New X-Files book requires knowledge of 11 seasons of television and two feature films
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
“The X-Files: Perihelion” is not for those who are not familiar with the entire series mythology that lasted, in total, from the fall of 1993 to the spring of 2018. In particular, Claudia Gray’s novel, which hit stands earlier this summer, focuses a not insignificant amount of time untangling and retconning the convoluted and controversial mythology arc that was previously explained on screen in Season 11, during the show’s “revival” years.
But while newer readers may be overwhelmed, longtime fans of the franchise may truly love the amount of care and nostalgia that can be found in “Perihelion.” It’s a love letter to die-hard fans, even if there are some minor issues. It’s a different way of presenting an “X-Files” story, and the ending, while being a far more hopeful one than the series originally ended on (twice), is open to the point where even more stories can be told by Gray.
Admittedly, there are a not insignificant amount of passages that fall into that “telling, not showing” trope that some stories fall into. But on the flip side of that coin, that trope benefits the narrative in a major way that other X-Files properties have failed to capitalize on: it allows Fox Mulder and Dana Scully to talk things out in a way we have never seen, which carries its own kind of weight. Mulder and Scully ARE the brand at this point more than any other monster of the week or recurring villain, and “Perihelion” leans into the domesticity and affection between the two in a way that the franchise has never allowed before.
Fans may really enjoy seeing those discussions play out, and they’ll likely appreciate Gray’s retcons of some Season 11 plot points that greatly upset the fanbase (especially one particularly gross plotline in particular). These retcons, teases of other appearances and other plot lines left in limbo, set the stage for more adventures down the line if Gray continues to write them. We may not ever see Gillian Anderson suit up as Scully again, but it’s easy to imagine her voice in Gray’s writing. The same goes for David Duchovny’s Mulder. It’s a great continuation with (hopefully) more fun and proper closure to come.
