The return of The X-Files is undoubtedly one of the most highly anticipated television events of 2016, so it is surely no surprise that Fox is firing off teaser trailers and casting announcements left, right and centre. While there is concern that such lack of restraint might actually work against the project – given that there is still six months to wait until the broadcast – these snippets will inevitably be pored over by the vast, multi-generational fanbase that the show has accumulated over the past two decades. Rightly so – because if this latest teaser is any indication, we’re going to see the kind of heightened self-awareness that made the very best episodes of the series some of the greatest television ever made.
The X-Files needs no introduction, since the show, and its lead characters, Mulder and Scully, passed into pop culture icon status a lifetime ago. This was achieved with 202 episodes and two feature films, which saw the two FBI agents investigate all manner of stand-alone supernatural mysteries, as well as an overall, long-running mythology of a government complicit in an alien invasion. At the height of its popularity – during the fifth of its nine seasons – the show was drawing in over 27 million viewers per episode.
Now, 13 years after its final episode aired on television, the world awaits the reboot – curious about the plot, and curious to see whether series creator Chris Carter and his team have still got what it takes. This is why these teaser trailers – brief though they are – are actually invaluable. Fox is clearly determined to play its cards close to its chest with regard to the plot, and is simply dropping the tiniest of tiny snippets of new footage into each one – but we can still learn a lot.
Firstly, there are the images. It begins with what appears to be a jet engine, crashed into the ground, followed by a shot of armed people advancing. This being The X-Files, the first question is, of course, whether the crashed aircraft is terrestrial in nature. The second is, are those armed people going to make it out alive? The next shot is of one individual dragging two bodies through a doorway, leaving behind trails of blood.
Any X-Files fan worth their salt will assume the individual is an alien of the ‘shape-shifting’ variety, confirming that we are to be plunged straight back into deepest depths of the conspiracy mythology – and that is a glorious thing. Expanding on that confirmation is a shot of a medical procedure, involving injections of some kind, using a vial filled with black liquid – again, something fans have come to know very well.
All of these shots have been seen in previous teasers, and they reassure us that this revival will honour the success of the original series. There is darkness, flashlights, and suspicious activity by anonymous authority figures. But, it is the new part of the teaser that causes the excitement. Firstly, it gives us Mulder and Scully talking to each other for the first time in years. Secondly, it sends the clear message: We have completely recaptured the tone that made you love The X-Files in the first place. This whole marketing campaign, so far, has reiterated that point – including this teaser trailer.
“Are you ready for this, Scully?” asks Mulder. Of course she is – and so are we. The only problem is, we have to wait until January 24th, 2016 for The X-Files revival.
