The Fall Fixes What The X-Files Reboot Fumbled — In Just Three Gripping Episodes

Here’s a fun twist: the show that best restores everything folks loved about Dana Scully isn’t The X-Files. It’s The Fall. And yes, you can stream the whole thing for free right now.

Scully’s revival-era detour

The X-Files is a stone-cold classic, but the 2016 and 2018 revival seasons took Dana Scully from razor-sharp skeptic to a character defined almost entirely by trauma. The spine of who she was got sanded down. Gillian Anderson clearly felt the same. In a 2024 conversation on David Duchovny’s podcast, she said:

"It was more like Scully’s trajectory was no longer one of strength and agency. It felt like it was beholden to an old idea of what a woman is."

Because of that, Anderson bowed out and chose not to return for a potential Season 12. Which brings us to the palate cleanser.

The show that gives Anderson her edge back

Created by Allan Cubitt and set in Northern Ireland, The Fall follows Anderson as Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson, a high-level investigator parachuted into Belfast to unstick a stalled murder case. The moment it becomes clear a serial killer is active, the series locks into a relentless chess match between Gibson and Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan).

Gibson feels like the evolution Scully deserved: hyper-competent, incisive, and unflappable. She reads a room in seconds, dresses down superiors when they deserve it, and extends real, grounded empathy to survivors. She also owns her sexuality without apology or punishment. It’s the clean antidote to the choices that boxed Scully in.

Why The Fall hits harder than a whodunit

This isn’t a puzzle-box mystery where you’re hunting for clues under couch cushions. From the jump, the audience knows Spector is the killer, which frees the series to dig into psychology, power, and the slow-burn strategy between hunter and hunted. Over three seasons and 17 episodes, it resists shortcuts and keeps the pressure steady.

Critics and viewers landed in the same place: The Fall holds an 85% score from both camps on Rotten Tomatoes, which almost never happens for a serial-killer drama this patient.

• What to know: three seasons, 17 episodes; creator Allan Cubitt; stars Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan; set in Belfast, Northern Ireland; streaming on Tubi (free), plus Peacock, AMC+, and Prime Video

Bottom line

If you walked away from the X-Files revival wishing Scully got her steel back, The Fall delivers exactly that through Stella Gibson. It’s the version of Anderson’s screen presence that makes you sit up straight and pay attention.