Mulder, indulging in a spot of snooping, discovers the truth. However, his escape from the government facility concealing it results in the apparent death of Noel Rohr, a super-soldier who can't die. Mulder is put on trial for this murder and sees his chance to get the truth out there once and for all.

The final episode of The X-Files, and the chance that it wasn't going to disappoint in some way was minimal. Playing like a greatest hits, this is in the main a glorified clip show, with past guest stars and key figures revealing certain elements of the government conspiracy and what we've been seeing for the last nine years. At the start, I was quite enjoying it, as there are some points at which things finally click into place and people are finally saying exactly what's been going on without it being couched in lies and overdone double talk. It even begins to make sense at last… for a while. Once we get on to alien races, rebels, colonists and so on, it all becomes a bit of a puzzle as there are too many separate instances of aliens now to entirely make sense of everything we've seen. The other problem, of course, is that a lot of what is spelt out here is stuff I and many others had already worked out and so is old news, even if it is nice to finally get some confirmation from Chris Carter himself.

Bringing back so many recurring guest stars is a nice touch and some of them are good to see again. The idea of dead characters assisting Mulder in his task is a good one, although it would work flawlessly were it not for the point where one of these ghosts somehow manages to pass him a note. While I can get behind the idea that it's a figurative note and Mulder knows the information on it on some level, the address of Marita Covarrubias seems to be the kind of thing he's unlikely to have uncovered.

There are other problems. Because we've not really seen Mulder and Scully as a romantic couple on screen before, it never quite rings true when they show such affection for each other. It also seems to have dampened Mulder's wit, with the only decent Mulderism being his offer to give Skinner a big kiss with the words 'Come here, you big, bald, beautiful man'. With so many characters to prise in, Doggett and Reyes get lost in the shuffle, and not only is nothing is resolved about the obvious alien infiltration of the FBI, but I'm not clear on exactly where Gibson Praise ends up either. There are too many loose ends here for a series finale, and while Carter is obviously aware of his chance to make more X-Files movies, this is no reason to leave so much up in the air. Essentially, the whole thing ends with Mulder and Scully shagging in a motel room, and most of their friends such as Doggett, Reyes and Skinner, in life-threatening danger from any who want the truth about aliens suppressed. That's not concluding, is it? There's also a problem with Doggett and Reyes having a final encounter with Noel; if the aliens avoid the place which is full of magnetite, why did no one think to tell poor Noel, who falls foul of it almost immediately?

The truth itself is also a massive anticlimax. Coming in the form of the date of the alien invasion, it would be more interesting if it weren't 10 years away. Knowing the invasion will happen on 22nd December 2012 is feeble, as it dumps all the dramatic tension. Why have Mulder and Scully being fighting this so strongly for nine years when it's still a decade away? That's plenty of time to set back the problem, especially now the ranks of believers have swelled so dramatically. And then, of course, there's the final return of Cancer Man. It's not like you can't see it coming (he's noted in the opening credits and we've already seen this year how indestructible the Spender family are) and aside from asking Scully to sit on his lap and a chance to see him at last killed in the most satisfying and final way possible, he's of little significance. After all, he merely restates what Mulder knows in order to tell Scully; why bother? Oh, and his hair is ludicrous.

At the end of the day, you have to admit that The Truth does at least clear some things up. However, it's a rather unsatisfying series finale and it will be up to the films to bring a sense of closure to this series. Assuming anyone is interested enough anymore…

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