I thought it was mix of what you just said ^ and a bit of Black Mirror, with a fucked up ending.

Agree with everyone else, a 1000 times better but with the bar set so low....

I figured Barbara Hershey had to have some reason to be in this...didn't think it was going to be setting her up as the 'big bad' this season...

Some of the old X-files jokey humor was back so there was that at least but I couldn't get past the fact that it was so easy to get in and destroy the servers. It almost made it seem too easy so you know this 'digital universe' idea is going to resurface at some point.

I mean how could they not have backups mirrored at another location? And Mulder and Scully sneak in to this FBI facility when they have been on the shit list for years? And there is just one horny dude who stands between them?

The whole cemetery headstone thing was hokey enough but then it wasn't even needed because Mulder remembered to talk to this doctor who was friends with Langly? What was the point?

Still very weak....especially for Darin Morgan.

Glen Morgan wrote and directed, not Darin.

It felt like an adaption of a weaker Dan Brown novel to me, with a dash of Black Mirror.

It seems I keep watching this.

An improvement over the shit premiere, but at best is was a below average episode compared to what used to be their typical quality level. Why bring it back if they were going to give their C-F level game?

It felt to me like a lesser Dan Brown adaption. And I hate “twist” endings like that that make everything the protagonists went through mean nothing.

Yep, Duchovny is letting shades of his character from Californication slip into Mulder. Which didn't happen in last year's comeback. Both actors are so far away from where they were in the 1990s that I don't think these characters fit them so well anymore.

I'll give Anderson a pass for this second episode. I think it was meant to be one of the lighter standalone episodes as both Mulder and Scully were joking throughout the episode. I did like the quip Mulder had when he said "Who needs Google when you have Scully?"

The episode was a clear improvement over last week, though its opening confused the heck out of me. I was sure it was going to be a dream sequence or something.

The "spank bank" folder was hilarious, too.

The problem with these "follow the clues" stories is that they're usually nonsensical and needlessly complex; there's almost always a more straightforward way to achieve the desired outcome. In this case, SimLangly could have just said, "Mulder, find this professor" and the entire plot would have unwound the same way without the cemetary scene. It's like creating a Rube Goldberg machine to explain how they set up the Arlington clue.

Not even getting into the whole "we created the Matrix and it runs on like seven server racks."

Yeah, I remember that with Deep Throat.

"You're getting close to the truth, Mulder."

And I'm like, JUST FUCKING TELL HIM!

Basically both Duchovny and Anderson no longer play Mulder and Scully anymore. I posted pretty much the same thing last season as well. You would think the director or showrunner would stop the shoot and remind both of them about how they Mulder and Scully act vs. the characters they played on other shows since they originally ended the series. Or they don't want to piss either of them off, so they let both of them just phone it all in.

They must be alien servers right? I’m a sucker for these lighter episodes so I enjoyed it.

Much better than the season opener, but that is certainly damning with VERY FAINT praise.
Mulder had some funny one liners ("You said 'taint'!"), at least - and it was good to see Langly (sort of).

The story itself had theoretical potential, but execution was lazy, with the jumps from point A to point B horribly done (that graveyard discovery scene was just awful).

As a diehard I will stick out the rest of what could be a very loooong season, but if the first two eps are any indication this return was certainly not necessary, needed, or put together well.

The X-Files is getting significantly lower ratings this season - we don't have to worry about Anderson coming back, since it's unlikely Fox will want to do any more of these.

The two actors are the entire show. I imagine the producing team coddles them beyond belief on set, because the production crew and creative staff only got paid in the first place because the leads signed back up to do the show. How much are you really going to get out of actors that hold that much power over everyone?

Given Gillian's taste in work after the X-Files, I don't think she views Scully as serious work. As for David, I think he got bored doing the X-Files years and years ago. They still put in serviceable efforts but something is missing from their performances that was always there in the original run.

Maybe if they were given better material to work with...

Even putting the performances of DD and GA aside, the new seasons are just going through the motions.

It's an alien and monster show. Last season's writing (plotting, dialogue, everything) only adds to that. I wouldn't take it that seriously if I were one of them, either. It's a reunion and a paycheck.

It's very clear the two leads gave up taking their X characters seriously before the last reunion series. I had held out hope they would put in more effort this time around, but so far, I am very disappointed. Anderson is making the right choice, but it's all her own doing. She may not agree, but pulling off Scully during the prime of this show was the best work she has ever done. Same is true for DD.

My wife rolled her eyes when I paused it. She knew I would have to scan the code.

Yeah, that link is dead, but if you go to .com instead, You get this image, with "The truth is out there." beneath it.