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Monsters, Mulder & Scully In This 21-Minute 'X-Files' Revival Teaser
A new teaser video will stoke X-Files fans' excitement for the new season's debut next month. When we last left The X-Files, it was 2002 and the truth was still out there. Since then, the exploits of FBI Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) have remained relevant in pop culture. On January 24, we'll get the first of six brand new episodes, featuring Duchovny and Anderson in their old roles, as well as some new characters, too. A new 21-minute video from FOX explains a few things about how the season will go.
(Spoiler alert: The video and this post contain spoilers about the original series, as well as significant facets of the new season.)
In classic fashion, we'll have a number of standalone episodes sandwiched between episodes that explore the deeper, overarching narratives. Episodes one and six will deal with X-Files mythology. Both episodes are called "My Struggle," one dealing with Mulder's personal struggles, while the other deals with Scully's. The four episodes in the middle will have more of a "monster-of-the-week" format. Duchovny also notes that one will be "funnier" than the rest, which might lead fans to recall classic episodes like "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," "Bad Blood," and "Jose Chung's From Outer Space." The video teases also teases at a horned monster that wears underwear—possibly our comedic break?
Time will also play a role in the new episodes, as it's not just a matter of picking up where they left off. Both characters have aged, which Duchovny notes is it's "own kind of change." Series creator Chris Carter also says that time has been difficult for the relationship between the two agents. Plus, America has changed, too.
"We're dealing with a world that has changed completely in the time from the time when the series ended in 2002, which was not long after the World Trade Center bombing," Carter says. "The American public had put their faith completely in the government. They didn't want to know about government conspiracies, they wanted to know that their government was protecting them."
In that regard, Joel McHale (The Soup, Community) comes in as Tad O'Malley, a conservative pundit who just so happens to have a lot of the same conspiracy theories as Mulder. McHale was selected after Carter saw the actor/comedian at the White House Correspondent's Dinner.
Other characters returning include FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner, The Lone Gunmen and, in some way or another, the Cigarette Smoking Man—despite the fact that fans had long thought that he died.
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