Recurring characters included the agents' superiors, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and Alvin Kersh (James Pickens Jr.), the sinister conspirator "Cigarette Smoking Man" (William B. Davis), the renegade agent Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea), a trio of Mulder's computer-nerd buddies referred to as the "Lone Gunmen" (Tom Braidwood, Bruce Harwood, and Dean Haglund), his shady informants "Deep Throat" (Jerry Hardin), "X" (Steven Williams), and Marita Covarru­ bias (Laurie Holden), and Scully's steadfast mother, Maggie (Sheila Larken).

     The X-Files reached a creative and commercial pinnacle in its fourth season when, in addition to accruing international renown, it moved from Friday to Sunday nights as part of a male-oriented lineup that included The Simpsons and FOX's afternoon football broadcasts. In the summer of 1998, it became the first U.S. series to sprout a successful feature film, X-Fi/es: Fight the Future, while its prime-time run was still in full swing. Production shifted from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Los Angeles in season seven, and it was at the end of that year that Duchovny left to pursue other projects amid controversy over a lawsuit, eventually settled out of court, in which he charged FOX with undercutting his contracted profit share by noncompet­itively selling the series’ syndication rights to its own outlets . He agreed to appear in a handful of episodes in season eight, during which two new regulars, Agents John Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), were introduced. The series limped into a ninth season without its original male lead, but the ratings, which had been slipping from their zenith in the top 20 since season five, soon guaranteed that the series finale, for which Duchovny would return, was close at hand.

     The paranormal entities investigated by forensic pathologist Scully and psychologist/profiler Mulder, many of which could take human form, generate both literal and metaphorical meanings. Whatever a viewer's bogeyman or paranoia in the millennial, post-cold war era-corporate power, government conspiracies, "alien" others, or the dehumanizing encroachment of technology-the series was perfectly calibrated to exploit it. From a psychic who predicts his own bizarre death in "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" to a liver-eating mutant who slithers through ventilation systems in "Squeeze" to a criminal who mentally induces others to commit murder in "Pusher," little is as it first appears. Like the agents' emblematic flashlights, two slogans headlined in the series, "the truth is out there" and "trust no one," guide both characters and audience on their journey.

     The X-Files inspired a cult following that developed along with the Internet itself and soon rivaled that of the Star Trek franchise. "X-philes" created fanfiction, websites, and bulletin boards that eventually reflected factionalism that might be attributed to the show's postmodern tenor, especially the innovative yet schizophrenic narrative structure in which plot-driven "monster-of-the-week" episodes were periodically suspended in favor of the sprawling and often nebu­lous mythology. Some fans preferred the former, while others relished the character arcs dominating the latter: Scully's abduction and the cancer and supposed infertility that resulted; and Mulder's search for his sister and the discovery of his "alien" DNA.

     Carter bucked the network in hiring the quietly attractive Anderson for the female lead rather than an archetypal "bombshell." As many women as men approved and flocked to the show, also savoring the gender role reversal in which skeptical Scully furnished the scientific counterpoint to Mulder's intuitive leaps to paranormal (but usually valid) solutions. Fans split over the related issue of whether the agents, who exudes unresolved sexual tension, should become an "item." Those intrigued by the character arcs tended to answer yes, while most plot-focused fans replied nay. Carter vowed that fans would "never see" a romance and, on a technicality, he kept his word. It wasn't until Mulder's parting scene in season eight  that it seemed at all plausible that Scully's newborn could have been conceived the old-fashioned way. The agents sealed the deal with a nonplatonic kiss but, otherwise, little of the romance's progression occurred on-screen for viewers to actually "see." Baby William later exhibited "otherworldly" traits and, like Clark Kent or Luke Skywalker, was farmed off for safekeeping in order to reappear, perhaps, in a sequel series.

     The program is the recipient of myriad awards and nominations, including three Golden Globes for Best Drama Series, as well as laurels for such contributions as acting, directing, writing, cinematography, special effects, sound, music, and makeup. Carter, Frank Spot­nitz, Vince Gilligan, Darin Morgan, Glen Morgan, and James Wong proved to be some of the series’ most prolific and oft-nominated writers, with an occasional assist from several of the actors and such notables as Stephen King and William Gibson.