The X-Files Season 11 Finale, ‘My Struggle IV’ Plot Summary:
William (Miles Robbins) is on the run with The Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) and various other evil forces hot on his tail. It’s up to Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) to save him…or is it?
Major, Massive Spoilers Ahead…If You Have Not Seen This Episode You’ve Been Warned.
It’s time for The X-Files to end once and for all.
Season 11 has been an enjoyable run, filled with some great episodes, however given the events of Wednesday night’s finale — it’s time for the show to ride off into the sunset.
The entire season has toyed with the idea of the character’s (and by proxy the show’s) relevance in the current world. They’ve beaten to death the idea that the characters are getting too old. It’s also no secret that Gillian Anderson is not coming back for a Season 12 or any X-Files related films. David Duchovny said “he’s good” if the show comes back or doesn’t.
None of this is promising for a 12th season.
The finale helps paint an even grimmer picture. Series regulars Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), The Cigarette Smoking Man (Davis), and presumably Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) have all been killed off.
So literally, if there was a new season David Duchovny would be the only regular returning…maybe.
Duchovny has been terrific this season as Mulder, but his best work is always opposite Gillian Anderson. Without Anderson in the series, and given the fact her character is now somehow pregnant with Mulder’s child (a fan service plot twist if there ever was one) — how can he even be in the show? Are they somehow going to write Scully off again? Is she going to stay at home, and Mulder keeps working cases, and we never, ever get to see her? That’s a really hard thing to pull off because it’s pretty ridiculous to do so.
The series also failed on a front most may not even think of — they had the perfect replacements in tow, but failed to incorporate them back into the series. Robbie Amell and Lauren Ambrose were great additions to the series in Season 10, but we only saw them for a hot minute in Season 11. Had we seen more of them, it probably would’ve been easier to continue the series.
Imagine this scenario — Mulder replaces Skinner, and is now the boss to Amell and Ambrose. I think we could get a nice series here. However, those two are so removed from the collective consciousness of fans, it would be such a stretch to employ this theory.
Also, let’s be real – the ratings for Season 11 are down dramatically over Season 10’s return. The lowest viewed episode of Season 10 is still higher (by millions) than the highest viewed episode of Season 11. So the clamoring for more X-Files from the fanbase isn’t there anymore.
As for the episode itself, ‘My Struggle IV’ was good, not great. There was a little too much Ford product placement, and the fan service derailed some real, emotional moments. The action and suspense were excellent, and for a swan song Anderson poured everything into this performance. Duchovny did too, not too Anderson’s extent, but the glibness, and sardonic serenity of Mulder was purposefully, and thankfully, out the window.
The X-Files return has been enjoyable television. It’s no longer the cutting edge program it once was, and it realizes that. With better planning this show could continue on. However, given everything that’s happened this season, it’s best the series fade into the either with our last moments of Mulder and Scully being them embracing and rejoicing over the fact they’re going to be parents, and live happily ever after.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
