Fans React To That ‘X-Files’ Twist: ‘Are You Kidding Me?’

Lots of fans weren’t too happy with the premiere of “The X-Files” Season 11 and the way it retconned huge chunks of the show — or its final twist

X Files David Duchovny Gillian Anderson
Robert Falconer/FOX

(Note: This post contains spoilers for the first episode of “The X-Files” Season 11.)

The Season 11 premiere of “The X-Files” went a little crazy with retcons and twists as it picked up where Season 10 left off — or more accurately, as it rewrote the major conspiracies that happened at the end of Season 10.

The episode was full of exposition that recontextualized most of the rest of the show, between shots of Mulder (David Duchovny) racing around America in a series of car chase shots. “The X-Files” dialed back from the apocalyptic conclusion of Season 10, which ended with most of the world infected with an alien virus that was set to destroy humanity. Instead it relegated all those events to an end-of-the-world vision for Scully (Gillian Anderson).

The premiere also added a whole bunch of new information about the infamous Smoking Man (William B. Davis) and his family, and set up a whole new conspiracy that spirals around Scully and Mulder’s son, William.

But with all those changes and retcons, fans found themselves a bit lost in the new lore of the show. Many weren’t happy with the writing and direction of Season 10 and Season 11.

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And lots of people were not happy with the final moments of the episode, which revealed that Mulder isn’t really the father of William, but the Smoking Man is. According to series creator Chris Carter, the Smoking Man didn’t impregnate Scully by raping her, but through “science.” But plenty of fans didn’t seem to think the distinction helped much.

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