"My Struggle"

Aired 1/24/16

When I first became a fan of the series in 2007, never did I imagine that one day I would get to watch an X-Files movie on the big screen. I assumed those days were long gone. Not even half-way through the year, rumblings and rumors spread over the internet about the possibility of a brand new movie with David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, frequent co-star Mitch Pileggi, as well as the writing duo of creator Chris Carter and long-time right-hand man, Frank Spotnitz. It was officially announced for the following summer in 2008, titled I Want To Believe, and also a big box set hit stores shelves that housed the series' 9 seasons and the first film packaged together for the first time. Even a few volumes of the series' score were soon released for the first time in their original form. I was riding high on X-Files fever, as well as the long-time fans that I became friends with over the interwebs.

Maybe my expectations for an X-Files movie were far too high, as you recall even Indiana Jones returned to the big screen that year for a sequel that was 20 odd years in the making. I was too young for that fandom the first time around too, though I was able to see Indiana Jones once it hit HBO. Both didn't live up to my personal expectations, though neither should be dismissed as "terrible." That didn't deter my interest in The X-Files since later that year I would begin a 9-year journey where I began to watch and review each episode in order. I figured if I couldn't watch The X-Files live like my other fan friends, I'd make my own version.

That old X-Files fever hit once again, as FOX announced in the spring of 2015 that they would soon begin production on brand new episodes with David and Gillian returning, along with Mitch Pileggi, creator Chris Carter, and also returning writers Glen Morgan, Darin Morgan, and James Wong. I was skeptical of Chris' ability to create something new and exciting, remembering the misfire movie of 2008. The news of the Morgan brothers and James Wong excited me, since they left the series in the middle of it's run, and they're responsible for many of my absolute favorite episodes.

"My Struggle", immediately began with Chris Carter's wacky, overly wordy, monologue style, but David Duchovny seemed up for the challenge. The montage of edited clips was a fantastic piece, so it was easy to look past Carter's style. The episode then flashes back to an outstanding bit of special effects work of a UFO crash in New Mexico with an unfamiliar group of men investigating the wreckage. The production crew is no doubt making full use of the advancement of technology, and the crash ranks right along with the classic visual effects of the original series.

However, I can't say the same for the plot of the episode. It felt like a rehash of past stories, all combined into one fast-paced hour of television that tried to fit in as many Chris Carter tropes as possible. First was the monologue of Mulder's history, then later was a mega monologue about the military-industral complex. Mulder now has a new informant, only known as "Hat Man", following a long lineage of characters like "Grey-Haired Man", "Well-Manicured Man", "Stone-Faced Man", "Toothpick Man", and the villainous original, the "Cigarette-Smoking Man". There's also a person whom Mulder believes is the key to everything, which fans have heard multiple times before from the paranoid FBI Agent. Perhaps this was the best way to go about introducing the series to new eyes, as well as getting the long-time viewers caught up on the lives of their favorite FBI agents. FOX was wise to schedule it following an important post-season NFL Division Championship game, a night when more people are likely to be watching television compared to some random Sunday in the middle of March. This also puts the series in line with February Sweeps, if that even means anything in this modern day and age of DVRs and binge-watching on Netflix.

I can overlook the many tropes of Chris Carter, but the thing that still bugs me is just how the Cigarette Smoking Man can be present in these episodes set in 2016. He was shot by a sniper sent by his own Syndicate, even thrown down a flight of stairs, and then to top it off, shot by a missile. He's a senior citizen for cripes sake, not Wile E. Coyote! How can this guy still be alive? At least he was seen smoking through his neck hole again, which still ranks as one of the coolest Cigarette Smoking Man moments.

For as many moments as I disliked, this did have plenty to like about it, and I'm interested to see where it goes and just how past characters like Agent Reyes, the Lone Gunmen, and Scully's mom fit into this new batch of episodes. My only hope is that this doesn't end on some wild cliffhanger at the end of episode 6, with FOX canceling it forever.