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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
- David Duchovny as Fox Mulder (1993-2000, 2016-2018)
- Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully (1993-2002, 2016-2018)
- Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner (1994 - 2002, 2016-2018)
- Robert Patrick as John Doggett (2000 - 2002)
- Annabeth Gish as Monica Reyes (2001 - 2002, 2016-2018)
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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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 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
- David Duchovny as Fox Mulder (1993-2000, 2016-2018)
- Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully (1993-2002, 2016-2018)
- Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner (1994 - 2002, 2016-2018)
- William B. Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man (1993 - 2002, 2016-2018)
- Robert Patrick as John Doggett (2000 - 2002)
- Annabeth Gish as Monica Reyes (2001 - 2002, 2016-2018)
See Also
References
External Links
- The X-Files on Wikipedia
- The X-Files on IMDb
- The X-Files on X (formerly Twitter)
- Cars of the X-Files at the Internet Movie Cars Database
- White Noise: The Music of the X-Files
- The X-Files Timeline
- Latest X-Files News
- X-Files fandom history
- thexfilestv's official account on Instagram
| The X-Files | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characters | X-Files Unit | Fox Mulder・Dana Scully・Walter Skinner・John Doggett・Monica Reyes・Jeffrey Spender・Alvin Kersh・Brad Follmer |
| Lone Gunmen | John Byers・Melvin Frohike・Richard Langly・Jimmy Bond | |
| Syndicate | Cigarette Smoking Man・Well-Manicured Man・First Elder・Second Elder・Alex Krycek・Men in Black | |
| Informants | Deep Throat・X・Marita Covarrubias | |
| Colonists | Samantha Mulder | |
| Seasons | 1・2・3・4・5・6・7・8・9・10・11 | |
| Movies | The X-Files: I Want to Believe (1998)・The X-Files: Fight the Future (2008) | |
| Related Shows | Millennium・The Lone Gunmen | |
| Merchandise | Games | Collectible Card Game・The X-Files Game・Unrestricted Access・Resist or Serve・Deep State |
| Home Media | S1・S2・S3・S4・S5・S6・S7・S8・S9・S10・S11・Volume 1・Volume 2・Volume 3・Volume 4・The Complete Collection・The Complete Collectors Edition | |
| Music | Theme・Songs in the Key of X・The Truth and the Light・Fight the Future Score・The X-Files: The Album・I Want to Believe Score | |
| Literature | Comics・The X-Files: Season 10・The X-Files: Season 11 | |