My opinion of the final seasons is that they were tumultuous and uncertain from the moment of Scully's pregnancy announcement. It got them time, but no one really knew what to do with it. A lot of scrambling for a suitable arc combining with refusal to close the ones begun. William ended badly. Melissa ended badly--she certainly deserved more. The death of the gunmen was inexcusable. But I think tv in general has learned its lessons from these final confusions. They set their end games early now.