Review: The X-FIles Returns! (Spoiler Free)

The original dynamic duo, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), have swung back onto our screens after an agonising thirteen year long wait, this time holding their smartphones out into the dark rather than the iconic flashlights of days gone by. As a kid X-Files was a near sacrosanct entity to me, it made me curious, it taught me to question things and it also inspired me to study really hard like my heroes in the show. So when the revival came around, still freshly stinging from the films that real fans don’t talk about, I was a little anxious about this revival. Would it be handled correctly? Or was it going to be a half-baked cash cow, like the cringe inducing mess Heroes Reborn is turning out to be?

Well, I should have had more faith because series creator Chris Carter has managed to preserve the same blend of odd ball humour and high science fiction intrigue that made the show so alluring and individual during its first decade run. While Duchovny and Anderson slip back into their iconic roles with such ease that it’s like they’ve never stopped, their chemistry and comic timing is key to the show and still delivers. Their characters have aged appropriately and feel fully rounded, you can really believe this is how Mulder and Scully would be a decade on after all their trials and tribulations. The millennial setting is also perfect for the conspiracy based drama, many viewers will probably identify with the character’s constant paranoia and mistrust of institutions, perhaps much more so now than in the nineties. Carter didn’t have to look far back into history to find inspiration in people like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, wasting no time in reminding the viewer to always have a questioning and unclosed mind.

The six episode mini-series tries to answer some of the big questions that are left hanging over Mulder and Scully in a main story arc, while also giving fans a few funny standalone casefile focused episodes that will bring back nostalgia in the best way. The only criticism to this structure is with only six episodes and so many tantalising plot points set up in the first episode, the middle of the series has felt a little like a lull waiting for to return to the intrigue of episode one. Yet, from keeping the original opening credits (because who wants new X-Files theme music really?) to updating the SFX enough that they aren’t laughable but still have that B-movie homage edge to them, the team that worked on this revival have done a near perfect job in giving fans a high quality continuation to their story they will love. Will it be for everyone? Of course not, nothing is and the X-Files has always been a little marmite with audiences, but if you dug the series before I guarantee you’ll love seeing Mulder and Scully back in action again. Cast and crew all say they’d be willing to continue with this mini-series format a few more small instalments but that they would have to be done right and depend on schedules and ratings. Is this the return of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully for good? In times like these with equally depressing political landscapes and poor quality television shows: I Want to Believe.

Cara Davies