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Top Ten The X-Files Episodes

The X-Files is one of the most iconic TV shows of all time and certainly a juggernaut when it comes to genre television. Its reign was quite long, but it was obviously at its best during its run in the nineties. For my list of best episodes, I chose to focus on both the Monster of the Week and the alien/mythology arcs, though the former will get more representation than the latter. Obviously, the later seasons were quite inferior, so for the most part they won’t be present on this list.

10. All Souls

All Souls is my favorite episode of the otherwise uneven fifth season. It’s an underappreciated gem as it’s very powerful in its Christian imagery that is surprisingly unambiguous and potent. The devil is very creepy and the whole story plays out in such a thrilling, highly entertaining fashion. It might be the best and most effective religious episode in the show’s history.

9. Field Trip

The sixth season is where The X-Files really started to dip in terms of quality, but Field Trip represents the best that this batch of episodes has to offer. It is about a dangerous hallucinogenic fungi and it’s memorable in imagery while being consistently disorienting in its alternate reality and dreamlike narrative. The ending is unexpectedly dark and chilling.

8. Never Again

This Season 4 installment has a very strong story and the decision to give Scully a boyfriend was a refreshing one as we rarely ever saw here in that position. But the reason why I place this episode on this list lies in that final moment alone. Scully told off Mulder in this scene and the show finally acknowledging his selfishness was unexpected and admirable. It was the worst moment ever for our favorite duo, but an essential one nonetheless.

7. Sanguinarium

Yes, the gore in this particular episode is excessive. However, there is no denying the power of this incredibly dark and brutal story about this dangerous doctor who turns out has the ability to regenerate himself. That twist toward the end was superb and the VFX here are incredible. It’s definitely not an easy watch, but it features one of the best villains in the history of the show and an unforgivably grim tone to it that really worked.

6. E.B.E.

The sixth spot goes to this essential Season 1 installment. This is an extraterrestrial story that back then moved the main mythology significantly forward while also benefiting from the greatly utilized Deep Throat character. The moment when Mulder almost finally saw an alien was very moving as you could just sense his frustration then. It’s one of the best alien/mythology episodes back when the creators really knew how to write them.

5. Orison

This is a rare late season entry on this list, but this Season 7 installment just had to be included as it’s thematically rich and very complex. It featured a return of the great serial killer villain Pfaster and he was just as menacing as he was before. The episode is quite intense and thrilling, but the highlight came at the end when Scully had to kill him, which led to a lot of inner turmoil within her. It’s the most psychologically sophisticated episode of the entire show.

4. Die Hand Die Verletzt

Die Hand Die Verletzt is the best cult episode of this run that is also a voodoo story. The main actress playing the villain was incredibly creepy and the show needs more praise for how fabulous their villains have always been and how superbly they were performed. This is one immensely eerie story with so many great twists and turns. The snake sequence was unforgettable.

3. Darkness Falls

As a huge biology enthusiast, I prefer the creature X-Files episodes over the mythological ones. This Season 1 classic is a great example of that classic horror storytelling that really works. It explores eco-terrorism, but it’s particularly effective in its deadly insects that wreck havoc. Darkness Falls explores great themes of evolution and mankind’s relationship with other species while consistently being intriguing in its central mystery.

2. The Host

Season 2 of The X-Files was terrific and The Host is by far its finest hour. It deals with this parasitic flatworm that the duo must stop. The parasitism of the main creature was superbly explored while the biology of flatworms was surprisingly accurate to real science. The hybrid nature to the creature was also fascinating. The sewer action was incredible and so were the groundbreaking VFX for the time. This episode just fired on all cylinders and it’s a shame that we did not get these pitch-perfect episodes more often.

1. Home

Season 4 is where the show reached its peak and Home is the season’s magnum opus. This is where the Monster of the Week narrative reached its highest form. Set in a remote American town, it is about a family of inbred, genetic mutants. This episode is biologically fascinating, but also incredibly grotesque, so gross in fact that it was a small miracle that it ended up being broadcast on television back in the day. Everything here just clicked in its place. The script was impeccable and thematically intriguing, the action elements are thrilling and the story ends in such a dark, grim way that was both unexpected and simply unforgettable. It’s most definitely the best X-Files episode of all time.

Honorable Mentions:

Ice – This Season 1 episode is certainly too similar of ‘The Thing’, but it’s so superbly executed that it worked nonetheless. Its setting was so well realized.

Apocrypha – This was the second part of a two-parter that was very important in its mythology and it featured the best use of the black oil on the show.

Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man – This episode is crucial in examining the past of the titular villain. The flashbacks are engaging and the story is intriguingly framed as a political thriller.

Leonard Betts – Leonard Betts is important for starting the Scully has cancer storyline and it’s just a very well written, moving episode all-around.

Ghost in the Machine – This is an early episode that did not age well, but I love it for giving us insight into nineties technology. Its paranoid tone was very well achieved.