I’ve been a loyal fan.  Since the very first episode aired so long ago on a September night in 1993. My mom and I watched it together, and had previously gotten me into Star Trek and Twilight Zone, the natural progression of course.  I gave the series 9 years of my life, as a devoted fan and follower.  I brought in countless others, who never really ‘got it’, until they watched an episode with me.  At it’s core, the series has some of the strongest mythology this side of Battlestar Galactica, and two magnetic protagonists to blind each other with flashlights.

Don’t get me wrong, I love creature of the week episodes as well as the hardcore Syndicate-alien-conspiracy tales, but something has changed.  If we look at the ‘mini series’ 6 episodes, we find almost everything there from the original series.  The actors, the pacing, the jokes and delivery are all there, but something is off. And I really hate to say, it’s probably Chris Carter. I don’t often link to another article when I’m doing reviews, but this HitFix piece hits the nail on the head.

The ‘pilot’ episode was laughably bad, and I did more yelling than anything else while watching it.  Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny seemed rusty, slipping back into these characters must’ve been a weird experience, but I was surprised at how forced everything felt.  The story was a jumble of barely recognizable alien conspiracy, poor attempts at pandering to hardcore fans, and an ultimately disappointing hour of television.  Out of the six, two were really good, one was good, and three were horrible.  The middle episodes weren’t bad, two were really really enjoyable and gave glimmers of ‘the show that was’. Carter wrote three episodes of the revival, and they were the weakest of the lot.

As far as the ‘finale’ goes, it felt like ultimately the series gave up.  It’s like the entire episode was phoned in, probably some of the weakest script work this side of season 9.  Things neither of our main characters would EVER say no matter what the duress, the turncoat choices of a familiar agent who would NEVER ally herself with CSM, and flip-flopping Scully’s medical capabilities from expert to med student were infuriating.  These things, on top of completely rewriting the plot of the episode halfway through, left me questioning my loyalty as an Xphile.

The ending?  That Fargo season 2 ending?  Are you kidding me?  We got more closure from the SECOND MOVIE THAN WE DID THAT ENDING.  I get it though, “leave the audiences wanting more” in your ending has been the hallmark of many a sci-fi series.  This time though?  Weakest.  Ever.

The episode hadn’t even aired yet, and the internet was ablaze with rumors of a second season pickup of the revival.  Sort of an expected move really, Fox making desperate grasps for any series with a guaranteed viewership and revenue generating power.  I don’t know yet if I’ll give the show any more support, though.  Nothing about the story or characters was furthered by these 6 episodes, and that is an unforgivable choice for a series built on the strength of mythology and personal truths.