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| The X-files is back! |
The X-Files original run made you wonder about conspiracy theories. Could the government be involved in widespread cover up? Could the government spy on us? Yes, they can spy on us. If that is true, what else could be true?
Fox Mulder was always quick to believe the worst of the government, and we believed him because he worked for the government. The characters more than anything set the show apart. Mulder (David Duchovny) was spooky, willing to believe in the supernatural and paranormal. He wanted to believe. If aliens didn't take his sister, the truth was too terrible to bear. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) was his foil, the skeptic and a medical doctor, though religious, who turned to science for explanations. These characters are X-files. When they were replaced by Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish in later seasons, the show just wasn't The X-files anymore.
The episodes set a mood unlike any show or movie could. It made you look over your shoulder as you were watching at night, wondering if something were creeping behind you. It provided iconic characters like Flukeman, Eugene Victor Tooms, and many more.
Can the mini-series live up to the pedigree of The X-files? It's a insurmountable task. It has to tackle the conspiracy which became rather convoluted in later seasons, provide solid monster of the week episodes, and integrate current technology. That's a lot to do in just six episodes. The 2008 movie couldn't revive The X-files, can the 2016 mini-series do it? Let's find out. It's time for the episode one recap.
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| Mulder and Scully are back in the driver's seat, ahem, the passenger seat. |
The episode opens with Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) recapping the history of his involvement with aliens and the X-files division of the FBI before launching into the history of the government's role in aliens and UFO's. Mulder wonders if it was all a hoax as we see the Roswell ship crash.
The show cuts to the theme song which has remained largely intact, though abbreviated. Duchovny, Anderson, and Pileggi get top billing.
After a quick clip with a G.I. fellow on a bus going to the Roswell crash, Scully (Gillian Anderson), looking like a medical doctor, gets a call from Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) who is looking for Mulder. Television personality Tad O'Malley (Joel McHale) has contacted the FBI looking for Mulder, but Mulder is off the grid.
Mulder agrees to meet Tad and Scully tags along. We get a few veiled references to a failed relationship between Mulder and Scully. In a nod to technology, Mulder uses Uber to arrive at the designated spot. The show was always big on technology, it's nice to see it employ the updated technology throughout this episode.
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| Mulder and Scully meet television personality Tad O'Malley. |
Tad has someone Mulder needs to meet, a former alien abductee, who Mulder has interviewed before, Sveta.
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| Joel McHale is Tad O'Malley. |
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| Sveta is an alien abductee. |
Tad shows Mulder a ship developed with alien technology. Sveta reveals to Mulder that it wasn't aliens, but men who abducted her.
Mulder and Scully still use their cell phones, though they aren't the bricks from the first run.
Skinner appears to show us the old office, empty and in disrepair. The iconic 'the truth is out there' poster is on the floor. Skinner urges Mulder to do something about the government lies. Mulder wants access to the files. Will they be digitized now? Would it matter? Mulder had a picture perfect memory of every case file anyway.
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| All these years and the office still stands. I guess it's too 'spooky' for anyone else to use. |
Mulder has it all figured out, and Tad adds that the final takeover has been prepared. Americans have been forced into compliance, with wars and consumerism. Sveta is the key, but Scully reveals that she doesn't have alien DNA.
The government compromises Sveta. She throws Tad under the bus, the government blows up the alien spacecraft, and blows up Sveta and her car. They are dealing with a powerful force that will not stop at any length to protect the coverup.
Scully runs Sveta's DNA again and determines she actually does have alien DNA. How did she miss that before? It seems highly contrived to accentuate the story beats.
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| Scully runs the DNA again so the results better match up with the story beats. |
In a highly contrived shot we see the Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis). He states the X-files have been re-opened. I get why they used CSM, but he should be dead. It's a way to bridge the gap from the original series to this one without introducing a new character. I get the why, but I don't like it.
The episode felt light on plot. We're introduced to the major players of this mini-series and the X-files are re-opened.
It's cute to have Mulder backtrack on aliens and say he was mislead and manipulated by a government cover-up, but it's also disingenuous. After all he's seen and what we've seen on the show, the evidence leads to a little more than Roswell was aliens and everything else was the government. I get this contrivance. The show was never able to pin down the alien conspiracy, it spiraled out of control and a soft reboot is an easy way to compact that story and give it a fresh start. Whether it works depends on the next five episodes.
I was incredibly excited to revisit The X-files after a thirteen year hiatus. This episode has potential, but it doesn't quite live up to the original. The season one premiere did everything this one did and had a full story too. Sveta and O'Malley serve little purpose other than a front to change Mulder's mind in just a few minutes on a quest he's endured for decades. Hopefully the setup pays off. The X-files have been reopened and we only have five episodes left. I've previewed the titles and premise of the next two episodes and it looks like we're in for some monsters of the week and humor. I hope it delivers.
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