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Watch: The X-Files revival has a new trailer, but the same old Mulder and Scully

Caroline Framke
Caroline Framke wrote about culture, which usually means television. Also seen @ The A.V. Club, The Atlantic, Complex, Flavorwire, NPR, the fridge to get more seltzer.

Scully, concerned: “You’re on dangerous ground, here.”

Mulder, gripping Scully’s shoulders: “I know what I’m doing.”

Okay, so this exchange could have happened during any single episode of The X-Files. But this week, it just so happens to come from a brand new trailer for the highly anticipated X-Files revival, due to premiere as a “two-night event” in January 2016.

There have been plenty of teases to keep rabid X-Files fans at bay — not least from its smirking stars — but this is the most substantial look at the six-part series to date. There are some hints that it will look into the role of surveillance in public safety, but mostly the trailer is back-to-back X-Files catnip: lots of Mulder glowering passionately down hallways, Scully pointing a gun and sticking to a wardrobe of crisp button-down shirts, and, most crucially, the return of the Smoking Man, the series’ memorable villain.

X-Files fans have had their hopes dashed before, most notably with the franchise’s poorly received 2008 movie, but if there’s anything they can all agree on, it’s that they want to believe.

The X-Files revival premieres on Fox at 10 pm Sunday, January 24, before moving to its normal time slot at 8 pm on Monday, January 25.

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