Founder's Mutation

This episode was a very solid standalone episode which will be remembered best for its disturbing imagery. Right off the bat, the opening scene has you pretty creep-ed out. It's a standard episodic hook, but a well executed one. From there, the plot and a lot of the twists are pretty standard, but the visual storytelling and the characters are so compelling here that you get wrapped up in it and forget to critique it. Some of the shots from this episode won't be leaving me soon. Especially the final shots of the second last scene. Real nightmare fuel. The ending to this final sequence cut off in a way that felt slightly anti- climatic, but it was used for a good moment of humour.

The only really weak link in the episode is the scene that explains some of what happened between Mulder and Scully in the time gap. What should have been a heart-wrenching story left me grinding my teeth in disappointment at how stale it seemed. The actors also didn't seem to really be in it. I just wish it had been executed a little better, since it is such blatant foreshadowing to a twist in future mythology episodes. In the end, it's just one scene that felt a little out of whack in an otherwise masterfully balanced episode. Written and directed by X-files alumni James Wong, this is in my opinion better than "My Struggle", an excellent episode.

True to the original X-Files theme, because Chris Carter is back at the helm. Number 1 show in America. Just like wine, it gets better over the years and this is true to the new episodes. Outstanding. I see a full season coming up.

The ratings are beyond excellent for a TV Show, 93 million viewers, 2nd episode 97 million.

Thanks for bringing it back. I am glued to the TV once again.

I am also glad to see they used the same intro as the old series. I think a new intro would have ruined the persona of the new series.

I hear FTSP is already looking into expanding beyond the 10 episode order.

It is evident now that Chris Carter really needed Morgan/Wong to pull this off. I respected "John Gilnitz" (John Shiban, Vince Gilligan and Frank Spotnitz) - But sometimes they just seemed to get bogged down. They did occasionally produce some outstanding episodes of The Original X-Files Series. Or actually of this series, as I don't consider the 14 year hiatus. Morgan and Wong (And of course Darin Morgan) had an extreme creative streak that always benefited any show they worked on, and I think they are as intrinsically attached to The X-Files as Carter himself.

At first I thought this was related to Mulder's experience in "Biogenesis" (1999-S6E22) when he came into contact with a piece of metal from an Alien Spaceship that happened to have a verse from Genesis carved into it. What happens here to Dr Sanjay (Christopher Logan) is almost exactly like what happened to Mulder. And then Mulder has it happen, but no piece of Metal. Something else is going on.

People who had written other reviews for S10E01 were worrying that our beloved Mythos had been Deconstructed. Well, fear no more, many of the facets of Mulder and Skully's previous experiences are referred to and reflected, and even repeated, especially experiences with the De0partment of Defense, locking down their investigations.

Darin Morgan had used the name "Gupta" (IE, Juggernaught Onan Goopta) in the excellent MillenniuM Season 2 episode "Jose Chung's Doomday Defense", Wong uses it here, maybe this is a private joke between them- Too Bad Jose Chung would not be able to appear in any of these episodes, as he was killed off in that MillenniuM episode! Heh. But small details like this, that can erupt from just the mention of one character's name, are what makes this new collaboration between Carter and Morgan/Wong great.

Now, to the details, of course it is all a Macguffin, Mulder is being played, he does not know by who. We are brought through hospital wards filled with extremely deformed children. And we hear the stories of some of them in the course of this X-File. Some of this relates directly to Skully's abduction. I don't think she has ever forgotten Emily, her possible daughter from her abduction, and I'm sure she has not ever forgotten her son William. In fact both Skully and Mulder seem to have flashbacks of how life would have been with William, but it always ends the same way with both of them, William is himself abducted at the end of these visions, in much the same way Samantha Mulder was.

So I don't think Carter has re-written the Mythos one bit, not one iota. In fact, I think this short series gives him the opportunity to answer some of these questions, for us. And maybe even ask some new ones.

Some people might be shocked by some of the graphic scenes in this episode, but what's the problem, don't you watch Walking Dead? And that show is run by "John Gilnitz" even. Enjoy the uniqueness of each of these humble offerings, and some of the earlier X-Files seasons were just as graphic, it's just the state of realism is much better in Season 10. And of course, Mulder is appearing to be much smarter than he had been previously, this time making sure that there are "traces" of the X-Files saved.

After the somewhat lacking first episode, this was a lot better. I watched the two first episodes back to back, so I was expecting episode two to continue from where the episode one left, but it didn't. It took me a while to figure out that this was actually one of the "monster of the week" episodes and in that matter it took quite a jump from the episode one. In my opinion the jump was a bit of a stretch. In episode one they are pretty much detached from the days of x-files at FBI, but in this episode they are almost like nothing had ever happened in between. So watching this as a part of season 10 is not as rewarding as watching it as a stand alone MOTW episode.

Having said that, the script does fill out Mulder's and Scully's story quite a lot. At least from my point of view, I'm not as familiar with the seasons 7-9 as I am with the earlier seasons. All in all very very enjoyable episode, but worth noting that the main plot is not (necessarily) connected to the mythology at all. I got a bit distracted before I figured it out.

This could become one of the classic x-files episodes. The production values were good. The episode was somewhat gory, but it's kind of "90s gory", not too real looking.

Excellent episode reminiscent of old times. Mulder and Scully investigate a case of genetic abnormalities in children and the revelations are incorporated competently to the main story of the rebooted series. The dialogue is improved compared to the first episode and there is palpable chemistry once again between the two actors. The writers don't bother explaining how the X-Files are reopened and Mulder and Scully work together again, i guess this is something fans of the show might have to take for granted in order to enjoy the remaining episodes. Nevertheless, what i found interesting in this episode are the two separate daydreams of Mulder and Scully concerning their son William and life with him. It was a nice way of showing the differences of their personalities and their common anxiety and concern for their adopted son. My vote is nine.