Support NeoGAF

[Aselith]

That episode felt like the original series completely for sure. I mean honestly the first episode did also it just had to do such a packed info dump that it suffered a bit for it. This episode was like X-Files never went off the air. Very pleased with the series so far.

My mom is a big X-Files fan and she seems a little less pleased with it though.

 

[Agent Unknown]

Someone needs to make a gif of the crazy chick throwing the apple at the cat. lol

 

[Timeaisis]

Well, that was way better. Hope they keep up this quality.

 

[TheSadRanger]

Holy shit was that episode violent though.

Dude stabbing himself in the ear

a woman cutting her belly open with a baby hand poking out

Not to mention the doctor bleeding from his eyes and ears at the end.

edit: It really is funny you can do all that on a TV show but heaven forbid someone sees a boob :/

 

[Aselith]

I kind of was worried for a moment when they said "they're pictures of kids" in that guys apartment after the gay bathroom moment. I was afraid it was going to be some pedo shit which would have been an unfortunate association. Luckily, the kids were just horrible deformed!

 

[TheSadRanger]

I kind of was worried for a moment when they said "they're pictures of kids" in that guys apartment after the gay bathroom moment. I was afraid it was going to be some pedo shit which would have been an unfortunate association. Luckily, the kids were just horrible deformed!

The makeup and effects on the kids scene was really well done.

 

[Father_Brain]

Only seen the first episode, but:

LIKED: Duchovny and Anderson.
DID NOT LIKE: Awful exposition dumps, a plot driven by a really half-assed, handwavey attempt to retcon away nearly all of the series' alien mythology, one which fails to ring true even on a character level.

I mean, yes, the series' mythology got far too convoluted for its own good, thanks in large part to Carter making things up as he went along, but surely there were better ways to deal with that than "everything in the original series involving aliens was an incredibly, ludicrously elaborate smokescreen to cover up a *different* conspiracy involving aliens."

Thank god that the next two episodes are allegedly better.

 

[Dr.Acula]

They really wasted that first ep. So much nothing happened and then at the end it's "hey, by the way you're both reinstated and working on the X-Files" and they're flung out there on this case. It's a little jarring. I would have liked a smoother transition.

 

[TheVampire]

This new conspiracy kinda makes sense with human made ufo's using aliens technology.

I was wondering where the humans got those ufos they were flying at Area 51 and it ties into this.

 

[The Elite]

They really wasted that first ep. So much nothing happened and then at the end it's "hey, by the way you're both reinstated and working on the X-Files" and they're flung out there on this case. It's a little jarring. I would have liked a smoother transition.

And that's the episode that got 13 million viewers. Not the one you want to get the big exposure.

 

[Cranster]

I mean, yes, the series' mythology got far too convoluted for its own good, thanks in large part to Carter making things up as he went along, but surely there were better ways to deal with that than "everything in the original series involving aliens was an incredibly, ludicrously elaborate smokescreen to cover up a *different* conspiracy involving aliens."

Don't believe their lies, we know the conspiracy is real...

Spoiler

 

[TheSadRanger]

Dumb question but Molly and Kyle were the children of the woman in the psych ward who was married to the head geneticist guy right?

^edit: fking Crycheck man

 

[Jay Shadow]

Dumb question but Molly and Kyle were the children of the woman in the psych ward who was married to the head geneticist guy right?

yes

 

[Extra Sauce]

Mulder is back baby.

I love that he started smiling when Scully mentioned the danger posed by the sound in his head. Too excited about the implications of the phenomenon to worry about anything else. Mulder loves this shit and he missed it.

 

[IJoel]

Dumb question but Molly and Kyle were the children of the woman in the psych ward who was married to the head geneticist guy right?

Yes. Apparently he manipulated their genetic makeup while in the womb.

 

[Ozium]

How is it this Doctor was able to make his two children have super powers and appear like normal human beings but everything he's done since has resulted in strange and frightening body mutations?

 

[Agent Unknown]

The first episode didn't retcon the mythology, the nature of the mythology was just modified and reversed. Aliens are still real (there's no way humans could have engineered complex entities like the black oil, greys and the faceless rebels), Mulder and Scully were still talking about the implications of alien DNA in tonight's episode it's just that...

Before:

-Aliens are real, they're basically very bad because they want to colonize the earth and either wipe out or subjugate humanity.

-The syndicate is the lesser of two evils, they do terrible things and are murderers but they were trying to buy time so at least some of humanity can survive (well, maybe mostly themselves and their own families).

After:

-Aliens are real but their interest in visiting the earth was instigated by the first nuclear tests and some kind of concern for humanity (how genuine that concern really was, who knows), not enslavement and exploitation.

-People like the syndicate are the real evil, they have killed innocent aliens like the Roswell survivor ruthlessly and are using alien technology in order to ultimately enslave humanity.

So basically, unless I'm missing something it boils down to the syndicate and whoever has apparently replaced them along with survivors like CSM are the ones who actually wanted to enslave humanity all along, not the aliens.

Whatever happens I'm thinking the Tad O'Malley story at least gets turned on its ear in some way during the finale.

 

[The Elite]

The first episode didn't retcon the mythology, it was just modified. Aliens are still real (there's no way humans could have engineered things like the black oil and the faceless rebels) it's just that...

Before:

-Aliens are real, they're basically very bad because they want to colonize the earth and either wipe out or subjugate humanity.

-The syndicate is the lesser of two evils, they do terrible things and are murderers but they were trying to buy time so at least some of humanity can survive (well, maybe mostly themselves).

After:

-Aliens are real but their interest in visiting the earth was instigated by the first nuclear tests and some kind of concern for humanity (how genuine that concern really was, who knows), not enslavement and exploitation.

-People like the syndicate are the real evil, they have killed innocent aliens like the Roswell survivor ruthlessly and are using alien technology in order to ultimately enslave humanity.

So basically, unless I'm missing something it boils down to the syndicate and whoever has apparently replaced them along with survivors like CSM are the ones who actually wanted to enslave humanity all along, not the aliens.

Whatever happens I'm really hoping the Tad O'Malley story gets turned on its ear in some way during the finale.

The black oil is the only anomaly but you pretty much have it. The black oil was legitimately trying to spread amongst the human race and infected the shape shifting greys. That's why we have the ones who would sow their eyes and mouths shut. The black oil is definitely bad news.

 

[Zoe]

You know, I was actually thinking of the Eve episode before this and how it would be perfect if they could do a follow-up. In the end, this one turned out to be pretty similar.

 

[indigo-cyclops]

The first episode didn't retcon the mythology, the nature of the mythology was just modified and reversed. Aliens are still real (there's no way humans could have engineered complex entities like the black oil, greys and the faceless rebels), Mulder and Scully were still talking about the implications of alien DNA in tonight's episode it's just that...

Before:

-Aliens are real, they're basically very bad because they want to colonize the earth and either wipe out or subjugate humanity.

-The syndicate is the lesser of two evils, they do terrible things and are murderers but they were trying to buy time so at least some of humanity can survive (well, maybe mostly themselves and their own families).

After:

-Aliens are real but their interest in visiting the earth was instigated by the first nuclear tests and some kind of concern for humanity (how genuine that concern really was, who knows), not enslavement and exploitation.

-People like the syndicate are the real evil, they have killed innocent aliens like the Roswell survivor ruthlessly and are using alien technology in order to ultimately enslave humanity.

So basically, unless I'm missing something it boils down to the syndicate and whoever has apparently replaced them along with survivors like CSM are the ones who actually wanted to enslave humanity all along, not the aliens.

Whatever happens I'm thinking the Tad O'Malley story at least gets turned on its ear in some way during the finale.

Thank you for bringing a level-headed explanation in here.

 

[TheExecutive]

"I blacked out after goldmans eyes popped out of his sockets"

Fucking lol

 

[Father_Brain]

The Mysterious Elderly Informant guy outright said that "warring aliens burning each other" were just the smokescreen.

 

[Agent Unknown]

The black oil is the only anomaly but you pretty much have it. The black oil was legitimately trying to spread amongst the human race and infected the shape shifting greys. That's why we have the ones who would sow their eyes and mouths shut. The black oil is definitely bad news.

Yeah, maybe you could engineer a fake grey body. But an actually living entity, especially a complex one like the oil? No way. Fully sentient entities that can exist in liquid form, completely take over their hosts and project radiation to defend themselves. Uh, no. Even the faceless rebels although they look primitive on the surface are advanced both in their fire rods and the fact they don't need physical eyes to see.

The faceless rebels vs the greys was awesome, definitely one of the better of the later mythology arcs. That scene where they fry most of the syndicate and their families....wow.

 

[TheSeks]

How is it this Doctor was able to make his two children have super powers and appear like normal human beings but everything he's done since has resulted in strange and frightening body mutations?

I don't think that was the point. I think his modifications were in the womb/semen for him and his children. While he was trying to modify genetic defects that were already there with the other kids.

 

[ChaChaChaChia]

 

[Link]

It's funny. Fringe originally scratched my X-Files itch. Now X-Files is scratching my Fringe itch.

That episode was great.

 

[Agent Unknown]

The Mysterious Elderly Informant guy outright said that "warring aliens burning each other" were just the smokescreen.

The Mysterious Elderly Informant guy played by Rance Howard also saw an actual alien murdered before his eyes. I'm preeeeetty sure that line wasn't meant to be interpreted as:

"The government and human scientists in the 1940s somehow managed to advance genetics hundreds of years ahead in a few decades and all on their own created artificially viral, fully sentient, liquid based life forms capable of taking over human hosts AND then also manufactured a separate race of overall wearing troglodytes who can see even though they don't have faces and can wield Wiimote sized disintegrator sticks. They then somehow convinced these two ludicrous man made non-alien monster races to pointlessly fight and kill each other Vorlon/Shadow style all for the syndicate's benefit." Is that really what you got out of that line? Again, the aliens are still real. The "smokescreen" is that whatever was going on behind the scenes between the alien races, the real bad guys were the syndicate and they used the aliens' very real actions as an excuse to advance their agenda against their own fellow humans.

 

[Plasticine]

That felt like a straight-up X-Files episode you'd find in the original run. Weird science stuff. Mulder and Scully back in full investigative mode, with Skinner running interference for their search for the Truth. The flashlights. The body horror. Quirky things like the coat room incident and the cat and the apple. A case that evaporates into the unexplained and government interference. The next episode looks like even more of the same. It's great to have this show back. Really wish it was more than 6 episodes.

 

[Aselith]

How is it this Doctor was able to make his two children have super powers and appear like normal human beings but everything he's done since has resulted in strange and frightening body mutations?

I think the deformity was more built in to give him a pretense to have the kids rather than being part of the mutation. Like if you can manipulate the genes anyways why not give yourself a cover identity so to speak.

 

[wesleyshark]

"I blacked out after goldmans eyes popped out of his sockets"

Fucking lol

That was great haha

 

[carlsojo]

That was a fantastic return to form. Now that's the X-files I loved!

 

[infinitys_7th]

The Mysterious Elderly Informant guy played by Rance Howard also saw an actual alien murdered before his eyes. I'm preeeeetty sure that line wasn't meant to be interpreted as:

"The government and human scientists in the 1940s somehow managed to advance genetics hundreds of years ahead in a few decades and all on their own created artificially viral, fully sentient, liquid based life forms capable of taking over human hosts AND then also manufactured a separate race of overall wearing troglodytes who can see even though they don't have faces and can wield Wiimote sized disintegrator sticks. They then somehow convinced these two ludicrous man made non-alien monster races to pointlessly fight and kill each other Vorlon/Shadow style all for the syndicate's benefit." Is that really what you got out of that line? Again, the aliens are still real. The "smokescreen" is that whatever was going on behind the scenes between the alien races, the real bad guys were the syndicate and they used the aliens' very real actions as an excuse to advance their agenda against their own fellow humans.

Again, this doesn't make sense with the Syndicate as we know them. The Syndicate packed up their families and went to meet the Colonists (Greys) to be taken off the world before the invasion. Of course, the Rebels showed up and cooked them all. Amongst themselves they discussed the Colonist-Rebel dynamic and why they worked to develop both hybrids and a vaccine (one to appease the Colonists, and the other to subvert them).

The only way it would make sense that the Colonists aren't actually evil is that the Syndicate was being misled by someone, say Cancer Man (who did leave the hangar when they all were roasted, so maybe he was in on it? He didn't act that surprised).

I still don't take the Tad stuff at face value, though.

 

[Hari Seldon]

Just saw the first episode off of my hard drive, excellent! Hopefully this show kills it in the ratings and they bring it back permanently.

 

[The Elite]

Yeah. The Tad stuff is presented to Mulder on a silver platter. I'm sure there is some truth to it but it's exactly what Mulder wants/needs to hear at the right time.

I don't trust Tad at all.

 

[bengraven]

Started to watch it, but decided to save it for this weekend when I can truly enjoy it.

I have to admit, I got some nerdy tears when I watched the opening and then seeing they were using the same intro. I can't believe it's back.

 

[t-storm]

lawl

how they look at each other afterwards

 

[FTF]

Great episode! Forgot it was on but had it dvr'd and just watched it. Man they got away with some fucked up shit in this episode with the tumor kids and woman cutting open her stomach and the eyes bleeding!

So glad X-Files is back!...If only briefly

 

[infinitys_7th]

Yeah. The Tad stuff is presented to Mulder on a silver platter. I'm sure there is some truth to it but it's exactly what Mulder wants/needs to hear at the right time.

I don't trust Tad at all.

Technically, the Rebels, Colonists, and Bounty Hunters are supposed to be the same race. Maybe the Roswell alien was a Rebel, and the nuclear blast which drew its attention to Earth also alerted the Colonists that intelligent life had developed on their homeworld? Maybe it was trying to warn humanity about the Colonists, and the Roswell scientist only learned that it had vague positive intentions and mistakenly believed that all aliens were the same.

Hence the information is technically right but also mosleading, and has the grain of truth to appeal to an obviously disgusted Mulder.

I love speculating. Would love some of it to be true.

Edit: Erm, spoiler wise, how does this thread go with regards to the old series? Would the old Mythos be spoilers? Most of the earlier posts don't have spoiler tags, and it is a 15 year old show, but some people have said they are watching the OG with the new episodes. . .

 

[radios shipping overview]

Haven't watched ep 2 yet, but I just watched ep 1, and it's like The X-Files as made by somebody who saw the show once, years ago, and tried to reconstruct it from memory. Everything moves really fast (quick dialogue cuts like in a trailer, jump cuts everywhere) and all the alien-related stuff comes much too easily. There's no room for any scene to breathe. Mulder is too credulous, even for Mulder, and it's really hard to see him as anybody other than real-life David Duchovny just off a bender. It honestly felt like a parody, with everybody being in on the joke, except the jokes never actually came. Maybe things improve in ep 2.

Skinner, though, man. Pileggi nailed his part and he's barely aged a day.

 

[Kadin]

Amazing how much better tonight's episode is compared to last night. Like just so much better in every way. Got chills there right before the commercial.

 

[icespide]

this episode is 1000x better holy shit

 

[Agent Unknown]

"You don't like cats?" lol

 

[Agent Unknown]

Again, this doesn't make sense with the Syndicate as we know them. The Syndicate packed up their families and went to meet the Colonists (Greys) to be taken off the world before the invasion. Of course, the Rebels showed up and cooked them all. Amongst themselves they discussed the Colonist-Rebel dynamic and why they worked to develop both hybrids and a vaccine (one to appease the Colonists, and the other to subvert them).

The only way it would make sense that the Colonists aren't actually evil is that the Syndicate was being misled by someone, say Cancer Man (who did leave the hangar when they all were roasted, so maybe he was in on it? He didn't act that surprised).

I still don't take the Tad stuff at face value, though.

Yeah, the greys were nasty too of course but based on last night's episode colonization and wiping out humanity was at least in some way a strawman used by the syndicate against humanity. I guess I should have tempered that with, no the aliens aren't "good" just as the syndicate obviously aren't "good" just because they were saving humanity only by saving their own skin. Either way, the main point is it's absurd to think the "smokescreen" line suddenly means that the oil/virus, greys and rebels were literally all just a bunch of man made lab freaks pitted in some absurd Frankenstein vs. the Wolfman mano-a-mano B movie scenario.

 

[User 479360]

That was a really strong episode. I enjoyed it, and haven't deleted it off of my PVR yet, as I'd like to watch it again.

I got distracted a couple of times, by things going on at home, so I'd like to watch it all again without having to pause it for a while.

The writing was much better, and so was the acting. It felt like classic X-Files, had some good humour and kept you interested throughout. The actors felt more in form, and McHale was nowhere to be found.

 

[Extra Sauce]

I hope the first episode did not drive away too many viewers. Tonight's was so much better.

 

[bndadm]

I doubt that all the aliens that were encountered were entirely benevolent. I am sure some of them did, in fact, work with the syndicate. At least, I hope that is revealed in time.

The key falsehood "My Struggle" proposes seems to be that the syndicate orchestrated the invasion, allowed Mulder to think it was happening ("The Truth"), in order to subdue his quest for the truth. That truth being that the syndicate, or whomever was in charge after the original group was killed, had designs on using alien technology to institute their own nefarious take over of the world.

This solves two problems. First it dances around the issue of the December 21st, 2012 invasion date that was previously set in stone. It's now more of a soft launch for whatever the shadow government is planning. Second, it allows Chris Carter to adapt the show to the current post-September 11th sociopolitical environment that is fearful of government spying, corruption and war-mongering in a way it never was before.

Carter was a bit clumsy in the execution, and he needed a two hour premiere, but I think the episode does solve the above problems. The show is now designed to play on current fears but without dismissing its supernatural roots. It's a very well thought out design.

Thank you for this. It was the only way I was able to sit through most of it and not wonder how they could handwave so much away. At best it's the most tidy resolution, if possible, to the Super Soldier story, where by Season 9 I think senior FBI and government officials were being replaced. Aliens, shadow government, all the same.

Wonder if the Sixth Extinction mention was a callback to that Season 6 finale (which I hardly remember).

 

[infinitys_7th]

Yeah, the greys were nasty too of course but based on last night's episode colonization and wiping out humanity was at least in some way a strawman used by the syndicate against humanity. I guess I should have tempered that with, no the aliens aren't "good" just as the syndicate obviously aren't "good" just because they were saving humanity only by saving their own skin. Either way, the main point is it's absurd to think the "smokescreen" line suddenly means that the oil/virus, greys and rebels were literally all just a bunch of man made lab freaks pitted in some absurd Frankenstein vs. the Wolfman mano-a-mano B movie scenario.

I mean is that there would have to be a third party we don't fully know about yet to use the Syndicate and the Colonists both, that has motivations separate from theirs. The Syndicate definitely was about saving their own skin, but they were very clear amongst themselves on why they were developing hybrids, and it wasn't for this new reason.

Cancer Man was always about control. The Syndicate used control to work on their plans, but it was more of a means to an end. Cancer Man, on the other hand, was very open about and outspoken about how people need to be controlled, much more than Well-Manicured Man or the Elder or anyone else in the Syndicate.

 

[mm04]

Man, I hate to say it but those kids were nightmare fuel for me! I just found those visuals deeply disturbing. Anyway, a very good episode. It seems like they're going the Fringe route of tying in mythology with the monster of the week. And I'm 100% fine with that.

 

[cruets]

What happened Joel McHale? And what about Scully's alien dna? Um who reactivated the xfiles unit?

 

[jerry113]

Haven't watched ep 2 yet, but I just watched ep 1, and it's like The X-Files as made by somebody who saw the show once, years ago, and tried to reconstruct it from memory. Everything moves really fast (quick dialogue cuts like in a trailer, jump cuts everywhere) and all the alien-related stuff comes much too easily. There's no room for any scene to breathe. Mulder is too credulous, even for Mulder, and it's really hard to see him as anybody other than real-life David Duchovny just off a bender. It honestly felt like a parody, with everybody being in on the joke, except the jokes never actually came. Maybe things improve in ep 2.

Skinner, though, man. Pileggi nailed his part and he's barely aged a day.

Pileggi looks and sounds identical. He looks like he's been AD of the FBI non stop.