8.6/105,219 votes#1 - The Blessing Way (2)
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 9/22/1995
Scully finds her career with the FBI in jeopardy as Mulder is still missing and the Cigarette Smoking Man is pursuing the stolen files. The Navajo elders find Mulder's body in a cave and perform an ancient ceremony to call the spirit back to the empty vessel.
Director: R. W. Goodwin
Writer: Chris Carter
9.0/105,560 votes#2 - Paper Clip (3)
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 9/29/1995
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
7.7/105,403 votes#3 - D.P.O.
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 10/6/1995
Mulder and Scully investigate a series of human and cattle deaths by lightning and are led to a teenage boy who is the only survivor out of five people recently hit by lightning strikes.
Director: Kim Manners
Writer: Howard Gordon
9.2/107,827 votes#4 - Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 10/13/1995
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
7.1/104,579 votes#5 - The List
Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 10/20/1995
Nobody takes much notice when a death row inmate vows on the electric chair to come back from the dead and kill five men who have wronged him during his time in prison, until a guard is mysteriously murdered in the former inmate's cell.
Director: Chris Carter
Writer: Chris Carter
7.4/104,719 votes#6 - 2Shy
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 11/3/1995
A man with a genetic abnormality who must prey on overweight women in order to suck the fatty tissue from their bodies, begins to meet his victims through internet chat rooms.
Director: David Nutter
Writer: Jeff Vlaming
7.1/104,467 votes#7 - The Walk
Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 11/10/1995
After a suicide attempt and multiple murders at a military hospital, Mulder and Scully meet a quadruple amputee who has gained the power of astral projection and is taking out his personal frustrations on his commanding officers.
Director: Rob Bowman
Writer: John Shiban
7.6/104,789 votes#8 - Oubliette
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/17/1995
Mulder seeks the help of a woman who he believes has a special connection with a young girl who has recently been kidnapped by the same man who held her captive many years earlier.
Director: Kim Manners
Writer: Charles Grant Craig
8.5/104,778 votes#9 - Nisei (1)
Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 11/24/1995
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
Writer: Chris Carter, Howard Gordon, Frank Spotnitz
8.7/104,895 votes#10 - 731 (2)
Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 12/1/1995
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
7.1/104,406 votes#11 - Revelations
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 12/15/1995
Mulder and Scully swap roles as they pursue a man killing priests that claim to have the wounds of Christ. The agents find and must protect a young boy who may be a real stigmatic. While Scully's faith draws her close to the boy, Mulder is convinced of another explanation.
Director: David Nutter
Writer: Kim Newton
8.6/106,051 votes#12 - War of the Coprophages
Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 1/5/1996
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
7.6/105,215 votes#13 - Syzygy
Season 3 Episode 13 - Aired 1/26/1996
A rare planetary alignment causes strange behavior in the residents of a small town, but particularly in two teenage girls who were born at the exact same moment on that date. While investigating the strange occurrences Mulder's interest in the local female detective makes Scully jealous.
Director: Rob Bowman
Writer: Chris Carter
7.3/104,493 votes#14 - Grotesque
Season 3 Episode 14 - Aired 2/2/1996
A serial killer is captured after a three year manhunt, and he claims an evil spirit is responsible for the crimes. When the killings continue as he sits in jail, Mulder's battle with a former colleague gets more heated when he suggests that something more paranormal may be involved.
Director: Kim Manners
Writer: Howard Gordon
8.4/104,629 votes#15 - Piper Maru (1)
Season 3 Episode 15 - Aired 2/9/1996
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
Writer: Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz
8.6/104,618 votes#16 - Apocrypha (2)
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 2/16/1996
Mulder pursues Krycek (unaware of the alien that has taken over his body) to get back the DAT tape containing the MJ documents. Meanwhile, the shooting of A.D. Skinner uncovers evidence that could lead Scully to her sister's murderer.
Director: Kim Manners
Writer: Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz
8.4/105,207 votes#17 - Pusher
Season 3 Episode 17 - Aired 2/23/1996
Mulder and Scully are asked to help in a case involving Robert Patrick Modell, a murderer possessing the psychic ability to force his will onto people. Due to a brain tumor that is slowly killing him, he is searching for a "worthy adversary" and forces Mulder into a battle of mind over matter.
Director: Rob Bowman
Writer: Vince Gilligan
5.9/104,247 votes#18 - Teso Dos Bichos
Season 3 Episode 18 - Aired 3/8/1996
The unearthing of an ancient Ecuadorian Amaru urn and its removal to America despite protests leads to a series of deaths linked to a shaman spirit released by the urn.
Director: Kim Manners
Writer: John Shiban
7.0/104,242 votes#19 - Hell Money
Season 3 Episode 19 - Aired 3/29/1996
Mulder, Scully and a local Chinese American cop investigate deaths of several Chinese men found to be missing vital internal organs. The clues lead them to a deadly secret lottery run by the Triads in San Francisco's Chinatown district. The game is free to play but losing will cost you more than an arm and a leg.
Director: Tucker Gates
Writer: Jeff Vlaming
8.9/106,916 votes#20 - Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"
Season 3 Episode 20 - Aired 4/12/1996
A alien abduction of two teenagers with endless versions of the same story prompts a science-fiction novelist to to write a book about the incident; however, nobody involved with the investigation can tell him the full story with any accuracy.
Director: Rob Bowman
Writer: Darin Morgan
7.6/104,344 votes#21 - Avatar
Season 3 Episode 21 - Aired 4/26/1996
During a one-night-stand in the midst of his divorce, A.D. Skinner becomes a murder suspect, and Mulder and Scully return the many favors that he has done for them by analyzing evidence that someone doesn't want uncovered to prove his innocence.
Director: Jim Charleston
Writer: Howard Gordon, David Duchovny
8.0/104,784 votes#22 - Quagmire
Season 3 Episode 22 - Aired 5/3/1996
Mulder and Scully investigate a series of disappearances and attacks around a lake where Mulder believes that the local legend about a lake monster may be all too real. Frustrated Scully insightfully confronts Mulder about the futility of their work on the X-Files.
Director: Kim Manners
Writer: Kim Newton
8.3/104,541 votes#23 - Wetwired
Season 3 Episode 23 - Aired 5/10/1996
Mulder and Scully investigate a series of murders linked to a mysterious device that alters television signals causing paranoid hallucinations. One of them falls victim to it.
Director: Rob Bowman
Writer: Mat Beck
8.5/104,391 votes#24 - Talitha Cumi (1)
Season 3 Episode 24 - Aired 5/17/1996
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.
Director: R. W. Goodwin, Chris Carter, David Duchovny
Writer: Chris Carter, David Duchovny
The Best Episodes of The X-Files Season 3
Every episode of The X-Files Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The X-Files Season 3!
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...
Genres:CrimeDramaMysterySci-Fi & Fantasy
Network:FOX
Season 3 Ratings Summary
"The Blessing Way (2)" is the best rated episode of "The X-Files" season 3. It scored 8.6/10 based on 5219 votes. Directed by R. W. Goodwin and written by Chris Carter, it aired on 9/22/1995. This episode is rated 0.4 points higher than the second-best, "Paper Clip (3)".