The cult-classic television series The X-Files is returning to Fox on January 3, 2018, 17 years after its original cancellation. This should not come as a surprise, as the show was officially revived in 2016 for its tenth season. The second preview for the season was released on December 8th. The question is, does the series need this eleventh season?
The previous season aired to a lot of disappointment and criticism in 2016. I watched the new season out of nostalgia like I assume most viewers did. It was an honest-to-god hassle to finish an episode (Miller and Einstein? Not as charming as the show wanted them to be). The idea of adding 10 more episodes to an already lackluster attempt at revival is not appealing.
I said all of that to say that I am excited. This season looks much more on-brand with the series I fell in love with.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPJxoiATomQ&w=560&h=315]
I binge watched The X-Files on Netflix in 2013. I watched all 202 episodes in just under three weeks, and I’ve re-watched the series several times since then. Most fans agree that The X-Files hasn’t been in its prime for about 18 years. Season 3 is where the series begins to pick up, it struggles in Season 7, and I dreaded watching Season 9. Not because the show was over, but because it had become so uninteresting. Finishing Season 9 was a chore. I already watched over 180 hours of this show, and I’m no quitter was my mentality. Scully and Mulder were no longer the main characters, and like most fans, their relationship was the main attraction for me (Reminder that X-Files fans created fanfiction).
I was excited for the 2016 premiere of the tenth season. I didn’t have cable and made my way to my best friend’s house to watch it on her family’s shared television. Really.
I was disappointed when the series wasn’t as charming as I remembered. The show felt forcefully campy and like fan-service, which to be fair, it absolutely was. I also was not a fan of four out of the six episodes being Monster of the Week, not mythology episodes.
Perhaps it was just my nostalgia, or maybe it’s just hard to keep a show running and good for over 20 years. As far as the eleventh season trailer, Gillian Anderson is beautiful and talented as always. Skinner and CSM have always been some of my favorite recurring characters. Mulder has always been my favorite character, and I passed David Duchovny at LAX last week, which is cool! I think the variation from 6 episodes to 10 will allow the series to better explore the lore and wrap up loose ends, hopefully.
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