The Top Ten X-Files Episodes

[Guest WaveCrest]

There's one scene which made me chuckle, but I can't remember the dialogue exactly. Scully was in a morgue making a comment to another woman in the room about the FBI being mysterious.

I don't know if it was classed as an official crossover with COPS, but I've always thought of it as being a crossover with the FOX reality series. And while it wasn't the 150th episode shown on FOX, I class X-COPS as the proper 150th episode of The X Files (and not First Person Shooter!).

[ethsnafu]

Gillian's performance is reason alone to watch that episode. Scully's palpable embarrassment at being on television and her attempts to evade the camera are superb.

I completely agree that watching episodes again is a risky venture. That said it sometimes increases my appreciation of them as was the case with "Release" which I considered very mediocre on first viewing and then surprisingly good thereafter. I think Millennium was vastly underrated because some of its episodes need more than one viewing to appreciate but as someone once said 'television should be designed to be appreciated the first time you see it, if it isn't doing that then it isn't doing its job' so maybe it's unfair to expect viewers to scrutinise the show the way most of us here have.

Eth

[Guest Sidewinder]

Well, it's probably right. But isn't that a very sad fact? Shouldn't producers be interested in creating something lasting longer than a Cheeseburger?

Even among the people I know in my family and my working place are many, many folks who watch television with only half an eye on the screen. They do crosswords, read newspapers, cooking, clean… All that stuff. And they aim for something they can enjoy while using not more than half their brain.

Jap. Maybe that's the truth. But man, then switch off the TV. If I'm not (mentally) present, I don't "need the sound of someone speaking".

[ethsnafu]

Oh the people I know are exactly the same. It's surprising how many people have the TV on simply for 'background noise'.

I do think the nature of TV is changing these days as a host of factors shape its future. Almost everyone has access to DVR's these days and shows need to be built to last whereas it wasn't uncommon for entire series' to be junked after the first airing at the dawn of television as no one ever expected they would be watched again.

There aren't many shows I can watch 'ad infiitum' but Millennium and the X-Files are certainly two of them.

As for the charger about the immediacy of television. I do think there is a valid point being made there. It isn't so much that a show cannot contain layers but that it shouldn't require more than one viewing to understand the basics of the narrative. I wouldn't say Millennium was guilty of that charge (although some episode, Bardo Thodol being on venture dangerously near) but it wasn't a show that was easily penetrable to the average viewer.

That said I do believe we are all the richer for it. There are plenty of X-Factor type shows around as it is, thank heavens we have our Millennium DVDs.

Eth

[IHaveGoodInstincts]

X-Files top ten....this could be tough. I could more easily do top five for each season, but alas, this is more of a challenge.

I'll just have to go with my gut on this one.

Anazazi/Blessing Way/Paper Clip (if I am at least allowed to put the 2 and 3 parters together...)

Deep Throat

Darkness Falls

Little Green Men (It's really hard for me to pick tthree out of the 24 in season 2!)

One Breath

NIsei/731 (Darn, up to 6 already!)

Detour (The first episode I liked, before I really liked the show)

Patient X/Red & the Black

Folie a Deux (The second episode I liked, before I really liked the show)

Drat! only one more to pick! Ice! (I love "bottle" and "base under seige" episodes!)

EBE is #11 for me!

I guess if I was doing a list of 20, I would have included a few from season 8 and possibly 9.

[ethsnafu]

That's a great list IHGI. It's nice to see someone considering episodes from season eight and nine which are very underrated in my opinion and certaily not deserving of the bile I have seen elsewhere in which fans (often shippers) refuse to consider them part of the canon. I decided to attempt a top ten of episodes from the final two seasons just to see how it would look and I found it a lot harder than I thought I would. There are some great episodes in am amongst those seasons. I have to say that this top ten is in no particular order it's just ten great episodes folks.

1) 4D

2) Badlaa

3) Roadrunners

4) Vienen

5) John Doe

6) William

7) Release

8) Provenance/Providence

9) The Truth I&II

10) Within & Without

I can comfortable say I could have added a number of other episodes to that list.

Eth

[IHaveGoodInstincts]

There's some good gusto: a top ten list from Seasons 8 and 9. Here's mine, in no particular order. I like it that season 8 was more of a story arc and got away from being too comedic like season 7.

Within/without

Roadrunners (I have found this one to be hit or miss with fans)

Redrum

The gift (because of the story arc anxiety it gave, though the brain cancer thing was a peculiar turn in the plot)

This is not happening/deadalive/3 words

vienen

Daemonicus

Provenance/providence

The truth

Tie between Patience and John Doe (Oh, what we Americans know about Mexico now!)

[ethsnafu]

Patience is a great episode. I have to confess to having it in place of 4D a few times until I went with that choice. I like patience because it is, essentially, an episode that sees the passing of the torch from Mulder to Scully in terms of who heads the XF unit. I also enjoyed the new dynamic between Doggett and Scully and this episode does a great job of showing just how better suited Scully and Doggett are as partners at least in a competency sense.

Eth

[Libby]

There's no way I could compile a list of my top 10 XF episodes - I can't even do that for Millennium!

But I'm glad to see that Vienen is included in some lists. That is one of my many favourites. It was written and directed by what some might regard as a "second string" duo of Steven Maeda and Rod Hardy, even though it tied in quite frighteningly to the black oil. It also showcased how well Duchovny and Patrick worked together. That was a real oil rig that they filmed on, and amongst all the usual concerns they had about a tight filming schedule and accommodating all the crew as they would on any location shoot, they also had to ferry everyone out there and cope with the hazard of the walkways being coated with a fine film of oil. And I bet DD and RP loved reproducing the "Butch Cassidy" leap.

[ethsnafu]

I had to make mention of Vienen not simply because it is a great episode, which it is, but also because it is the final outing of The Black Oil which was such an iconic motif of the X-Files for me as a viewer. It's also a highpoint because of the cracking chemistry between Duchovny and Patrick who work superbly alongside each other. There's a lot of give and take in their scenes which is always nice to see and it's evident that each actor is mindful of providing the other with moments that encourage each other rather than upstage each other.

It really takes me back to the early episodes such as EBE and Ice and for that it is most welcome.

Eth

PS Would anyone call me silly if I said 'Improbable' is also a really, really good episode.