FOXSYLVANIA

I was a big X-Files fan in the 1990’s, and somewhere I still have an action figurine of David Duchovny as Fox Mulder, one of my few heroes…and so almost nothing could be better for me than when I learned that half a dozen new episodes of the show were being made, complete with many members of the original cast!  The previews looked promising and true to the spirit of the original show.  I was more than ready for this; it was the Holy Grail of paranormal television.

So primed and ready, I tuned to FOX at the listed time expecting to see Fox,  and got…a football post-game show!  It was a cruel thing to see jocks celebrating themselves when you’ve gone so many years without a Mulder fix.  No doubt this was some kind of government conspiracy.  Fortunately the DVR and “On Demand” gods were there, and I was able to watch the whole glorious episode later.

The first episode was heavy on exposition and the series mythology, beginning with Mulder’s cerebral, analytical monotone voice and flashing back to the seminal Roswell UFO incident, with the crash gloriously depicted.  Since the series last ended, Mulder has been living a low profile life while his partner, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) has been aiding in the surgical creation of ears for earless children.  The duo is reunited by a wealthy arch conservative talk show conspiracy adherent (Tad O’Malley), and Mulder appears to have mastered the scruffy cool look to perfection.  From there, things get twisted and complicated, with alien technologies, genetic manipulations, and unspeakable dark conspiracies thrown into the mix.

Some episodes after the second will focus less on the confusing and mysterious X-Files mythology, with some stand-alone episodes presented that will follow the popular “Monster of the Week” format during which the series was at its most enjoyable.  We will apparently, however, be getting visits from such iconic series figures as the Cigarette Smoking Man and The Lone Gunmen, who had a brief unsuccessful spin-off show of their own once upon a time.

All in all, the limited revival series is worthy, and makes us want to put on suits, grab large flashlights, and follow conspiracies and monsters wherever they may lead, for The Truth is Out There…