The ninth season received mixed to negative reviews by critics and garnered negative reaction from many long-time fans and viewers. Sabadino Parker from "PopMatters", called the show "a pale reflection of the show it once was". Elizabeth Weinbloom from "The New York Times" concluded, "shoddy writing notwithstanding, it was this halfhearted culmination of what was once a beautifully complicated friendship", between Mulder and Scully that ended remaining interest in what was a "waning phenomenon". Another "The New York Times" review stated, "The most imaginative show on television has finally reached the limits of its imagination." "The A.V. Club" listed the ninth season and the 2008 film "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" as the "bad apple" of "The X-Files" franchise, describing the ninth season as "clumsy mish-mash of stuff that had once worked and new serialized storylines about so-called 'super soldiers'". Brian Linder from "IGN", on the other hand, was more positive to the ninth season, saying that the series could still have aired if the writers created a new storyline for Patrick and Gish's characters.