The X-Files Revival Recap: 10×6, “My Struggle, Part II”

March 1, 2016 Reviews, TV, Watching 0

The X-Files is back! For this six-part mini series, I will be recapping and reviewing each episode. These will contain spoilers, fair warning.

Mulder goes missing before a scheduled meeting with Tad O’Malley, leaving Scully to try to locate him and also discover why people are falling ill at an alarming rate. She theorizes that there is a conspiracy to strategically wipe out wide sections of humanity, beginning with military and healthcare workers. An old friend reaches out to Scully and confirms her suspicions.

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So remember how the premiere was all exposition and not much action? The finale was the opposite. It felt like I was dumped in the middle of an episode and just had to wait for information about the plot. Had Carter not shoehorned in that godawful terrorist episode and made the last two episodes more of a finale arc (in the tradition of previous seasons), it might have made a little more sense. This highlights a problem the entire revival – pacing. The pacing is all over the yard in the majority of the episodes. If one doesn’t have enough action, it has too much exposition, particularly in the Chris Carter penned episodes. It comes off sloppy and first-drafty, and I have to wonder how many eyes got to look at these scripts before they shot them.

Sciencin' hard.

Sciencin’ hard.

When I had heard that the finale would be Scully-centric and possibly dealing with William, I was really excited. Maybe we would see William? Maybe a reunion between Scully and her child? Not… so much. William has been the focus of the mythology in this revival, but without giving us any answers whatsoever. The episode was focused on Scully, but the way she was written in it felt very off and almost irrational at times. Very not Scully. Carter also made the huge mistake of keeping Mulder and Scully apart until the last five minutes (possibly even less than that) of the episode. This is why the last two seasons of the show weren’t good, CC. You don’t separate the duo and expect it to feel right.

*sits in the dark and listens to "Rolling in the Deep"*

*sits in the dark and listens to “Rolling in the Deep”*

That being said, I did enjoy the moments of Scully going to get her man because that’s what Scully does. She became the Scully we all know and love, and rushed through loads of people just to save Mulder. I also didn’t expect cooperation between Einstein and Scully after the last episode, so that was a pleasant surprise. Ladies doin’ science, yiss. However, as much as I was thrilled to see Reyes (Annabeth Gish) back on the show, they went and Fowleyed her all up. Maybe she was working with CSM to help Mulder and Scully in the long run but goddammit, Chris Carter. You didn’t have to play her like that.

"What's that?" "It's our bullshit cliffhanger ending."

“What’s that, Scully?” “I’ve seen it before. It’s our bullshit cliffhanger ending.”

I had a feeling the episode would end on a cliffhanger, but that cliffhanger was still some serious bullshit. As I said before, had “Babylon” not been a xenophobic, throwaway mess of an episode, it could have been worked into a two-part finale that led to a good cliffhanger. There hasn’t been official word on if or when another mini-series will happen, or if they’re going to do a third movie, but if that is the case I’d like the storylines to be tightened up and maybe not let Carter write them. It should give us a better William-centric plot than the revival did. As much as I love the gut-punchy feelings (particularly those in “Founder’s Mutation”), I want more than just Mulder and Scully working through their emotions about their son. If he is tied to this colonization plot or whatever Carter has decided the story is now, then show him growing up on that farm and discovering the weird abilities he has or maybe the scary shadowy government people trying to track him down. Show Mulder and Scully finding out about it and then trying to locate William before the government can. That would make for a much better dramatic plot than “guess what? The anti-vaxxers are onto something.”

Despite my problems with the revival, it had moments that I enjoyed. And I honestly don’t think it will affect my love of the original series. This art by Lucy Knisley pretty much sums it up:

What did you all think of the episode?

 

Images courtesy of Fox and The X Files Source.