The X-Files season 11: How evil twins and swords made a solid episode

“Plus One” was a pleasing return to form for season 11 of The X-Files, even though we’ve seen the evil psychic game plot at least once before.

This episode was, in many ways, structured like a classic “monster of the week” X-file. Mulder and Scully are brought in to investigate a strange case. They get caught up in an odd personality (or two) at the center of the happenings. Things get more intense, while Mulder’s quips and Scully’s verbose explanations lighten it up. Eventually, they face peril. As always, the duo makes it out, though with a few haunting loose ends left for mystery’s sake.

More than anything else so far in season 11, “Plus One” would work well as a jumping-in point for a new viewer. They might question why two field agents are so comfortable cuddling (and more) on a sofa bed, but that should be a minor quibble. Certainly, no one should have to look up anything like the dramatic and complicated history of the Cigarette Smoking Man.

Take Dean Cavalier, Arkie Seavers’ lawyer, aka “sword guy.” His end at the hands of his katana-wielding double is pretty gruesome, yet his character is thoroughly ridiculous. This is a man who has spent his money and precious time amassing a frankly ridiculous sword collection, along with at least a couple suits of samurai armor. It’s like an anime-obsessed 14-year-old boy lives there, instead of a moderately successful lawyer.

That’s the kind of balance between serious — spooky doppelganger murder — and ridiculous — the “SWRDGUY” license plate on Cavalier’s car — that works so well for The X-Files.

Mulder and Scully’s developing relationship

It was also satisfying to see the development of Mulder and Scully’s relationship. No one was more surprised than me, I think. Previous attempts to get at the heart of the pair’s long history have usually left me rolling my eyes. The whole business with their long-lost son, William, doesn’t help tame the melodrama, either.

But the Mulder and Scully in “Plus One” were both comfortable and awkward with one another in a realistic way (well, as realistic as you can get with killer psychic twins in the mix). Prior to this episode, they were more or less in the “just friends” category, despite conceiving a child together. Who knows how their relationship will progress again, but it’s safe to say that they grew, ahem, a lot closer this week.

It seemed more natural for Mulder to hover above her bed and announce a new death in his standard creepy manner, than for him to pontificate over Scully’s hospital bed. In the same way, it seemed natural for them to both argue about the existence of ghosts and shortly thereafter cozy up on the sofa bed. “Sometimes I think the world is going to hell, and we’re the only two people who can save it,” Scully tells Mulder there. For long-time fans of the show, it’s hard to disagree.

But things can change, too. Witness Scully eating Judy’s bread “pills,” just in case. She’s a little more prone to going with the strangeness nowadays, though Mulder has his work cut out for him if he still wants Scully to believe in ghosts.

You don’t need to know everything

“Plus One” also excelled by not explaining things too much. Judy and Chucky Poundstone were malicious twins with psychic powers, and that was pretty much that. After all of the mytharc heaviness, this episode felt delightfully unencumbered.

If you need some convincing on this point, think of the issue of midichlorians in the Star Wars prequels. Before, The Force was a mystic force, something that needed to be felt in a spiritual sense before it was fully understood by its wielder. But, when Qui-Gon Jinn started to talk about microscopic living beings inside someone’s bloodstream, all of that magic flooded out of the concept. We were left with a sad, deflated balloon and Jar Jar Binks, to boot.

Now, this isn’t to say that an episode of The X-Files is on the same scale as The Phantom Menace. If nothing else, a dull or poorly planned episode is only 45 minutes of your time (and probably doesn’t carry the emotional heft of a beloved childhood franchise for most of you).

But there is an important lesson here — sometimes, you don’t need to tell the whole story. Too much detail can sour the whole thing. Honestly, do we really need to know exactly how Judy and Chucky came into their powers?

Isn’t it ultimately more satisfying to confront their sudden strangeness and surprisingly and deadly games of hangman? And the reveal of the finished hangman games marking out “mom” and “dad” are best used as a cherry on top, rather than the beginning of the tale.

THE X-FILES: L-R: Guest star Benjamin Wilkinson, guest star Jared Ager Foster, Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny in the “This” season premiere episode of THE X-FILES airing Wednesday, Jan. 3 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2017 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Shane Harvey/FOX

A little too convenient

To be fair, some things might work a little better. It might have been interesting to see Mulder and Scully tangle with their doppelgangers a little more. Maybe they could have even spoken with them, though perhaps that’s too close spotting the zipper on the movie monster’s costume — or of rolling your eyes at Liam Neeson’s assertion that midichlorians just want to speak to you.

The plotting was also a bit thin. Mulder just happens across Judy’s room while the agents are visiting a psychiatric ward. Why would he be interested in a patient that Dr. Russell calls a run-of-the-mill “normative schizophrenic”? It’s a little too convenient.

Meanwhile, Chucky just happens to be a jail trustee in the same facility where Arkie Seavers met his end. The plot starts to crumble when you look at it closely. And perhaps “Plus One” is a little too nostalgic for the old X-Files formula, though I maintain that it’s still better than a plodding mythology episode.

Satisfying, if not groundbreaking

Will this episode enter the “best of” lists? Well, probably not. But neither is it at the bottom of the pack. “Plus One” was a satisfying episode and a generally welcome, if well-trod, return to form. Karin Konoval deserves kudos for her dual performance, including her role as the aggressively gross Chucky Poundstone.

When Konoval switched to “demon Judy” midway through the episode, she dealt just the right level of unhinged menace.

Next: The X-Files season 11 episode 3 recap and review: Plus One

Thankfully, Judy’s aim was bad enough that Scully could duck out of the way. Careful viewers saw Judy eating from a “dookie” branded can. So, at least you can optimistically conclude that this was what Judy was slinging.

Up next week is “The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat,” written and directed by Darin Morgan. In previews, it looks like Mulder and Scully will deal with alternate histories and, briefly, some disappointing reveals about Bigfoot. The episode looks pleasantly bonkers if we are to put any trust in preview ads.

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