Grade (A)
A triumphant return to the small screen for Skully and Mulder in what I hope was just a sampling of things to come.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when the news hit that the “X-Files” was coming back, with its two stars. After the conclusion of their six-episode event, I can say I was certainly left wanting more.
I was expecting more of a complete story to progress through the episodes, but this one in the end, turned out to simply be another season in a shorter run, different cases with, subtle references here and there to a underlying story-line. I guess my misconception was that with a six-episode run I was wanting more of a fluid connection between each episode.
First I will say after the realization this would not be a multi-layered single story, I still found this ‘season’ very enjoyable and it really did an excellent job of taking things back to the heyday of the show during the 90’s. I love the show growing up, and Mulder and Skully were always on the television on Sunday nights.
I really how a few of the episodes followed a single-arc while others told isolated stories of their own. It built intrigue from one show to the next, and really was effective at keeping the viewer in the dark as to where things will go. The writing was back in full form and was able to seamlessly pick up on the persona of the characters from where they left off so many years ago.
Of the 6-episodes I would say 4-5 of them were very entertaining. It was ironic that the two I liked the least were those directed by the show’s creator Chris Carter. The first and last episodes were easily the most entertaining in my opinion but I did feel the finale seemed rushed and it could have used twice as much time to tell itself.
There were a few episodes that were entertaining, but useless to the main story this small season wanted to tell. The first episode sets up things very well, then things drift for a few shows. Then it tries to come back to the theme set in the beginning and wraps things up rather rushed by having little more than one episode to evolve.
I also would have liked to have seen some more time allowed to fit some of the side characters that I loved growing up. Their appearances were sparse, as the focus of the episodes were clearly Mulder/Skully centric and while the chemistry between the two is stronger than ever, I would have liked some of the other familiar faces worked in a little more frequently.
In the end though “The X-Files” Season 10 was a success in my opinion. This run showed why the show was, and is so great. It told a collection of interesting stories and like always doesn’t answer everything leaving room for thought. Also after the way the finale left off they better damn well have the cast inked in for season 11 because to come back and give us just this small sample after all these years would be torture. Especially given the lack of quality sci-fi shows on television. These days.