The X-Files is one of the best TV shows that defined the 1990s, and while many of the visual effects have not stood the test of time, most of the best episodes of the series still hold up today. The show blended the sci-fi genre with a police procedural style, even verging into fantasy and horror at times, while popularizing the “monster of the week” format. This combination was a novelty at the time the show aired, and is still rarely achieved as consistently now.

While The X-Files reboot is set to introduce new mysteries in the age of AI and advanced technology, the reboot should remake some classic X-Files episodes as a tribute to the original series. The X-Files grew its audience over time, but it was instantly clear that the series was offering something different from its chilling first episode. That said, there are several episodes throughout its 11 seasons that made the show into a cult classic with a legacy that continues today.

Pilot

Season 1, Episode 1

Few TV shows hook viewers from the first episode, but it was clear within the pilot episode that The X-Files was a sci-fi masterpiece. The show had a lot to do, introducing viewers to the police procedural format and the main characters as well as the central mystery, while also revealing a much wider conspiracy that hinted at later events to come. The X-Files handled this perfectly in the terrifying episode just called “Pilot.”

The believer and skeptic dynamic between agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully is established quickly, with Scully being assigned the job of keeping an eye on Mulder while scientifically examining cases in the X-Files. While many TV shows could have taken the better part of a series to confirm whether the events are paranormal, the first episode reveals the truth, setting the duo up as one of TV’s most iconic teams.

Home

Season 4, Episode 2

“Home” polarizes audiences and critics, and FOX even banned the X-Files‘ most controversial episode. The story centers on the inbred Peacock family, who are incapable of feeling physical pain, leading to some intense body horror moments. Mulder and Scully are sent to investigate the death of a baby, but the truth of its parentage is closer to the kind of case covered in a true-crime documentary than to a paranormal-themed detective show.

Some TV shows have experimented early in their runs, but by the time “Home” aired, The X-Files was in its fourth season. The episode was so different to most of the other cases that Mulder and Scully became involved in, that it even put some of the show’s existing audience off continuing. On the other hand, other reviewers have praised its classic horror feel, and the fact that the episode has become so infamous raised the profile of the show.

X-Cops

Season 7, Episode 12

The phenomenal success of Breaking Bad has caused a surge of interest in episodes of The X-Files that were written by Vince Gilligan. The most famous of these is certainly “Drive,” as it features Bryan Cranston, but before Cranston became a household name for his role in Breaking Bad, this episode was just another great one among many others. However, a Vince Gilligan crossover episode that cements The X-Files‘ cult status is “X-Cops.”

The episode blends The X-Files with Cops, creating a set-up that might be silly, but it works with Gilligan’s writing. “X-Cops” mocks itself, breaks the fourth wall, and makes reference to horror movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street. The fact that the show embraced a campy sense of humor has helped it to remain a classic even decades later, while other more serious series have been forgotten or aged poorly.

Beyond The Sea

Season 1, Episode 13

Even viewers unfamiliar with The X-Files tend to be aware that the show centers on a believer and a skeptic. However, this dynamic is not always as fixed as it might seem, and the episode “Beyond The Sea” is a masterpiece as it reverses Mulder and Scully’s usual roles while exploring Scully’s family relationships. The episode sees the pair visiting Luther Lee Boggs, a self-proclaimed psychic on death row, who knows more about Scully than he should.

For a show with some terrifying moments, The X-Files also knows how to be deeply unsettling, and the scene in “Beyond the Sea” in which Scully wakes to see her father mouthing something silently is extremely disconcerting. The show was already impressing critics and audiences, but the episode was a major turning point that proved the series could be subtle and serious, using the paranormal theme to develop its main characters.

Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose

Season 3, Episode 4

One of the best episodes in The X-Files is undoubtedly “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose,” but while the episode is a masterclass in acting and surprise, it is also one of the main episodes that established The X-Files as a cult classic, including a line that has since become legendary. Scully asks Clyde Bruckman, who can see how people die in the future, how she will die. He responds, “you don’t.”

While the episode follows the show’s typical format as a “monster of the week” rather than exploring the wider mythology of The X-Files, this scene shows that the series could be unexpectedly deep, proving that even standalone episodes could include as much intrigue as the ones that explored the show’s overarching plot. “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series.

Squeeze

Season 1, Episode 3

The series might have been finding its feet in its initial season, but season 1 of The X-Files still has some of the show’s best episodes. One of these is “Squeeze,” which popularized the show’s “monster of the week” approach then defied it. The human liver-eating, mutated Eugene Victor Tooms, who could stretch his body to fit into confined spaces, was so terrifying that the show brought him back, confirming him as an iconic horror show monster.

Tooms ended his first episode in a secure facility, but later in season 1, his release in the episode “Tooms” horrified Mulder, who made it his personal million to defeat him. Some of The X-Files‘ scariest monsters have aged well, while others have suffered due to outdated special effects. However, Tooms is one of the former, as his mutated abilities are mostly used off-camera, while his intense yellow-eyed stare is just as creepy today.

Paper Clip

Season 4, Episode 10

Mulder and Scully famously work in a cramped and windowless basement office, with Mulder famously joking that there’s “nothing down here but the FBI’s most unwanted.” While the two travel for work, many scenes in The X-Files feel claustrophobic by design, with the pair investigating corridors and liminal spaces. The season 4 episode “Paper Clip” introduced a new dimension to the show, with a cinematic and large scale scene that rivaled some movie sets at the time.

The episode introduces a heartbreaking death for Scully, shows another side of Skinner, and ties together several conspiracy theories within a much larger one. Rather than feeling disjointed and overstuffed, the episode is a masterpiece that also includes one of the best scenes in the series, with a disused mining facility holding millions of files, and a huge alien ship passing overhead.

Jose Chung’s From Outer Space

Season 3, Episode 20

By the time “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” aired in season 3 of The X-Files, the show was already a classic and season 2 has since earned the show a 97% positive audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The episode is a departure from the show’s usual dark tone, introducing a situation with multiple unreliable narrators that result in some hilarious scenes.

“Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” puts a meta twist on the show’s formula, making fun of the situation and satirizing the sci-fi genre as a whole. This approach showed that the series was not afraid to experiment, which is a strategy that the writers of many other successful shows are still afraid to use. Still, even while the episode is funny, it still presents an exciting UFO mystery, maintaining the usual theme of The X-Files, if not the tone.

The Erlenmeyer Flask

Season 1, Episode 24

The X-Files‘ first season finale changed the game for the series, cementing its cult status while also setting up the show’s longer-term mythology, which would later come to define it. The “monster of the week” format was successful, but “The Erlenmeyer Flask” gave viewers a reason to become truly invested in the waiting period before season 2 aired.

The themes explored in “The Erlenmeyer Flask” continue throughout the rest of The X-Files‘ 11 seasons, including alien-human hybrids, high-level government conspiracy, and the sentiment “Trust No-One,” which became the show’s tagline. With Scully finding proof of alien life just as The X-Files are set to be shut down, the show gave viewers one of the best end-season finales of all time and secured interest in the next season.

Duane Barry

Season 2, Episode 5

Some characters make an impression in just one episode, and the tragic Duane Barry is one of the most memorable among The X-Files‘ many larger-than-life characters. Barry is a former FBI agent who believes that he is being repeatedly abducted, and kidnaps Scully in the hope that the aliens will take her instead. While his actions are villainous, it is difficult not to sympathize with Barry, who has been driven to desperation by his situation and due to not being believed.

“Duane Barry” is an intense episode on its own, but there is another aspect to the story that turns it into a pivotal one for the show. It is hard not to draw parallels between Mulder and Barry, both of whom have had experience working for the FBI and contact with aliens. Seeing a glimpse into a possible future for him highlights the personal cost of Mulder’s crusade for the truth, and gave the show serious dramatic weight thanks to Steve Railsback’s portrayal of the titular character.

The X-Files

8/10

Release Date

1993 – 2018-00-00

Network

FOX

Showrunner

Chris Carter

Directors

Rob Bowman, David Nutter, R. W. Goodwin, Michael W. Watkins, Tony Wharmby, Daniel Sackheim, Michael Lange, Cliff Bole, David Duchovny, Jim Charleston, James Wong, Peter Markle, Rod Hardy, Thomas J. Wright, William A. Graham, Jerrold Freedman, Joe Napolitano, Kevin Hooks, Larry Shaw, Richard Compton, Tucker Gates, Allen Coulter, Barry K. Thomas, Brett Dowler