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The X-Files Season 3 Review

The third season of The X-Files is among the very best in the series run. It has its clunkers, but most of the episodes range from very good to downright superb.

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“Sure, fine, whatever“

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The Blessing Way and Paper Clip both continue the storyline from the second season’s finale and they did it beautifully. This trio of installments ranks among the best and most intense in the show’s history. It further proves that The X-Files is at its best when focusing on the suspense genre. D.P.O. is mostly memorable for the amusing Jack Black turn where he was perfectly cast, but otherwise it’s only an okay episode that features an interesting premise, but unlikable teen personalities.

Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose is a terrific episode that features one of the best openings ever from this show. It was both intense and instantly iconic. The rest of the story goes along smoothly, but it never again reaches the utter greatness from that first sequence. The List is one of the weakest episodes of this season. It features a tedious prison-centric story populated by forgettable personalities.

2Shy is one of those serial killer stories and it’s another strong one. It’s thrilling and superbly crafted throughout. The Walk is entirely forgettable itself while Oubliette is important for featuring for once caring and kind Mulder. His scenes with the woman in peril were surprisingly tender here and the overall episode is one that is quite deep and strong. Mulder is becoming overly cold by this point, so these rare humanizing moments for him are important.

Nisei is a solid episode that could have been so much better given its excellent premise. 731 continues Scully’s terrific abduction mystery storyline whereas Mulder being in peril on a train proved very intense and a lot of fun. It’s among the most cinematic episodes of this season. Revelations is a so-so episode that has some fine imagery, but overall it’s nothing special.

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As for War of the Coprophages, it’s a silly story that also has a very bad guest star performance and a terrible romance, but it’s also the funniest episode so far in the show’s run. Scully and Mulder bickering was so much fun and their iconic line that was repeated twice was just spectacular. It’s a very humorous episode, but it begs the question if this show was ever really suited for comedy in the long run.

Syzygy is a solid, albeit overly silly episode in its tone. But Grotesque is highly effective in its horror atmosphere and intriguing imagery of these eerie statues. It’s an audio-visual treat in particular. Piper Maru and Apocrypha represent an excellent two-parter that is also highly important in its canon storytelling. The black oil proved to be a formidable enemy while the beginning was instantly iconic in its horrifying imagery. This season surely had its amazing opening sequences.

Pusher is a classic episode featuring an excellent superhero-like hook and an intense tone that remained throughout. Teso Dos Bichos begins what will be a series of very mediocre episodes that tarnished an otherwise excellent season of television. While this one focused on indigenous Ecuadorian people, the next episode Hell Money focused on the Chinese minority. Both featured that exoticism in its approach, but neither managed to impress with what are mediocre, highly uninteresting storylines.

Jose Chung’s From Outer Space is not just the worst episode of this season, but by far the worst in the series’ entire run so far. It represents a bad habit from this particular season – introducing too many comedic elements in storytelling in a show that should be serious and dramatic first and foremost. This one had an interesting, experimental structure to it, but none of it eventually worked due to its overly self-parodying and ridiculous tone. It is, thus, one of the most overrated episodes of this show.

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From Avatar onward, the season recuperated. This episode represented the first truly meaningful arc for Skinner, who really deserved to get one as he truly is the most important secondary character on the show. The main conspiracy was terrific and the acting from Mitch Pileggi was fantastic. As for Quagmire, this is basically a Loch Ness-inspired storyline. It has its weaker elements, but for the most part it’s very well made and highly engaging.

Wetwired is a very different kind of episode that features for once Scully losing her mind. The hallucinatory, paranoid tone prevailed throughout and it made this installment very disorienting and powerful, especially in that car scene with Mulder that was another unforgettable moment from this season. Talitha Cumi is another finale that ends with a cliffhanger, which just might be the most thrilling one yet. The deepening of Mulder’s family history was fascinating as was the enlarged role of The Smoking Man. It’s the most important and most complex episode of this particular stretch.