The main crux of the episode is that Mulder is called back into the conspiracy because of a repeat abductee and her involvement with something that goes all the way back to the Roswell UFO incident in 1947, something that surprisingly hadn’t been fully explored in the old series. It is a perfect way to latch us in to the importance of the case to national history, the X-Files mythology and everything Mulder has based his life around. We see the crash in flashbacks in a spectacular special effects sequence and we also see alien technology being used for nefarious means, much of which had been seen in the latest trailer.
But the best moments are always between Mulder and Scully, as these two characters must feel like old friends to Duchovny and Anderson, and always bring out the best in their performances with each other. A runner-up would be a scene in the old X-Files office between Duchovny and Mitch Pileggi as AD Skinner, a scene where they don’t particularly get along either, strangely enough. All in all, the episode felt very updated to today’s production standards, with some of the same dark emotion that was on display in the second movie. It’s a newer, mature X-Files with a couple of very well-developed characters at its core, with all the history and baggage that entails.
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The episode got a standing ovation from the NYCC crowd and that continued as a happy Chris Carter, David Duchovny and Mitch Pileggi took the stage for the fan Q&A after. They had watched the episode along with the attendees and seemed to be genuinely affected by the positive reaction. During the panel, it was revealed that the episodes Carter wrote are a two-parter, which bookend the six-episode series. These are mythology episodes, and part of the overall alien conspiracy. The four in the middle will be “monster-of-the-week” episodes and will be written by not only himself, but also veteran X-Files writers Glen Morgan, James Wong and Darin Morgan.
THE X-FILES debuts with a special two-night event beginning Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 at 10pm, and continuing with its time period premiere on Monday, Jan. 25 at 8pm on FOX.
Photo Credit: Ed Araquel/FOX