From across the pond this week we heard a collective sigh of “REALLY?”…
The first episode of the new X-Files miniseries seemed more like a flash back than a premiere. We saw the Roswell, New Mexico “UFO crash”, aliens trying to escape the wreckage and the inhumanity of humanity towards these visitors.
Nothing left to the imagination, nothing wrought with intrigue and mystery it was “out there” and in our faces.
The original 1990s series teased the audience, made us hunger for even a glimpse of the interstellar beings that haunted the dreams and waking moments of the two main characters. Yet in this newest incarnation it seems the first episode “My Struggle,” is as much about Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson’s) torment as that of the audience who clearly waited a long time to once again connect with this couple who were known for taking on the machine. The new X-Files is not perfect by any means, but die-hard fans will probably deem it worth watching, if only to reunite for a long overdue date with Mulder and Scully.
Unfortunately, instead of bringing a new wisdom and insight to this dark and iconic show, the miniseries seems to trip over itself as it figures out exactly what direction it wants to move. It feels as if the goal is not about building on the past, but rather endeavoring to be the “old” X-Files.
It does not appear that this will be a revamp filled with the unexpected and unnerving but instead it has the potential to simply get on one’s nerves.
Such a disappointment as the premise while not new when originally launched was a weekly series with the power to transport viewers to a very dark place where humanity allowed itself to go unedited as we were taken into a realm where the answers only created more questions and the truth was a commodity to be hoarded at all costs.