Reviews: The X-Files (2016) Episode 3 - Mulder And Scully Meet The Were-Monster

The X-Files limited series continues with this week's episode. 


Hi. You may remember me
from the 1980s series, V. 
Bringing back the monster of the week formula, this third episode solidifies this comeback as a great idea that's showing some signs of poor planning and minor ineptitude.

Maintaining a more classic feel while pressing forward with this shortened story arc, the main characters we know and love transcend the gimmick of a returning show by putting their all into recreating the chemistry that always made the show so enjoyable. It's almost hard to believe that Mulder and Scully have been gone so long but it's even harder to come to grips with the fact that this will be over three short weeks from now. Whether or not we'll get even more adventures with them still remains to be seen. But, it's nice to think that this is all moving towards a more epic storyline that will give us fans either a longer season or another movie down the line. However, episode three disappoints, woefully. 

Where the first two installments seemed to pull a slew of punches that nearly scrapped and rewrote the existing mythos, Mulder and Scully Meet The Were-Monster is a totally ridiculous side stepping episode that unfortunately does nothing for the progression of the franchise as it stands. Much like the one off stories that were always part of the show's initial run, Mulder and Scully deal with the evil doings of a creature on the loose. In the past, these entries seemed to work. Sadly, with so little time left, this Were-Monster tale seemed a strange choice that was awkward and an unmistakably bad decision so soon into this revisit. The humor was great and the satirical writing was a welcome addition, but should have been reserved for a later time when we know whether or not The X-Files is going to move forward as a franchise.

Have you seen this boy?
This was just a miscalculation on the part of Fox and Chris Carter to go this route. Don't get me wrong. I'm still happier than ever that we're getting chance to see a modernized version of the show. But, at this point, I can say my expectations were much higher. After brief reintroductions of support players and antagonists the past couple weeks, branching off feels flakey and totally unneeded. With the way they opened this event series, it's off putting and unnecessary to waste time with a chapter that will ultimately have no repercussions on the plot that had started to unfold. Even though the graphics work was a nice throwback and the Kolchak references were played perfectly, I (personally) expected way more from the third bit of this six parter.

The X-Files can do much better than this, especially when time is so of the essence. There was some good dialogue but just not enough care put in to make this a notable story. Maybe next week will be better. I have a feeling that some may not agree with me. 


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Score


-CG