After a long hiatus (though not as long as some TV shows we could name...) Top Ten Tuesdays are back. This week we're taking a spoiler-filled look at some of the best moments of the new X-Files revival. Read after the jump for our top ten moments from Season Ten!
10. "My Struggle" - Mulder sees an ARV
Mulder got to see a lot of interesting things over the years. Alien spaceships, vampires, shapeshifters, and much much more. Unfortunately, the evidence never stuck around long enough for him to prove its existence to anyone else! This trend continued right from the get-go in season 10 when Mulder got to visit a real life ARV (alien replicant vehicle) and watch it vanish entirely before his eyes using cloaking technology. His childish wonder at seeing the vehicle was heart-warming, yet sadly once again the evidence was not long for this world. Not long after his visit, the ship and its creators were blown up by unidentified soldiers.
"Given your background, I would've thought you'd seen one before."
"No, never. Not like that."
9. "Home Again" - Downtown Murder
One of the scenes that even non-Philes frequently recall from the show’s original run was the murder sequence in “Home” set to the 1950s hit “Wonderful, Wonderful” (although the version used in the episode was a cover). In “Home Again”, Morgan gave us another song we’ll never be able to hear the same way again - Petula Clark’s “Downtown” - which served as the backdrop to one of the season’s grizzliest scenes as we watched Nancy chased through her home and eventually murdered by the grotesque Band-Aid Nose Man.
"When you're alone and life is making you lonely, You can always go.. downtown"
8. "My Struggle" - Don't Give Up
After it was first spoken to Scully by Father Joe in I Want to Believe it became the mantra of the Philes for many, many years, and now it's back with Scully. In a parking garage, we see the words “don’t give up” written on the rear window of Scully’s car (personally, I struggle to believe Scully would ever allow her car to get that dirty, but she has been busy) presumably by Mulder. He emerges from the shadows to speak to her about their beliefs and the journey they must now take together. As the season ends, I like to think that Scully passes the words back to us, as we begin the wait for news of season 11.
"You look exhausted, Mulder."
7. "Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster" - Motel Room
So far this season we’ve seen Mulder angered by his belief that he and Scully have been manipulated. We’ve seen him miserable over William’s continued absence and the hole it has left in his life, and we’ve seen him soured by Scully’s departure from his life. Yet in “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster” we see him once again renewed in his belief that perhaps the craziest myths and legends can, in fact, be real. As he rambles on about “new paradigm[s] for our understanding of life” and the difference between something being against the laws of “science and nature” or against the “known laws”, Scully smiles. “This is how I like my Mulder,” she says to herself, and we smile because it’s how we like him too.
"Yeah, this is how I like my Mulder."
6. "Home Again" - Charlie Calls
From the first revelation that Scully had two brothers back in season one, through childhood flashbacks and Christmas gifts sent from the unknown, many of us Philes have wondered the same question: “who is Charlie Scully?” “Home Again” did what the best X-Files episodes always did, answering questions while giving us even more questions. We did, however, find out one solid fact - what Charlie’s voice sounds like. For a few glorious seconds we finally heard the voice of the only Scully sibling we have yet to meet, and although what we learned often didn’t match up to twenty years of headcanons, for Charlie fans it was an amazing moment.
"Mom? It's me. It's Charlie. I heard you were asking for me, so, here I am, for once. What do you want to know? What's the big mystery?"
5. "Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster" - Mulder Sees the Lizard-Man
Mulder spent much of the first half of season 10 doubting himself. After the revelations in “My Struggle” that he and Scully may have been played all these years, he withdraws and begins doubting many of the things he once would have jumped at investigating - although perhaps in the case of “The Hairy Whatsit of Walla Walla” this may have been a reasonable decision! However, despite doubting (quite reasonably TBH) Guy Mann’s story, Mulder finally gets to lay eyes on a real life lizard-man. “I’m glad to have met you,” Guy says before his transformation, and an awestruck Mulder can only reply, “likewise” as we see wonder and openness return to his eyes at the revelation that there still are things to discover out there in the shadows.
"I'm glad to have met you."
"Likewise."
4. "Babylon" - Mulder & Scully Take a Walk
“Babylon” was easily the most controversial episode of season 10, but Philes mostly agreed that the final few minutes made up for any disappointment over the preceding story. Mulder and Scully discuss God and belief, both their own and those in the world at large. It’s exactly the kind of scene that I, as a die-hard shipper, hoped to see in these new episodes. Mulder and Scully holding hands, taking a walk together and actually opening up to one another about their feelings. Tragically, what could have been our romantic moment of the season was disrupted by celestial trumpets, adding brass instruments to the ongoing list of “things Philes irrationally hate” alongside bees, parallel dimensions, and time travel!
"Walk with me Scully."
3. "Home Again" - Conversation on The Log
In another scene that shows how much Mulder and Scully have matured over the years, the pair sits on a log together, apparently after Maggie’s funeral (still not over it), and once again talk honestly with one another. Unlike the ending of “Babylon”, this Conversation on the Log is decidedly more one-sided. It gives Scully the opportunity to really open up to Mulder, not only about recent events, but on how being forced to give up William has impacted her life every day since that time, and about her own deepest fears. It’s also worth noting how impressive David’s acting is, given that he has literally no dialog at all for the entire scene and has to purely react to this outpouring of emotion.
"I want to believe... I need to believe, that we didn't treat him like trash."
2. "Founder's Mutation" - Mulder & William Launch Rockets
Many of this season’s best moments have been filled with pain and emotion, and this one is, in some ways, no different. Alone in his home, Mulder imagines life as a father, spending time with his son introducing him to classic movies over a big bucket of popcorn, and building rockets in the yard while they laughingly quote President Kennedy’s 1962 "we choose to go to the moon" speech. It’s a wonderful, happy scene, marred only by the knowledge that it can never be real, and as such it inevitably descends into tragedy just like every other happy family moment on this show.
"Come on, let's light this candle. We'll do yours first."
1. "My Struggle II" - Scully Races to Mulder
My favorite moment from series ten came just minutes before the end. Despite their estrangement, Scully’s feelings for Mulder have never been clearer than when we watch her race across Washington in a desperate bid to find and cure him. Traffic, pedestrians, looters - none of these are a problem to her as she mounts sidewalks and nearly takes out bystanders in her single-minded quest to get to Mulder. It’s an epic scene, scored perfectly by Mark Snow’s intense musical background (one of his standout moments this season), and the perfect finale to the season.
"All I see are cars! I don't know how I'm gonna find you!"