I was watching at a friend's house and she thought it was real.

Yep, a whole decade of poor reality shows hunting Bigfoot and watching UFOs has drained any mystique from those subjects. Growing up, those topics were rarely ever discussed in mainstream entertainment and seeing them on television was exciting. The X-Files spawned a whole culture of trashy imitators.

I tend to blame the Fox Network for continuously wanting the show to go on as long as the ratings were good. I do think that if the series had been set up as 7 seasons and out, then The X-Files would've had a decent wrap-up on the mythology storyline and gone out on top. But instead, because the network wouldn't let it go until the ratings dropped, it was just stretched out again and again until the show wasn't renewed, and then a hastily put-together finale was all we got.

Personally, I think the pieces were there for a great mythology storyline wrap-up....

62 13 "Syzygy" Rob Bowman Chris Carter January 26, 1996 3X13 16.04[11]

Crazy teenage girls with psychic powers made for some great scenes.

63 14 "Grotesque" Kim Manners Howard Gordon February 2, 1996 3X14 18.32[11]
I was waiting for Kurtwood Smith to yell Dumbass! to Mulder
64 15 "Piper Maru"* Rob Bowman Frank Spotnitz & Chris Carter February 9, 1996 3X15 16.44[11]
65 16 "Apocrypha"* Kim Manners Frank Spotnitz & Chris Carter February 16, 1996 3X16 16.71[11]

Not the best two parter ep. but had some good moments.
66 17 "Pusher" Rob Bowman Vince Gilligan February 23, 1996 3X17 16.20[11]
Wow one of the best ep. this season and oif course it's written by Gilligan is becoming clear how great of a writer he was even before Breaking Bad. Can't believe this is the same guy that wrote Home Fries
67 18 "Teso Dos Bichos" Kim Manners John Shiban March 8, 1996 3X18 17.38[11]
Didn't care much for this one. Perhaps it's cause coming off of the great "pusher" ep. made this one seem boring to me.
68 19 "Hell Money" Tucker Gates Jeffrey Vlaming March 29, 1996 3X19 14.86[11]
I thought for sure the chinese fbi guy was gonna get killed. Good episode.

69 20 "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" Rob Bowman Darin Morgan April 12, 1996 3X20 16.08[11]
Loved this episode. Had me laughing throughout. Best stuff was the scenes with the censoring.

In the early seasons of The X-Files, Glen Morgan and James Wong tended to write the best episodes (aside from Darin Morgan's one-off episodes). But, after they were gone, it was Vince Gilligan who tended to write the better episodes in the latter years of the series. When I found out he was the main guy behind Breaking Bad, my first thought was that if I only knew that he was the show runner, I would've started watching that show a lot sooner!

I figured you'd like "Pusher." It's still one of my favorite episodes. When I first saw "Jose Chung" I didn't care for it but over the years I've realized how freaking hilarious it is and now I love it.

Favorite line from "Pusher"...

Modell to Skinner: Take a walk, Mel Cooley!

70 21 "Avatar" James Charleston Story by: David Duchovny & Howard Gordon
Teleplay by: Howard Gordon April 26, 1996 3X21 14.62[11]

I liked this episode cause the character of Skinner has grown on me over the seasons. He seems to have a bigger role than in season one and two.

71 22 "Quagmire" Kim Manners Kim Newton May 3, 1996 3X22 16.00[11]
I remember this was my first exposure to the X-files when it first aired. I had never seen another episode and I thought that stupid dog was a regular character Skully would carry around. I turned it off before i could find out that was not the case! And that last shot was great.

72 23 "Wetwired" Rob Bowman Mat Beck May 10, 1996 3X23 14.48[11]
Great visiual effects with the screen distortion and Skully's paranoia performance was a highlight.

24 "Talitha Cumi"* R. W. Goodwin Story by: David Duchovny & Chris Carter
Teleplay by: Chris Carter May 17, 1996 3X24 17.86[11]

Good season finale but not as great as the season two finale.

Finished season one and have started season two of my rewatch. Just watched The Host last night, one of my favorite monster of the week episodes. Now I'm about to start Blood.

I think the conversation when Mulder and Scully were "stuck" on the rock in the lake is the highlight of the "Quagmire" episode. Just some great writing in that scene.

74 1 "Herrenvolk"* R. W. Goodwin Chris Carter October 4, 1996 4X01 21.11[15]
So the Bee's plot is what continues up until the movie? I recall something with Bees in the movie. Man they really love fucking with Mulder. Sad to see X go.

75 2 "Home" Kim Manners Glen Morgan & James Wong October 11, 1996 4X03 18.85[15]
I made the mistake of watching this episode while eating dinner Great cinematography work. This goes into my favorite episodes of x-files. at the scene when Mulder holds up the old newspaper of Elvis's death. "Oh No!"

76 3 "Teliko" James Charleston Howard Gordon October 18, 1996 4X04 18.01[15]

So that's wwhat happened to Michael Jackson! Okay episode.

77 4 "Unruhe" Rob Bowman Vince Gilligan October 27, 1996 4X02 19.10[15]
Another awesome V.G. episode. I could tell right away with the dialogue style that he had written the episode.

Awesome.

Yeah we shoulda warned you about that one. It's one of my favorites but it freaks me the hell out every time I watch it.

78 5 "The Field Where I Died" Rob Bowman Glen Morgan & James Wong November 3, 1996 4X05 19.85[15]

The opening narration and camerawork for that scene were great as well as the episode had a nice flow to it. Great that they chose a ballsy non-Hollywood ending.

79 6 "Sanguinarium" Kim Manners Valerie Mayhew & Vivian Mayhew November 10, 1996 4X06 18.85[15]

Nice bloody episode. Maybe a little bit over the top especially the scene with the chick in a blood filled bathtub was more of a moment than a scary one.

80 7 "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" James Wong Glen Morgan November 17, 1996 4X07 17.09[15]
My take on this episode was that the stories we heard was all fictitious and the man that supplied Frohike with the intel was working with Cancer man to feed him the lies. Especially when we find out he's an aspiring writer.

81 8 "Tunguska"double-dagger Kim Manners Frank Spotnitz & Chris Carter November 24, 1996 4X09 18.85[15]
Damn Skinner was a bad ass in this episode. Getting bored of that character Krycek. Mulder should've killed him many episodes ago. So far this season, the standalones are so much better than the mythology ep.

Wow, saying that in Season 4 when the mythology was still good. Just wait until you get to later seasons, when that gap will widen by miles.

82 9 "Terma"double-dagger Rob Bowman Frank Spotnitz & Chris Carter December 1, 1996 4X10 17.34
Kinda bored by this one as well as the previous part. There were some good action scenes but it just felt different from the other mythology episodes


83 10 "Paper Hearts" Rob Bowman Vince Gilligan December 15, 1996 4X08 16.59
Any episode revolving around Mulder and his missing sister mystery is good but this was just tragic. I feel so bad for Mulder every time he gets a lead on possibly finding out what happened to Samantha and then the moment when he realizes it's not but this one especially since the antagonist taunted Mulder throughout just made it worse. Very glad he put a bullet in that assholes head at the end.

84 11 "El Mundo Gira" Tucker Gates John Shiban January 12, 1997 4X11 22.37

I liked the different perspectives of the story which reminded me of Jose Chung's From Outer Space.

85 12 "Leonard Betts" Kim Manners Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz January 26, 1997 4X14 29.15
at Leonard's severed head winking at Skully. Loved the reveal at the end. Didn't see that one coming.

Netflix has 202 episodes availabe streaming so I am starting my own xfiles journey.
I have seen a few episodes a long time ago but now I get to start from the beginning

86 13 "Never Again" Rob Bowman Glen Morgan & James Wong February 2, 1997 4X13 21.36

I don't think it was the intention of the writers, but the talking tattoo voiced by Jodie Foster was really funny. Nice to see Skully get some finally . Also interesting to read that Tarantino was gonna Direct this episode and was flipped with Leonard Betts.

87 14 "Memento Mori"double-dagger Rob Bowman Chris Carter & Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz February 9, 1997 4X15 19.10

So i guess the Alien that healed Mulders mother healed Skully at the end of the episode?

88 15 "Kaddish" Kim Manners Howard Gordon February 16, 1997 4X12 16.56
Felt like a mediocre episode. The Golem mythology was interesting though.

89 16 "Unrequited" Michael Lange Story by: Howard Gordon
Teleplay by: Howard Gordon & Chris Carter February 23, 1997 4X16 16.56
Great episode! I really liked the last line Mulder said to Skinner "It could have been you"

Did you ever go back and give Clyde Bruckman a second chance?

202 episodes! Wow, even though I'm a long-time fan of the show, I never realized the X-Files had that many episodes.

Not yet. Will soon though

90 17 "Tempus Fugit" Rob Bowman Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz March 16, 1997 4X17 18.85


91 18 "Max" Kim Manners Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz March 23, 1997 4X18 18.34

A great two parter. I wonder if later we find out what that weapon is actually used for?


92 19 "Synchrony" James Charleston Howard Gordon & David Greenwalt April 13, 1997 4X19 18.09

Interesting take on Time Travel. I think this was also the first time X-files dealt with man made time travel stories.

93 20 "Small Potatoes" Cliff Bole Vince Gilligan April 20, 1997 4X20 20.86

Hands down the funniest X-Files yet. I had no clue this was a V.G. episode till looking it up. So many great moments. Best line exchange:

Amanda Nelligan: He dropped by my apartment one day and... one thing sort of led to another.
Mulder: But the baby's father is an alien.
Amanda Nelligan: No, no, I didn't say he was an alien. I said he's from another planet. His name is Luke Skywalker. He's what is known as a Jedi knight.
Scully: Did he have a lightsabre?
Amanda Nelligan: No, he didn't bring it. He did sing his song for me though.
Scully: How many times have you seen Star Wars, Amanda?
Amanda Nelligan: 368. I should break 400 by Memorial Day.
Scully: Okay. Thank you.
Amanda Nelligan: Oh, wait a minute. Wait. You know these... these four other babies that were... born around here with tails.
Scully: Uh-huh.
Amanda Nelligan: There couldn't be any chance... Luke's the father, is there?

Small Potatoes is another of my all-time favs. It's just hilarious.

I'm really enjoying reading your X-Files journey mhg83, keep it up. And, if you can believe it, there's a couple of episodes upcoming that even top "Small Potatoes" (my opinion, but one shared by many) as funniest "X-Files" episode. Looking forward to more.

94 21 "Zero Sum"double-dagger Kim Manners Howard Gordon & Frank Spotnitz April 27, 1997 4X21 18.60

That whole opening with Skinner disposing of the dead body was chilling. This episode highlights how evil Cancer man really is.

95 22 "Elegy" James Charleston John Shiban May 4, 1997 4X22 17.10

at Skully holding up the TV guide with Jay Leno "Do you recognize this man?" Even though she didn't have much screen time the killer nurse was creepy.

96 23 "Demons" Kim Manners R. W. Goodwin May 11, 1997 4X23 19.10
Fucked up opening and the rest of Mulder's hallucinations were done great.

97 24 "Gethsemane"double-dagger R. W. Goodwin Chris Carter May 18, 1997 4X24 19.85
I wonder if Mulder is really dead? My theory is that Fox faked his death in order to go underground and hunt the men that took the Alien body.

Overall I really liked Season 4. It was also the first time the Stand Alones' were better than the Mythology episodes.