The X-Files: Season 9
Frankly, this season was quite a mess. Mulder was absent until the finale, and Scully was sidelined in favor of Doggett and Reyes becoming the main focus. Whether this was because Gillian Anderson requested a smaller presence, or because they were preparing to go further with the show with Doggett and Reyes as protagonists, I can’t say. But either way, it didn’t work.
There were no truly memorable standalone episodes. There were some that were decent, or at least managed to cover ground that the show hadn’t previously explored during its eight prior seasons. There was an episode in which Burt Reynolds played God, which was intriguing and strange but didn’t hold a candle to Chris Carter’s oddball episodes that came before. There was an episode that worked in The Brady Bunch, but it wasn’t very interesting and didn’t really serve a purpose (even though it was the penultimate episode).
However, the finale (though admittedly flawed) delivered in ways that you were desperately craving. There were throwbacks to the entire series, returns of some interesting guest characters, Mulder and Scully makeout sessions, Doggett and Reyes put on the backburner, a perfect end to the Cigarette Smoking Man. It gave you some some answers, without wrapping everything up completely. What more could you expect from The X-Files? Its convoluted mythology has no easy conclusion. Killing off the alien threat completely would’ve made no sense and would’ve seemed forced. The only ending that works is what they went for: Mulder and Scully know some aspects of “the truth,” but they’re still searching for the big picture.
Overall, a very flawed season which only led to the finale seeming much greater in comparison.
Rating: C
