If there's one TV show that I both love with all my heart but also find frequently, naggingly frustrating, then it's The X-Files.
I've been obsessed with Chris Carter's sci-fi mystery series since I saw the first episode on BBC2 in the UK, all the way back in 1994. I was there to witness the show's rapid ascent to a buzzy, cult sensation and then a proper mainstream success. And I was there to witness its protracted decline into conspiracy arc plot incoherence.
The moment where The X-Files started to lose its way is a matter of some debate, though most fans tend to agree that the first five seasons (AKA the Vancouver years) represent the show at its peak. Back then the show alternated story of the week episodes and the conspiracy episodes with skill.
The standalone episodes played out like miniature horror movies in which the only ongoing elements were the comforting and amusingly dean pan FBI agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson). The UFO-based arc plot, meanwhile, felt consequential, like the show was heading somewhere bold and genuinely innovative. It was – and still is – a truly great TV show, and one that proved to be a great training ground for Breaking Bad and Pluribus mastermind Vince Gilligan, who cut his teeth writing many terrific instalments for the series.
"Things are getting strange, I'm starting to worry..."
For me, the original show's slow decline started in the wake of the first theatrical movie in 1998. The following seasons 6 and 7 had plenty of decent episodes, but the decision to suddenly focus so strongly on comedy – plus a move to filming in sunny LA, rather than moody Canadian forests – fundamentally changed the tone of the series.
Duchovny departed at the end of season 7, leaving Scully to team up with two new FBI agents, Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Reyes (Annabeth Gish), for the patchy seasons 8 and 9. At this point the show was firmly in, "Is that still on?" territory for many and it wasn't much of a surprise that it wrapped up with an incomprehensible season 9 finale, optimistically titled 'The Truth.'
Another movie followed in 2008 to a muted response. More successful was the 2016 TV relaunch, which opened to initially strong ratings. The standalone episodes were pretty good, with the show finding some inventive monster of the week stories, not least the instant classic 'Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster' by veteran X-Files writer Darin Morgan.
Unfortunately, the arc episodes that bookended both seasons 10 and 11, all penned by Chris Carter, were nothing short of disastrous. Conspiracy theories were starting to take on a darker and more sinister hue in the real world. That this new X-Files did little to address the uneasiness of its central premise was a shame, but perhaps forgivable if the storytelling had been good... but it wasn't.
Carter's four arc episodes (bafflingly titled 'My Struggle Parts 1–4') were a mess of incoherent plotting, reheated tropes from the '90s, a season-ending cliffhanger that was revealed to simply have been a vision(!), and a character arc for Scully that was rough enough that Gillian Anderson declared she would not play the character again, later telling the Fail Better with David Duchovny podcast, "The end [of season 11] was problematic, storyline-wise. Particularly for Scully."
A new hope
And so we come to 2026 and the news that Ryan Coogler is set to revive the series once again. Coogler bringing the show back has been talked about as a possibility for a couple of years now, but Monday brought confirmation that it has received a pilot order at Hulu, with Till star Danielle Deadwyler attached as one of two as-yet-unnamed lead characters.
I should probably feel a bit cynical about this – after 218 TV episodes and two movies it's not like we actually need any more of The X-Files. And yet, I don't feel that way at all. I feel excited and like this has the potential to be the best thing to happen to the franchise since the '90s.
I mean, just look at the creators... As anyone who has seen Black Panther or the astonishing Sinners will know, Coogler is a terrific writer and director with a real love for genre, and horror in particular. Also impressive is the choice of showrunner. Jennifer Yale has had writer and producer roles on Noah Hawley's superb Legion, Apple TV's Your Friends & Neighbors, and was the showrunner on last year's The Copenhagen Test. This is some properly A-list talent!
Chris Carter is also involved, but The Hollywood Reporter's story says in a "non-writing executive producer" role. That feels like a best of both worlds situation, with Carter giving the project his blessing, but Coogler, Yale, and presumably a new writers' room actually steering the creative direction of the show.
It's heartening that Coogler has already spoken to Gillian Anderson about the revival and that she seems actively enthusiastic about it. "I spoke to him, and what I said was, 'If anyone were to do it, I think you are the perfect person and best of luck, call me,'" she said on UK talk show This Morning last year. "At some point, if the phone rings and it's good and it feels like the right time – perhaps," she added. That's a far cry from the actor who declared in 2018, "It's time for me to hang up Scully's hat."
Re-opening The X-Files
There will be hurdles to navigate, of course. The lore of The X-Files is dense and contradictory. Long-term fans may remember that Earth was due to be colonized by aliens in 2012, something that very noticeably didn't happen. The 2016 revival put down to the extra-terrestrials simply changing their minds, but if the new show is going to include UFOs and a conspiracy arc then some thought will have to be put into either reconciling the new show with its predecessor's rich history or simply hand-waving it away. The latter might be a better option for new viewers, but risks alienating fans.
Still, I have faith in Coogler, Yale, and co. My biggest hope is that whatever this new take on The X-Files is, it concentrates on telling good, spooky stories inspired by folklore, UFOlogy, the strange worlds of Forteana, and contemporary horror. I want the new episodes to be vibey as hell, like 'Darkness Falls' or scary like 'Home' and 'Squeeze.' Give me tense thrillers like 'Duane Barry' and 'Paper Hearts' and thought-provoking one-offs like 'Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose.'
If the new team can find some time to check in on Mulder and Scully from time to time, then that's great, but I'm mainly looking forward to seeing a new generation of FBI agents pick up the flashlights and trenchcoats.
"If we do our jobs right, it will be really f*cking scary," Coogler told The Last Podcast on the Left when talking up the revival in April last year. Now you're talking!
An X-Files addendum
If you've made it to the bottom of this lengthy screed and are at all interested, here are my top 10 episodes of The X-Files. I rewatched the show a couple of years back and ranked the episodes for my personal amusement. Any one of these episodes is a guaranteed good time (except, perhaps, 'Oubliette' which is brilliant, but horrible).
- 10. Oubliette (season 3)
- 9. Ascension (season 2)
- 8. Darkness Falls (season 1)
- 7. Red Museum (season 2)
- 6. Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space' (season 2)
- 5. Blood (season 2)
- 4. Drive (season 6)
- 3. Humbug (season 2)
- 2. Pusher (season 3)
- 1. Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose (season 3)
For more great TV check out our guide to the best new TV shows to watch in 2026.
