Over the years, the mythology of The X-Files has twisted and turned in unexpected ways, with each season finding Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) discovering new revelations which didn't always turn out to be true. When the series returned in 2016, that mythology was turned on its head once again, revealing much of what we thought we knew could potentially be false. Now, with the 11th season of The X-Files set to premiere tonight, it seems the convoluted conspiracy may be transformed yet again.
Series creator Chris Carter spoke with Entertainment Weekly about what excites him the most about this season, and Carter said, "We’ve added some elements. We’ve added some popcorn to it. We’re taking the show’s mythology to a new place, which we needed to do. We’ve added humor in more than one place." As always, it will be interesting to see where the series takes the mythology arc, but as time has gone on, I've found myself much more interested in the monster-of-the-week episodes. As long as a few of those are decent, I'll be happy. Fingers crossed.
A large focus of the season will be on William, Mulder and Scully's son who was given up for adoption years ago, with Chris Carter saying that he believes "hardcore fans are anxious to see this character grown up 17 years later and we’ve delivered on that in very interesting and satisfying and horrifying ways." At long last, we'll also get an episode devoted to the backstory of Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi). "We’ve really never explored the character of Walter Skinner," Carter said. "We learn more about Skinner and more about his connections to Mulder and Scully and how he’s been a loyal advocate of theirs at his own expense. We learn about his young life and the X-Files moment he experienced as a much younger man." It's hard to say where The X-Files will take us over the course of these ten-episodes, but Chris Carter has hinted that it may end on a cliffhanger once again, despite Gillian Anderson's insistence that this will be her final season on the series.
I always end it as if it were the last one. It’s become a thing you come to anticipate with this show with “The Erlenmeyer Flask” in season 1 — we closed The X-Files and killed off a beloved character [Deep Throat played by Jerry Hardin]. Things are often sacrificed in the finale. That’s the interesting thing for me. There’s a vertical corner in the final that I think will get people’s attention…
The X-Files returns tonight on Fox.