Editor’s Note: this post contains spoilers about the season 10 finale of The X-Files. The truth is in here!

Last year, The X-Files returned to Fox for a very limited season of six episodes. Unfortunately, many fans were less than pleased by the new mythology episodes and the cliffhanger ending that has been unresolved for over a year. In response, Fox is making a fairly radical shift for the upcoming eleventh season. Aside from the season premiere and the finale, every X-Files episode will be a stand-alone story.

Via Entertainment Weekly, Fox’s David Madden confirmed that eight of the ten new X-Files episodes will feature “Mulder and Scully plunging into new adventures.” He also went on to tease the season premiere, which will pick up immediately after the events of the previous season’s finale. “You’ll be launched into a very urgent adventure that has a lot to do with William — Mulder and Scully’s kid. so the search for William will be a significant thread through the show. You will see the Cigarette Smoking Man [William B. Davis]. You may see The Lone Gunmen somewhere along the line. There will be other characters from the previous mythology that will be reprised.”

Now, we have to point out that it was not the mythology that made last season’s X-Files episodes so unsatisfying. (It was the writing.) Even during the original run of the series, Chris Carter and his team seemed to have difficulty keeping their own mythology straight, as each season added layers and layers of conspiracy with little resolution. Season 10’s big revelation was that Mulder came to believe that most of the alien presence on the show had been “a conspiracy of men.” But that twist flew in the face of events from the original series that even Mulder never witnessed.

The revival of this series didn’t significantly change with the times or add new takes on the classic tropes of the series, But there’s nothing wrong with The X-Files that better writing can’t cure. Perhaps adding some new voices to the writers’ room would help with that. For now, we’ll just hope that the new season of The X-Files can rediscover some of the magic that it had during its original run.

How do you feel about The X-Files‘ standalone plans for season 11? Declassify your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: Fox