(The following article is from contributing writer JL Watkins)

When we last saw Mulder and Scully in the 2008 feature film The X-Files: I Want to Believe, the longtime FBI partners were engaged in a romantic relationship, finally coming together after several years of frustration and anticipation for both the lovers and their fans. As series creator and head boss Chris Carter has already explained, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson's central characters are no longer shacking up when we reunite with them in next year's Untitled X-Files Revival. Why are they no longer together? Chris Carter has revealed to THR that this break-up is being done in a very interesting way.

When The X-Files returns for 6 all-new episodes in January 2016, the Mulder and Scully relationship will be severely fractured. A lot of time will have passed between the couple, and it will be one of the driving arcs of this limited series. About their break-up and ultimate reunion, Chris Carter had this to say about his two leading cast members.

"We play with that relationship [in the event series]. We put some of the tension back in that was relieved by them being together. It added to the storytelling opportunities. It's something that I came up with; I had been thinking about it. There was always talk of [breaking them up] if we did another movie."

The Mulder/Scully split was first revealed during this past summer's Television Critics Association session. The journalists in attendance were shown a clip from the premiere episode of the Untitled X-Files Revival. And it very clearly indicated that Mulder and Scully were no longer an item. The subsequent fan response was mixed, to say the least. Fans had waited years to see these two get together. And now that is no longer the case.

When The X-Files first premiered in 1993, Scully was partnered with Mulder to debunk paranormal findings. The two quickly bonded, and soon accepted that their plight was us-versus-the world. Though there was some sexual tension between the two, the partners kept their relationship strictly platonic for a long time. The duo almost had their first kiss in the 1998 X-Files movie (though, it should be noted that Mulder did kiss a 1939 version of Scully in an X-Files Season 6 episode). It wasn't until The X-Files Season 7 that the two actually kissed for the first time. At the end of the season, it was revealed that Scully was pregnant. Though, it would take another year before fans found out that Mulder was the baby's daddy.

David Duchovny left The X-Files in Season 9 but returned for the series finale The Truth. Mulder was falsely accused of murder and put on trial. He was found guilty and sentenced to death, but managed to escape prison and went on the run with Scully. The pair had put their child, William, up for adoption to protect him from supernatural forces that may wish to do him harm. In The X-Files: I Want to Believe, the couple were living together. Their first dust up came in an argument over the investigation of a psychic priest. The pair eventually put aside their differences and reconciled. But it doesn't appear the reunion lasted too long. And their emotional turmoil may not be mended by the time all six episodes of the upcoming Untitled X-Files Revival runs its course. David Duchovny had this to say about the state of Mulder and Scully's relationship.

"In the beginning of these six episodes, we seem to be estranged. I don't know where it's going. I really don't know. I'm trying to think [what was] the end of the sixth episode...It's yet to be determined."

All six new episodes have wrapped. Chris Carter is amazed at all that his creative team managed to accomplish in such a short span of time. About the production process on this impending event series, the creator explained the following.

"We just wrapped the six episodes, and I look and I see that we did 202 episodes of the show. I honestly don't know how we did it. I was exhausted by the end of these six episodes. I think what the show benefited from a lot of youthful energy. I always say about the show that we didn't know what we couldn't do, so we just tried everything. And luckily, we had the people working with us, and for us, that always gave it a shot."

The Untitled X-Files Revival is set to premiere on January 24, returning to its original network, Fox. What do you think about Chris Carter's decision to split Mulder and Scully up? Was it the right one? Will it bring some much need tension to the proceedings? Or were you hoping for a longstanding romantic relationship between the two? As their emotional state isn't resolved in these six episodes, we can pretty much guarantee there will be even more episodes sometime in the future.