The X-Files Season 11: 10 Things We Learned From My Struggle, Part III
9. It Was All A Dream - Part Of It Anyway
A key concept of My Struggle, Part III is that Dana Scully has been having visions. The events we saw in My Struggle, Part II (season ten's finale) were part of those visions. That future — the outbreak of the Spartan virus, Mulder's imminent death, the agents trapped on a bridge with an alien ship overhead — has not happened yet.
Scully believes these visions to be real. We'll get to why, and what they are, later. The side effect of them is that Scully is sick. Very sick. Experiencing seizures. When the episode kicks off, we find her in hospital, a worried Mulder by her side. Skinner is there, frankly keeping him from going off the rails.
This is big. It's literally a chance to re-do some of the creative decisions that didn't work in season ten. One of those was creating a "Scully saves the world" scenario that defied logic. Yes, The X-Files leans towards the sci-fi end of the spectrum, but the show always felt grounded. That was lost when Scully was tasked with finding a cure for a virus, practically alone in an overcrowded hospital.
Other parts of season ten remain intact: the Smoking Man's alive, a virus is in play. But at least Mulder isn't on death's door!