Almost 14 years after it ended its original run, The X-Files is returning to the small screen with a six-episode miniseries this winter. To welcome it back, Jeff and I will be writing responses to each episode. Here’s the hook: Jeff is a pretty hardcore X-Files fan and I haven’t seen a single episode of the show. How we’ll respond is anyone’s guess, but as always: The Truth is Out There.

This post covers the first episode of the miniseries, “My Struggle.” It probably contains spoilers for this episode as well as the entire original run of The X-Files.

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Jeff
“My Struggle” is an apt title for the first episode of The X-Files miniseries, because I think it’s going to be a struggle for me to put this miniseries into the context of the original 9-season run of the show that I loved so much.

This feels a lot like a late-series mythology episode, complete with period flashbacks, info-dump, JFK-esque montages (including Mulder’s own Mr. X…not to be confused with The X-Files’ previous Mr. X), and a final act that frustrates our heroes’ quest by continuing the cover-up. We also have the familiar faces of Mulder and Scully, as well as Walter Skinner and an unlikely, or impossible, appearance by the Cigarette Smoking Man. We have the basement office, UFOs, Roswell, a parking garage, Scully in scrubs and even a Reticulan. The pieces are in place, but this episode is saddled with introducing an all new conspiracy, which is problematic to say the least. Continue reading →