The X-Files: Re-Opened

The X-Files was one of my favorite TV shows. It had mystery, suspense, sci-fi, fantasy, action, and plenty of thrills. It was well written, perfectly cast, and totally original. It was like nothing else before, working well both as a stand-alone procedural and a multi-episode-arc drama.

Eventually, like all series, it reached its end, and two companion movies were worthy efforts even if they failed to ignite the box office.

The X-Files: Re-Opened was billed as a "6 episode event" and it was a mixed bag at best. It tried to give us an update on the larger worldwide conspiracy Mulder had always been after, but it also wanted to showcase stand-alone episodes.

Unfortunately, the limited event format itself couldn't allow enough time for the conspiracy storyline to really be dealt with. There was a lot of information thrown our way in too short a timeframe, ending up feeling stiff and lumbering (and hard to believe even for those of us who "still want to believe").

The stand-alone episodes also varied in quality from okay to pathetic, which can't be what you're going for if you want to convince the public to start caring about your show again after all this time.

I'm glad both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson agreed to come back, as well as Mitch Pileggi and William B. Davis, as they were able to re-inhabit their roles as if no time had passed.

The new recruits, Robbie Amell and Lauren Ambrose, were a smart choice, given their resemblance (physical and not) to the younger Mulder and Scully, but there just wasn't enough time to really develop their characters, so they ended up looking like ineffective copies of the younger sleuths (and honestly, a bit too much tongue-in-cheek).

If you were a fan of the original, by all means take a look, as it's a decently successful attempt at recapturing the allure of what you loved.

If you're new to The X-Files however, you'd be much better served by going back to the original show and watch that.

Grade - Limited Event: 6