Joe Harris treads a lot of familiar ground with this issue of “The X-Files Season 10” but nothing feels quite the same. The brilliance of the series’ huge legacy is that it can toy with our expectations. Pilgrims part two makes you remember certain fears, and just when you think you know what to expect it hits you over the head with something different.
WRITTEN BY: Joe Harris
ART BY: Matthew Dow Smith
PUBLISHER: IDW
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: May 28, 2014
I’m starting to see the signs of Joe Harris toying with us. They are all over the place and because he’s a huge fan of the series they’re never going to stop. I just wish I could piece it all together. However, that would take away half the fun. How in the hell is Krycek back and why in the hell does he disappear so quickly! You’ll feel compelled to piece it all together, and mirror Mulder’s pursuit for the truth.
This issue is fast paced and thrilling. It never lets up and spins an interesting mystery despite only being the second chapter of the ongoing arc. Mulder is pushed into a corner and Scully gets closer to the truth of what’s going on. It’s an interesting change of pace, but something has happened. Mulder figures something out, and is decidedly coy about it.
The issue ends with dangling a thread in your face. Whatever conclusion Mulder had reached seems to be a little flawed, more than that it’s resulted in a mean retread from a horribly tense time in X-Files history. I left this issue completely shocked and dying to read more.
Matthew Dow Smith does a fantastic job with contrasting the hectic beginning with a more somber and removed ending that actually leaves you feeling more uneasy than all the shooting. Smith makes dialogue scenes easy to manage with clear character work and lingers on the right moments long enough to create a palpable sense of tension throughout the entire issue. The moment with the man mopping the floor, you just know that shit was damning, and you’ll never see him again.
The “X-Files Season 10” has been operating like mini episodes of the series. Yet, the pacing and mystery remains the same, so it actually becomes more engaging and maddening. You’ll be in awe of how quickly things can spiral out of control and more engaged in Mulder’s madness because you desire that page turn reveal so bad.
Except Joe Harris likes to pull you along. He’s not ready to give any answers yet and the book is all the better for it. It’s almost agony to read a chapter like this and not know where it’s going but it’s half the fun. I cannot wait to see where things end up next.