There was a mic drop moment at the end of an event in New York City celebrating 30 years of “The X-Files” when series creator Chris Carter reignited the debate around Dana Scully’s pregnancy.
Towards the end of “My Struggle IV,” the series finale episode in Season 11, Scully (Gillian Anderson) informs Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) that William (Miles Robbins) is not their son. He was an “experiment,” an “idea born in a laboratory” that she bore, Scully says. Mulder tries to come to terms with this revelation and says: “What am I now if I’m not a father?” Scully replies: “You are a father.” When Mulder asks: “What are you talking about?,” Scully places his hand on her stomach. “That’s impossible,” Mulder says and Scully replies, “I know, it’s more than impossible.”
The reveal led to a raging debate among X-philes and in a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Carter said: “I will confirm it is their child. But I will also confirm Scully has alien DNA.”
At the event, held at SVA Theatre, Carter was in conversation with actor and comedian Joel McHale, who played Tad O’Malley in the show and is himself a passionate X-phile. At the end of the Q&A, Carter said: “We speak about immortality several times in the show. And it played into the series finale in a way that is very important. And as I’m sure most people know, Scully admits or tells Mulder about her pregnancy in the final episode. And that became very controversial.”
“Gillian got very angry at me. And it’s like, I wasn’t sure why that was. But I actually welcomed the controversy, I thought that it was a good thing. But it follows Scully’s maternity, if you will, with Emily [Scully’s daughter], and with William, and why does anyone think that this pregnancy is anything other than science fiction? This is the science fiction show that pregnancy is spelled out actually at the beginning of the episode where the truth is out there is something else and it is what I had in mind. So I just want to go on record to say, it’s not necessarily Mulder and Scully’s child.”
“The X-Files” celebration was the inaugural The Action Station show, a series of live events designed to showcase the best of film, TV and the art of visual storytelling, organized by Julian Alcantara and Ron Fogelman, the team behind the London Action Festival. During the event, Carter was presented the festival’s Moving Target award for his outstanding contribution to visual storytelling throughout his career with surprise video tributes from key collaborators of his, including “The X-Files” producers Howard Gordon, Frank Spotnitz and Vince Gilligan.
In addition, filmmakers Lauren Krattiger and Carly Blake screened their new documentary “X Fan Retrospective” at the event.
An “The X-Files” reboot is in the works with Ryan Coogler, Carter said last year.