X-Files: Season 11 *spoilers included*

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Now that Fox has finally confirmed that The X-Files Season 11 is definitely happening and that everyone’s schedules have been worked out, Chris Carter has assembled the team of writers for the 10 episode season. Mostly it’s the people you’d expect but there are a couple of additions.

TV Line reports that veteran X-Files writers Glen Morgan, James Wong and Darin Morgan will be back following their return for the revival series. Wong wrote and directed ‘Founders Mutation’, Glen Morgan gave us ‘Home Again’, and Darin Morgan delivered the season’s high-point ‘Mulder & Scully Meet The Were-Monster.’ Their presence is definitely reassuring, and we would have been particularly upset if the great Darin Morgan hadn’t come back.

The new voices are Gabe Rotter, who was a writer’s assistant on Season 9, Benjamin Van Allen, who was a writers assistant on Season 10, and Brad Follmer, who was “Carter’s personal assistant during Season 8 and 9, and not to be confused with the character Brad Follmer, played by Cary Elwes in Season 9.”) No indeed. No one liked that guy.

TV Line also notes that Chris Carter is expected to write at least the opening and closing episodes, and that the long-hoped-for return of Frank Spotnitz and Vince Gilligan has not happened. The new season will begin shooting this summer and will air in early 2018, presumably resolving that bloody great big cliffhanger Season 10 left us all on.

The announcement of an all-male writers’ room has been met with a good deal of criticism. As IndieWire notes, “That’s right: In the year 2017, a major broadcast drama is going with an all-male writers’ room.” While the revival series went exclusively with franchise veterans, this expanded run has opened up to new voices, and none of those new voices are women.

The X-Files Season 11 writers have been confirmed

 

[Cli-Fi]

The X-Files Season 11 writers have been confirmed

I'm torn between this. The latest season wasn't that great and didn't go in the direction I thought they should have. At least from the marketing of the show it seemed like they wanted to delve more into the conspiracy realm now that it's front and center in society, but it just seemed like they spent more time on monster of the week eps and literally no mythology from the rest of the series. Or maybe that's the result of this paranoid culture Fox Mulder helped bring about

 

[ctg]

Sometimes you have to let the old blood out. Mister Carter should instruct the new people to be bold and not be scared about following threads the old series closed. There's so much in the past that could have been opened, but wasn't because the cigarette smoking man prevented them from ever finding out. Or then they could blame it all on Mulder's madness and close this series for good with him closed in the mental hospital.

 

[Cli-Fi]

Sometimes you have to let the old blood out. Mister Carter should instruct the new people to be bold and not be scared about following threads the old series closed. There's so much in the past that could have been opened, but wasn't because the cigarette smoking man prevented them from ever finding out. Or then they could blame it all on Mulder's madness and close this series for good with him closed in the mental hospital.

I think the X-Files are a pivotal point in pop culture to where we are as a society today, especially in America. So maybe perhaps to those of us who follow this stuff closely it doesn't have the same effect it did in the 90s. Regardless of ratings which were still pretty good.

All the hard science fiction that has come out since AKA Battlestar Galactica, The Expanse, even The Wire or Breaking Bad (for crime) etc... A kooky guy hunting down monsters doesn't even live up to Supernatural standards. I loved the first episode of season 10 and hoped that they would have worked more on Mulder coming to terms with this new world where other people besides himself are hunting these theories down. What about all the information out there on the web?? It was like social media didn't even exist in the show!

 

[lynnfredricks]

I am on the last of the season 10 episodes and I feel a little disappointed. Six episodes is a nice length for a mini-arch, but effectively, we have the characters back doing their exact same jobs - just older - and with one too many funny episodes. It seems more like an alternative season 8. Id much rather have had it that the characters clearly have had lives in the last 8-9 years since the last movie in which they've evolved.

 

[ctg]

Yes. Mulder is showing rage. He should be pissed. I don't know why, but for a man who has gone through some much black material and punishment from the Authorities, he should be angry. But he hasn't. In the meantime the Cigarette Smoking Man is dragging that cancer stick again! How many lung transplants that alien is going to get in the future?

 

[REBerg]

11.01 My Struggles III
Heavy on the diabolical, end-of the-world plot in this season opener. I hope they manage to work a little humor and "monster of week" into the season.

Spoiler

So CSM is William's "real" (alien science-enabled) father? Didn't see that coming. A little soapish.

 

[ctg]

Spoiler

So CSM is William's "real" (alien science-enabled) father? Didn't see that coming. A little soapish.

The whole thing is building up for something. It's like with the last season, where Chris Carter wrote and directed the first and the last episode.

I, for one, loved getting the Cigarette Smoking Man's backstory and I was comparing it to the last season revelation for him being one of the aliens. They could had easily shown him assuming the role and occasionally dropping the holo to reveal his true identity. I feel all of this points to the alien invasion agenda that has been wafting around the whole series. CSM really wants that to happen and to him, the apocalyptic agenda is better then the traditional invasion model.

As far as we know there hasn't been a signed treaty banning the weapons of war with the alien races. None that the public knows and it kind of proves that CMS might be as well being able to commit on this. What surprised me was the party that talked to Mulder about the thing. They could as well dropped their masks and revealed themselves to the Old Fox Mulder. It might have even energized him a bit.

What I didn't like was the spoken narrative. I guess they had to put it in to explain stuff instead of asking for more airtime and making this a feature long episode.

 

[Dave]

Anyone know when it will show up in the UK? Channel 5 said they would be showing it "next year" last year i.e. in 2018 and last year they showed Season 10 very soon after the US did, but this year there is nothing advertised. It isn't on Netflix.

 

[Alexa]

Dave, I'm afraid you have to wait for the release date in UK. We had only the first episode in U.S &Canada, so you should have it soon.

What the critics are saying about the return of The X-Files

 

[Cli-Fi]

11.01 My Struggles III
Heavy on the diabolical, end-of the-world plot in this season opener. I hope they manage to work a little humor and "monster of week" into the season.

Spoiler

So CSM is William's "real" (alien science-enabled) father? Didn't see that coming. A little soapish.

Scully did say that they would have to work on The X-Files a little bit so you might be right there. I figured it all along,

Spoiler

or at least that he was alien.

I never really cared for the william storyline, Season 11, made me care!

 

[Cli-Fi]

Spoiler

The whole thing is building up for something. It's like with the last season, where Chris Carter wrote and directed the first and the last episode.

I, for one, loved getting the Cigarette Smoking Man's backstory and I was comparing it to the last season revelation for him being one of the aliens. They could had easily shown him assuming the role and occasionally dropping the holo to reveal his true identity. I feel all of this points to the alien invasion agenda that has been wafting around the whole series. CSM really wants that to happen and to him, the apocalyptic agenda is better then the traditional invasion model.

As far as we know there hasn't been a signed treaty banning the weapons of war with the alien races. None that the public knows and it kind of proves that CMS might be as well being able to commit on this. What surprised me was the party that talked to Mulder about the thing. They could as well dropped their masks and revealed themselves to the Old Fox Mulder. It might have even energized him a bit.

What I didn't like was the spoken narrative. I guess they had to put it in to explain stuff instead of asking for more airtime and making this a feature long episode.

It was a double narrative from Mulder's view and CSM view. It was interesting certainly something I've never seen done before. It felt like a pilot episode and a Mr. Robot wannabe. I'm glad they are bringing in more cultural relevance! Why does it feel like every single TV show that I've watched that includes

Spoiler

the moon landing says it was faked? Is this a new normal now?

I'm sort of left feeling like I don't have to watch the rest of the season.

Spoiler

Also, why does sci-fi love viruses so much? I think that plot is being overplayed.

 

[ctg]

Spoiler

Why does it feel like every single TV show that I've watched that includes the moon landing says it was faked? Is this a new normal now?

Because, it's a trend. You can check the landing sites on your own with a laser, once it bounces back from the reflectors, you'll know it wasn't faked. But, in the beginning just after "I want to believe" it said "I want to lie," meaning CSM lied about his past this time. The thing that happened at the end of last season was just a dream. Maybe CSM had something else in his smoke to able to see that.

Also, why does sci-fi love viruses so much? I think that plot is being overplayed.

Because it's an easy thing to use to explain biological attacks. An alien bacteria doesn't sound so threatening.

 

[Alexa]

I don't know what to think about this episode. It sounds indeed like a pilot one.

CSM is Mulder and William's father ? Does this make Mulder an alien, too ? And if CSM is really his father, why Mulder does not have immunity while Scully has it ? Something doesn't sound quite right, so maybe we don't know the truth yet.

That biological attack has nothing new. I hope they will find something else more interesting for the next episodes.




Note to the moderators: Can someone add in the title *for spoilers only*, please ? It's quite difficult to follow the thread if we have to hide everthing.

 

[Dave]

Note to the moderators: Can someone add in the title *for spoilers only*, please ? It's quite difficult to follow the thread if we have to hide everthing.

I will do that, but personally I would like to read your comments without spoilers. I can't find a way to watch this yet. So, please no huge spoilery things! On the other hand, this big reveal about CSM and William actually doesn't surprise me that much.

The news that Gillian Anderson will be leaving this season is more of a surprise. I wonder how they will continue with Mulder but without Scully. However, I did expect the two new young agents from Season 10 to take the reins at some point.

 

[Alexa]

All right. I'll try not to spoil it too much.

Honestly, I'm surprised they move forward with Season 11. Both Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny look really old. NCIS is running Season 15 now, but you cannot see much difference in the age of the actors. Without Scully and Mulder, I cannot see any future for this series beyond current season.

 

[Cli-Fi]

The news that Gillian Anderson will be leaving this season is more of a surprise. I wonder how they will continue with Mulder but without Scully. However, I did expect the two new young agents from Season 10 to take the reins at some point.

Well those two weren't in the first episode of season 11... I'm thinking season 11 is the last.

NCIS is running Season 15 now, but you cannot see much difference in the age of the actors. Without Scully and Mulder, I cannot see any future for this series beyond current season.

Agree and that's cause Mark Harmon doesn't age! Or more likely, it helps that he's been on a steady show for 15 years that gets him $500K an episode, profits from syndication deals, and producing cred on NCIS NOLA he can get all the botox he needs. Or he's a lizard person.

For reference. The X-Files season 9 ended in 2002. NCIS started in 2004.

 

[ctg]

Honestly, I'm surprised they move forward with Season 11. Both Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny look really old. NCIS is running Season 15 now, but you cannot see much difference in the age of the actors. Without Scully and Mulder, I cannot see any future for this series beyond current season.

I think they should let Mulder to go goofy and look a bit like a crazy old man. That suit doesn't do him any favours. A full beard or a scruffy one might actually suit him. One thing though, he's blessed with hair.

 

[Alexa]

I think they should let Mulder to go goofy and look a bit like a crazy old man. That suit doesn't do him any favours. A full beard or a scruffy one might actually suit him. One thing though, he's blessed with hair.

I wached the first episodes from the first season last week. They look so young and Mulder still believes he will find his sister. So no way, I don't wanna see a crazy old man taking his place.

 

[ctg]

What could be better than having The Lone Gunmen back and unlikely in the pilot episode, Fox Mulder and Scully looks normal. And they kick ass when Three Assassin appear at their hut's front borch a couple weeks after CSM's apocalyptic revelation. It's become clear to me that Chris Carter took X-Files and really turned it to a modern series rather than going back to the monster-of-the-week routine.

I think it's a good thing as the classical X-Files should stay in the past as Mister Carter adapted to the modern format with long story arcs. Everything in that past is piled up and connected to each other. But, in regards of the characters, I'm surprised that Mulder hasn't started to collect an arsenal of weapons as he so often end up facing baddies.

It shows clearly how badly underpowered they're against the enemies, who can throw at them army solutions and veteran combat operators. They have no play with handguns only against Private Military teams. Saddest things in this is that they cannot even ask FBI's team to interfere with the case as they deal with the conspiracy that involve Authorities. Although I don't think that those Federal operators would necessarily be against the duo as they are no current orders on hunting them down.

But, that's going to happen as the Lone Gunman deals with the conspiracy that goes straight into the heart of the classified special access programs. It's what Skinner suggests, when Mulder and Scully turn up in the car park. I haven't ever really understood how and why he plays the middleman for both sides. It must be difficult to maintain the relationships with those entities, especially as the Big Brother can make you disappear, whilst all Mulder and Scully can do is a story that breaks into the mainstream news for twenty four hours.

The immortality device Langley's older lover suggests being at the centre of the case for TLG's appearance would probably get lost in the tabloid newspapers as something that came out from scifi realm. The Digital Personality Life Extension is a hyper technology that we probably won't see in the near future but, in the distant one. Rickhard Morgan's "the neural stack" from the Alterated Carbon series is a similar kind of device and it goes further than Langley's ghost in the shell at a hidden mainframe.

But if you think about it, and apply whole thing to a teleporter, you should have a device that should be able to do everything you need for a immortal life inside the slow moving time-machine. Langley's construction is simply living forever in that digital mainframe. So, if a person can upload their consiousness into the machine, then maybe at one point down the line, they might be able to exit the machine and get into new body.

The Authorities would most probably pay a lot of money from a chance to live again and see the world around them inside the virtual reality. To be honest, Langley's ghost-in-the-shell isn't far from William Gibson's Dixie Flatline - a hacker who stored his consciousness inside a digital archive. Similar to Langley's fate Flatline also felt his time in the construct miserable.

The life inside isn't fun. In fact, this similar fate outside Star Trek holorealms has always seen as a misery. People simply cannot live their life inside the Matrix. Maybe it's because our organic minds weren't meant to be living inside these virtual realities. Lady in the Red suggested that two hundred minds already living inside the simulation thrives. So, the question is did Langley murder two hundred other minds for being slightly cookie, or were they really feeling that bad at the inside the machine?