnerability. Did someone put something in Fox’s liquor cabinet, or what? There’s no way a man who’s had this many dealings with the paranormal/unexplained can fall for McHale’s “true believer” O’Malley or Doug (Melrose Place) Savant‘s slightly more menacing alien doctor (though it at least beats a less convincing viral version of Stephen Colbert). Worse, why would Mulder return to the government for work (ha!), give himself up to dangerous half-alien children, or find himself in the bathroom with a — gulp — gay Indian man?
With all that said, “Founder’s Mutation” gives viewers a sheer sense of classic pathos the first episode didn’t. If you love The X-Files, the always compelling dynamic between Scully & Mulder, and all of the governmental alien conspiracy jargon that comes with it as much as I do, expect extreme body exhilaration to excuse any critical grievances you have — or at least give you the kind of elation many other sci-fi whodunnit’s couldn’t.
You can catch the remaining four episodes of The X-Files on Mondays on FOX at 8/7c.