Newer fans of may not know that the hit series was supposed to end much earlier than it did. Created by Chris Carter, The X-Files premiered on Fox in 1993 and ran for nine seasons, concluding in 2002 before it was revived for two additional seasons in 2016 and 2018 (with two movies tucked in there for good measure). The widely acclaimed crime series stars David Duchovny as Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully, a pair of FBI special agents who investigate paranormal and extraterrestrial occurrences. Achieving massive success and popularity over the years, The X-Files won 16 Emmy Awards through its run, but its total run was supposed to be much shorter as the show’s final four seasons were never meant to happen.

The X-Files Season 5 finale titled, “The End,” was originally planned to conclude the series. The episode aired in 1998 and centers on an assassin’s failed attempt to murder a child prodigy at an international chess tournament held in Canada. Mulder and Scully later realize that this young chess player’s remarkable mind holds the key to all of the mysteries in the X-Files. However, things go south when the assassin is murdered in a jail cell and the child is captured and handed over to the Syndicate’s Well-Manicured Man. The disastrous turn of events prompts the Justice Department’s motion to shut down the X-Files. Instead, the Cigarette Smoking Man orchestrates a giant fire that destroys Mulder’s office, and the X-Files with it. The note of finality in the episode’s ending made it a fitting conclusion to The X-Files while leaving the door open for more.