The Truth is back in 1993

[orangerful]

So, since we had another snow day today, I decided to watch the first episode of X-Files Season 10


I tried to stay optimistic. I liked the intro with Mulder catching us up on the alien conspiracy stuff and the fact that they used the original opening credits with "The Truth is Out There"...I was 14 again and really excited, thinking maybe they could pull it off...

...and then it all fell apart because while the rest of us want to forget the last few seasons of the show, the writers felt they should probably keep going with it...

And then Mulder would not shut the fuck up. Like, ALL THE TIME with the EXPLAINING things. He was monologue-ing more than a Bond villain! And if your mythology is SO overly complicated that you have to spend HUGE chunks of an episode trying to explain it, than maybe it's time to downsize. It brought the flow of the story to a screeching halt.

Also, our government is far too incompetent to pull of a conspiracy of the magnitude that Mulder keeps talking about.

There was a line about Mulder having depression and how that ended his relationship with Scully and that made me hella sad. Not because I ever shipped Mulder/Scully (I NEVER DID!!!!!!!!!) but because Mulder has gone from a crusader to just some dude that needs to see a shrink and I'm starting to think that maybe he is bipolar or has schizophrenia or maybe just really bad anxiety (this might be because I just watched "Love & Mercy" and watching Brian Wilson's decline in that movie made me think about anxiety etc. in a different way).

Also, Gillian Anderson has leveled up her acting skills to the point that her standing near David Duchovny makes him look bad. She has aged beautifully and she was acting circles around him as he tried to look dramatic. I could watch Gillian all day, but then David got these LONG BORING speeches about aliens and blah blah blah I was so done at that point.

Pleased to see Joel McHale and the Russian girl from "The Americans" even if she was abducted at the end so we won't see her for awhile.

In 1993 the "world wide web" was new, we only had regular cell phones, and it felt like so much was hidden. But in 2016 we have the internet in our pockets, EVERYONE has a website and shares information on Facebook and there are tons of nutjobs on TV/Radio/online who have anti-government conspiracies. When Scully chastised Mulder for fear mongering, she said everything I was thinking and why I did NOT want to watch a show that focused on that. And when Mulder talks about going public I'm like who will care? who will notice? You don't have any Facebook friends Mulder, they won't reblog you!



I can't believe I am saying this but...I almost wish they had just rebooted the entire series. They could have had Gillian and David there to hand off the torch to a set of newbies and just reset the entire mythology and monster stories. And I hate reboots.

And as my friend and fellow X-Files survivor bittertwee said, they are setting up lots of loose ends but it's X-Files so I don't have any faith they will wrap any of it up in a satisfactory manner.

Comments

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

I didn't enjoy the first episode, but I heard the next two are a lot better.

Stacey

[geckoholic]

For what it's worth, I, for one, enjoyed the second ep a lot more than the first. :) Still sorta weird and all, but better.

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

That's good to hear.

Stacey

[sideshow.livejournal.com]

Gillian Anderson has leveled up her acting skills to the point that her standing near David Duchovny makes him look bad.
lol, this. I was trying to figure out if his acting had always been terrible but then I realized GA was just WAY better.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I don't feel like DD is even trying anymore. Like, I feel like he is doing his impression of Mulder. Gillian's acting is just so much better than his now. Or maybe because his heart isn't in it and she is giving 100%...I dunno. I feel like she is trying and he isn't.

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

I can't believe I am saying this but...I almost wish they had just rebooted the entire series.

I agree with you there.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Honestly, Mulder and Scully have already seen 9 years worth of this stuff, neither of them should be surprised by ANYTHING anymore. They should have passed the torch to some new set of agents who would at least be amazed by the crazy stuff that don't even warrant a blink from Scully.

[yourlibrarian]

I have to say this coming from the perspective of someone who was never a fan of the show and only watched a few episodes here and there. But I would agree that there wasn't much in this to make someone new go "I must watch the next episode!"

And part of that is because it's not just tech and social media that have changed since the show went off the air, it's the fact that so many shows have really upped the game and changed what watching a show can be. The X-Files was one of a few scifi/fantasy shows on at the time and one that had relatively good production values -- it's got major competition these days. To me, having McHale on just emphasizes that difference, given that I'm a big Community fan exactly because they nailed what a fannish comedy can be.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

VERY true. There was NOTHING like X-Files on in the 90s. Supernatural/Horror/Crime with a mythology (that made no sense, but still). Then other shows came along, learned from X-Files and did better. And they clearly are not trying to update X-Files to reflect that these changes have happened. I feel like they are trying to make an episode of X-File from 1993 but it's 2016 and...no. If I wanted to watch a 1993 episode, I'd Netflix that shit.

[twissie.livejournal.com]

I actually really enjoy it so far :X Norwegian media tends to agree with me, the new season has been getting nothing but rave reviews here xDDD;;;

Though I have to say, I have been watching a lot of Californication lately, and it was very difficult not to see David Duchovny as Hank Moody. I kept expecting Runkle to pop up all through the first episode XD;;