The X-Files‘ eighth year was largely overshadowed by the awkward machinations required to replace Fox Mulder with Robert Patrick’s John Doggett.

But it’s a more entertaining excoriation of the ’burbs than, say, American Beauty. It’s a little light on Mulder and Scully since both actors were helming their own episodes while acting in this one. The benign normalcy of suburbia is taken to task in “Chimera,” as a supernatural invader rips the placid veneer off a tiny Vermont community. And in a modern-day twist, this particular monster movie ends at a Cher concert, because why not? “Chinga” (Season 5, Episode 10) In it our dynamic duo investigate the strange case of a real-life Frankenstein in Indiana. “The Post-Modern Prometheus” (Season 5, Episode 5)Ĭhris Carter brings the classic monster-movie visual language to the paranormal universe he created in an episode shot entirely in black and white - like a Universal Studios creature feature from Hollywood’s golden age. Chalk that up to the absurd-yet-awesome plot that pits an annoyed Scully against a talking tattoo. While it would have been nice to see Mulder and Scully power walking to the tune of “ Little Green Bag” with Red Apple cigarettes dangling from their mouths, “Never Again” is pretty great sans Quentin. Quentin Tarantino came thisclose to joining the X-Files universe, but DGA union rules ejected him from the director’s chair. It’s another episode that eschews paranormal activity for earthbound crimes and is all the more disturbing for it. Instead of extraterrestrials, this installment suggests that his long-lost sibling may have run afoul of a notorious child killer, chillingly played by Tom Noonan, who previously slayed audiences as Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon in 1986’s Manhunter. While “Paper Hearts” isn’t technically a mythology episode, it does incorporate one key element of the characters’ backstories: the mysterious disappearance of Mulder’s sister, Samantha, which drove him to become an obsessive alien investigator.

Flukeman x files