The X-Files Season 11: 10 Things We Learned From Plus One

The strong start to season eleven of The X-Files continued with its third episode, Plus One. Featuring a look into murderous doppelgangers, though it wasn't quite classic X-Files, it had enough moments calling back to the heyday of the show to represent a reasonable facsimile. Curiously, however, what was learned from the episode was more in what it wasn't, than what it was.

The first outright standalone episode (or Monster of the Week, if you prefer) of the season, Plus One stepped away entirely from the mythology of the show. In fact, Mulder knowingly referred to it as going back to his and Scully's "bread and butter" — though whether you agree with that or not likely depends on how you feel about the show's alien conspiracy mythology. Still, by not focusing on conspiracies, aliens, and corrupt governments, we learned once again that The X-Files was always much more than that.

Sometimes, all you need is a refresher course.

Ultimately, Plus One was an odd tale of psychic siblings on the surface, while deeper down, it was an examination of the show itself, the relationship between Mulder and Scully, and even a bit of a treatise on the nature of good versus evil. While it struggled at times to find its tone, it was a mostly fulfilling outing — so let's take a look at what we learned from it.

Karin Konoval may not be a household name, but she is now the answer to an obscure trivia question: name an actress who has portrayed multiple characters on The X-Files. In a single episode.

The X-Files is well-renowned for recycling actors. Prior to portraying the murderous Agent Krycek on the show, actor Nicholas Lea appeared in the first season episode Genderbender in a small role as "Michael" — a young man on the wrong side of an encounter with an alien looking to experience life on Earth. Nor is Lea (or Konoval) an isolated case. In season ten, the show brought back Alex Diakun, which marked his fourth appearance on the show in four separate roles.

Despite that milestone, Konoval may in fact be the first woman to portray three separate roles on the series. And she is definitely the first woman to portray three roles in a single episode. Konoval plays the telepathic schizophrenic 'Little Judy,' and her more sinister alter-ego. She also plays Chucky, Judy's brother (and if you really want to get technical, she also plays his doppelganger).

It's a heck of a performance, and if Chucky seems a little "odd" at first, it's likely because he's being portrayed by the same woman you watched moments earlier wearing a gown playing hangman in a psychiatric hospital.

It's a heck of a turn from Konoval, who also appeared as Madame Zelma in Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose and Mrs. Peacock in Home.