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The X-Files: TCA Winter Press Tour

A discussion of the latest “X-Files” episodes was held in a theater on the 20th Century Fox lot in Los Angeles, as part of the Television Critics Association 2018 winter press tour.

Anderson and Duchovny answered questions, along with costar Mitch Pileggi, and executive producers and writers Glen Morgan, James Wong and Darin Morgan.

The first question of the session came from a reporter asking Anderson about her stated intention to close the book on Scully with the 2018 “X-Files.”

“I arrived at the decision” to exit, Anderson said, “before we did the previous six,” thinking “the previous six was going to be it. It was dipping our toe back in again, and just meeting up again, and making the most of it, and getting to play these wonderful characters again.”

“As Chris (Carter) has said himself, that short stack of episodes kind of felt like we were learning how to walk again, and that this season of 10 feels like the pace is up, and we are running.”

“We are definitely crawling now,” Duchovny joked.

“But beforehand, before we did this 10,” Anderson continued, “I did think that was going to be it. But the minute they mentioned that they might be interested in doing another, I thought, do you know what? That didn’t feel like the right way to end it. It didn’t feel like I would necessarily have been happy if those six were how we said goodbye.”

As for American Gods, she said: "I'm not doing any more American Gods. Bryan and Michael Green aren't either, as has been announced." Fuller and Green were pushed out of the series after clashing with producers Fremantle over the show's season two budget.

When Anderson heard about the writers discussing another season, she said, it “sounded more like a good ending to me.”

As to why Anderson wanted to officially close “The X-Files” door, she said that there are “lots of things that I want to do in my life and in my career, and it's been an extraordinary opportunity and an extraordinary character, and I am hugely grateful. But there's lots of other stuff I want to do, and I don't really want to be tied down to months and months of doing any particular one thing that I feel like I've done. That's why.”

Later in the session, Anderson was asked yet again about whether she might one day come back as Scully.

“No,” Anderson said again. “You know, I like to be challenged as an actor, and I like to do many, many different characters, and that’s why I got into the business. I’ve done this now for decades, and it’s time for me to hang up Scully’s hat. It just is. The next couple years are quite full, and there’s lots of different things that I want to do, and I’m being asked to do, and I want to be able to explore them without being tied to a series. It’s really quite simple.”

Another reporter returned to the subject still one more time, suggesting Anderson might play Scully 10 years from now.

“No,” Anderson repeated. “No. This is it for me. I’m really serious. I have so much respect for these guys, and I have respect for Scully, and I have respect for David, and it’s really sad. But I’m finished, and that’s the end of that.”

But “The X-Files” isn’t finished, at least not quite yet. Glen Morgan said “we’re not officially finished shooting yet,” and added that the show will answer some of the lingering questions that, like the truth, are still out there.

Later, Duchovny was asked if, considering that Carter has said he doesn’t want to make any more “X-Files” if Anderson isn’t in them, and Fox said the network doesn’t want to do more “X-Files” if Carter and Anderson aren’t involved, how Duchovny felt about saying goodbye to Mulder.

“I’ve tried to say goodbye to Fox Mulder many times, and I failed,” Duchovny said.

“He was the first one to say goodbye to Fox Mulder,” Anderson said, apparently referring to Duchovny limiting his involvement in the original series in Seasons 8 and 9.

“I failed,” Duchovny said, “and they did the show without me. So how do you like that?”

As those in the room laughed, Duchovny jokingly continued. “I’m feeling pretty pissed off, now that I remember,” then added, “I’m good. I’m good either way. I’m good, you know, with this being the end. I’m good with it not being the end.”

At the summer TCA press tour, Fox execs Gary Newman and Dana Walden said there would only be two mythology episodes in the current season. Writer/producer Darin Morgan confirmed this, but suggested the mythology would leak into other episodes as well.

“Jim Wong’s on show five [and that] had some stuff because it had some stuff about William,” Morgan said. “Even the one tonight has some of Barbara Hershey’s character, who shows up again. So two and a half.”

Since the season/series finale is also a mythology episode, does that mean the season premiere, “My Struggle III” wasn’t? And does backstory on a major X-Files character not count as mythology?

“Episode six, [which] Gabe Rotter wrote, is all the backstory of Skinner,” Morgan said. “It’s been a long time, we’ve been waiting to hear that.”

The X-Files writer and producer Glen Morgan did promise, however, that fans will finally get some stories tied up by the time the season 11 finale airs … but of course, some mysteries will remain. “We are not officially finished shooting yet,” Morgan says. “Some of those questions will be answered. Some, I think, won’t, because that’s the way this show is.”


Yes, but actually... No.

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