Gillian Anderson as Scully
Gillian Anderson says that Season 11 of “The X-Files” “feels more like quintessential ‘X-Files’” than last year’s revival. Fox

Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny both think that Season 11 of “The X-Files” is better than last year’s revival.

In a new sneak peek from the upcoming season, Anderson says that Season 11 “feels more like quintessential ‘X-Files’” while Duchovny comments that they’re “better set up” in the new season to get back to Mulder (Duchovny) and Scully’s (Anderson) “partnership and the banter that comes with that.”

At the New York Comic Con last October, Duchovny admitted (via TV Insider) that in attempt to get the viewers up to speed, Season 10 ended up being “exposition heavy.” But with Season 11, the actor said that fans can expect “actual” stories.

“That’s exciting to me, to actually start telling stories [in Season 11],” Duchovny said. “Unfortunately, we kind of got trapped into telling the story of the show [in Season 10.] To me, that’s not so interesting. It might be interesting to fans. I don’t know. I can’t look at it that way … To me, the show was about the case and how that affects the characters. Unfortunately, after a certain point [last season], it becomes about the characters, not about the case and, to me, that is less interesting.”

“The X-Files” creator Chris Carter admitted that reviving the Fox series more than a decade after its original run ended was a challenge because the show had to find a way to reconnect with its old fans.

“We [relaunched] from a standing start after not having been on the air for 12 years — there was some reacquainting that had to be achieved,” Carter told TVLine of bringing the beloved series back to TV last year. “It was like old friends getting back together. We had to shake some of the stiffness out.”

But now that all the groundwork is laid, Carter is confident that the upcoming Season 11 will run more smoothly than the previous season. “I think that we’re all in fighting shape now,” Carter said.

“The X-Files” Season 11 premieres on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018 at 8 p.m. EST on Fox. Watch the recently released sneak peek from the new season below:

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