When a scientist suddenly commits suicide, Mulder and Scully investigate what unseen force may have driven him to it. What they uncover is a laboratory where extreme genetic experimentation has been going on for decades, breeding subjects who possess unexpected and dangerous powers – and who harbor deep resentments.

The X-Files second episode of its tenth season moves the series’ formula back to its more entertaining monster of the week formula while also attempting to tie that in to the new conspiracy that Fox Mulder is convinced is the reality of his quest.

The episode has issues much like the first with the first half feeling more like a reason to discuss Dana Scully and Mulder’s past and their child together. The overarching episode feels more like an attempt to wrap up, or at least address, a plot line from the previous series to keep fans settled.

The episode has to do with with the death of a scientist, which leads the two agents to explore children with diseases and deformities, which creates a connect the dots investigation where one clue leads to another and then another, without much big picture investigating.

The ending though is where the episode really goes off the rails with a weird mix of the X-Men and Carrie. The powers don’t seem to be consistent throughout the story, and the acting and fx towards the end are rather cheesy.

Much like the first episode, the acting is all over the place where it feels like some of the classic characters, and at other times Duchovny and Anderson feel like they’re phoning it in for a paycheck. It’s been so long since I watched the original series, I can’t say if this is par for the course or not. But, through my hazy memory, I remember it being better.

While as a fan I’m happy that The X-Files are back, I just wish the quality was a bit higher.

Overall Rating: 6.5

This 2016 pilot reintroduces “The X-Files” and reunites Agent Mulder with Dana Scully after the collapse of their relationship when Mulder is engaged by a TV host. Mulder proclaims new evidence that alien abductions have been faked.

Before I get in to my review of the return of The X-Files, I think it’s important to lay out how big this series was in my life. I was a diehard from the beginning watching every episode when they aired, usually getting together with friends for parties.

Its been a long time since the series last aired on television and even before the series ended, there was some time before the series was really solid. But, with the state of the world, it seems like a perfect time to return to the conspiracy filled world of Fox Mulder and the skeptic that is Dana Scully.

This new season twists the formula a little bit, updating the alien conspiracy to modern times through the plot device of Tad O’Malley, an Alex Jones conspiracy theory loving television personality played by Joel McHale. O’Malley reaches out to Mulder about what he’s convinced is a conspiracy to take over the country (or world) by a cabal of individuals. And here’s the first issue of the show, Mulder jumps in to the conspiracy a bit too easy twisting what he knows and has seen to fit what O’Malley is selling. Mulder hasn’t grown, and in fact might have taken quite a few steps back since we last saw him.

It’s not just that jump that’s the only issue. Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully and David Duchovny as Fox Mulder feel a bit worn and weary throughout the first three quarters of the first episode. It isn’t until an interesting twist where the characters, and actors themselves, perk up and begin to be enjoyable again.

The great is the series does not update itself much. There is some updated special fx, but like the opening credits, the series is very much a throwback in many ways. Much like the characters, it all feels familiar, like settling in with an old friend.

Much like one of the tag lines says, “I Want to Believe,” but I’m not completely sold on the conspiracy quite yet.

Overall Rating: 7.1