#Xfile series series
#Xfile series tv

But this episode is more topical with its politics, spoofing The Twilight Zone to make Rod Serling-esque points about the lengths the government will go to avoid taking responsibility for its crimes. One-of-a-kind writer Darin Morgan's last episode in the X-Files revival is an updated take on his last episode in the original series, 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space.' Like 'Jose Chung's,' 'The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat' plays with the unreliability of memory. 'The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat' (Season 11, Episode 4) It's a chilling episode about how rational it is to fear the everyday world.Ģ3. On one level, 'Irresistible' is a reckoning with Scully's trauma in the wake of her abduction, but the show also allows for her reaction to simply be humane a person should be horrified by what Pfaster is capable of. Every detail of the character is nails-on-a-chalkboard upsetting, and Scully is genuinely rattled by Pfaster even before he targets her.

Donnie Pfaster ( Nick Chinlund) doesn't seem to have any supernatural abilities he's just a death fetishist with a childlike voice who makes women wash their hair before he kills them. In the tradition of all the best sci-fi, the scariest monster The X-Files ever produced was human. Plus, Gillian Anderson gives one of her best comic performances on The X-Files when Scully gets her hands on an invisible man.Ģ4. 'Je Souhaite' walks the line between cynicism and sentimentality - most people want what isn't good for them, but people like Mulder and Scully are still out there putting in the work. The hour introduces the agents to a genie who's seen the worst of humanity, pushing them to debate whether it's possible to make the world better. Mulder gets three wishes in this delightful Vince Gilligan episode, which marks Mulder and Scully's last standalone case as partners until the revival. From underrated favorites to Emmy-winning standouts, these are The X-Files' 25 best episodes.įox 25. That range also means that aside from the obvious classics, the details of any best-of list come down to personal preference. '>TV Throwback: The Best Shows to Rewatch Right Now For the most part, those are the episodes that have held up best, standing as examples of the show's impressive range.

#Xfile series series

It was the mythology arc that gave The X-Files its emotional weight in the early seasons, but as the series evolved, the monster-of-the-week episodes took over as its creative center. Structurally, the series helped pioneer the procedural balance between overarching mythology and standalone episodes, as Mulder ( David Duchovny) and Scully ( Gillian Anderson) unraveled a far-reaching government conspiracy one week and chased small-town monsters the next. The X-Files could be a black-and-white fable, a satire of political corruption, or a time travel romp it could be absurd, funny, romantic, horrifying.

#Xfile series tv

Fox's iconic sci-fi drama churned out 218 episodes and two movies over a span of 25 years, experimenting with genre and form in a way that pushed the boundaries of what a TV procedural could do. No matter what mood you're in, there's an X-Files episode for that.