On Sunday night, The X-Files returned to television.

It had been nearly 15 years since Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) allowed viewers to dip into show creator Chris Carter’s phantasmagoric world, each episode bringing with it a new monster or conspiracy theory. Rarely preachy, and often humorous, one had the sense that the show did not take itself terribly seriously. Like its ancestor, The Twilight Zone, The X-Files made you think. Just not that hard.