The X-Files: 21 WTF Moments From Revival (So Far)

It wouldn't be The X-Files without some serious WTF moments. The show that in the past brought you the Flukeman, a mystic who bores inside his victims and treats them as puppets, and a liver eating immortal mutant is back - and has brought plenty of shocking material with it. Two out of the six installments of The X-Files revival have aired to date, to great success in the ratings, with the premiere bringing in over 20 million viewers after the ratings adjusted to include DVR and VOD views for the premiere, My Struggle. The following night, the show's first episode in its new Monday night timeslot, Founder's Mutation, also easily defeated any and all competition, crushing Supergirl and The Bachelor with close to 10 million viewers. That means the show had plenty of eyeballs on it for a number of shocking, surprising, absolutely WTF moments that many fans simply weren't expecting. While the show has always been heavy on shocking content (including countless beasties and frequent trips to the autopsy bay), in its absence, many fans may have forgotten just how graphic the The X-Files can be. The revival, or abbreviated season ten if you prefer, has been no exception to this, from grisly deaths to shocking returns to alien creatures and monsters - so let's take a look at 21 of these from the season's first two episodes.

21. The Smoking Man, Or The Phantom Of The Opera?

Give William B. Davis the Phantom's half-face masquerade mask, and he's a shoo in for the next production of the Phantom of the Opera. Well, if he can sing. He's got the image down at least. The biggest WTF moment for any returning character? The fact that the cigarette smoking man (at least they haven't tried to placate sensitive viewers and have him be the vaping man) is alive and unwell. After having his skin burned from his skull from no less than a missile pretty much to the head, the cancer man seems to have undergone some plastic surgery, and has obvious facial scarring, but aside from that, he has recovered nicely. He still has the tracheostomy mind you, but at least he's no longer hiding in a cave, waiting for the world to end.