The ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 11, 2001, concluded on May 19, 2002, and consists of twenty episodes. The season takes place after Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) goes into hiding, following the events of the eighth season finale, "Existence". As such, the main story arc for the season follows Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), John Doggett (Robert Patrick), and Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) on their hunt to reveal a government conspiracy involving the elaborate and malevolent creation of the "Super Soldiers". For this season, former series' leads Duchovny and Anderson scaled back their involvement with the show, with Duchovny only starring in the two episodes that formed the season finale, "The Truth". Doggett and Reyes became the show's central characters, and former recurring character Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) became a main character. Series creator Chris Carter had hopes that the show could continue on with new leads, and the opening credits were accordingly redesigned again. Season nine received mixed reviews by critics and garnered negative reaction from many long-time fans and viewers, partially because Duchovny did not make regular appearances on the show, after fulfilling his contract in the previous season. During this year, ratings for the season fell dramatically. Critics blamed it on what they considered an increasingly incoherent story arc, whilst the cast and crew ascribed the drop in viewership to the September 11 attacks. Regardless, Fox eventually decided to cancel the series. During the airing of season eight, Carter and The X-Files production team had created and aired a spinoff titled The Lone Gunmen. The show was unsuccessful and was canceled before any story arcs were resolved, but The X-Files episode "Jump the Shark" was written to give closure to the series. The X-Files storyline was continued with the 2008 theatrical film The X Files: I Want to Believe and later with a tenth season in 2016 and an eleventh season in 2018. Plot overview After the eighth season finale "Existence", Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) goes into hiding. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is again reassigned to the FBI Academy, and Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) becomes John Doggett's (Robert Patrick) new FBI partner in the X-Files office. Doggett asks Scully for help on a case involving an EPA official, Carl Wormus (Nicholas Walker), who died after his car was forced off a bridge by a