William's Woe

Daddy issue: this time for sure

Before The X-Files Season 11 finale, I wrote my wish list for how the Saga of William might play out. As a science fiction fan, my wishes were based on the hope that Sci Fi themes would dominate the finale, but this episode was light on the Sci Fi revelations. The coolest part of the show was when we got to see Mr. Y's hi-tek flying machine (see below).

My Struggle 4...
1. William's struggle. The ever-lying CSM told Skinner who told Scully who told Mulder that William was an experiment: a fetus carried to term by Scully, but who was not Mulder's son. All that Mr. Y would say was "You still don't get it, do you?" I suppose Chris Carter wants to do more X-Files, so we could not be told anything useful. We did get to see William's growing powers. He can explode the bodies of anyone who threatens him and he made the CSM believe that he (the CSM) was shooting Mulder.

William

William even made Mulder think that William had been killed by the CSM, but in the very last scene, viewers got to see that William is still alive.

The end of the Syndicate:
the exploding Barbara Hershey

2. Aliens. The alien tease continues. Endlessly. The whole meandering plot thread about a "Spartan virus" that can be countered by "alien DNA" died a quiet death during the finale. Was the "Spartan virus" just a lie from the CSM, just a trick aimed at allowing the Syndicate to find William? Will we ever see Mr. Y's cool flying machine again? Can you say "Season 12"?

The P-Files

3. The End of Scully. I was expecting a dramatic end point for special agent Scully. She and Mulder got fired from the FBI, again. And she's miraculously pregnant, again. Apparently, this time (for sure) Mulder IS the father. With everyone else dead, I guess Dana, Fox and the new baby get to live quietly in retirement... or maybe their adventures continue (see below).

the shape of alien water

4. Next. Skinner shot Reyes. Skinner got run over. Mulder shot Mr. Y and the CSM (and a bunch of extras). Barbara Hershey got exploded by William. If Mulder and Scully and baby are out of the FBI, then who will do Season 12 of The X-Files? I suppose it is like the Trump White House, there is no shortage of people willing to take on the assignment.

Half Time

Look, Ma, no hands.

"My Struggle IV" felt like it had originally been a two hour show, but it was seemingly cut down (spinning off what became the mid-season "Ghouli") so as to fit the finale into 50 minutes of non-linear story telling. Were the non-linear parts supposed to be William's view of future events? Who knows. I'm thankful that it was only 50 minutes. It seemed like half of the show consisted of loooong car chases and loooong chases on foot. Yawn.

He has a 2 hour head start,
but I'll catch up. Vrooooom.

In a previous millennium, the rule was "shoot first and then ask questions". For Chris Carter, there are no rules, so: "just shoot a lot and maybe everyone will forget to ask questions." Oh, and don't forget this: in Season 12 viewers might find out that this episode was all just a dream, too.

Superman
William is a superman. Given his super-powers, it is hard to understand how anything can really threaten him.

The endless alien tease: is this as close as Chris
Carter will let us get to an X-Files alien?

By running (seemingly endlessly) through the Sugar Factory, William was able to both: 1) have a moment to say goodby to dear old Mom and 2) arrange to give Mulder the satisfaction of killing the CSM.

I'd still like to see Mulder and Scully take Mr. Y's spaceship and depart from Earth and The X-Files. There can be some kind of X-Files: The Next Generation television show that includes a satisfying account of the aliens and how alien technology (and DNA) was deployed on Earth.

Secret Syndicate Space Shuttle

It would be fun if Mulder and Scully took Mr. Y's spaceship for a spin and ended up on some planet with aliens. In Season 12 there could be occasional messages sent back to Earth from Scully and Mulder as they work on the alien issue from a far star system. A computerized voice synthesizer could do better for voice messages from a far star than Anderson did in the last few episodes of Season 11 with her raspy voice.

Luke William, I'm not your father.

What about super-man William and the other people of Earth who have bits and pieces of alien DNA and various doses of telepathic ability? Maybe we could learn in Season 12 that William knew he could not have a future with his Mom, but he had a role in the "miracle" of Scully's second pregnancy. Maybe William used his special powers to give Scully and Mulder a child who would be their "replacement" for William.

Go to the Season 11 main page.
Next: SIHA 2018.