8 Years Ago Today, the Best Sci-fi Thriller Series Ever Ended With a Terrible Finale (But There’s Hope to Fix It)

Videos by ComicBook.com

On March 21, 2018, The X-Files finished its 11th season, and the second since its reboot, and the final season left fans disappointed. However, there is good news on the horizon for The X-Files fans who wanted to see the series end on a high note.

The X-Files Finished Its Final Season In A Disappointing Manner

The final episode of The X-Files aired on March 21, 2018, and Gillian Anderson said that would be the last time she ever played Dana Scully on the series. The final season left a lot to be desired for fans, though, as it presented nothing more for much of the season than nostalgia and fan service. The finale was also something that left a lot of fans flat in the end.

The final episode had a lot to do, and one of the biggest things that happened was when Fox Mulder went looking for his and Scully’s son, whom they had given up years earlier for the boy’s own safety. This didn’t work, though, because the boy had some dark secrets of his own. However, the finale also did a lot of things to wrap up the show for good, with some shocking moments, many just for the sake of being shocking.

Some major characters returned, including the Cigarette Smoking Man, Skinner, and Monica Reyes (the agent who replaced Scully in Season 9). By the end, all three of them seemingly died. Not only that, but a 50+ Dana Scully ended up mysteriously pregnant again. What was most interesting about this series finale is that the entire episode went off the deep end and threw everything but the kitchen sink at Mulder and Scully before leaving them with another chance for family, while also killing anyone standing in their way. However, it was disjointed and never felt right in the end.

Ryan Coogler Can Resurrect The X-Files With His Reboot

The X-Files series finale disappointed most fans and critics and didn’t really do right by Mulder or Scully (who spent the entire finale on the phone and out of the action). However, there is some good news for fans of the franchise, and that is that it isn’t finished yet. Ryan Coogler, the man who directed the Oscar-nominated horror movie Sinners, has signed on to reboot the series, and this could allow it to rebound drastically.

The best thing that Coogler could do, and the only way that The X-Files could really find what made it special when Chris Carter first created the show in 1993, is to move on without Dana Scully or Fox Mulder. Coogler shouldn’t even recast the characters and have newcomers play the same old characters. Coogler needs to go at the reboot from a fresh angle, while keeping the same idea that the truth is out there, but with new FBI agents on the case.

Now, Coogler has a lot to do to make this work. Remember that David Duchovny left the series full-time before Season 8 and Gillian Anderson went part-time in Season 9. Despite how great Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish are as actors, fans were not willing to accept them as replacements for the two leads. However, the problem is that both originals were still around in the background, so their shadow was too hard to overcome.

Since it has been eight years since The X-Files ended, Ryan Coogler has a chance to bring the show back without Duchovny and Anderson’s shadows still casting that drastic shadow. Danielle Deadwyler (The Harder They Fall) has been cast as one of the agents, with Jennifer Yale as the showrunner, and Coogler directing the pilot. Hulu has ordered the pilot, but after dropping the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot, this doesn’t mean it is going to happen. If Coogler doesn’t push so hard on the alien mythology that is so connected to Fox Mulder, he has the talent to make something wholly unique, but a show that keeps the heart of what made the original X-Files so great.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!