The hit sci-fi show returned last night
The X-Files returned last night with the hit sci-fi show’s 11th season premiere, and fans aren’t too happy.
The show, which was originally broadcast back in 1993, follows the exploits of FBI agent Mulder and Scully, who investigate unexplained cases involving the supernatural or paranormal. After initially running for a nine season run, the show was shelved in 2002, before a 2016 revival series was aired. Last night (January 4), the show’s 11th season premiered on Fox.
- Spoilers for The X-Files Season 11 Episode 1 ahead:
Fans on Twitter have been reacting negatively to the show’s return, with many slamming the confusing plot and insensitive handling of an unwanted impregnation, after the ‘cigarette smoking man’ character impregnates Scully against her will.
“I feel sick to my stomach and it’s just getting worse instead of better,” wrote one fan, while another noted: “Forgetting the fact that we know the Smoking Man is full of shit, that was too confusing to even enjoy. What just happened to me?”
“Impregnating someone without consent IS RAPE,” wrote one incensed fan. “And I am so fucking sick of victimization being used as an “interesting and emotional” plot point by tone deaf men. Our suffering is not your entertainment, Chris Carter. You just fucked over my favorite character AGAIN.”
Check out a bunch of fans’ reactions to The X-Files Season 11 Episode 1 below.
Yeah, Scully is summing it up for me.
— Karen Coombs (@KarenCoombs4) January 4, 2018
Forgetting the fact that we know the Smoking Man is full of shit, that was too confusing to even enjoy. What just happened to me?? pic.twitter.com/ribbIHwjIE
— Ashley Rupp (@RunninRupp) January 4, 2018
Ummm Scully is basically covering how I feel. I feel sick to my stomach and it’s just getting worse instead of better.
— McKenna Klein (@itsmckennak) January 4, 2018
How I feel about the ending of the #xfiles season premiere. pic.twitter.com/TkMNvt4CcO
— Katheryn Wilkerson (@littlest_ranger) January 4, 2018
Impregnating someone without consent IS RAPE. And I am so fucking sick of victimization being used as an "interesting and emotional" plot point by tone deaf men. Our suffering is not your entertainment, Chris Carter. You just fucked over my favorite character AGAIN. #XFiles
— Lindsay (@Lindsay_Bionic3) January 4, 2018
SPOILER: the cigarette smoking man impregnates scully with “alien science” to create a superhuman aka william? when you thought chris carter’s writing couldn’t get any messier…
— the x files ! (@scullyxf) January 4, 2018
Back in December, Scully actress Gillian Anderson confirmed that she would be leaving the show after season 11. “I’ve said from the beginning this is it for me,” she told TV Insider. “I was a bit surprised by people’s [shocked] reaction to my announcement because my understanding was that this was a single season.”
Last year, Anderson expressed her disappointment at the news that the writing team for the X-Files would remain all-male. In response to the news Anderson tweeted: “I look forward to the day when the numbers are different”, noting that only two of the show’s 207 episodes to date have been directed by women.
After her response was interpreted by some as “slamming” or “ripping” The X-Files, she tweeted: “Not ‘slam’, not ‘rip’, just stating truth. I believe we can do better.”