There was a mic 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 surrounding Dana Scully’s pregnancy.
Near the end of “My Struggle IV,” the final episode of 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 carried, Scully says. Mulder tries to process this revelation and says, “What am I now if I’m not a father?” Scully responds, “You’re 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 beyond impossible.”
The revelation sparked a furious debate among X-philes and in a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Carter said: “I will confirm that it is their child. But I will also confirm that Scully has alien DNA.”
During the event, held at the SVA Theater, Carter was in conversation with actor and comedian Joel McHale, who played Tad O’Malley on the show and is a passionate X-phile himself. At the end of the Q&A, Carter said, “We talk about immortality several times on the show. And it played a role in the series finale in a way that’s very important. And as I’m sure most people know, in the series finale, Scully either admits or tells Mulder about her pregnancy. And that became very controversial.”
“Gillian got very angry with me. And it’s like I wasn’t sure why that was. But I actually welcomed the controversy, I thought it was a good thing,” Carter added. “But it follows Scully’s pregnancy, if you will, with Emily [Scully’s daughter], and with William, and why does anyone think this pregnancy is anything other than science fiction? This is the sci-fi show where the pregnancy is actually described at the beginning of the episode, where the truth is that something is different and that’s what I had in mind. So I just want to clarify that it’s not necessarily Mulder and Scully’s child.
“The team behind the London Action Festival. At the event, Carter received the festival’s Moving Target award for his outstanding contribution to visual storytelling throughout his career, with surprising 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 work-in-progress documentary “X Fan Retrospective” during the event.
A reboot of “The X-Files” is in the works with Ryan Coogler, Carter said last year.
