If DD isn't coming back next year, how the heck are they going to get rid of him? Scully's going to find a note from him saying, "I found the truth, Scully. It's big. I'll let you know what it is in the movie." They should just let Gillian Anderson go and have Dogget and Reyes own it. Kind of an "X-Files: The New Class." Sure, it would be bad, but it's been going downhill for so long anyway!

It was my understanding that he had aggreed to appear in a limited number of episodes in a limited way. Key word being limited. I see some cameo spots, maybe some more heavy involvment in the first few episodes, nothing over 10 minutes. Watch for scully to fall back to the way DD was portrayed this year. There, but not really.

Hey, I wasn't the only one that noticed that! My boss sure didn't heh.

Overall I thought it was a great episode, and well, I've been a "shipper" for a longtime, so I'm glad they finally hooked up!

I noticed the symbolism too, but how's this for a wacky theory about why his comment might not have been "a bit much" but just an excuse as to how he found Scully:

Perhaps the baby IS a super-baby, and the replacements just want to control it, not kill it. Also, that Mulder is currently a replacement and that's why they didn't need to take it. He showed up this season like Billy Miles, after being dead, and regenerated. What was Mulder's "well, you guys interrupted the process just in time, so I'm not an alien" excuse, or whatever he said (I don't remember exactly)? It sounded like a lame excuse. Damn, I should have taped it.

Also, at the end of the episode, when Mulder found the Lone Gunmen bringing the gifts to Scully, they made a point of saying how amazing it was that Mulder found Scully, without having directions from anyone. He wouldn't need their directions if he was a replacement, because the other replacements would tell him where she was, and he made that comment as an excuse. The symbolism could also support that the baby is a super-baby, maybe a saviour to help the fight against invading aliens?

I know, kind of stretching things a bit.

No, that was David's contract for this season. DD is not under contract for season 9 at all! He is not going to be in it.

thats strange, i thought i had heard he would appear next year. Check on that, Cause i swear i've heard that soemhwere!

Was Krychec an alien? Yeah, he bled red and all that.. but I dunno if I was seeing things or something was just wierd with the focus or something.. but the part with him laying there on the ground reaching for his gun, did anyone else just get confused there and think his hand looked like it was melting plastic or something?

In that whole sceene though, I thought Skinner was a replicant thingy

Actually, i havent seen this discussed much, but i read an interview two weeks/a month ago in which Carter said he wasnt sure what his involvement would be if the show got renewed (which it was). He sounded pretty apathetic about returning so i wouldnt be suprised is he only takes some kind of barely-involved, figurehead kind of role.

Why be upset? Mulder found the truth in life he was seeking and it was under his nose the entire time: being with Scully. It was an excellent way to end their storyline.

Now the only way I would be upset is if Gillian Anderson has a prominent role in the show next year - seeing Scully without Mulder would be very upsetting!

Krychek has/had a prostethic arm, as a result of an encounter with the alien black oil in Tunguska, Russia a couple of seasons ago. He had his arm hacked off in the woods.

Someone else beat me to the arm thing. But the Billy Miles replicant also bled red...

I thought Skinner was going to turn out to be a replicant too, for a while.

No, Krycheck(sp?) isn't an alien. He's actually working against the aliens (in his own way). His arm was chopped off a couple of seasons ago...you must not be a real 'x-phile'

For those that don't live in LA, there was a great article with Chris Carter about where the series was going with the two stars. To sum up, the finale last night was set up to possibly work as a 'SERIES FINALE' in the event he needed to end things with FOX. He was basically pissed off that they didn't give his three other series any kind of promotion or time to grow an audience.

He wanted to wrap things up in an episode that could function as an end to the series as well as provide a jump off point for the next movie. That's why Mulder and Scully had their big 'kiss' which Carter has always joked would mean the end of the series.

David Duchovny has settled his money issues with Carter and Fox and will definitely return to the series if needed. He is no longer under contract but you can be sure he'll pop up next season to kick things off and probably again to kick off the next movie again (rumored to begin filming after next season ends) Gillian Anderson has always had a contract that gave her an extra year with the series. So she is definitely coming back also, even if it is in a limited role as an 'agent'.

Altho many people speculate about the movie careers of the two stars, they are still best known on a worldwide level in their x-files roles. Neither one of them has achieved greater success yet in any other role, altho both of them have done well in other roles. Don't expect Duchovny to ditch Mulder unless 'Evolution' is the biggest hit of the summer (not likely)

Knowing these facts it might now be more fun to speculate how the show intends to resolve 1) Scully stuck home with a kid--let's face it, she's more fun without the kid. 2) Scully as part of a team with Doggett AND Reyes. 3) and lastly, what clever way the writers will come up with to keep Mulder alive and yet offer him a way to be gone until the next movie--I can't see him being abducted again!

Also, please note, Chris Carter has said in the past that Krychek, Skinner as well as Cigarette Smoking Man are part of the 'core' group of characters who won't be killed off and will be a part of the movies. Does that mean 'cancer man' is still alive? Does that mean Krychek died last night?

Kudos to Carter for a great two part episode!!!

Well, no need to criticize necros (or whoever the comment is directed at) for the question. I think it was more in the line of, "was the Krycheck that was shot an alien," not "has he always been an alien?" I think a lot of people know Krycheck's past, but because the 'current' Krycheck was apparently shot and killed, it makes you wonder maybe that wasn't the real Krycheck, because the guy keeps showing up over and over.

Krycek was my favorite character too.
I knew it was going to happen, but it still made me grumpy.
In all honesty, I would have rather seen Skinner shot Mulder (I know, I know, that would have made no sense for Skinner's character development)...since Mulder won't be around much anyway.

What about Kirsh? Is he a "replacment", or just someone working with the aliens like the Syndicate was (or wasn't)?
I am assuming that those two agents killed in the garage were "replacements" still running around somewhere.....

I don't like this whole new kind of alien thing....
too confusing....
whatever happened to the two types of aliens that were fighting against each other in the first place? (one working with the Syndicate, one trying to kill everyone with bounty hunters)
how does this third type fit in?

it all makes my head hurt......

I've watched the show faithfully since the start, and a part of me wishes the show had been cancelled a season or two ago. It's better to go out on top, than go out a tired, beaten dog.

I think most fans of the show would admit the alien storyline is too convoluted to explain, let alone understand. It's like CC is making it up as he goes.

This season the low spots outweighed the high. Doggett and Reyes are interesting additions, but it is unlikely, if not impossible, that they will be able to fill the shoes of Scully and Mulder.

I didn't really start watching the show till the season before the movie. Kinda sucks Krychec is gone, I liked his char

Oh well, if someone loans me $350 I'll go buy the first 3 season box sets and I should be able to get caught up more

The rebel aliens killed the syndicate so the other aliens lost. Then, the rebel aliens started abducting people and turning them into alien replicants. Based on last night's episode, the "syndicate" aliens probably did the same, which is why there are good replicant aliens and bad replicant aliens. The whole God thing was explored in the episode when Mulder & Scully found a spaceship with the Bible written on it, which is how all these aliens would understand the significance of the barren birth.

What does all that mean?

I dunno.

I think a few episodes with Reyes and Dogget would be good enough to help establish their characters as a team and help build up for the next movie. Furthermore, the series could have allow them formal introductions to characters like CSM and maybe the other people introduced in the movie.
I have said this before and will say it again: The whole thing should have ended after season five and used movies to fill in the remaining blanks. Better to have three or four great big-screen episodes than a bunch of half-a$$ed small screen ones with quality episodes few and far between.