Just when you think the adventures of Special Agents Mulder and Scully have concluded, more The X-Files stories emerge. Creator of the series, Chris Carter, may have finally finished up the series for good, hinting on Reddit that the upcoming Season 11 is the end of the line for the groundbreaking show.
Rather than claiming that he has run out of stories to tell, Carter claims that were star Gillian Anderson not to return, he doesn’t see how the series could be the same.
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“For me, the show has always been Mulder & Scully. So the idea of doing the show without her isn’t something I’ve ever had to consider,” Carter confirmed. “Was her character given a proper goodbye? I think you will want to sit down and watch the series finale very carefully.”
Word that Anderson was looking to leave the character behind began emerging last October at New York Comic Con, yet she echoed the decision earlier this week.
“I’ve said from the beginning this is it for me,” Anderson told TV Insider. “I was a bit surprised by people’s [shocked] reaction to my announcement…because my understanding was that this was a single season.”
The series initially ran from 1993 to 2002, becoming a defining series not just for the ’90s but for the science fiction community. The series grew so popular that in 1998, the film The X-Files: Fight the Future hit theaters in between the series’ fifth and sixth seasons.
In 2008, the film The X-Files: I Want to Believe brought Anderson and David Duchovny back together, yet the film’s singular nature didn’t resonate with audiences as strongly as the series.
In 2016, the series returned for a six-episode season that demonstrated that show’s strengths came from its serialized format instead of a feature-length narrative.
While Anderson and Carter may have hinted that this upcoming season is the end of The X-Files, Carter teased back in October that there are many more stories to tell.
“There are no plans beyond this, but, as I tell people, that I believe this is true, is that there’s a lot of life still left in the show,” Carter confessed. “Lots of stories to tell. As long as there’s stories to tell, it’s hard to imagine it wouldn’t go on.”
It’s possible that Carter’s comments about the franchise will result in the concept being explored in novel, comic book or audiobook form, which wouldn’t require Anderson be involved to feature Scully.
Tune in to the season premiere of The X-Files on Wednesday, January 3 at 8:00 PM ET on Fox.
[H/T Reddit]
