We Want to Believe

The X-Files was totally only OK

Let’s say that you had a kid around the time The X-Files originally went off the air in 2002. This kid would now be a walking, talking teenager with thoughts and feelings and a pretty decent chance for behavior that is eerily parallel to the recent resurgence of the classic sci-fi series that put David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson and even Breaking Bad architect Vince Gilligan on the map. By this we mean that while we absolutely adore Chris Carter’s complex world of conspiracy theories, alien abductions and wildly enjoyable standalone oddities, it also has the power to leave us sorely disappointed, despite our highest hopes.

For many, the announcement that we'd once again get to follow Special Agents Mulder and Scully as they investigated the paranormal and scientifically preposterous from their basement office at FBI headquarters was thrilling. If you'd grown up with the show or even binged via Netflix years later, it held a special place in your heart—not only as one of the more clever programs in television history, but as one of those rare instances when a network takes a chance on something bizarre and intelligent. We became rabid, tuning in over and over again, to see events unfold, like our heroes mysteriously aging overnight on an abandoned military ship, or small towns full of freaks, or Giovanni Ribisi gaining electricity powers (and attacking Jack Black, by the way), or to uncover the mysteries of the Smoking Man. There are dozens of memorable plotlines and stories to enjoy from the original run. The X-Files knew how to capture our imaginations, but even more importantly, it knew how to suspend our disbelief.

They weren't all winners, though, and by the time the show finally wrapped in 2002, many viewers had moved on already. And yet, word of the new episodes had us once again hopeful. TV has no doubt grown more sophisticated over the years, and scripted programs have become more intelligently crafted than ever. Surely Chris Carter still had stories to tell, and failing that, it would be good to see Mulder and Scully hit the streets again. And then it was fine. Just fine. Call it a casualty of Internet over-hype or blame it on a mere six-episode run, but the sad truth is that the show returned not with a bang, but with a whimper.

That's hard to say, as we're discussing something sacred-adjacent here, but from the get-go, it was obvious we were dealing with a tricky combo of fan service and lack of time. Of course, they'd have to strike a tone similar in nature to the original run (the nerds would revolt otherwise), but six episodes simply aren't enough to capture the slow burn needed to properly reintroduce these characters and show what they've been up against all this time.

By delving into the more ridiculous lineage of standalone episodes or wasting time on a super-long dance montage (not kidding), the over-arching plotline of alien DNA and the revelation that everything Mulder had believed was now being tested and buried beneath an avalanche of material. It would have been wildly enjoyable, had we not been searching for specific answers. Or to put it another way, a carrot is dangled in the opening episode and then dropped until the end, in favor of cramming as many "Remember when we did this kind of thing last time?" moments. Even Community alum Joel McHale as the oddly believable conspiracy theorist Tad O'Malley wasn't enough of a cypher for narrative exposition to properly explain the confusing elements of the main point, and that's a shame, because if nothing else, the prospect of some ultimate payoff was damn exciting.

Of course, it's hard to complain when we were given pretty much exactly what we were expecting, and the cliffhanger ending promises more episodes on the horizon. For now, it's probably wise to take a quick breather and trust that The X-Files will somehow come full circle and give us the answers we've wanted all along. Either way, it was damn good to have 'em back.

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