The X-Files'six-episode return in 2016 has already seen a whole slew of new casting decisions and announced cameo appearances. By the look of things, the Fox program is gearing up for a return to form, with most of the show's original core and recurring cast members from its 1990s run coming back for the revival, which is sure to please die hard fans of the show when what is technically season ten premiers next year.
Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are the obvious main attractions of the X-Files revival. However, the latest casting update for the project reveals that another Scully will be making a re-appearance on the show, upon its return to the airwaves.
According to TV Line, Sheila Larken will coming back to Fox as Margaret Scully (Anderson's TV Mom) in the Glen Morgan-penned second episode of the X-Files revival, "Home Again." Last seen 13 years ago in the ninth episode of X-Files season nine, titled "Provenance," Mrs. Scully will feature alongside other previously announced series regulars, including Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), the cigarette-smoking man (William B. Davis), and the Lone Gunmen (Tom Braidwood, Dean Haglund, and Bruce Harwood).
The X-Files revival will not just examine how Mulder and Scully's relationship has evolved since last we saw the duo, but also how each individual half of the investigating pair have changed over the passage of time (and the events of the 21st century, so far). Hence, it's reasonable to assume that Larken's appearance on the show's revival will further help to flesh out Scully's character, in terms of both the agent that she was and the person she is, in the present-day.
The X-Files season ten continues to show the potential to be the come-back that fans have been clamoring for after years of waiting. Larken's return as Scully's Mom is likely to only add to that celebratory nature surrounding the new season's release, and will only increase any pre-existing fan excitement.
Presumably, there are more than a few viewers of Fox's prime time original programming otherwise unfamiliar with The X-Files, but with such a strong cast that includes longtime show stars and promising newcomers (like Kumail Nanjiani and Joel McHale), the over twenty-year-old program might just attract some new believers into the mix the tenth go-around. Mulder and Scully aficionados and initiates alike will likely have something to talk about with anticipation mounting steadily with each and every production development revealed (the return of Margaret Scully being no exception to that rule).
The X-Files will return to Fox on Sunday, January 24th, 2016.
Source: TV Line