I Want To Believe: Top 10 X-Files Moments

The news didn’t come soon enough for some diehard fans, but creators of a forthcoming X-Files miniseries announced the return of the show and everyone’s favorite FBI agents, Mulder and Scully. To get excited for the premiere on January 24, 2016, let’s reminisce about 10 of the series’ best moments.

10. The Post-Modern Prometheus

http://www.clubdesmonstres.com/

http://www.clubdesmonstres.com/

This episode aired during the show’s fifth season. It was already a hit by now, so series’ creator Chris Carter had complete freedom to be as creative as he wanted to be when he wrote and directed this episode, which is a bizarre take on the Frankenstein story.

9. Drive

http://static.comicvine.com/

http://static.comicvine.com/

Featuring a pre-Breaking Bad pairing of Bryan Cranston and Vince Gilligan, this episode revolves around a man (played by Cranston) who takes Mulder hostage and forces him to drive cross country. Cranston’s character has a strange condition that requires him to keep moving or he will die. He steals the show and Gilligan has mentioned previously that it was this very episode that persuaded him to cast Cranston as the iconic Walter White in Breaking Bad.

8. The Pilot

WikiMedia

WikiMedia

Probably the best place to start your X-Files journey is at the beginning. Here you will get to know agents Mulder and Scully, and how they interact with each other. What made the show a classic is all in this episode. Not only do you get some character depth, but, later on in the series, there is foreshadowing and references that only viewers from the start will appreciate.

7. Small Potatoes

http://i.onionstatic.com/

http://i.onionstatic.com/

Another Gilligan-penned episode, this is one of his comedic endeavors. One of the shows’ best comedy writers, Darin Morgan, left the season before “Small Potatoes” aired, but Gilligan was able to channel some of the qualities of the show that fans love (like that tension between Mulder and Scully_ and make it funny. The episode involves a shapeshifter that preoccupies Mulder, but the thing viewers will remember is laughing.

6. Vienen

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/

This episode is in season eight of the X-Files, the David Duchovny-less season. Just because Mulder is gone is not a reason to skip the season. Duchovny makes guest appearances throughout, including in this episode. He and another character, Doggett, played by Robert Patrick, go offshore to investigate a virus called the black oil. This episode takes some of what made the series great, with the return of one of its original stars.

5. Home

http://icdn7.digitaltrends.com/

http://icdn7.digitaltrends.com/

The series didn’t have many jump-out-of-your-seat moments, but this episode certainly provided some. The premise is that Mulder and Scully are trapped in a haunted house owned by three bizarre brothers. This episode is so freaky that it has been taken out of the regular re-run lineup and is only played on Halloween.

4. Ice

http://www.cannotbetamed.com/

http://www.cannotbetamed.com/

Forewarning to those of you that have a fear of claustrophobia, because this episode features some tight, enclosed spaces. Mulder and Scully get stranded in a research facility in the Arctic. If that doesn’t sound bad enough, there is also an alien worm there that causes people to go on killing sprees. That would make anyone wish there was a little bit more room to breathe.

3. Beyond the Sea

http://www.themarysue.com/

http://www.themarysue.com/

An episode from the first X-Files season, this involves a psychic inmate who convinces Scully that he can help her connect with her dead father. Given the subject matter, it isn’t a surprise that Gillian Anderson gives a wonderful, emotional performance.

2. Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/

Another Morgan-penned episode, this is probably his best. This one features Peter Boyle playing a psychic who knows when people will die. A typical Morgan episode, it’s funny and sad, but so enjoyable.

1. Die Hand Die Verletzt

http://empireonline.media/

http://empireonline.media/

Was the Satanic Panic of the 1980s real? This episode hints that it was and that evil forces are running places like our schools. Murders spring up and the agents make the conclusion that a cult, with Satan himself possibly at the helm, is to blame.

These are only 10 of X-Files’ best moments. Watch (or re-watch) this series and find your favorite moments before it returns next year.

 


 

Will you be watching the X-Files’ triumphant return next year?


 

Comments

comments

Kirstin Wright
Kirstin Wright
Kirstin is an IT worker by day and a freelance writer by night. When not behind a computer screen, she can be found exploring one of central Florida's famous theme parks or embarking on a new adventure. You can read about her adventures at Fun Orlando Ideas!