The intro follows a young Islamic man on his way to a building called 'Ziggurat' (a ziggurat is an ancient Mesopotamian structure said to have inspired the Tower of Babel), where he and an accomplish blow it, and presumably themselves, up. The tone is so different from other X-Files episodes that I assumed to be watching a program airing prior to the X-Files until the familiar opening theme started.
The actual episode bends back into a tone we're more accustomed to. Mulder talks about trumpet like sounds from the sky, a somewhat topical reference, and likens them to Biblical narrative. Which opens up interesting dialogue between him and Scully, who is religious (Mulder is not). Both in the opening and closing of the episode. Then, to get the ball rolling, we receive exposition from two young new agents named Miller and Einstein. They are overly Mulder and Scully -esque, only younger. I'm immediately uncomfortable with this. What is happening? Is Fox (the network, not Mulder) trying to sneak in a soft reboot? I want the real Scully and Mulder dammit! If there's anything the show's history has thought us is that simply replacing the agents doesn't work. Spin-offs on the other hand are fine. Luckily, Mulder and Scully still get ample screen time. These new kids are still making me nervous though.
The episode centers around religious extremism, the most topical subject the new season has put forward so far. There is one plot point of which the logic eludes me. I'm keeping this spoiler free, but I'm sure those who've already seen the episode know what I'm talking about. Other than that and faux Mulder and Scully, it's a pretty solid episode. The visuals especially are highly enjoyable.
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