X-Files Returns: Advanced Screening at New York Comic Con

The X-Files will return with six new episodes starting in January, bringing back its two main stars, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, to once again investigate conspiracies and cases that are outside the usual ones faced by law enforcement.

The show was a hit during its nine seasons on TV, spawning a spin-off, two movies, comic books and a lot odd merchandise. It also made stars of Duchovny and Anderson and developed a hard-core fan base.

On the third day of this year's New York Comic Con in October these rabid fans were given a screening of the show that will be broadcast on Jan. 24 on Fox.

Here is our review of the episode along with the Comic Con event itself.

X-Files fans lined up when the New York Comic Con opened its doors on Saturday, Oct. 10, for the chance to get an entrance band to the advanced screening. The several hundred bands were all distributed within 20 minutes, leaving a whole lot of people disappointed.

Fortunately, we were among those that got in.

Before the episode was shown, there was a brief opening taped message from Gillian Anderson apologizing for not being at the comic con for the event. Bizarrely, she did the greeting with a British accent because she is in India filming a period drama.

Not that the crowd cared -- they cheered for her anyway.

Then the episode began, with the crowd erupting with the first appearance of each of the series' original stars on the screen. I never realized Skinner was so popular!

Without giving away anything, I can say the episode touches all the bases that made the original series so great: tension between Mulder and Scully; questions about their relationship; flashbacks whose significance aren't quite clear right away; witnesses in danger; allies who may or may not be allies; and the underlying paranoia that there is a vast, all-powerful conspiracy out there.

The episode also cleverly plays into the increased surveillance and privacy worries that have occurred in the last decade, even incorporating news footage to add a touch of realism.

Two very nice touches --

1) The show's credits are from the original premiere back in September 1993. That helps set up just how much Mulder and Scully have changed. They are older and presumably more wiser…

2) There is a surprise reappearance of a character from the original series -- which brought the biggest cheer from the crowd.

Overall, it was a very solid kick-off to the limited six-episode season.

After the screening, David Duchovny, Chris Carter and Mitch Pileggi took the stage for a question-and-answer session with the audience.

The moderator -- actor Kumail Nanjiani from "Silicon Valley'' -- does an X-Files podcast and was way, way over-the-top gushing about how much he loved the series and how excited he was to be the moderator.

Having said that, he wasn't unique -- at least two audience members were so emotional during their questions that they broke down crying. Seriously.

To be clear up front, there weren't any major spoilers from the panel. But there were interesting tidbits for fans to savor.

The first episode made it clear that there are issues between Scully and Mulder, which isn't exactly a spoiler. And Carter made the matter-of-fact point that Mulder is probably a bit tough to live with.

Pileggi explained that his interpretation of Skinner was based on his dad -- though he only realized it after family members told him. In fact, one of his lines in the premier episode -- you'll spot it immediately because it's so quotable -- was something his father used to say.

The most interesting tidbit from Carter was the sequence of the six-episode season -- the premiere just shown and the last of the six new episodes will focus on the show's mythology. The four shows in between will be stand-alones (of the "Monster of the Week" variety).

The biggest applause during the panel session came from this announcement from Chris Carter: "The Lone Gunmen are back!"

Alas, he offered no details. Looks like we'll all have to wait until January to start to find out.

I can't wait.