Spoiler alert! How can you find out secrets of upcoming X-Files episodes? None of that cloak-and-dagger stuff for our Jeanne Wolf. She went right to the source and asked series creator Chris Carter. Fortune favors the brave: Carter spills the beans here, so stop reading if you like to be surprised.

Q: Any news about another X-Files movie?

A: There will be a second X-Files movie as far as I am concerned. But it won’t be on this summer’s hiatus. It seems like the actors are very excited to do it. It’s just a matter of finding the time, and I think it would either come out in the summer of 2001 or possibly 2002. It would have been great to culminate the series and go right into the next big movie. I think there will be a year, or possibly two years in between.

Q: What do you mean, “culminate”?

A: Next year is probably the last year of The X-Files. Most likely we will wind it down at the end of year seven. You are going to see the TV series become a movie series.

Q: You’ve really taken the reins back on Millennium this year. What’s going on there?

A: Man, I’ve worked hard on Millennium this year. I’ve written and rewritten several shows. It’s not like it was in the first year, but I’ve certainly paid a lot more attention to it this year than last. There are some really good episodes coming up in February. Really scary episodes. I mean, I’m very proud of the work we did. I really think that show is hitting its stride. I wish that more people watched it. I wish more people would give it another chance. And I hope it comes back next year.

Q: And what about the new pilot you’re shooting this year?

A: It’s called Harsh Realm. It’s a science fiction show. It’s different from The X-Files or Millennium. I’m actually still writing it right now, so I’m not letting too many secrets out, but it plays a little bit with virtual reality. It’s quite different from the comic book that we’re taking it from. There’s really not much I can tell you about it, besides that it will be a kind of ensemble cast. If The X-Files had a very broad group of stories to tell, this will also have that kind of broad scope. Millennium has a narrower scope in its storytelling, but it’s a very broad canvas: good and evil. But it uses a little bit of virtual reality. This actually is going to play with reality in ways that I think The X-Files has done so well over the years.

Q: Can you give us a hint about what we’re going to see this season on The X-Files?

A: Well, we have 28 episodes left to produce. So we’ve got to get some answers out there. You’re going to see a lot of wrapping up of storylines. There’s a two-part mythology episode coming up that answers a huge number of questions. You will learn a lot about why Agent Mulder is who he is, and this pursuit that he has. You’ll learn that he was born into it. It’s not necessarily something that he chose. It may have been chosen for him.

Q: More, more!

A: You’re going to learn a lot about Mulder’s father. You are going to learn a lot about the Cigarette-Smoking Man. He will come out of the woodwork to explain a lot, actually. He becomes, in a way, a narrator of the last 50 years. You’ll learn what The X-Files is all about.