The X Files Season 11 Episode 1 Review: The Truth Is... Way Too Chatty

The season 11 premiere of "The X Files" is heavy on mythology and monologues. Last season's finale (see my reviews here) had Mulder dying from an alien virus. There's panic in the streets. Scully needs son William's DNA to create an antidote but she's stuck on a bridge as a big UFO appears overhead.

Fast forward two years (our time, not theirs). The whole sequence of events was dreamt up by Scully (who is having epileptic seizures). Oh dear, it's the old "Dallas" trick. I guess the writers wrote themselves into a corner and had to find a way out.

While there is WAY TOO MUCH talking in "My Struggle III", a few great secrets are revealed. In the opening voiceover Cigarette Smoking Man (CSM) confesses to being behind practically every important political/social event in modern history-- the JFK assassination, a faked moon landing. You name it. He says he has two sons (one is Mulder and one is Jeffrey Spender). More on him later.

Skinner reads some flashing dots in Scully's brain scan as "Find Him"? Meaning, we assume, find William. Seriously Chris Carter, you have jumped the shark. What Dana supposedly sees while she's passed out is a premonition of the future. The Spartan Virus will wipe out humanity if they dont stop it. Off Mulder goes to Spartanburg, SC. I personally have been to Spartanburg many times and never noticed any alien activity there. Just saying.

CSM (let's just forget he's supposed to be dead) spends more time monologuing with Agent Monica Reyes. Her sole job to to apparently serve as he sounding board. They then sneak up on Skinner in a car. More monologuing. CSM plans to wipe out most of civilization and return the earth to it's original pristine state. He'll give everyone the virus via innoculations and chemtrails. The few immune people will survive (which is Scully, William and I assume CSM). And then he'll give the planet back to the aliens? Or some such craziness.

Mulder encounters another secret group that has it's own plans. The Barbara Hershey faction wants Fox to kill CSM. They will then take Mulder and William into space. They are building ships to rescue the wealthiest 1% of humanity. Both sides say William is the key to everything.

Poor Scully is put through the wringer this episode. She has visions, crashes a car, is almost smothered to death. And in what i think is the most shocking reveal of the episode, CSM is actually William's father. He mixed his DNA with some alien DNA. Then he drugged and impregnated Dana. CSM is in love with Dana. Uh, that's still called "rape" dude. The child that Fox thinks is his son is actually his half brother. Mind blown.

Grade: 3 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). Season 11 is off to a slow start. There is WAY too much talking in the premiere. But those who has viewed future episodes say it's worth the wait so I'll keep hanging on. I"m ready for some fun monster-of-the-week episodes. My absolute favorite last season was "Mulder and Scully Meet The Were-Monster". Hopefully we'll get a few more like that in the ten episode run. The last episode will be "My Struggle IV" (which I assume will be more mythology craziness).