The X-files: 20 Things We Learned from ‘My Struggle’ (And Then Some)

Jan 25, 2016
5 min read

Ladies and gentlemen, aliens and remaining members of The Syndicate… The X-files have been officially re-opened. And I cannot be happier.

Ever since first learning The X-files would be returning to TV this year, I have been anxiously awaiting this day, and I now can say, with all honesty, that the wait was SO worth it! Forget all the wishy-washy reviews out there (they were clearly planted by THEM to get you stop watching before you even started again), because the first episode of Season 10 is really great.

Without giving away anything too spoilery (at this point), I can say that as a hardcore fan from the beginning, there were so many little things that just warmed my little X-phile heart. Case in point? I was unprepared by just how emotional I’d get at seeing those credits and hearing that theme song again on live TV. I’m not gonna lie, I actually started crying. And those (SPOILER ALERT—but nothing you haven’t already seen from the promos) pencils in the ceiling? Awwwww! I do hope Mulder finds some tape once he gets his desk back in the basement though, because The Poster needs repair. It’s lasted 23 years, and has been faithfully waiting 14 of those for Mulder and Scully to return, it deserves to be back with the team!

And now, onto the Spoilerific section of this post. Seriously, do not continue to read if you don’t want to know what happened.

Still here? Ok, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Ok, now that that’s over, here are a few things we learned from the premiere:

The opening credits and Mark Snow are back! Rejoice!
Nobody knows how to get ahold of Mulder except Scully. Not even Skinner. However, it is Skinner who gets the ball rolling on bringing the band back together again. Skinner also admits that it’s been really hard for him not having Mulder and Scully on The X-files anymore. He tells Mulder there hasn’t been a day since he left that he hasn’t wanted to call him upstairs about this weird world we now live in.
Tad O’Malley is the new Diana Fowley. You will hate him. But it will be ok. (For now at least. I hope.)
Mulder really misses Scully and she is clearly the one who left. Apparently Mulder got really depressed somewhere after that IWTB dream vacation and Scully just couldn’t deal with it anymore. At the same time, she does still worry about him, but she doesn’t want to get dragged back into the conspiracy. She does drive over to the Unremarkable House to check on him after their talk with Tad O’Malley, which is nice. However the moment is shattered when she realizes newly introduced alien abductee Sveta is there with him. (Don’t worry, not like that. Though Scully doesn’t know that at first, and it does bother her.)
Scully is a doctor who operates on kids who have no ears. Tad O’Malley thinks they look like aliens. Not cool to bring up, Tad. Really not cool to ask Scully out right after bringing it up either.
Possibly everything we thought we knew about the alien Conspiracy is a lie. Though there are aliens, Sveta says they are not the ones doing the abductions or making alien-human hybrids. It’s just men. Evil men in a secret government who control EVERYTHING and are planning to take over the world. (Or at least the US.) Mulder is ready to believe. Scully warns that posting all this online borders on treason. She wants nothing to do with it.
There is a moment Tad O’Malley talks about people who are “seriously paranoid” about their job that will leave your heart aching for The Lone Gunmen. *sniff* Why? WHYYYY?! Ok, sorry, I got off track.
The Russians supposedly tried to stage a UFO invasion of the US in 1947. They just might be ready to do it again. Probably on a Friday. So, you know, just be extra careful with your weekend plans from now on.
Melon-ball-scooped-out-stomach-Sveta has alien DNA. So does Scully! :O (Side note: Does this mean Mulder does too? If all alien abductees have some sort of alien DNA left inside them, then that would definitely mean Mulder would have it too, right? Plus he was not only abducted but he was also infected with the Black Oil…)
Though he NEEDS Scully, Mulder is still hesitant to bring her back into their crazy X-files world. Is she really ready for this? She doesn’t think there’s a choice. (And yes, he did write the “DON’T GIVE UP” on her car. Awwww!)
Skinner is the hero of the night. Though he is in only one scene, is our trusty Assistant Director who finally manages to re-open The X-files and get Mulder and Scully back where they belong.
As mentioned before, Mulder is crazy strong and had extra-strength pencils back in the day. When he and Skinner walk into the basement office there they are, still stuck in the ceiling and making us all grin like idiots.
Mulder has a new informant who will make you miss Deep Throat and X. (Oh the feels!) This new informant contacted Mulder 10 years ago and was actually at the Roswell crash. He witnessed a poor gray alien struggling away from the crash get gunned down for no other reason than that it was an alien. He was horrified by this and picked it up and carried it away after it died. Later on in 2016, however, he tells Mulder that Roswell was just a smokescreen…
Scully hairstyle is fine, the color is not. Where is ScullyRed? If you’re going to go to all the trouble of making poor Gillian Anderson wear a hot wig all the time, why not make it the right color? (Sorry, just had to get that one out. :P)
David Duchovny IS Mulder. He is so fantastic it’s like no time has passed at all.
Mulder finally gets to see a real (replica) UFO and he’s like a kid on Christmas day. Scully, of course, misses this all and won’t ever get to see it, as it is later on blown up by mysterious military men who bust in and kill all the scientists working on it too.
THEY get to Sveta and she goes public, saying she made everything up. She then hops in her car and skips town, only to be tracked down and blown up (or is she?) by a UFO that scans her first like a big green UFO-sized price scanner.
Tad O’Malley’s website mysteriously disappears. Trust no one.
Get ready for it…The CSM is back, but he’s had to have some facial reconstruction after literally having his face blown off by a military firebomb in The Truth. All things considered though, he looks fantastic! I mean, for a man who was reduced to a fiery skeleton last we saw him, he is looking GOOD!
“I Made This” is still there at the end. Minus the fact that we all had to wait an extra half-hour for show time thanks to a post-game-show delay (it’s a conspiracy! So many people who had to record or DVR it are going to be yelling at their TVs tonight!), I’d say it was a pretty good day in the X-philes universe. What do you think? I know I am super excited to have Mulder and Scully back, and am hoping for news of a Season 11 greenlight very soon! In any case, you may go forth and restock your iced tea and sunflower seeds philes, we still have five great episodes to look forward to, the next of which airs tomorrow night (yes, you read that right, Monday, January 25) on Fox.