‘ The X- Files’ are out there again — truth
Sci- fi classic returns for ( probably final) Season 11
When a TV drama known for the motto, “The Truth Is Out There,” returns during the presidency of aman who denounces real reporting as “fake news,” it might seem like something out of the twilight zone. But that’s the case when Fox’s The
X- Files, whichwas poking at the Deep State before it became trendy, makes its first outing ( Wednesday, 8 ET/ PT) during the age of President Trump.
In 10 episodes, Season 11 offers the sci- fi classic’s popular mix of monster mysteries, government- secret and alien mythology and the push- pull of partners Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny) and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson) — with a side of contemporary commentary.
Duchovny embraces the longer season, preferring it to the six- episode revival in 2016, 14 years after it ended a fabled nine- season run.
“I’m much happier. With six episodes after a long layoff, we had a lot of legwork in explaining where these characters had been,” he says. “One of the notable things about our show was that it could stretch in so many directions.”
There’s even room to incorporate real- world events. Mulder mentions Trump’s hostility — “a president working to bring downthe FBI”— and one episode consists of a broadly comic but blistering satire of xenophobia and obfuscation of truth, complete with an alien visitor who promises to build a wall to block humans from outer space.
“The show has always been of its political moment and never more so than now, when conspiracies seem to be taken wholesale and the truth is now considered suspect,” creator Chris Carter says.
Duchovny separates Mulder’s belief in conspiracy theories and suspicion of government from those championing those topics today.
“Mulder has been saying ‘ fake news’ from the beginning: Don’t believe what the government is telling you. ( But) I wanted in no way for him to be aligned with Donald Trump’s version of ‘ fake news,’ ” Duchovny says. “Mulder is like the flip side of people yelling ‘ fake news’ for cynical purposes.”
Without spoiling last season’s cliffhanger — Scully was desperately trying to save a dying Mulder when a UFO appeared — it’s clear it wasn’t the end of the world or the FBI duo. Last season included episodes centering on Mulder and Scully. This one opens with a revealing look at Cigarette Smoking-Man( William B. Davis) and ends with an episode about William, the teenage son of Mulder and Scully and an emerging key to X- Files mythology.