Despite what the title credits may have implied, it seems that this is not the end for The X-Files after all. After roaring back to life for a special six-episode Fox run, the reunion of special agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) ended tonight with a classic cliffhanger that left everything hanging — and everyone wanting more.
And unless series creator Chris Carter wants a riot on his hands, the reunion will have to extend for at least one more mini-season in order to leave fans satisfied.
My Struggle, Your Struggle, His Struggle, Her Struggle
In true season finale fashion, "My Struggle II" began much like the season opener, with Agent Scully narrating her own history with the X-Files, including a dutiful reminder that she discovered alien DNA in her own genome back in the first episode. (In case you were unclear as to the meaning of "alien DNA," this sequence ended with Scully creepily morphing into an actual alien right before our eyes.)
Scully believed that her modified DNA meant she was a victim of the alien conspiracy to wipe out the human race. As it turned out, that wasn't quite right; thanks to some intel (and a surprise cameo) from former agent Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), Scully learned that the alien DNA marked her as one of the chosen few to be spared. Everyone else will be wiped out in a global pandemic of immunodeficiency smuggled into their systems via the smallpox vaccine they received as children. And that mass die-off begins … now.
This Is the End
While Scully and the skeptical agent Einstein (Lauren Ambrose) struggled to make sense of the science at hand, and the hospital was flooded with hordes of people suffering from anthrax, flu, and bacterial infections, a mysteriously bruised-and-bloodied Mulder fled south. His destination: A final meeting with the Smoking Man (William B. Davis).
Old Smokey lost his nose and most of his face in that explosion back in season 9, but not his lifelong passion for cigarettes, government conspiracy and mass murder. He was behind the plan to depopulate the earth through this mass infection, but he wanted to offer Mulder, his favorite fly in the ointment, a chance to survive to see the new world.
A coughing, wheezing, feverish Mulder replied, "Not a rat's chance in hell!" (Which makes no sense — one would assume that hell is full of rats, actually, because they're the worst — but again, he had a fever, so …)
A Race Against Time and a Fire in the Sky
Fortunately for Mulder, agent Miller (Robbie Amell) had followed him to the Smoking Man's house and rescued him as he sat wheezing feverishly on the villain's leather sofa. And in the meantime, Scully and Einstein reverse-engineered a cure for the legions of sick and dying from Scully's DNA. (Side note: The show did its best to explain how this happened, but these scenes mostly consisted of Scully and Einstein breathlessly whispering the words "alien DNA" to each other like they were performing witchcraft, so … who knows?)
With Washington, D.C., overrun by rioters, and the streets clogged with fleeing civilians, Scully was left to race on foot down a highway to deliver a life-saving IV to the stranded Mulder and Miller. But upon reaching them, she discovered that Mulder was beyond help. The IV alone wouldn't save him; he needed stem cells. And the only person who can provide those cells? Mulder and Scully's child, of course — if they can find him.
But if Scully is going to find her long-lost son and save the love of her life, she'll be doing it in the as-yet-unconfirmed season 11. Because in the final minutes of season 10, a giant triangular spaceship appeared in the sky directly above them. And the last we saw of Scully, she was gazing up horror as the ship bathed her in eerie blue light.
Tell Us: What did you think of the finale?
