Now 14 years later, The X-Files undeniably has a place in the post-Snowden world. Government mistrust is as high as ever and outsiders like Fox Mulder are getting harder to silence. Yet even if the right sentiment is there, the premiere hour of The X-Files’ 6-episode revival will turn some believers into skeptics.
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Therein lies the problem for the appropriately titled “My Struggle.” The visually stimulating sight of extraterrestrials in the barren Roswell desert is a welcome break from the sluggish, uneven rhythm of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson attempting to recapture what made their platonic (at first) on-screen relationship electric. Couple that with the energy of the miscast Joel McHale, a lackluster mystery involving an alien abductee, and a handful of nostalgia-fueled callbacks crowbarred in, and you get an overwrought first hour that (though likely unintentional) caters more towards attracting new fans than the diehards that spent years begging for the series to continue in some form. After all, do we need Fox Mulder telling us to ask ourselves “are we truly alone” when fans have known the truth was out there for nine seasons? With all that said, we shouldn’t dismiss The X-Files revival after hour one of six, especially considering everything the first episode needs to establish after a 14-year layoff. The middle episodes of the revival are written by Glen and Darin Morgan, who wrote or co-wrote some of the series’ all-time classics. The optimist (and fan) in me says Duchovny and Anderson will find a light in the dark. They always do. Plus, there are monsters to come. For more on the revival and our retrospective look at the series, listen to our Sci Fi Fidelity Podcast!
