THE X-FILES 2016: Scully and Mulder are back!

Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) are back on “The X-Files!”

THE X-FILES are back! I really didn’t know what to expect. The spoof on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC was actually a good place to start. If you saw it, you know that Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny were good sports to let themselves be done up as lame updates of their characters. They looked old and tired and the ongoing joke was how out of touch they were to such things as smartphones and the internet.

A lighter side to Mulder and Scully on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC

While the show began in 1993, when AOL ruled the young internet, it did go on for nine seasons, well into 2002! Anyway, stereotypes are good for an easy laugh. In fact, Kimmel got it wrong on the skit in a more significant way. These two characters were hardly as naive as depicted. Yes, they had done more than consummated their relationship. As any true fan knows, the two had a child, one they chose to give up for adoption due to all the complications of their field work into aliens from outer space.

THE X-FILES in 2016 appears to be everything that a fan or casual observer would want. The opening scenes quickly get you up to speed on Mulder’s personal obsession to find out the truth of aliens from outer space. As an ironic twist, given that this is a FOX show, the catalyst for this story is a right-wing talk show host. Tad O’Malley (played by Joel McHale) is the host of “Truth Squad,” that believes in false flag conspiracies. We steadily discover that Tad O’Malley may be onto something.

With this reboot, you get the two stars of the show looking and acting far more on point than the Kimmel satire. However, who knows if perhaps the satire isn’t totally off the mark in some respects. Is the reboot more a curiosity than a legitimate heir to the original? Here’s the deal, the original show created by Chris Carter was ahead of its time taking its cues from only a few predecessors like, “The Twilight Zone.” And it got pretty complex. There was the whole deal with Mulder’s sister who was abducted by aliens and part of quite a web of intrigue.

Now, this reboot dabbles in a number of adjustments to a post-9/11 world, which is all good. What bodes well is the title of the first episode, “My Struggle,” a nod to cult writer Karl Ove Knausgaard who covers such themes as the history of angels on Earth. This new version of the classic show is back for a special six-episode run. While there are no plans to continue, perhaps the success of the new X-Files will lead to even more. For more details, visit FOX right here.