Duchovny Returns for "X-Files" Finale

Wed., Feb. 20, 2002 2:30 PM PST by Josh Grossberg

After years of searching for the aliens that abducted his sister and trying to sniff out far-reaching government conspiracies, Fox Mulder will finally be back to answer The X-Files biggest lingering mystery: Does anyone still care?

The truth--and, Fox hopes, ratings--will be out there during May sweeps, when David Duchovny returns for the two-hour series finale of The X-Files.

The network officially announced Wednesday that Duchovny would reprise his role as the paranormal-loving G-man Fox "Spooky" Mulder opposite longtime partner Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) in the show's swan song episode.

This despite Duchovny's vow never to return to the series that made him a star.

Following a nasty legal dispute over syndication profits, Duchovny gradually bowed out of the series last season to work on a film career. While promoting his latest box-office dud, Evolution, last summer, Duchovny said he was "done with the TV show."

"I don't think [coming back] is fair to me or the fans," he said.

With Duchovny's exit, most fans figured last season would be the end of the show, especially when the finale revealed that Mulder fathered Scully's child. But Fox brought The X-Files back for a ninth season this fall. The MIA Mulder was said to be hiding out from the usual array of shady government types and alien-powered bounty hunters.

Over the past two seasons, several new characters have been introduced to pick up the slack, including straight-laced Agent John Doggett (Robert Patrick), seemingly psychic Agent Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) and uptight Assistant Director Brad Follmer (Cary Elwes).

But the Duchovny-less X-Files has struggled Nielsen-wise, averaging about 8.6 million viewers so far this season and getting hammered by ABC's spy series Alias, which averages nearly 10 million viewers. Saying he wanted to go out while the show was still viable, X-Files creator Chris Carter announced last month that he was pulling the plug on the series--and that he wanted Duchovny to make one final appearance.

Now with Duchovny back on board, Carter says he plans to wrap up some of the series' most tantalizing mysteries over the last few episodes before reuniting Mulder and Scully and bidding farewell.

Even if Mulder does discover the truth behind the show's central alien-government plot, Carter and coexecutive producer Frank Spotnitz are likely to leave some wiggle room for future X-Files conspiracies on the big screen.

Carter has already told E! Online that a sequel to 1998's The X-Files movie featuring both Duchovny and Anderson is definitely in the works. Carter has said he'd like to turn X-Files into a Star Trek-like movie franchise.

Duchovny meanwhile, who has long been an integral partner in helping Carter shape the X-Files mythology and has occasionally written and directed for the paranormal series, has signed up to helm one more episode, which he cowrote with Carter and Spotnitz.

The Duchovny-directed episode is slated to air April 28, while The X-Files series finale is scheduled for May 19.