The X-Files backdrop
Mystery•Sci-Fi & Fantasy•Crime

The Best Episodes of The X-Files

Every episode of The X-Files ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The X-Files!

Binge this in 6d 20h•Peaking at 8.7/10

The exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is

Airs on
FOX
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons11

All1234567891011

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Click to reveal
    The X-Files Season 1 Episode 24 - The Erlenmeyer Flask
    8.7/10(7232 votes)

    #1 - The Erlenmeyer Flask

    S1:E24

    When Deep Throat points out a news story about a fugitive who apparently drowned, Mulder and Scully cannot see what makes the case special but follow it up anyway. With Deep Throat's insistence, they discover evidence of a secret government project code-named Purity Control, which uses human test subjects and infects them with extraterrestrial DNA. However, the evidence and everyone who has seen it is quickly being eliminated.

    Director:R. W. Goodwin
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. The X-Files Season 2 Episode 25 - Anasazi (1)
    8.6/10(6429 votes)

    #2 - Anasazi (1)

    S2:E25

    Mulder receives an encrypted computer disk containing the defense department's top secret files on extraterrestrial life and becomes a target. Scully takes him to a Navajo family that unearthed a buried secret to decipher the disk.

    Director:R. W. Goodwin
    Writers:David Duchovny, Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 4 - Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose
    8.6/10(8745 votes)

    #3 - Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose

    S3:E4

    In the midst of a psychic sideshow while on a murder case, Mulder and Scully enlist the help of a man who may have a true psychic ability to foresee how people will die to help the agents catch a man killing fortune tellers.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writer:Darin Morgan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. The X-Files Season 5 Episode 12 - Bad Blood
    8.6/10(7779 votes)

    #4 - Bad Blood

    S5:E12

    After Mulder chases down and kills a young man who he believes to be a vampire, the agents return to DC aware of the mistake they just made. Faced with a lawsuit from the family of the man, they recount each of their sides to the story leading up to the event. In the extremely humorous stories that follow we see how Scully and Mulder both perceive each other.

    Director:Cliff Bole
    Writer:Vince Gilligan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. The X-Files Season 1 Episode 8 - Ice
    8.4/10(9863 votes)

    #5 - Ice

    S1:E8

    In the claustrophobic isolation of a remote outpost in Alaska, Mulder and Scully investigate the horrifying deaths of scientists.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writers:James Wong, Glen Morgan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. The X-Files Season 4 Episode 7 - Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
    8.4/10(6594 votes)

    #6 - Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man

    S4:E7

    The Lone Gunmen reveal the (possibly fake) secret history of the Cigarette Smoking Man to Mulder and Scully; from a young captain in the U.S. Army recruited to assassinate President Kennedy, to becoming the mysterious man in the shadows at the height of a global conspiracy.

    Directors:James Wong, Glen Morgan
    Writers:James Wong, Glen Morgan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of The X-Files

    READ
  7. The X-Files Season 2 Episode 17 - End Game (2)
    8.3/10(5907 votes)

    #7 - End Game (2)

    S2:E17

    The alien bounty hunter kidnaps Scully and wants to trade her for Mulder's sister, who is revealed to be a clone herself. After the trade goes badly and Mulder discovers the truth about Samantha, he tracks the bounty hunter to his ship buried in the arctic ice and demands the whereabouts of his real sister.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writer:Frank Spotnitz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 2 - Paper Clip (3)
    8.3/10(6190 votes)

    #8 - Paper Clip (3)

    S3:E2

    A.D. Skinner and Scully are at a standoff when Mulder bursts in and discovers that Skinner has the digital tape. Reunited, Mulder and Scully travel to a secret vault inside a mine and find an elaborate filing system of medical records which reveals that Mulder's sister may not have been the first choice for abduction. Meanwhile, Skinner deals with the Cigarette-Smoking Man for their safety.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 10 - 731 (2)
    8.3/10(5453 votes)

    #9 - 731 (2)

    S3:E10

    Mulder is trapped inside a train car which contains a suspected alien-human hybrid and also a bomb, while Scully pursues the truth about her abduction and the mystery behind the implant in her neck.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writer:Frank Spotnitz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 12 - War of the Coprophages
    8.3/10(6715 votes)

    #10 - War of the Coprophages

    S3:E12

    Widespread panic is caused in a small community after numerous deaths are linked to killer cockroaches, and a government agricultural agency is discovered to have set up a secret experiment involving insects.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:Darin Morgan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. The X-Files Season 5 Episode 20 - The End
    8.3/10(4447 votes)

    #11 - The End

    S5:E20

    The Cigarette-Smoking Man returns as Mulder investigates the attempted assassination of a young boy with psychic powers who may be the proof that he has looked for all his life.

    Director:R. W. Goodwin
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. The X-Files Season 1 Episode 3 - Squeeze
    8.2/10(10183 votes)

    #12 - Squeeze

    S1:E3

    Mulder and Scully search for a killer whose savage murder spree reoccurs every thirty years, where there appears to be no tangible method for the murderer's entrance and escape.

    Director:Harry Longstreet
    Writers:James Wong, Glen Morgan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. The X-Files Season 1 Episode 21 - Tooms
    8.2/10(7128 votes)

    #13 - Tooms

    S1:E21

    Eugene Tooms is released from the sanitarium, and Mulder becomes personally involved to ensure that he is caught in the act of getting the last human liver he needs to go into hibernation for another 30 years.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writers:James Wong, Glen Morgan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. The X-Files Season 2 Episode 6 - Ascension (2)
    8.2/10(6373 votes)

    #14 - Ascension (2)

    S2:E6

    When Mulder finds out that Scully was kidnapped by Duane Barry, he risks the wrath of his superiors and the annoyance of Agent Krycek in order to do whatever it takes to find her. Meanwhile, Krycek is found to be reporting Mulder's activities to the Cigarette-Smoking Man.

    Director:Michael Lange
    Writer:Paul Brown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. The X-Files Season 2 Episode 16 - Colony (1)
    8.2/10(6048 votes)

    #15 - Colony (1)

    S2:E16

    After the obituaries of four identical men are e-mailed to Mulder, the agents are contacted by a shadowy CIA agent who tells them about a bounty hunter sent to wipe out the beginning of a colony of clones. Meanwhile Mulder is distracted by the sudden reappearance of his sister Samantha.

    Director:Nick Marck
    Writers:David Duchovny, Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 9 - Nisei (1)
    8.2/10(5356 votes)

    #16 - Nisei (1)

    S3:E9

    An investigation into a video of an alien autopsy puts Mulder and Scully in the middle of a conspiracy involving WWII Japanese scientists brought to America to continue their experiments which may shed light on Scully's abduction.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writers:Howard Gordon, Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 24 - Talitha Cumi (1)
    8.2/10(4871 votes)

    #17 - Talitha Cumi (1)

    S3:E24

    After his mother suffers a stroke under strange circumstances, Mulder searches for a strange, benevolent alien man that possesses miraculous healing powers. With the help from Mr. X, he learns about the involvement of the Cigarette-Smoking Man and uncovers some secrets kept by his parents.

    Directors:David Duchovny, R. W. Goodwin, Chris Carter
    Writers:David Duchovny, Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. The X-Files Season 4 Episode 24 - Gethsemane (1)
    8.2/10(4425 votes)

    #18 - Gethsemane (1)

    S4:E24

    Mulder fights to prove that a discovery frozen in the mountains of Canada is an irrefutable evidence of alien life, but his quest for the truth only leads to more lies and an unthinkable conclusion.

    Director:R. W. Goodwin
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. The X-Files Season 6 Episode 4 - Dreamland (1)
    8.2/10(5304 votes)

    #19 - Dreamland (1)

    S6:E4

    While being detained near the famed "Dreamland" Area 51, a strange craft flies overhead and Mulder swaps bodies with an Area 51 "Man-in-Black". While the other agent has fun in Mulder's body, Mulder himself finds it difficult to fit into someone else's life, especially a shadowy one. Mulder contacts Scully about the body swap and tries to get her the flight data recorder from the UFO test flight, but his alter ego uses Mulder's FBI persona to have him arrested.

    Directors:Kim Manners, Michael W. Watkins
    Writers:Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. The X-Files Season 6 Episode 5 - Dreamland II (2)
    8.2/10(4989 votes)

    #20 - Dreamland II (2)

    S6:E5

    Mulder is thrown in jail at the Area 51 compound but is released when it is discovered that the flight data recorder he stole was a fake. Scully comes to her senses and realizes that the Mulder she sees isn't who he really is and heads back to Nevada to help the real Mulder. Meanwhile, the mechanism that caused the body swap is rapidly snapping back, undoing everything in its wake, and Mulder and his alter ego must race to put themselves back where they belong.

    Directors:Kim Manners, Michael W. Watkins
    Writers:Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. The X-Files Season 6 Episode 12 - One Son (2)
    8.2/10(4283 votes)

    #21 - One Son (2)

    S6:E12

    The Cigarette-Smoking Man reveals all the government secrets from the past 50 years in order for his son, Jeffery Spender, to join him in his work. Mulder learns that the final stage of the conspiracy will soon begin with the hybridization of the Syndicate members, and he must stop it from happening. Agent Spender deceives his father and arranges for Mulder and Scully to be reassigned to the X-Files, which doesn't sit too well with the Cigarette-Smoking Man.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writers:Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. The X-Files Season 6 Episode 21 - Field Trip
    8.2/10(4558 votes)

    #22 - Field Trip

    S6:E21

    When the bodies of a couple who have been missing for less than a week are discovered to have been reduced to bone, Mulder suggests that recent paranormal phenomena in the area may have caused the accelerated decomposition.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writers:Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. The X-Files Season 1 Episode 17 - E.B.E.
    8.1/10(7056 votes)

    #23 - E.B.E.

    S1:E17

    Mulder and Scully receive information from Deep Throat about a UFO that was shot down over Iraq and has been secretly transported to the US. However, Deep Throat then intentionally misleads the agents to prevent them from discovering the truth.

    Director:William A. Graham
    Writers:James Wong, Glen Morgan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. The X-Files Season 2 Episode 5 - Duane Barry (1)
    8.1/10(6681 votes)

    #24 - Duane Barry (1)

    S2:E5

    Mulder is called to a hostage situation involving Duane Barry, a former FBI Agent who claims to be an alien abductee and wants to get back to the abduction site with someone who will be taken instead of him. Unfortunately, the someone he eventually chooses is Scully.

    Director:Chris Carter
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 15 - Piper Maru (1)
    8.1/10(5157 votes)

    #25 - Piper Maru (1)

    S3:E15

    A French salvage ship searching for a lost WWII fighter plane unknowingly surfaces an alien which appears in the form of black oil and has the ability to jump hosts. Mulder heads to Hong Kong to investigate the salvage broker who sold the information to the French and he encounters Krycek, who has been selling information from the MJ documents. As Mulder prepares to take Krycek back to the US, the alien makes its way to Hong Kong and takes control of Krycek.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writers:Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Best Episodes Summary

"The Erlenmeyer Flask" is the best rated episode of "The X-Files". It scored 8.7/10 based on 7232 votes. Directed by R. W. Goodwin and written by Chris Carter, it aired on 5/13/1994. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Anasazi (1)".