It's been a long time since Chris Carter did anything, let alone a series... well, sort of. His latest release was the 2nd X-Files movie (The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008)), which was basically more of an extended episode of its parent series rather than feature film and probably the reason why it bombed. To be fair, after repeated viewings, especially in its director's cut format, Believe proves to be a very solid film. But I still stand behind it being better suited to a smaller screen. Regardless, Carter left the TV format in 2002 with the series' end of The X Files, and he hasn't returned since... until now... well, sort of. In the decade plus following the end of his signature series, the game has certainly changed with the advent of on-demand programming and particularly the Netfilx/Hulu revolution. Amidst this paradigm shift, Carter has decided to make his return, and one to be distributed via Amazon's online platform. The soon-to-be series is called The After, and all we have so far is the Pilot (which is the prime focus of this entry). While an initial viewing of the Pilot suggests both new excitements and old frustrations, it is certainly nice to see something fresh from the man whole helped redefine prime-time drama roughly two decades ago.
First of all, the Pilot episode is up on Amazon and free to view anytime, so I suggest you take an hour to watch it; you won't be disappointed given that this is just the beginning. The plot essentially revolves around a group of seven strangers forced together by unknown motives and thrust into a modern-day apocalypse scenario, but that's about all we get. True to Carter's form, there are always more questions than answers, and you're always left wanting more, which is still a good thing even if we have to wait for the beginning of 2015 for the next installment. Yes the Pilot did get picked up, and it's easy to see why. Despite the premise reeking of Lost-isms, such a charge obviously remains to be seen - besides, The X Files was a huge influence on Lost, so Carter can do what he wants and would probably do a better job with that series anyway. Carter very recently let it slip that The After is actually based on The Divine Comedy, and there is a clear trajectory for the series to follow the 99 Cantos of Dante's work (that's of course if Amazon allows Carter to make 99 episodes)! So I guess in the meantime we could all be brushing up on Dante, it's as good a reason as any! While it's been established that the Pilot was good enough to warrant a series, and the reviews for the Pilot have all been generally positive, there are (of course) some skeptics looking at the mythology pitfalls that did at times muddle The X Files, but all in all this is new ground for Carter... well, sort of. But I mean that in the best possible way, honestly.
The After is clearly the work of Carter, no ifs, ands, or buts. The story is drenched in his familiar concoction of characters supplying drama through a world of supernatural forces and extremes, with social commentary thrown in for good measure. That being said, The After is also the work of a Carter who has had a decent amount of time to step out of the TV machine and reexamine and reflect upon his career, which is why it feels so fresh. The Pilot is at once calculated, confident, and assured, yet entirely new in a way that no previous Carter pilot has been, and that's saying something (and I'm not necessarily referring to The X Files "Pilot," but more on that later). As stubborn as he has been in the past, both The After's writing and direction prove that Carter has been paying attention to the trends in modern series and its giving them a go in his own way. That means that there is no time for prosaic soliloquies or domestic ruminations, it's all about the end of the world and all the honest confusion that it would bring to the characters. Free of network censoring, the script indulges in profanity and nudity, which is a far cry from The X-Files and certainly fun. But Carter uses these freedoms to service the story, which is even more impressive. The cast is also mostly fantastic, especially with a Francophone lead in Louise Monot, and true grit in Aldis Hodge providing some interesting racial tension. However, unlike The X Files, The After is an ensemble cast and the story acts accordingly, so again there remains a lot to be seen with the character development in terms of background and motive. If there is one thing that rings true from the past, it's the darkness, which is certainly more apparent in the Pilot's very intriguing final minutes. And whatever you take from that, you will want to know more.
I'd be lying if I said The After Pilot isn't vague, but that is obviously the point. Carter is an expert at being vague, and of crossing paths with his other series, especially when it comes to Good vs. Evil (and I definitely mean this in a biblical sense). But this is what is so exciting. While The After might by design be cut from the same cloth as The X Files, I believe it will come much closer to the themes and textures of Carter's Millennium, and I couldn't be happier. Millennium, arguably Carter's greatest conceptual work, took the concept of Good vs. Evil to the harshest realms (pun intended), creating one of the darkest and most cerebral works ever to "grace" network television. If The After can continue Carter's foray into that world, and I have an inkling that it will, then I think this new series will have a creative sustainability that would have otherwise been lost on a mere X Files retread. In many ways, The After could prove to be a roundabout way of continuing and justifying the substance of Millennium, which truly would be fantastic. For those familiar with the what Millennium achieved, The After will surely entice, and I could certainly see Frank Black making an appearance somewhere down the line, and I hope Carter is considering that very notion.
In the end, all we have so far is a promising pilot and a whole lot of speculation, but that is enough considering we've had nothing from Carter for quite a while. The flipside to this is that I can't imagine there will be another X Files movie anytime soon if at all, but Fox owns that anyway and they are doing the usual not-giving-a-shit thing, so that venture always seemed grim. For now, we will have to settle for The After, and hopefully Carter will take this opportunity and all he has learned in the interim and run with it. Taken as a whole, Carter's work could veer into the obtuse and even pretentious (always intelligent though), but at his best, Carter created both characters and stories that were nothing short of genius. Let's hope that The After can be even better!
- McS
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