The 2016 revival of the show was met with mixed reviews; the first and last episodes were met with lukewarm to negative reviews from critics, whereas episodes two through five were generally well received. The third episode in particular, named "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster", was praised by critics, with Alex McCown of "The A.V. Club" calling it an "instant classic". Overall, the review aggregator Metacritic gave the season a score of 60 out of 100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Likewise, Rotten Tomatoes gave the revival a 64% approval rating with an average score of 6.58 out of 10 based on 53 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny's chemistry remains intact, but overall, "The X-Files" revival lacks the creative spark necessary to sustain the initial rush of nostalgia."