The X-Files was the very first series that I reviewed in the earliest days of what would become Critical Myth.  I recall fondly posting my theories, thoughts, and criticisms on the semi-official Delphi boards and the wonderful fan fiction groups that endured for years after the end of the series.  I still keep in touch with many of my fellow X-Philes from those days.  So the thought of The X-Files returning to television was a welcome one, even if I was concerned after I Want to Believe that Chris Carter had lost touch with what made the concept work so well.

 

 

Perhaps the best way to sum up “My Struggle” is to say that it is classic Chris Carter.  That’s both good and bad, for all the most predictable of reasons.  It’s good because this feels like the show we all remember.  It’s bad in the sense that Carter still doesn’t know how to tell a straightforward story.  Being left with more questions than answers is stock and trade for this series, but it can also be awfully frustrating.

 

This is especially true when Carter takes the opportunity to streamline the mythology (or so it seems), and instead of just focusing on a simple new chapter on top of what came before, tries to retcon several seasons of plot in the space of a few short conversations.  While I certainly don’t have a problem with the idea that the entire mythology was misunderstood, it does feel like a dodge.  So much of the mythology revolved around the notion of Colonization at the end of 2012 that glossing over it with a dismissive wave of the hand was a discredit to those who actually tried to figure out the plot.

 

 

On the other hand, there is something to be said for taking the conspiratorial nonsense of today’s internet age and using that as the fodder for the current plot.  Aliens aren’t being ignored, per se, just shifted entirely to the beginning of the story.  Everything else is a reflection of the Syndicate’s desire to take control of the world (starting with America, of course) through the use of technology and other advances that study of alien technology and biology has allowed.  Much of the original mythology can be explained in that context, but it should be interesting to see how the rather earnest dialogue by Syndicate members over the years, pointing directly to alien Colonization, might be explained away.  Or will Carter do the usual thing and pretend there’s no contradiction, leaving it to the fans to debate?

 

One of the aspects of the series that I always enjoyed (and seemed to be ignored) was the fairly toxic nature of the Mulder/Scully relationship.  They might have loved each other and even tried to make it work, but there was a copious layer of co-dependence beneath it all that was begging to fall apart the minute one of them fell apart.  And not surprisingly, it was Mulder that couldn’t keep it together.  Mulder was always on the verge; was severe depression and an apparent break from reality all that unlikely?

 

Interestingly, Carter seems to be hinting that William, Mulder and Scully’s child, may not be theirs after all.  If Sveta was implanted with a human/alien hybrid child as well, and she and Scully have alien DNA in a similar manner, it’s quite possible that William wasn’t theirs at all.  It would be a significant shift in the mythology, though quite consistent with elements of the first few seasons (not unlike Emily).  Invoking Scully’s pregnancies and that connection to the larger mythology is an excellent way to get her invested again, when she has clearly tired of Mulder chasing after every conspiratorial shadow.  Making it about William on some level makes it sensible that they would work together again, even when they are otherwise at odds.  (A rift made clear by a conversation that might have had the highest number of pop culture taglines ever.)

 

All that said, it’s almost like the series never ended.  Mulder, Scully, and Skinner are all on point and the explanation for why the X-Files have been reopened is no less contrived than anything that happened during the series itself.  Perhaps some of the frustration with the apparent changes to the mythology is merely the result of knowing this return is a relatively short one.  Will there be enough time, in six episodes, to give this new spin the kind of depth that will satisfy?  But that’s an issue with the brevity of this season overall; just when we’ve gotten used to having them back, Mulder and Scully will be gone again, with a return desired but hardly guaranteed.