Entertainment

Why Is Scully Mourning In New 'X-Files' Promo?

by Jennifer Still

It seems like we've been waiting for the premiere of the X-Files reboot forever. In reality, it's only been about six months or so (which is still a long time in TV Land), and thankfully, new episodes are only a couple of weeks away — exactly 22 days, if you want to get specific. While I'm a bit skeptical of Chris Carter because I spent 10 years dealing with his tomfoolery back in the '90s and early '00s, my eternal love for Mulder and Scully (the Original 'Ship, in my book) means I'll be parked in front of my TV screen again with time to spare every Sunday night. The recent X-Files first look got my doubly excited for what's to come, but it also left me with a pretty serious question: why was Scully crying in the new footage?

You only see it for a split second or so, but Scully looks devastated as she's comforted by Mulder in what appears to be the hallway of either an office building or, more likely, a hospital. Scully doesn't just break down in tears for nothing — unless she's changed rather dramatically over the past 13 years — so I'm pretty sure something really bad must have happened.

The most obvious choice is that someone has passed away or is at least seriously ill. Given that her sister was murdered years ago and her father died pretty early on in the series, that leaves Scully's mother and hers and Mulder's son, William. How they'd find out about William when they literally sent him to a farm at the end of the original series before going on the run is beyond me, meaning that Mrs. Scully may have passed away, and to any longtime fan, that's devastating, to say the least.

Part of me hopes I'm completely off base and Scully is just having a serious case of PMS-induced sobbing (hey, don't lie — it happens to all of us), because I can't cope with Scully losing any more than she already has. Sure, losing people we love is a part of everyday life, but hasn't enough been taken from her over the years? Mrs. Scully was the one thing she could count on in her life that made sense — her buoy to the person she was and the one she would ultimately become. Sure, Mulder is her soulmate, but her mother's presence in her life was something separate and important. Is killing her off really important to the storyline in any way?

Of course, I'm jumping to conclusions here — Mrs. Scully may be fine and well and Scully's tears could have nothing to do with that. Knowing The X-Files and how much it's made Scully face before, however, I'm pretty worried. I guess we'll have to wait a few more weeks to find out.

Watch the full X-Files first look below:

Images: Fox; The X-Files/YouTube