During its original run, The X-Files was ahead of its time in its depiction of technology. Car Phones became cell phones, advanced computer forensics and virtual reality evolved, and The Lone Gunmen were doing Mr. Robot long before it was a twinkle in Sam Esmail’s eye. There were certainly some episodes that played with futurist concepts–”Kill Switch” and sentient AI come to mind–and alien technology was typically at the forefront of the mythology episodes, but The X-Files often kept its tech grounded in the time period. It was a means to serve a larger end, a cool gadget here, a code hacked there.
If The X-Files hung around long enough, the absence of technology as a major plot point was bound to change. To their credit and maybe fault, Chris Carter and Co. stayed with their bread and butter in the later seasons; practical monsters brought to life by one of television’s best costume and prop units. Machines had their place in the background, but as many have predicted, they’d rise up eventually. Especially the ones with ghosts in them. Coming back for season 10, The X-Files’ relationship with technology wasn’t much more meaningful than a lame dad joke. It felt like someone who fell into a coma in the ‘90s waking up in 2016 and being asked to fumble around with a smartphone. It was awkward! Thankfully in this far improved season 11, Mulder and Scully figured it out.
This week’s episode, “Rm9sbG93ZXJz,” is one The X-Files couldn’t do during its original run. Yet it still manages to evoke what made the series irreplaceable in its prime. It’s Mulder and Scully’s date night goes wrong meets the heart-pumping suspense of Black Mirror’s “Metalhead.” What immediately made me think of that Black Mirror comparison is that by the episode’s end, it’s apparent this is as standalone as The X-Files gets. Much like “Metalhead,” you can drop any characters in this situation and it would make for a compelling contemporary mystery, with no prior context needed. Credit to director Glen Morgan and scriptwriters Shannon Hamblin (Lore) and Kristen Cloke, Morgan’s wife who has appeared in both The X-Files and Lore, for putting the Mulder and Scully flourishes on an episode that barely sees the duo verbally interact.
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