‘The X-Files’ Reopened: The Truth Is Way Out There – Comic Con

For all its big cinematic moments — The X-Files miniseries begins with a spectacular crash landing of an alien spacecraft, circa 1947 Roswell and uber-contemporary paranoia complete with a reference to Uber — one fan seemed to speak for many Saturday at New York Comic Con when she asked why the return of the iconic series does not (yet, anyway) see agents Scully and Mulder together at last.

By way of an answer, series creator Chris Carter recalled a sign he saw while passing under a bridge during production in Vancouver: “Life has many bumps in the road.”

“I think they’re going through that,” Carter said of his characters. “Don’t you think they’re stronger than that?” the fan shot back, as the audience laughed with approval.

“This is where the sniper gets me,” Carter joked. “We wanted to be true to the passage of time. Mulder and Scully have had their difficulties, so that’s where we are.”

The audience packing a ballroom at Javits Center was jazzed for the U.S. premiere of Episode 1 of 6 in The X-Files miniseries, after a world premiere screening earlier this in Cannes at Mipcom. Fox will debut the episode Jan. 24.

Before the lights went down, co-star Gillian Anderson sent a video greeting from Mumbai where she’s filming Viceroy’s House. After the episode ended and the whoops died down, comedian and X-Files true believer and podcaster Kumail Nanjiani brought Carter, David Duchovny, and Mitch Pileggi onstage.

Asked how it felt to be Mulder again after seven years and the last “X Files” movie, Duchovny said: “Just the fact that Gillian and Chris and Mitch were there, we all kind of have a group memory is what happens.”

The catalyst for the hourlong episode is Tad O’Malley (Joel McHale) a televangelist of conspiracy theories with the helicopter to illustrate how lucrative a profession it is. He enlists Mulder and Scully, apparently to spread his belief about the truth that’s really out there. Suffice it to say it encompasses more than alien abductions and your garden variety government coverups. It also conjures the scourge of obesity, income inequality as well as ghastly invasions of privacy.