Stars outshine plot in new “X-Files.”
“The truth is still out there,” Fox tells us in bringing back “The XFiles” as a six-hour series.
The drama dragged out its central mythology over nine TV seasons and two feature films. The update dangles more of the same murky and inconclusive speculation about extraterrestrials and government conspiracies.
We’re never going to get the “truth,” because series creator Chris Carter can’t handle it. The update arrives tonight after the NFC Championship Game, then “The X-Files” moves to 8 p.m. Monday, where it will be the leadin for “Lucifer,” which plops the devil in a crime procedural.
Despite the “X-Files” frustration, fans may want to catch up with
former FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Scully works as a doctor, says she has moved on and rails against silliness. She wor-
ries about the obsessed Mulder.
Seeing them again is a reminder that “The X-Files” worked because the actors were compelling even when the series turned too complicated. Duchovny’s sarcastic oomph still plays off Anderson’s passionate incredulity. When Mulder races through a history/conspiracy lecture, Scully blasts fearmongering claptrap. She has a point.
This “X-Files” stages a spectacular crash, toggles between 1947 and today, and presents a woman who tells of extraterrestrial mistreatment. A TV star (Joel McHale) spins theories and asks the MulderScully team for help. The star editorializes: “What Bill O’Reilly knows about the truth could fill an eye drop.”
Ah, the truth. Whatever that is. “The X-Files” was best in telling standalone stories. Desperate Fox keeps turning to the past for programming. It will bring back “Prison Break” as a limited series and offer a new take on “24” without Jack Bauer.
Those projects sound more promising than “Lucifer,” debuting at 9 p.m. Monday. Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) has left hell for Los Angeles, where he is mesmerized by police detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) because she, unlike most people, is immune to his powers.
Soon enough, he is helping her solve crimes — mundane chores for the devil. Turns out Lucifer is a sentimental fellow, and that revelation suggests he doesn’t have a prayer in the TV business.