Go back into the ‘Files’
Agents Scully and Mulder are on the job again
When a TV drama known for the motto, “The Truth Is Out There,” returns during the presidency of a man 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 XFiles, which was 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 scifi 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: suspense, thriller, sci-fi, sometimes comedy and soap opera. With 10 episodes, it’s that feeling again.”
There’s even room to incorporate real-world events. Mulder mentions Trump’s hostility — “a president working to bring down the 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.
Other episodes feature killer doppelgangers, false memories and a nod to The Twilight Zone, providing for a back and forth between Mulder and Scully.
“The relationship is strong and contentious professionally, as it’s always been. Their personal relationship is not exactly frosty, but they are not together in any kind of romantic way,” Carter says. “You’re going to see some exploration of that.”
Their bond with FBI supervisor Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) is murkier. “We are testing Skinner’s loyalty, his self-interest vs. his relationship to (Mulder and Scully),” Carter says.
Neither Carter nor Duchovny — interviewed before TV Line published a story Sunday in which Anderson confirmed this will be her last season — would say whether this season will mark the end of The X-Files.
Carter says Duchovny and Anderson “are The X-Files. ... So as long as they’re prepared and eager to do the series, ratings holding, I certainly would anticipate more episodes.”
Duchovny is non-committal. “I’m open to anything. We certainly don’t need to close the door on it, but if that were the case, I’d be fine as well.”