10 Things We Want To See On The X-Files: Albuquerque

10. A Little Magic

Would a sequel to "The Amazing Maleeni" be too much to ask?

Season seven of The X-Files overdid it, if we're being honest, when it came to comedy episodes. At times, it felt as if every second installment that year needed a laugh track. Worse, a lot of the stories weren't all that funny. Fight Club is best left unmentioned, and preferably never heard from again. Same goes for X-Cops, the ill-fated crossover with another FOX property, COPS. Je Souhaite had its moments, but really only two light episodes stood out that season: The Goldberg Variation, and The Amazing Maleeni.

The latter is ripe for a sequel.

If you want an idea of what The Amazing Maleeni really was, think of the 2013 feature film Now You See Me. It's essentially a heist story with magic, and in the case of The X-Files episode, which predated the theatrical take by over a decade, it's done really, really well.

The X-Files was never much of a whodunit, and to be fair the episode gives away who's stealing from whom a little too early. But the performances are tight, there are enough twists to keep fans guessing, and it's just plain fun.

The X-Files: Albuquerque could easily pick up where the episode left off. After all, Mulder and Scully let felonious slight of hand masters Billy LaBonge and Herman Pinchbeck off the hook. Unfortunately, Ricky Jay — the real life magician who portrayed Pinchbeck passed away in 2018, so that role at least would have to be recast.