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The X-Files   Premise   Crossovers   Episodes   Background    

The X-Files is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. Premiering on the Fox network on September 10th, 1993 with the Pilot episode, the show lasted nine seasons in its original run. In 1998, the first feature film, The X-Files: Fight the Future, was released, starring the main cast of the television series.

During the initial run of the series, two spin-off shows were aired. These series were set in the same universe as The X-Files and were named Millennium and The Lone Gunmen.

The X-Files completed its original run with the season nine finale The Truth - a two-hour episode that first aired on May 19, 2002. A second feature film, entitled The X-Files: I Want to Believe, followed in 2008.

In January 2015, Fox TV heads Dana Walden and Gary Newman confirmed as part of the Television Critics Association Press Tour that the network was in talks to bring the series back in something of a "revival." [1] On March 24 2015, Fox officially picked up the revival for a 6-episode run. [2]

Season 10 of The X-Files premiered on the Fox Network on January 24, 2016, and concluded a month later on February 22. On April 20, 2017, Fox officially announced that The X-Files would be returning for an eleventh season, which would air in 2018.

The eleventh season of The X-Files consisted of ten episodes, and aired from January 3 - March 21, 2018.

Episode Types

Mythology

mythology episodes explore the show's overall story arc - the existence of extraterrestrial life on earth. These are typically in the form of:

  • Government/Syndicate conspiracy to hide the truth from the American public
  • Cloning/Colonization
  • Hybrid
  • Super-soldiers.

Every season begins and ends with a Mythology episode, although they appear far less frequently than Monster of the week episodes throughout the course of a season. Mythology episodes roughly make up one third of all episodes.

Monster of the Week Episodes

Monster of the Week episodes deal with some type of supernatural or paranormal creature/phenomena or sometimes a simple criminal with a unique gift. They are usually separate from mythology episodes, although some MOTW storylines/elements can overlap with the mythology arc.

Crossovers

As the first series created by Chris Carter, The X-Files is considered to be the central series of the fictional universe which also includes Millennium and The Lone Gunmen (TV series), and there are several crossovers seen throughout the series.

A character who appeared in both The X-Files and Millennium was fictional novelist José Chung. Chung, first created by writer Darin Morgan for The X-Files episode "José Chung's From Outer Space", was also the focus of the Millennium episode "José Chung's Doomsday Defense". The only specific crossover featuring regular cast, however, was The X-Files episode "Millennium", in which the story arc of Millennium was finally resolved, following that series' cancellation. The episode featured Frank Black and his daughter, Jordan.

First appearing in The X-Files episode "E.B.E.", the characters of the Lone Gunmen were later given their own spin-off series, The Lone Gunmen. Featuring appearances from Fox Mulder, Walter Skinner and Morris Fletcher, the series lasted only one season. Like "Millennium" before it, the resolution for the series finale cliffhanger was later shown in the episode "Jump the Shark", featuring "The Lone Gunmen" characters of Jimmy Bond, Yves Adele Harlow and Kimmy Belmont.

The season five episode "Unusual Suspects" also features the character of Detective John Munch. Portrayed by Richard Belzer, the character of Munch is also a regular character of both Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Following this connection further, all three series of The X-Files, Millennium and The Lone Gunmen are considered to be part of the "Tommy Westphall Universe".

Although The Simpsons was featured in a fictional sense in The X-Files episode "The End", an episode of that animated series, entitled "The Springfield Files", included appearances by Agents Mulder and Scully as well as aliens, the Cigarette Smoking Man and FBI Headquarters.

The X-Files featured many other references to films and television series, including Harsh Realm, the only other series created by Chris Carter's Ten Thirteen Productions. Like The Lone Gunmen, Harsh Realm also lasted only one season. Although it did not include any direct references to The X-Files, a scene from the series can briefly be seen playing on a television screen in The X-Files episode "Sein Und Zeit", watched by Bud LaPierre, who exclaims while watching the scene, "This is great!" and later recalls, while being interviewed by Mulder, that he had never before heard of the series but that it had been good. The character of Bud Lapierre was portrayed by Mark Rolston, who appeared in Harsh Realm's second episode as a bounty hunter. Furthermore, the movie The X-Files: I Want to Believe includes cameo appearances by Sarah-Jane Redmond, whose character introduces herself as Special Agent in Charge Fossa; the same actress played a recurring character called Inga Fossa on Harsh Realm.

Morley cigarettes, a brand depicted in The X-Files and Millennium, have also appeared in many different films and television series, including Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Main Cast

Episode List

Note: Episodes highlighted in yellow and marked with a double-dagger (‡) are episodes in the series' alien mythology arc. For a more detailed episode list, visit List of The X-Files episodes.


Season 1

      Main Article: The X-Files (Season 1)
Episode # Title Original Air Date
1 "The Pilot"‡ September 10, 1993
2 "Deep Throat"‡ September 17, 1993
3 "Squeeze" September 24, 1993
4 "Conduit" October 1, 1993
5 "The Jersey Devil" October 8, 1993
6 "Shadows" October 22, 1993
7 "Ghost in the Machine" October 29, 1993
8 "Ice" November 5, 1993
9 "Space" November 12, 1993
10 "Fallen Angel"‡ November 19, 1993
11 "Eve" December 10, 1993
12 "Fire" December 17, 1993
13 "Beyond the Sea" January 7, 1994
14 "Gender Bender" January 21, 1994
15 "Lazarus" February 4, 1994
16 "Young at Heart" February 11, 1994
17 "E.B.E."‡ February 18, 1994
18 "Miracle Man" March 18, 1994
19 "Shapes" April 1, 1994
20 "Darkness Falls" April 15, 1994
21 "Tooms" April 22, 1994
22 "Born Again" April 29, 1994
23 "Roland" May 6, 1994
24 "The Erlenmeyer Flask"‡ May 13, 1994


Season 2

      Main Article: The X-Files (Season 2)
Episode # Title Original Air Date
1 "Little Green Men"‡ September 16, 1994
2 "The Host" September 23, 1994
3 "Blood" September 30, 1994
4 "Sleepless" October 7, 1994
5 "Duane Barry"‡ October 14, 1994
6 "Ascension"‡ October 21, 1994
7 "3" November 4, 1994
8 "One Breath"‡ November 11, 1994
9 "Firewalker" November 18, 1994
10 "Red Museum"‡ December 9, 1994
11 "Excelsis Dei" December 16, 1994
12 "Aubrey" January 6, 1995
13 "Irresistible" January 13, 1995
14 "Die Hand Die Verletzt" January 27, 1995
15 "Fresh Bones" February 3, 1995
16 "Colony"‡ February 10, 1995
17 "End Game"‡ February 17, 1995
18 "Fearful Symmetry" February 24, 1995
19 "Død Kalm" March 10, 1995
20 "Humbug" March 31, 1995
21 "The Calusari" April 14, 1995
22 "F. Emasculata" April 28, 1995
23 "Soft Light" May 5, 1995
24 "Our Town" May 12, 1995
25 "Anasazi"‡ May 19, 1995


Season 3

      Main Article: The X-Files (Season 3)
Episode # Title Original Air Date
1 "The Blessing Way"‡ September 22, 1995
2 "Paper Clip"‡ September 29, 1995
3 "D.P.O." October 6, 1995
4 "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose October 13, 1995
5 "The List" October 20, 1995
6 "2Shy" November 3, 1995
7 "The Walk" November 10, 1995
8 "Oubliette" November 17, 1995
9 "Nisei"‡ November 24, 1995
10 "731"‡ December 1, 1995
11 "Revelations" December 15, 1995
12 "War of the Coprophages" January 5, 1996
13 "Syzygy" January 26, 1996
14 "Grotesque" February 2, 1996
15 "Piper Maru"‡ February 9, 1996
16 "Apocrypha"‡ February 16, 1996
17 "Pusher" February 23, 1996
18 "Teso Dos Bichos March 8, 1996
19 "Hell Money March 29, 1996
20 "José Chung's From Outer Space April 12, 1996
21 "Avatar" April 26, 1996
22 "Quagmire" May 3, 1996
23 "Wetwired" May 10, 1996
24 "Talitha Cumi"‡ May 17, 1996


Season 4

      Main Article: The X-Files (Season 4)
Episode # Title Original Air Date
1 "Herrenvolk"‡ October 4, 1996
2 "Home" October 11, 1996
3 "Teliko" October 18, 1996
4 "Unruhe October 27, 1996
5 "The Field Where I Died" November 3, 1996
6 "Sanguinarium" November 10, 1996
7 "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"‡ November 17, 1996
8 "Tunguska"‡ November 24, 1996
9 "Terma"‡ December 1, 1996
10 "Paper Hearts" December 15, 1996
11 "El Mundo Gira" January 12, 1997
12 "Leonard Betts" January 26, 1997
13 "Never Again" February 2, 1997
14 "Memento Mori" February 9, 1997
15 "Kaddish"‡ February 16, 1997
16 "Unrequited" February 23, 1997
17 "Tempus Fugit"‡ March 16, 1997
18 "Max"‡ March 23, 1997
19 "Synchrony" April 13, 1997
20 "Small Potatoes" April 20, 1997
21 "Zero Sum"‡ April 27, 1997
22 "Elegy" May 4, 1997
23 "Demons"‡ May 11, 1997
24 "Gethsemane"‡ May 18, 1997


Season 5

      Main Article: The X-Files (Season 5)
Episode # Title Original Air Date
1 "Redux"‡ November 2, 1997
2 "Redux II"‡ November 9, 1997
3 "Unusual Suspects" November 16, 1997
4 "Detour" November 23, 1997
5 "The Post-Modern Prometheus" November 30, 1997
6 "Christmas Carol"‡ December 7, 1997
7 "Emily"‡ December 14, 1997
8 "Kitsunegari" January 4, 1998
9 "Schizogeny" January 11, 1998
10 "Chinga" February 8, 1998
11 "Kill Switch February 15, 1998
12 "Bad Blood" February 22, 1998
13 "Patient X"‡ March 1, 1998
14 "The Red and the Black"‡ March 8, 1998
15 "Travelers" March 29, 1998
16 "Mind's Eye" April 19, 1998
17 "All Souls" April 26, 1998
18 "The Pine Bluff Variant" May 3, 1998
19 "Folie à Deux" May 10, 1998
20 "The End"‡ May 17, 1998


Feature Film


Season 6

      Main Article: The X-Files (Season 6)
Episode # Title Original Air Date
1 "The Beginning"‡ November 8, 1998
2 "Drive" November 15, 1998
3 "Triangle" November 22, 1998
4 "Dreamland" November 29, 1998
5 "Dreamland II" December 6, 1998
6 "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" December 13, 1998
7 "Terms of Endearment" January 3, 1999
8 "The Rain King" January 10, 1999
9 "S.R. 819"‡ January 17, 1999
10 "Tithonus" January 24, 1999
11 "Two Fathers"‡ February 7, 1999
12 "One Son"‡ February 14, 1999
13 "Agua Mala" February 21, 1999
14 "Monday" February 28, 1999
15 "Arcadia" March 7, 1999
16 "Alpha" March 28, 1999
17 "Trevor" April 11, 1999
18 "Milagro" April 18, 1999
19 "The Unnatural" April 25, 1999
20 "Three of a Kind" May 2, 1999
21 "Field Trip" May 9, 1999
22 "Biogenesis"‡ May 16, 1999


Season 7

      Main Article: The X-Files (Season 7)
Episode # Title Original Air Date
1 "The Sixth Extinction"‡ November 7, 1999
2 "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati"‡ November 14, 1999
3 "Hungry" November 21, 1999
4 "Millennium November 28, 1999
5 "Rush" December 5, 1999
6 "The Goldberg Variation" December 12, 1999
7 "Orison" January 9, 2000
8 "The Amazing Maleeni" January 16, 2000
9 "Signs and Wonders" January 23, 2000
10 "Sein Und Zeit February 6, 2000
11 "Closure" February 13, 2000
12 "X-Cops" February 20, 2000
13 "First Person Shooter" February 27, 2000
14 "Theef" March 12, 2000
15 "En Ami"‡ March 19, 2000
16 "Chimera" April 2, 2000
17 "all things" April 9, 2000
18 "Brand X" April 16, 2000
19 "Hollywood A.D." April 30, 2000
20 "Fight Club" May 7, 2000
21 "Je Souhaite" May 14, 2000
22 "Requiem"‡ May 21, 2000


Season 8

      Main Article: The X-Files (Season 8)
Episode # Title Original Air Date
1 "Within"‡ November 5, 2000
2 "Without"‡ November 12, 2000
3 "Patience" November 19, 2000
4 "Roadrunners" November 26, 2000
5 "Invocation" December 3, 2000
6 "Redrum" December 10, 2000
7 "Via Negativa" December 17, 2000
8 "Surekill" January 7, 2001
9 "Salvage" January 14, 2001
10 "Badlaa" January 21, 2001
11 "The Gift"‡ February 4, 2001
12 "Medusa" February 11, 2001
13 "Per Manum"‡ February 18, 2001
14 "This Is Not Happening"‡ February 25, 2001
15 "DeadAlive"‡ April 1, 2001
16 "Three Words"‡ April 8, 2001
17 "Empedocles" April 22, 2001
18 "Vienen"‡ April 29, 2001
19 "Alone" May 6, 2001
20 "Essence"‡ May 13, 2001
21 "Existence"‡ May 20, 2001


Season 9

      Main Article: The X-Files (Season 9)
Episode # Title Original Air Date
1 "Nothing Important Happened Today"‡ November 11, 2001
2 "Nothing Important Happened Today II"‡ November 18, 2001
3 "Dæmonicus" December 2, 2001
4 "4-D" December 9, 2001
5 "Lord of the Flies December 16, 2001
6 "Trust No 1"‡ January 6, 2002
7 "John Doe" January 13, 2002
8 "Hellbound" January 27, 2002
9 "Provenance"‡ March 3, 2002
10 "Providence"‡ March 10, 2002
11 "Audrey Pauley March 17, 2002
12 "Underneath March 31, 2002
13 "Improbable" April 7, 2002
14 "Scary Monsters" April 14, 2002
15 "Jump the Shark" April 21, 2002
16 "William"‡ April 28, 2002
17 "Release" May 5, 2002
18 "Sunshine Days" May 12, 2002
19
20
"The Truth"‡ May 19, 2002


Feature Film


Season 10

      Main Article: The X-Files (Season 10)
Episode # Title Original Air Date
1 "My Struggle"‡ January 24, 2016
2 "Founder's Mutation January 25, 2016
3 "Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster" February 1, 2016
4 "Home Again" February 8, 2016
5 "Babylon" February 15, 2016
6 "My Struggle II"‡ February 22, 2016


Season 11

      Main Article: The X-Files (Season 11)
Episode # Title Original Air Date
1 "My Struggle III"‡ January 3, 2018
2 "This" January 10, 2018
3 "Plus One" January 17, 2018
4 "The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat" January 24, 2018
5 "Ghouli"‡ January 31, 2018
6 "Kitten" February 7, 2018
7 "Rm9sbG93ZXJz" February 28, 2018
8 "Familiar" March 7, 2018
9 "Nothing Lasts Forever" March 14, 2018
10 "My Struggle IV"‡ March 21, 2018

Background Terminology

Legends

Legends are explanatory pieces of information accompanying illustrations, maps or charts. Many legends appear in episodes of The X-Files, usually including information such as time or setting over the events of a scene.

Although a notice preceding the series' pilot is described in the episode's script as a legend, the first regular legend appears later in the same episode and reads, "COLLUM NATIONAL FOREST; NORTHWEST OREGON". The television series' final legend appears in "The Truth" and reads, "ROSWELL; NEW MEXICO".

Legends were also used in episodes of Millennium. The term "legend" was never used on-screen in either series, but originates from terminology used by production personnel, and can be found in scripts for the series.

Taglines

The Truth Is Out There tagline

The most commonly used tagline of The X-Files episodes.

Taglines were a feature of The X-Files episodes. Although the series' opening credits sequences usually ended with "The Truth is Out There", other lines occasionally replaced it. The following is a list of other taglines used in episodes of the series.


Episode Tagline
"The Erlenmeyer Flask" Trust No One
"Ascension" Deny Everything
"Anasazi" 'éí 'aaníígÓÓ 'áhoot'é'
("The truth is far from here" in Navajo)
"731" Apology is Policy
"Herrenvolk" Everything Dies
"Teliko" Deceive Inveigle Obfuscate
"Terma" E pur si muove
("And still it moves" in Italian, a quote attributed to Galileo)
"Gethsemane" Believe the Lie
"Redux" All Lies Lead to the Truth
"The Red and the Black" Resist or Serve
"The End" The End
"Triangle" Die Wahrheit ist irgendwo da draußen
("The truth is out there somewhere" in German)
"The Unnatural" In the Big Inning
"The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" Amor Fati
("Love of fate" in Latin)
"Closure" Believe to Understand
"Nothing Important Happened Today II" Nothing Important Happened Today
"4-D" erehT tuO si hturT ehT
("The Truth is Out There", backwards)
"Trust No 1" They're Watching
"Improbable" Dio ti ama
("God loves you" in Italian)
"My Struggle II" This Is The End
"My Struggle III" I Want to Believe, I Want to Lie
"This" Accuse Your Enemies of That Which You are Guilty
"Ghouli" You See What I Want You to See
"Kitten" A War Is Never Over
"Rm9sbG93ZXJz" VGhlIFRydXRoIGlzIE91dCBUaGVyZQ==
("The Truth Is Out There" in Base64)

Executive Producer R.W. Goodwin recalled, "Every episode of the first season had the same tagline, except the last one, 'The Erlenmeyer Flask,' in which we killed Deep Throat. As Deep Throat lay dying, the last thing he said was, 'Trust no one.' That became the tagline. When Chris [Carter] feels that it is necessary, he will change the tagline to relate to the episode."

According to Producer and Director Rob Bowman, "They don't change very often, but when they do, they pertain to the episode. Like 'Apology is Policy,' you know, 'Oh, we're sorry about the POWs,' as though that exonerates them."

Several taglines were used to advertise The X-Files: Fight the Future, most frequently including "Fight the Future". However, unlike those used in episodes of the series, most of the movie taglines were never seen or heard in the film and only appeared on posters and other promotional products.

It should be noted that some of the episodes that had a replacement tagline when they originally aired on TV have the regular "The Truth is Out There" tagline on the DVD release.

Main Cast

See Also

References

External Links


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