TV REVIEW: FTN reviews The X-Files S01E01 (S10E01): My Struggle

The X-Files S01E01 (S10E01): My Struggle
Directed by Chris Carter
Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian anderson and Joel McHale

I was never a huge fan of the X-Files during its original run. That may seem strange coming from someone who’s a self-confessed sci-fi nut, and someone who ‘does’ believe in aliens and that ‘the truth is out there’ – and I have seen the entire series through its original 9 season run and two cinematic movies.

My problem with it was the way that the show seemed to want to have a clear direction of where it was going, yet intentionally spun a web of lies and cover-ups that, over time as a huge watcher of TV, I have come to recognise as the flawed marks of a show that had no true idea of where it was going.

A continual source of annoyance came from creator Chris Carter’s apparent refusal to confirm anything as it would give the series an ending and mean he could no longer spin off the yarn into more adventures for Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Even when given the go-ahead for a second movie, the overall arc of an alien/human conspiracy was ditched so that we could get a stand-alone psychic-based story that all but signalled the death rattle for the franchise.

So I have to admit was less than enthralled at the announcement of a six-part mini-series bringing back the X-Files as is currently the custom for the networks (we’ve had 24 and Heroes – What I wanna know is where the hell is Firefly?!).

The first episode is a re-run of familiar territory, with Mulder and Scully being brought back into the realm of the extraterrestrial by a conspiracy theorist TV presenter (played by Community’s Joel McHale), who brings them to a new eye-witness and to the truth behind the abductions, of which Scully was herself included.

Potential spoilers ahead

Given that this is the first of six episodes, it’s honestly anyone’s guess if this counts or not, because once again, Chris Carter seems to be pulling the wool over our eyes…

The truth is… there is no alien conspiracy, it’s all a man-made conspiracy using alien based technology, recovered from the likes of Roswell, which during the episode we see flashbacks to a young doctor being brought to the crashed ship, and then telling us that the same event was all a smokescreen, which seems to spit in the face of everything we’ve seen so far, in some part due to (and even at one point mentioning) the world as it has become post 9/11.

Spoilers end

So it feels very much like a case of fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me… but honestly do you really care when it gets to fool me fifty seven times?

Unfortunately, I’m honestly past caring now, the only reason I’ll watch the remaining five episodes is because it is ONLY five more episodes, and to see if actually has an ending to the story.

2 out of 5 Nerds