The Truth (The X-Files)

The Truth (The X-Files)

"The Truth" is the collective name for the 201st and 202nd episodes of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The last episodes of the show's ninth season, "The Truth" serves as the finale of the entire series. First aired together on the Fox network on May 19, 2002, the episodes were written by series creator Chris Carter and directed by Kim Manners. "The Truth" was the most-watched episode of the ninth season in the United States, receiving a Nielsen rating of 7.5, attracting 7.5 percent of the available audience and being viewed by approximately 13 million viewers upon its initial broadcast. The finale received mixed reviews, with many commentators criticizing the episode's lack of closure. Others were pleased with the full return of actor David Duchovny to the series, as well as the episode's conclusion.

The show centers on FBI special agents who work on unsolved paranormal cases called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). In this episode, after not knowing Fox Mulder's (Duchovny) whereabouts for the past year, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and Scully learn that Mulder is being held for the murder of a military man he could not possibly have killed: Knowle Rohrer (Adam Baldwin), one of the government's secret "Super Soldiers". Mulder breaks out of prison with the help of Skinner, Reyes, Doggett, Scully and Alvin Kersh. Mulder and Scully travel to New Mexico where helicopters destroy an Anasazi cliff dwelling ruin along with The Smoking Man (William B. Davis).

The episode featured the return of Duchovny, following his departure after the eighth season finale, as well as several other recurring characters. "The Truth" served to conclude many long-time story arcs while creating new ones for a possible film franchise. Shooting took place at various California locales, including a hydroelectric power plant east of Fresno and Anza-Borrego State Park, located in Borrego Springs. Carter would return to the X-Files universe with a feature film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008), and has publicly discussed the possibility of a third film, which would focus on the impending extraterrestrial invasion revealed in "The Truth".