I have been a fan of this series from the start. Glad it's back, if only for six episodes. I have enjoyed both of the new episodes, but I think the second one was more enjoyable. The first had its moments, and furthered the original storyline, but it played more to an audience that might not have been as familiar with the original series. Now I'm thinking that 6 episodes won't be nearly enough.
Dialogue in the first episode seemed stilted and taking itself over-seriously through the environmental somberness. But that was probably a common trait back in the old days when an episode directly concerned the main, series-long conspiracy arc and its muddled tendencies. The preview of next week's installment, in its briefness, might have reflected some of the levity and facetiousness that the old show's self-contained episodes were at least occasionally (if not often) noted for. The second episode was kind of in-between the two opposite modes (slightly looser or exhibiting less retentive-stressed need for a cathartic). It was a bit irksome that here in 2016, the Paranormal Duo weren't even puzzled by the apocalyptic it not having happened yet: That "fully out of the woodwork space-alien or black-oil parasite colonization commences in 2012" prospect which was left unresolved at the end of the original series. One could construe that this new radical revision of "everything we thought was going on before was actually a staged part of a deeper conspiracy carried out entirely by elite human SOBs"[1] sort of remedied the 2012 expectation of ET takeover. But it would have been nice for Mulder to have specifically mentioned that out loud to officially make it a part of canon. How the Cigarette Smoking Man survived his supposed fiery death will surely have to delve better into that matter later, though. - - - - - - [1] With the assistance of alien technology acquired via spacecraft crash.
In the original series, I liked the stand-alone episodes, like the one with the guy who had terrible headaches unless he was moving westward at at least 60 mph. I didn't like the stupid conspiracy-theory episodes, so you can guess I didn't like episode 1 of the return. I couldn't watch the second episode because I had to work but I wouldn't have bothered anyway.
I think the first episode was designed to show how much things have changed since the old x-files. Cellphones and internet shows featuring conspiracy theorists(Alex Jones?) that are way out there. There is a sense that reactivating the x files for Mulder and Scully will unveil all new more contemporary urban legends and new underground cabals of sinister ambitions. They are self-conscious in the sense of reminding us that x files was onto this stuff even before the internet and Youtube had taken over. The second episode is yet another x-men/heroes trope of victimized mutants with superpowers. I hope they don't go with that overplayed theme. Give us that tongue-in-cheek surprising weirdness that you were known for Chris!
I almost liked the original series. Not a fan of torture scenes, which also put me off Fringe - which was otherwise so good. Didn't get to see the first of the new series, due to stupid football game, and don't like to start on Episode 2, so will have to pick it up from the beginning on a different venue. But I'll keep checking comments here to gage how much effort it's worth.
I was going to venture that FOX would surely rerun both on either Friday or Saturday night. Would be against the grain of how they often overdose a new show's start if they didn't. But the Guide says otherwise; the scheduling is sometimes changed, though. If the latter happens, the first episode would probably be in the second hour on Friday where a replay of "Second Chance" is currently listed (with a re-airing of the second installment of X-Files nixed for this weekend). EDIT: Oops. Maybe it's not a rerun of "Second Chance". Forget any possibility of X-Files replacing it if that's the case. SC might already be on the chopping block, so they've moved the remaining new episodes to dead-end Friday night.
That would figure - Second Chance is the only new show this year that had any promise of being worth watching. Like Touch and Forever, they start with a good premise, write a good scripts, recriout a good cast, then drown it in gratuitous violence, wonder why they lose their initially enthusiastic audience, and drop it.
