he negotiations went down to the wire. But when the
dust settled, The X-Files was on Fox's schedule for an
eighth year, and actor David Duchovny (Mulder) had
agreed to return.
As a result, though The X-Files is still fundamentally about telling scary
stories, now it's also about so much more. As if
restructuring the series to focus on Scully (Gillian
Anderson), her temporary partner, Agent Doggett (Robert
Patrick), and their search for Mulder wasn't a dramatic
enough shift, at the end of season seven Scully
revealed that she was pregnant. That's a lot to absorb-- for both
audiences and the show's
creators alike. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz
shares his thoughts on The X-Files' season so
far.
The decision to bring The X-Files back for another year
was a last-minute one. How did that affect how you
approached the episodes for this season?
Spotnitz: After we found out we were going to be back for
another year, the first thing we thought about was,
since we don't have Mulder, who is going to be added to
the mix that's going to shake things up? Honestly, we
had to feel our way forward through all of the stories.
The X-Files is still The X-Files--it's always been a
plot-driven show--so finding the stories and the
investigations has not been any harder than it ever was.
I'm not saying it's easy, but it hasn't gotten more
difficult. What has gotten difficult, and interestingly
so, is how these two people go about solving these cases.
What went into the process of casting Robert Patrick
(Terminator 2) as Scully's new partner, Agent Doggett?
Spotnitz: Well, this was a huge studio/network decision.
Everyone had an interest in this, because it's really
about the preservation of the series--they really want to
see the show continue beyond an eighth year, to a ninth
season and beyond. It was a massive casting process;
hundreds of names were thrown into the hat, and we saw
dozens of actors. We saw many fine people for this part.
And I have to say, the one guy who came in, of all the
people we saw, who was exactly what we had imagined, was
Robert Patrick.
Given how central Mulder and Scully's relationship is to
the series, how did you go about constructing a new
working dynamic between Doggett and Scully?
Spotnitz: It's so complicated. There are so many factors you
need to consider, doing something like this. It's like
brain surgery on a TV show. What's evolved is [Scully
as] a very reluctant believer, someone who arrives at
paranormal explanations as a last resort; only when
science abandons her, when she runs out of all possible
real-world theories, does she dare to put forward
something that Mulder might have in the first scene of
Act I in previous years.
How does Scully react to Doggett's arrival on scene?
Spotnitz: With hostility [laughs]. Scully does not welcome
him, and he has to earn her respect and her trust, much
like he has to earn the respect and the trust of the
audience. And I think it's a strategy that's paying off
for us.
"Via Negativa," this season's seventh episode and the
first episode you've written solo in a while, focuses on
Doggett's character.
Spotnitz: It was kind of a storytelling challenge, because
early in his tenure, Agent Doggett is handed the reigns
of an X-File investigation. And he has to struggle
through it, with Scully offering only limited help. It
was a bit of a brain teaser to figure out how to tell a
story like that, but it ended up being very satisfying,
and a great experience for me to write and to watch
filmed, because we had a new director to the show, Tony
Wharmby, who was wonderful, and totally into the script
and totally into the character. And then Robert Patrick,
he just showed what he could do. He was just fantastic.
After 11th-hour contract negotiations last May,
Duchovny struck a deal to appear in a limited number of
episodes. How are you dealing with Mulder's absence
through the first half of the season?
Spotnitz: Well, Mulder is sort of spiritually present in all
of these episodes, even when they're not looking for
him, because it his approach that Scully is forced to
adopt, and it was his unit. And through an incredibly
complicated arrangement [with] David's agents and
manager and the studio, he's available to us for a
certain number of days here and there. And so there are
episodes that feature him prior to his ultimate return.
It's a weird deal they struck, because I believe he's in
six episodes for real. And then there are a certain
number of days to be used by us here and there, that
they imagine will amount to another five episodes, but
it may be less, or may be more.
When was the decision made to pursue a storyline in
which Scully becomes pregnant?
Spotnitz: At the very beginning of season seven, we hit upon
the idea and it seemed wonderful to us. There was
beautiful symmetry to it. We knew that was our target
all season, and so we did a number of things in episodes
that would be tantalizing for fans who later were to
look back at the episodes and try and figure out when
Scully might have gotten pregnant and how. And that's
something we will continue to explore this season. But
all questions will be answered by the end of the season,
we promise.
How will Scully's pregnancy affect her ability to search
for Mulder?
Spotnitz: Season eight begins the morning after season seven.
She's not showing, and she's able to not show for some
months, so she's able to preserve her secret for some
months. I think this is going to be a season with more
than one cliffhanger in it, and we're going to use those
cliffhangers as opportunities to expand or contract time
as need be.
With Mulder away, will we see more of The X-Files'
peripheral characters this season?
Spotnitz: We'll see Krycek and Covarrubias in the second half
of the season. I think their roles become more important
when Mulder is returned. But Skinner, to me, is
extremely interesting this year, because his role has
changed fundamentally.
Will we see much of the Lone Gunmen?
Spotnitz: They appear in the first episode, and again in "Via
Negativa," the episode I wrote with Doggett, and again in
episode 11. We hoped to use them more, but it's
difficult, because they're in production now on their
own series in Vancouver; it's going to be logistically
difficult.
Mulder and Scully are obviously the heart of The X-Files--but
now we have Doggett, too. What will happen to that
dynamic when Mulder is back in the picture?
Spotnitz: That's a really interesting question, and that's the
one we're starting to explore in earnest, because we're
almost up to that point, in terms of writing the shows.
But he's not going anywhere, so he's going to become an
important part of the show. It really becomes a
three-lead series at that point. I think, over time, a bond
will form between Scully and Doggett, and it doesn't go
away once Mulder returns. I think it's going to be
interesting to see how these two men play off of each
other once Mulder comes back.
So far, the show's ratings have held steady. But did you
have any concerns going into this Mulder-less season?
Spotnitz: Definitely. I was totally uncertain about whether it
was a good idea to go forward this year. If it had been
left up to me, I'm not sure I would have gone forward;
but having committed to it, I wanted it to be great. And
I wanted to be vindicated creatively, and defeat all the
naysayers. So that's what we've been doing. All of us
are aware of what a huge risk this is, and how crucial
the character of Mulder has been to this series, how
much he has been the series, and how much he and Scully
and their relationship have been central to everything
that has made the show successful. To take that away--you
can't take a bigger gamble in television. We've gone
into this with our eyes open, fully aware of the
more-than-good chance of failure, but we've been going at it
the best way we know how.
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Also in this issue: The Gift's Sam Raimi, Cate Blanchett and Keanu Reeves
