Gillian Anderson confirms that season 11 of The X-Files will be her last

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Despite not being completely enamored with 2016's revival of The X-Files, it was still great to catch up with Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson). However, with just six-episodes, it felt as though much of the time was spent shaking the cobwebs loose, but with those revival jitters out of the way and an increased episode count (ten), I've got high hopes that the 11th season of The X-Files will give us a little more of that old magic. What the future holds for The X-Files beyond the new season isn't yet known, but it seems that we'll be bidding farewell to Gillian Anderson as Agent Dana Scully.

Back in October, Gillian Anderson had said that this would likely be her last season of The X-Files, and she confirmed that while speaking with TVInsider. "I’ve said from the beginning this is it for me," Anderson said. "I was a bit surprised by people’s [shocked] reaction to my announcement…because my understanding was that this was a single season." For his part, series creator Chris Carter doesn't seem like he's ready to close the book on The X-Files just yet, saying that "There are a lot more X-Files stories to tell. Whether we get to tell them is a question mark. The truth is out there."

When asked whether he would be willing to continue the series without Gillian Anderson during a Reddit AMA, Chris Carter said, "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." As for whether the character of Scully will be given a proper farewell, Carter said that we will "want to sit down and watch the series finale very carefully," before clarifying that by series finale, he's referring to the four My Struggle episodes which "were all pieces of a whole and Episode 10 completes the whole." If they do decide to keep the conspiracy train truckin', I suppose there are plenty of ways to continue without Gillian Anderson in the picture. Agent Einstein (Lauren Ambrose) and Agent Miller (Robbie Amell) could take over, perhaps with Mulder advising them from the shadows, but as much as I love The X-Files, I hope that the upcoming season will bring a sense of closure for Mulder and Scully and let the story end with the two agents who started us on this journey all those years ago.

The X-Files returns tomorrow on Fox.