Chris Carter Defends ‘The X-Files’ Season 11 Premiere’s Shocking Twists

The Season 11 premiere of The X-Files brought with it some monumental changes for the series, some of which audiences had a hard time accepting. Despite the surprises, show creator Chris Carter defended his choices and what made them so important for the upcoming season.

***WARNING: Spoilers below for Season 11 of The X-Files***

Within the first few minutes of the season premiere, audiences learned that the Cigarette Smoking Man, one of Mulder’s biggest threats, was actually Mulder’s father. Later in the episode, we also learned that William, the supposed child shared by Mulder and Scully, was the creation of CSM, having used alien DNA to impregnate Scully.

If these events weren’t shocking enough, the premiere also revealed that the Season 10 finale, which ended on a cliffhanger, never actually happened and was just a result of Scully experiencing a seizure. Carter confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that he always intended that finale to be nothing more than a red herring for a potential Season 11.

“If you look at how I staged the scene in Mulder’s office [in the Season 10 finale], the way I staged the scenes on the bridge with the spacecraft hovering above Scully, you can see that was part of a plan,” Carter confirmed. “The camera pushes right into her eye at both ends of the show, and it was all of a piece.”

Fans on social media were quick to share their disappointment with these plot points, but Carter felt these twists were necessary for the series.

“It’s playing with the story, the characters and the history of the characters I hope in an interesting way that will be satisfying — not necessarily in the immediate future but it will make sense once we get to this season’s finale,” Carter pointed out.

The reveal about William pays off a moment in Season 7 where Scully and CSM go on a road trip, resulting in Scully being drugged. Carter made it a point to clarify that, while CSM drugged and impregnated her, the character believes it was all part of pushing science forward.

“He’s the figurative father if he’s not the actual father. He didn’t rape Scully,” Carter confessed. “He impregnated her with science.”

Alerting audiences to this key detail while keeping Mulder and Scully in the dark about their “son” creates a new dynamic for the audience.

“It does impact it in a big way and you’ll see that in the arc of the series… This fact is hovering over them and everything they do and say to each other is kind of loaded as they’re walking in the dark,” Carter detailed. “It makes for interesting storytelling to put the audience in a privileged point of view that could ultimately explode in the end.”

Catch new episodes of The X-Files on Wednesdays at 8:00 PM ET on FOX.

[H/T Entertainment Weekly]