By Ness Hutchins

In the revival of the classic 90’s science fiction drama, The X-Files, we see an estranged Mulder and Scully as their modern days selves. They have been called to action once again to re-open the mysterious FBI x-files cases.

The first episode, “My Struggle”, FBI Assistant Director Skinner urges Scully to reunite with Mulder on a new case. They meet with webmaster Tad O’Malley who takes the duo to a secluded farmhouse where they’re introduced to Sevta, a young woman who claims to have been abducting by aliens. The episode started out strong with flashbacks to the infamous 1947 Roswell crash, conjuring the atmosphere of the original series. However, in present day, things become convoluted which is amplified by the incessant and stiff monologues given by Duchovny. The flip-flopping between evidence and opinions doesn’t leave the viewer with a clear path to navigate the story line. One minute there is physical proof aliens exist on earth, and the next brings theories of fascist regimes.  The first episode is a melodramatic mess.

“Founder’s Mutation”, the second episode, is an improvement. The plot follows the mysterious death of researcher of Nugenics Technology, Dr. Sanjay. Scully and Mulder find Dr. Sanjay has ties to Dr. Goldman who owns his own research facility for children with severe genetic conditions.  “Founder’s Mutation” has a much more linear plot structure. Clue A leads to clue B and so forth. Anderson (Scully) and Duchovny’s (Mulder) on screen chemistry was much more apparent, and their interactions weren’t as rigid as in “My Struggle”. The supporting characters were also multidimensional, and the story compelling. This felt much more a revival of the original series.

In the third episode “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster”, a mutilated body is found in the woods with eye-witness accounts claiming it was the attack of a lizard-man. Although this episode hid many easter-eggs for long time fans of the series, it was another flop. Attempting to turn the story-line on it’s head by making humans the monsters, it felt more like a campy Scooby-Doo episode. The inclusion of a trans character could also have been an opportunity for important trans viability in Hollywood, but fell flat with lazy, stereotypical, typecast writing. Overall, the episode lacked mystery and instead supplied more monologues. This is proving be the pitfall of the X-Files renaissance.

Fans of the original X-Files expecting hard hitting science fiction drama and compelling mystery are bound to be disappointed. New viewers with little expectation looking for a sci-fi comedy might be more pleasantly surprised.