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The X-Files
S10.E6
All episodesAll
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IMDbPro

My Struggle II

  • Episode aired Feb 22, 2016
  • TV-14
  • 45m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
4.9K
YOUR RATING
Gillian Anderson in The X-Files (1993)
The X-Files: My Struggle II
Play trailer1:18
4 Videos
22 Photos
AdventureCrimeDramaMysterySci-FiThriller

Mulder and Scully uncover a shocking truth with global ramifications.Mulder and Scully uncover a shocking truth with global ramifications.Mulder and Scully uncover a shocking truth with global ramifications.

  • Director
    • Chris Carter
  • Writers
    • Chris Carter
    • Anne Simon
    • Margaret Fearon
  • Stars
    • David Duchovny
    • Gillian Anderson
    • Mitch Pileggi
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.0/10
    4.9K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Chris Carter
    • Writers
      • Chris Carter
      • Anne Simon
      • Margaret Fearon
    • Stars
      • David Duchovny
      • Gillian Anderson
      • Mitch Pileggi
    • 41User reviews
    • 24Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos4

    The X-Files: Pick Up Please
    Clip 0:50
    The X-Files: Pick Up Please
    The X-Files: Dna
    Clip 0:59
    The X-Files: Dna
    The X-Files: Dna
    Clip 0:59
    The X-Files: Dna
    The X-Files: He Had An Offer To Make
    Clip 1:21
    The X-Files: He Had An Offer To Make
    The X-Files: My Struggle II
    Trailer 1:18
    The X-Files: My Struggle II

    Photos21

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    Top cast17

    Edit
    David Duchovny
    David Duchovny
    • Fox Mulder
    Gillian Anderson
    Gillian Anderson
    • Dana Scully
    Mitch Pileggi
    Mitch Pileggi
    • Walter Skinner
    Joel McHale
    Joel McHale
    • Tad O'Malley
    Lauren Ambrose
    Lauren Ambrose
    • Agent Einstein
    Robbie Amell
    Robbie Amell
    • Agent Miller
    Julian Christopher
    Julian Christopher
    • Dr. Rubell
    • (as Julian D. Christopher)
    Annabeth Gish
    Annabeth Gish
    • Monica Reyes
    William B. Davis
    William B. Davis
    • Smoking Man
    Aliza Vellani
    Aliza Vellani
    • Nurse Sandeep
    Sandy Da Costa
    Sandy Da Costa
    • Morphing Alien
    Mik Byskov
    Mik Byskov
    • Accosting Man
    Darren Dolynski
    Darren Dolynski
    • Man in Suit
    Eoin Bates
    • Stranded driver
    • (uncredited)
    Annet Mahendru
    Annet Mahendru
    • Sveta
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Amber Snow
    • Driver
    • (uncredited)
    John Specogna
    John Specogna
    • Dr. Grayson
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Chris Carter
    • Writers
      • Chris Carter
      • Anne Simon
      • Margaret Fearon
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews41

    7.04.8K
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    Featured reviews

    10XweAponX

    "I'm the most powerful man in the world"

    So this is "The End". Some people may say "Thank Gh-d", and others like me will be depressed. Not much TV is made like this- This is Old School. Old School, but Carter does try to keep abreast of current events, just like the first 9 seasons.

    As "My Struggle I" was Mulder's narrative, Part II is Skully's. This gives a nice comparison of Perspectives, as Skully has almost never seen what Mulder has seen (Her head always turned away, or she left the area, or she believed while Mulder didn't believe in one season), the believer and the skeptic always battling it out, resolving it, and solving it. Whatever "it" is at the time. This time, it's about certain events from part I. And, once again "Fringe" is mentioned in this passing narrative, another salute by Carter toward a show that could have been as great as this. Was as great as this, in some respects.

    And of course, the return of the young Doppelgangers, and Monica Reyes. Skully and Einstien, the Skeptic vs the Super-Skeptic. Monica and Cancerman. "The world will go on, just in my image, not God's".

    Mainly this is Skully's show, it's her kind of x-file, needing her kind of solution. Mulder has his Arse Kicking moves on with Matrix skills, for all the good it does him.

    The science in this episode is very interesting, sounding almost plausible. This show has always excelled at giving good background.

    The X-Files has embodied for me the best parts of Television, it doesn't take a lot to get me interested, but this show has gone way beyond interest, we get involved in it, which is why people have had such diverse reactions to it, usually because it is telling The Truth at some basic level, sometimes which we don't even know or agree with at the time. In the case of these 6 samples, we have heard things about Climate Change, overpopulation, and man's encroachment into Nature. The X-Files gets my Highest ratings and regards. It has been the subject of heated discussions and speculations for years, and I'm glad I can participate in this in even a small way.

    As we go out on this episode, I try to remember all of the things I have ever loved about this show. And they all might be right here in this final offering, this one episode gets back the mysteries of Seasons 1-3, the solutions also baffling.

    After my mind returns from initial shock and numbness, I may to edit this a bit, I can't put in words the emotions in me right now, it's too much.

    Well, so all of the positive reviews are being down voted and the negative ones are being up voted and, the bad reviews repeated and parroted apparently by different people even though they are the same person. That doesn't mean this episode is bad it just means that there are trolls about
    9Sleepin_Dragon

    I was blown away.

    I am speechless to read the highest rated review is a 1 star demolition. I thought this was utterly fantastic, it tied together for me what's been an incredible series. My Struggle II was fast paced, gripping, intelligent, brilliantly acted, and left me for one desperate for more. I loved that Mulder's Nemesis Smoking man made a return, great character. Great special effects once again, it felt like a huge budget blockbuster on times. Mulder and Scully Junior were once again good value, I can understand that die hard fans may not like them much, but I found them quite fun. That ending though, please don't leave us hanging there.

    This has left me desperate for more episodes, so come on, another series please. 9/10
    9lopezpatricia-06139

    I don't get it.

    Did scully save the world . Was that an alien craft. It just seems that in the next season they're back at work as normal. Maybe I'm thick. But William b Davis if brilliant as usual. And I do love the whole thing.
    6lassegalsgaard

    My Struggle II

    After a long hiatus, "The X-Files" returned for its 10th season, reigniting the nostalgia and excitement that made the show a cultural phenomenon. While the revival hasn't been flawless, it successfully captured much of the original's eerie, thought-provoking charm. The season balanced standalone "monster-of-the-week" episodes with overarching mythology, though not always gracefully. This tension came to a head in "My Struggle II," the season's explosive finale, which left fans both intrigued and frustrated. Because while it definitely feels like the culmination of many threads that have been dangling for decades, it can't help itself and goes along with some of the show's most annoying tropes.

    The episode dives headfirst into a high-stakes conspiracy involving a global pandemic triggered by alien DNA tampering - a bold and timely concept. At its core, this is classic "X-Files": a world where paranoia is justified, and Mulder and Scully must race against time to expose the truth. The apocalyptic atmosphere is compelling, thanks to Anne Simon, Margaret Fearon, and Chris Carter's ambitious script. The ticking-clock narrative ramps up the tension effectively, delivering some gripping sequences, particularly Scully's desperate quest to synthesize a cure. However, the execution falters under the weight of its lofty ambitions. The shorter six-episode season didn't leave enough room for the complex mythology to develop organically. As a result, the finale's big revelations feel rushed and undercooked, more like a bullet-point checklist than a fully fleshed-out story. The episode attempts to weave together years of convoluted lore, but instead creates a tangled mess where meaningful emotional payoffs are scarce. The return of certain characters is a mixed blessing. Scully's scientific prowess is on full display, making her the true hero of the story, while Mulder's journey feels sidelined. Agent Monica Reyes' unexpected reappearance adds intrigue, though her motivations seem murky at best. Meanwhile, the Cigarette Smoking Man, long thought dead, emerges as the ultimate puppet master. While his return should've been thrilling, his presence feels more like fan service stretched past its expiration date. Perhaps the most divisive element is the jaw-dropping cliffhanger. It's a gutsy move that ensures fans will clamor for more - but also feels like a narrative escape hatch, avoiding definitive closure.

    "My Struggle II" is "The X-Files" at its most ambitious and uneven. Its scope is admirable, its ideas intriguing, but its execution falls short of the show's best work. Despite its flaws, the episode - and the season as a whole - rekindles enough of the original spark to remind fans why they fell in love with "The X-Files" in the first place. The truth may still be out there, but the path to finding it could have been much clearer.
    skiop

    Chris Carter doubles down on rewriting the mythology

    I know I'm not alone in feeling icky after watching "My Struggle". Chris Carter seems to want us to forget all that happened in the first nine seasons: the black oil, purity control, the alien fetus, the alien rebels, the alien bounty hunter, the missing time, the staging, the supersoldiers, etc. Instead, we're led to believe that there was an alien crash in Roswell, but there haven't been aliens on Earth since then and everything else was just faked by the government with the alien technology taken from the Roswell crash. That would have been OK if done in season 1, but in season 10, it's just rewriting the complete story arc.

    I was hoping in "My Struggle II", Carter would reveal to us that everything that we had learned in the first nine seasons hadn't been completely rewritten, but alas, he doubled down on it. There's no group of men conspiring with aliens, but just a group of men conspiring among themselves. I'm not going to reveal what the new conspiracy is, as it's revealed in the reviews with spoilers. Suffice it to say that it just doesn't match up with the first nine seasons.

    Related interests

    Still frame
    Adventure
    James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)
    Crime
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)
    Mystery
    James Earl Jones and David Prowse in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
    Sci-Fi
    Cho Yeo-jeong in Parasite (2019)
    Thriller

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Adenosine deaminase (ADA), the gene product inhibited by the Spartan virus, is an actual enzyme. Hereditary defects in the enzyme can lead to a condition known as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), which leaves patients at risk for severe infections like those depicted. A treatment for the condition is to introduce a functional immune system into the patient via bone marrow transplant like Scully suggests for Mulder.
    • Goofs
      The Cigarette Smoking Man has a tracheostomy. He should not be able to speak unless a special device were attached to the tracheostomy (not apparent in this episode). Generally, a tracheostomy has to be covered to allow someone to speak. Please note that the word "tracheostomy" refers to the placement of a tube in the trachea while "tracheotomy" is just the act of cutting into the trachea. "Tracheostomy" is the correct term in this use.
    • Quotes

      [to Mulder]

      Cigarette Smoking Man: Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes.

    • Connections
      Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Susan Sarandon/John Cena/Michael Stipe (2016)
    • Soundtracks
      The X-Files
      (uncredited)

      Written by Mark Snow

      Performed by John Bael

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • February 22, 2016 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Hulu
      • Instagram
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • Crease Clinic, Riverview Hospital, Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada(Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital)
    • Production companies
      • Ten Thirteen Productions
      • 20th Century Fox Television
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 45m
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 16:9 HD

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