Mulder Drops In; ‘X-Files’ Fans Threaten to Drop Out

Sunday’s was the “X-Files” episode fans had waited all year for: finally, the long-advertised official return of their beloved character, FBI Agent Fox Mulder.

Then he shows up in the final moments as a corpse, dumped from a UFO like a mob snitch from a Coupe De Ville. “Could it get worse?” wrote one fan, setting the tone of the irate messages on the official Web site of the Fox network series that began streaming in as soon as the show was over.

“PLEASE! OH PLEASE!,” said another, shouting at series creator Chris Carter. “LISTEN TO US! You risk everything if you let Mulder die.”

“That is no way to end Mulder’s participation,” complained yet another. “He deserved a better and bigger going-out show . . . if indeed he is dead . . . are we to be strung along again?”

This isn’t the first time the voices of “X-Files” fans have been raised to a fever pitch. With the show, about a pair of FBI agents investigating extraterrestrials and the paranormal, now in its eighth season, even Carter had worried that it risked hitting the same note too often. By last season some fans said it was too late, that the show had already declined. Then David Duchovny, who plays Mulder, announced he would appear in only half the episodes this season.

So aliens abducted his character at the end of the seventh season, and Carter and Fox introduced new characters to round out the cast--to the decidedly mixed reactions of fans.

Most agreed they wanted Mulder back, though--as evinced by preliminary ratings for Sunday’s show. The episode averaged 16.8 million viewers, the highest for a single “X-Files” episode in more than a year, and higher than the season average during the series’ peak, in 1996-1997.

And now the series--known for its twists, turns and elements that are not what they seem--will torment fans even further. The resolution to Sunday’s episode won’t come until April 1, while Carter’s “X-Files” spin-off, “The Lone Gunmen,” premieres and airs in its place, 9 p.m. Sunday nights for the next three weeks.

“I have viewed new levels of frustration this season that I would not wish on my worst enemy. Stop the madness . . . just bring back Mulder and no one gets hurt,” steamed a fan on another of the myriad Web sites devoted to “The X-Files.”

Some, perhaps waiting to see where the show will take them, were more Zen-like: “Now they’ve killed Mulder. Bummer.” Others were fed up with their fellow fans’ angst: “Were you not watching the same [episode] as I? . . . Mulder’s back now . . . will you people ever stop complaining?”

“I love the show,” wrote another. “I think the reason people thought that it [was lousy] is because we were supposed to have some closure tonight and all we got are more questions. When a show does this, it makes it more interesting. Yeah, I wanted some answers tonight, but I am glad that it isn’t over. Keeps the suspense and fire in it. I can’t wait until April 1st.”

“Oh, come on!” said another. “Do you really, honestly think Chris Carter is going to ‘ruin’ the rest of ‘The X-Files’? There are a lot of things that have happened that I personally didn’t expect or would have never wanted. . . . But he’s never let us down. He keeps us watching doesn’t he?”

“Tonight’s show was great. This is one of a three-parter, so a lot more will happen. I am freaked out that we have to wait until April, but that is scheduling,” said yet another.

Carter himself has hinted that Mulder isn’t really dead--he said Mulder and his partner Scully, played by Gillian Anderson, will be the foundation of future “X-Files” motion pictures he’s planning, and that Duchovny may even return for a ninth season.

On Friday night, during a preview of “The Lone Gunmen” at Beverly Hills’ Museum of Television & Radio, Carter was asked directly by a fan whether Duchovny would be back next year.

“He has not ruled it out,” Carter said, “but if he does come back, it would be in a more limited way than he’s done for the eighth [current] season.”

He continued: “Banning anything unforeseen, [the series] should be back for a ninth season. But if it’s not, the movie will follow right after the eighth season.”

One fan at the “Lone Gunmen” event implored Carter, “Please don’t hurt the baby”--which, given the way they regard their favorite show, some fans might say that not only about the baby Scully is carrying, but also about the series itself.

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Times staff writers Shauna Snow and Brian Lowry contributed to this report