X-Files Recaps

An alien bounty hunter is impersonating Mulder in order to kidnap Gibson Praise, while Scully and Skinner continue their own search.

Scully find Gibson's bunker in the desert, says she can protect him, "You said that to me once before" :( he's right

Alien "Scully" and chokes out one of the agents, escapes easily even though he has blood on his hand!!

Paranoia sets in between Scully and Skinner "I don't like pointing guns at pregnant women any more than I like them pointing guns at me!"

"I can't take the chance that I'm never going to see him again" 😭

The spaceship was right there but Scully couldn't see it behind the barrier ahhh!!

Alien "Skinner" kidnaps Gibson and throws Scully across the room wtf :(

Kersh wanted to ruin Doggett's career, he assigns him to the X-Files

Score: 8/10

Watch it? Yes, the first two episodes are important in establishing the season. We learn here that Doggett is not the enemy, he was being played by Kersh and ultimately wants to help. It's difficult to watch the pain in this one - Gibson, hurt and unable to trust adults; Scully, emotionally broken and physically battered by the alien bounty hunter; Mulder, being tortured and experiment on in grotesque ways.

An FBI taskforce is formed to search for Mulder, but only Skinner and Scully know the truth that he was abducted.

Kersh is the new deputy director and he does NOT want to hear about aliens

Scully calls her mom, she's falling apart :( then her computer is stolen??

Agent Doggett is in charge of the taskforce, man has no tact, READ THE ROOM MY GUY

Scully throws water in Doggett's face lmaoo!! Sir you fucking deserved that

Scully goes to Mulder's apartment, falls asleep in his bed holding his shirt 😭😭 I can't

Apparently Mulder was "dying" and he didn't tell Scully?? fuck OFFF I'm calling bullshit

Fake Mulder appears in the desert and kidnaps Gibson

Score: 8/10

Watch it? Yes, it's the beginning of long search for Mulder and the long suffering of our lady Scully. Doggett quickly climbs the list for "most punchable face" - Scully almost did punch him. I like seeing Skinner and Scully work together, as no one else can really understand what happened. The on-going "Mulder was dying" storyline will continue to piss me off, though.

After hitting the season 7 finale (and closing off, in my opinion, the best seasons of the show), I want to take a quick pause before starting season 8. It’s downhill from here, unfortunately, but I still intend to recap every episode of the X-Files. However, since I like to use this as a guide to recommend what viewers should watch/skip, I’ll go ahead and share my opinions whether it’s worth watching entire seasons going forward.

Season 8: Yes, I do recommend watching it, but there’s going to be a lot more skips in it for me. To disclose my bias - I don’t care for Doggett much at all, but I do like Reyes. The season 8 finale is likely my top choice for the ideal series finale.

Season 9: I think most of 9 is basically skippable. It's tough though, because I do still really like the last two episodes.

IWTB, Season 10, and Season 11: On the whole, I don't recommend any of these. CC has run out of sauce. Don't bother.

That being said, if you’re watching the whole show like I did, in my individual recaps I may still point out the episodes worth watching even in the late seasons, for those who are in it for the long haul. But, expect a lot of skips.

Mulder and Scully return to the scene of their very first case together after a possible UFO crash and several abductions.

Mulder: "We could start sharing rooms." Scully: "Let's go waste some money." How they respond to being audited by the FBI lmao

CSM is dying (supposedly) and he smokes through the fucking hole in his neck lol

Alien bounty hunter is working his way through the town, impersonates Billy Miles dad

Scully isn't feeling well, she goes to Mulder's hotel room and they have BIG CUDDLE TIME <3

When Mulder sees Krycek, it's on sight (about to kick his ass)

"I'm not going to risk losing you", "I won't let you go alone" omg they're too much for me rn

Unexpected team?? Krycek and Marita join Skinner, the agents, and the Lone Gunmen on a plan

Krycek pushes CSM's wheelchair down the stairs hahahaha there he fucking goes

Scully faints, and it's Mulder who's abducted; then "I'm pregnant" oh my GOD such a cruel ending

Score: 10/10 ❤️

Watch it? Requiem my beloved. Yes. I actually think if they made this a two-parter it could've been worked into a great series finale. It's so poetic how they return to where it all started, and now so much has changed. I would've been happy to have CSM stay dead and Billy Miles stay... human?

A man comes to see Mulder and Scully, he claims his employee made his mouth disappear and he had to get surgery just to re-open it.

Anson discovers the genie in a storage unit, but every wish he makes seems to backfire and ultimately dies while invisible

Scully autopsies the invisible body and thinks it's a scientific marvel, she's so excited that she calls in other scientists

She literally gaslights herself that the body wasn't real after it disappears, Mulder is annoyed lol

Anson's brother gets the genie and makes stupid wishes too, bringing Anson back to life as a horrifying zombie

Mulder wishes for "peace on earth", but that makes everyone else in the world disappear

Mulder finds that this immortal genie lady has worked alongside powerful people (Nixon, Mussolini??)

"Well, I'm fairly happy" <3 after everything M&S enjoy a cute little beer and movie night together

Score: 8/10 ❤️

Watch it? Yeah, it's a cute one. The plot is a bit too predictable with its "all magic comes with a price" message and the right choice being to ultimately free the genie. I do love the ending though and I can see how some people see this as a "true ending" for the show, but for me it's too much about the idiot brothers and the episode that comes next is one of my favorites.

The agents investigate the sporadic and violent circumstances that regular people engaged in when two identical women were in proximity of one another.

Door-to-door Mormons begin fist-fighting each other after encountering the identical women lmao

Mulder and Scully "doppleganger" agents also beat the shit out of each other

Scully guesses the details of the case from Mulder's clues, she's excited to get this like it's a game

Mulder is sucked into a storm drain when he encounters them??

Betty and Lulu both decide to make paper copies of $100 bills and somehow that manages to fool people...!?

It turns out Betty and Lulu share a father, who is basically the angriest man alive

It's implied that Mulder and Scully also hit one another, they're all beat up but we didn't see it happen

Score: 5/10

Watch it? I don't hate it as much as some people do, but still, nah. It's a less-good version of Syzygy, with characters that are not very compelling. There's definitely some funny parts though (the Mormons fighting each other really got me), and Mulder and Scully get roped into some very silly situations.

The agents investigate the attempted murder of Cardinal O'Fallon while being shadowed by a Hollywood director who wants to create a movie based off the X-Files.

Federman, the director, is Skinner's (Skinman??) old college buddy and he just lets him intrude on an FBI case

This is the most out-of-character that Skinner has ever felt, who is this man? I find the "Marilyn Monroe" line really cringe

"Just curious if she's more than your partner" Federman keeps asking Mulder, he bats him away

Really weird and irrelevant storyline about the Cardinal, fake biblical texts, and a guy who thinks he's Jesus

Federman sees bones in a catacomb just get up and start dancing... genuinely wtf is this

Scully shows actress-Scully (Téa Leoni!! Not weird at all!!) how to run in heels lmao

Scully giggles, holding Mulder's arm, they take the FBI card and go out on the town together <3

Score: 7/10 ❤️

Watch it? Yeah, but I'm mixed on it. I'm sorry DD, but this one's a bit too self-referential, too pretentious for me. There are some great moments, the movie is funny-bad, I do love that Scully and Mulder are basically just a couple in this and they get to actually have some time off together. I find the actual case very uninteresting though.

Skinner is charged with protecting a researcher who is planning to testify against Morley Tobacco, but the researcher is found dead with his face ripped away.

Genetically engineered tobacco created super tobacco beetles (their eggs can travel via smoke??)

Morley's lawyers don't allow the researchers to say anything, Mulder is petty with them

Really gross stuff, the bugs quickly grow in your lungs and destroy your face

One man from the test study is immune to the effects of the cigarette, he's killing people with secondhand smoke

Mulder showing Scully his bloody hand post-cough is giving "i frew up"

Mulder has to get the bugs pumped out of his lungs :( The only thing that can cure him is a big dose of nicotine

He has the urge to smoke now, but Scully is having none of that lol

Score: 6/10 ❤️

Watch it? Maybe, it's worth watching once. Although it's a crazy way to die, it's scary and reasonably believable that a shitty company would hide something like this. Mulder comes really close to dying here, Scully figures out how to save him, and I got worried for a second there that he would start smoking Morleys (like his father 👀).

It’s Scully time! Mulder goes to England to investigate crop circles, while a series of coincidences lead Scully to confront her former professor who she had an affair with.

The episode opens: Scully pulling her shirt down, Mulder’s bathroom, Mulder’s leg under the sheet… We’re finally eating good!!

Scully visits Dr. Waterson in the hospital after accidentally being handed his x-rays - his daughter really hates Scully oof

Confirmed lesbians on the show for once! I liked this couple a lot but the “holistic” healing of cancer thing… hmm

Dr. Waterson got divorced and followed to Scully to DC, but she didn’t even know. Yikes sir

Scully brings a chakra healer to the hospital to heal him, pissing off doctors

“It’s time you took responsibility for the hurt you caused your family” yeah fuck you man!!

The mystery woman Scully has been seeing the whole time is suddenly Mulder? Hmm wonder what that means

Scully falls asleep while Mulder rambles and he tucks her hair behind her ear… ohhh

Score: 10/10 ❤️

Watch it? Yes!! It feel like everything culminates up to this moment. The first time I saw it I lost my mind - confirmed sex?? It's not perfect only because it gets very pseudoscience-y, obviously it's a win that Scully decides to believe in holistic/non-medical healing but it's hard to not view this idea outside of the scope of the X-Files. But Gillian made a hell of an MSR episode, with great music, and it was such a good payoff.

Mulder is asked to investigate the disappearance of a woman after she saw some ominous ravens, while Scully is stuck back in D.C. on a stakeout.

A monster is killing people in the suburbs, ravens appear near it and it causes mirrors to break

Shitty married cop appears to be sleeping with basically every woman in town??

Mulder is having a cozy time staying in the cop's house, while Scully is having a terrible time, eating cold pizza

"Not in the widely understood definition of that term" ohhh that's quite an answer lmao

Scully figures out the stakeout situation - a man was cross-dressing to take sex workers to a halfway house to be "saved"

The monster tries to drown Mulder in the tub, but then she sees her reflection

The cop's wife bottled up her anger against her husband so much that she became a monster

Score: 5/10

Watch it? Eh, you can skip. It's a good twist I guess, but of course this woman turned evil - her husband sucks so much. Scully's phone calls while on stakeout are pretty funny, she really hates it. Also, Mulder's response to "do you have a significant other" is not so straightforward but it's something.

The agents investigate a child who was seemingly cured of cancer by "angels", then CSM finds Scully to tell her it was he who cured the boy.

CSM claims he can give Scully the "cure to every disease" if she comes with him to meet a man named Cobra

Scully was suddenly in bed changed into her PJs. What the fuck was that?? He drugged her?

Mulder gets Scully's landlord to open her apartment door (he doesn't have a key??)

"You'd die for Mulder, but you won't allow yourself to love him" okay yes he cooked with that one

She tries to send Mulder a tape she hid, but it's intercepted

SCULLY IN THAT DRESS!!! I love it so much but I hate that CSM is the one who told her to wear it

Mulder is so upset with Scully that he can't even look at her, it's juicy stuff lol

Score: 6/10

Watch it? Maybe... Ugh, part of me hates it but there's good stuff too. I just do not believe Scully would fall for his shit, but I said that about Mulder in One Son, too, so he has his ways. Also CSM is such a creeeep. However I do think it's an interesting role reversal for Scully to lie, take off, and do something ill-advised while Mulder searches for her.

Mulder and Scully investigate the gruesome murder of a prominent doctor's father-in-law, with the word "theef" written on the wall.

A vengeful man (Peattie) from Appalachia uses hexes to kill the doctor's family members with old-world diseases

Peattie's daughter was "put out of her misery" by the doctor after a horrible accident, she was going to die anyway

Peattie is using the daughter's body as a charmed item to do witchcraft

Some good MSR flirting in this episode, "I'll always keep you guessing ;)"

This villain just feels poorly written. Like does anyone actually talk like that? Maybe I don't know enough about Appalachia

Voodoo doll in the microwave = MRI machine burns, that one was wild

He hexes Scully with blindness to prevent her from interfering

Score: 5/10

Watch it? It's skippable. The best thing about this episode is the flirting and a very badass blind Scully (her eyes are all white, it's creepy but cool). Other than that, I wasn't very compelled by any of the characters, but the voodoo hexes and diseases were interesting I guess.

The Lone Gunmen summon Mulder and Scully to the headquarters of a video game company after a playtester dies playing an unreleased VR game.

I'm sorry but I'm not believing that Mulder is a "gamer" lol. Since when??

How the hell would you "ship" this game? How would you play this at home without a huge warehouse space?

The disaster-lesbian developer made a very hot OC "Maitreya" and she snuck into the game and started killing people IRL lmao

Mulder prints out the character model and shows people as if it's a suspect photograph

Apparently men cannot be normal around Jade Blue Afterglow. Ick. She's hot and kinda flirty with Scully?

Mulder is trapped in the game, so Scully jumps in and kicks ass to save him

The impact that the Matrix had huh... Mulder is giving Neo with his little sunglasses

Score: 6/10

Watch it? Ah, I'm torn on this one. I guess I'd say yes. But like 80% of it is very cringey "boys will be boys" kind of shit. Mulder and Scully never act like this so it feels really out of place. However, I do like that it turns this on its head when it turns out it's actually the female gaze that ended up creating Maitreya. And it's Scully that beats the game.

The agents pursue a monster terrorizing a neighborhood while being taped for the television show Cops.

They think it's a werewolf at first, but it's actually a "contagion of fear" that attacks as your worst fear

Hispanic lady saw Freddy Kruger, cop sees a bug monster, the autopsy lady got instant hantavirus

Mulder and Scully get brought in after a bunch of cops surround them with guns, wild moment

Scully hates the cameras, she keeps pulling Mulder away and tells them and throws them out of her car lol

The cops really don't want to listen to Mulder's theories, they think he's off his ass

Steve and Edy are the stars of this episode!! They're so good, DD could hardly restrain laughter as he broke up their fight

Score: 8/10

Watch it? Yes, I know this isn't a popular one but I think it's really fun. I love found-footage style horror and I think the "boggart"-style monster that transforms into the thing you fear is really cool. I also enjoy Scully and Mulder with cameras in their face because they respond very differently to being perceived in this way.

Truelove admits to the murder of 24 children but not Amber Lynn or Samantha; Mulder is approached by a police psychic who claims he can help him find her.

"This particular wound has never healed" Scully tells FBI agent who tells her to let Samantha's case go

Mulder "channels" his mother's spirit, she tells him to go to April Base

CSM shows up inside Scully's apartment to tell her to stop looking. Man is such a creeeep

They discover Samantha and Jeffrey's childhood home... hmm so did Jeffrey and Cassandra not remember Samantha?

Mulder finds Samantha's diary, she was being tested on constantly and ran away

The children who are taken by "walk-ins" are saved from terrible pain, but they're still dead

Mulder embraces the spirit of Samantha :( she's officially confirmed dead. Mulder is finally "free"

Score: 7/10

Watch it? Yes. Mulder's final scene with Samantha is tragic but beautiful, and he can finally move on. But: I really don't like how they decided to introduce a brand new concept of "walk-ins" that has nothing to do with aliens at all and is never mentioned again. Not to mention multiple sources has told Mulder his sister is "still alive" years ago. I'm also confused why this wasn't the season finale - the goal of the entire show comes to fruition and we just go back to regular programming next episode??

Mulder takes it upon himself to investigate the unexplained disappearance of a young girl, where the note left behind was written by the mom herself.

Skinner sends Scully to find Mulder after he doesn't submit his report despite begging for this case

Mulder's mom calls him about it the girl, he forgets to call her back when he's home

"No one shoots at Santa Claus" comes up in these abduction notes

Mulder's mom dies very suddenly :( He's suspicious and asks Scully to do the autopsy

"She was trying to tell you to stop" Mulder gives in and breaks down in Scully's arms

"You better book 3 flights" lmaooo Scully is NOT leaving him alone during this

They get to Santa's North Pole Parks, which turns out to be a mass burial site for children... damn this is so dark :(

Score: 9/10 ❤️

Watch it? Yes, although I have my issues with how they finally decided to end the Samantha arc, I think this is a strong episode. Mulder has no family anymore, but he is close to finally have resolution about Samantha. Despite Scully not agreeing with his approach, she's there for him every step of the way and goes as far as performing his mom's autopsy for him.

After a man is killed by over 100 rattlesnake bites, the agents investigate a the snake-handling pastor of an intolerant, fundamentalist church.

Despite the snake bites, there was no actual evidence of snakes in the murdered guy's car

Random but I like Mulder's new black button-up shirt here :)

Pastor O'Connor "tests" Scully's faith by forcing her on to the snakes, wtf man

O'Connor "heals" himself from snake bites without any antivenom??

The pastor's daughter gives birth to snakes!! This was an absolutely insane scene

It turns out the tolerant, open-minded pastor was actually the devil snake man... weeeird message here?

Mulder gets bit a bunch of times when he discovers the truth

Score: 5/10

Watch it? No, skip it. It's my least favorite episode in this season. I would've maybe given this one 4/10 if it wasn't for the bonkers scenes of giving birth to snakes and a snake coming out of a man's mouth. Overall I don't like it much as a story, and I find the message to be kinda questionable, too.