WITH CONSPIRACIES, monsters, weirdos, and sexual tension all wrapped into one long storyline, it’s hard to put The X-Files in a box. Here’s our attempt at narrowing down a decade of the bizarre to the binge-able best.
“Pilot” (season one, episode one)—Witness the glorious meeting of a badass female FBI agent-slash-scientist and some guy in a basement who may have a porn addiction. (Seriously though, what’s with Mulder’s porn addiction?)
“Squeeze” (season one, episode three)— The first of the show’s glorious monster-of-the-week episodes, “Squeeze” introduces a recurring killer who never ages, creeps through narrow passages, and lives in a nest made of bile. Fun!
“Jersey Devil” (season one, episode five)—This is The X-Files at peak camp. Come for the laughably horrible eyewitness drawing; stay for a peek at New Jersey’s sad version of Bigfoot.
“The Host” (season two, episode two)—A soup of radioactive leftovers from Chernobyl creates the Flukeman—half-man, half-parasite who’s unsurprisingly disgusting and kind of an asshole.
“Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” (season three, episode four)—An old man who can see the future helps crack a case. “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” ends on a surprisingly emotional note—reminding viewers that Scully has feelings, and that the dad from Everybody Loves Raymond is actually a pretty good actor.
“Pusher” (season three, episode 17)—A man who can make people do whatever he wants pushes Mulder to the edge. Classic party-pooper Scully decides the guy just has a brain tumor.
“Jose Chung’s From Outer Space“ (season three, episode 20)—A slew of characters retell an alien abduction story to a science-fiction author, each putting their own twist on the tale. This episode features an alien smoking a cigarette and a charming mega-nerd. Oh, and Alex Trebek accidentally walks onto the set.
“Home” (season four, episode two)—Hillbilly stereotypes meet gruesome family values. The episode is so frighteningly icky that Fox refused to ever re-air it. If you’re not grimacing the entire time, you’re a monster.
“Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man” (season four, episode seven)—Series bad guy the Smoking Man gets a moody backstory. Turns out he’s responsible for just about every terrible thing in American history—and he’s an awful writer to boot. Also includes an emo reenactment of a scene from Forrest Gump.
“Small Potatoes” (season four, episode 20)—Remember that time Luke Skywalker fathered a baby with a tail? It’s cool, neither does Scully. Here, she ousts a shape-shifting rapist janitor and blames it on science, per usual. This episode may be the closest we’ll ever get to seeing Mulder seduce Scully. Sigh.
good list.. I’d recommend “Irresistible” (S02, E13).. not supernatural, alien or conspiracy theory but just a good old fashioned creepy serial killer episode.. this episode and “squeeze” are the ones that stuck with and creeped me out the most
and “Humbug” (S02, E20)… a great campy episode, remember in the 90s when people were ironically into freak shows a la that Simpsons episode where Homer joins a show where he gets shot in the belly with a cannon? Well this is the X-Files version of that
ALSO… the real life follow up to “The Host” episode
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/toilet…
The Vampire one with Luke Wilson is quite enjoyable. Honestly there are so many good episodes this show was on fleek.