X-Files Season 1 - Episodes Ranked
All the episodes in X-Files Season 1 ranked best to worst.
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- DirectorDavid NutterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonBrad DourifScully believes that the psychic predictions of a death row inmate are the only hope in the kidnapping of two college students.By far one of the most chilling episodes in the series, Beyond the Sea sees Mulder and Scully engage in a race against time to save two kidnapped teenagers from brutal murder in the hands of a psychopath. To do so they must cooperate with an ex-serial killer, who claims to have had psychic revelations about the kidnapping, and who is prepared to help them so long as his death sentence is commuted. The Serial-Killer also offers Scully contact with her recently deceased father, claiming that he is capable of contacting the dead.
Rating: 10/10 - DirectorFred GerberStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonHarriet Sansom HarrisMulder and Scully search for two missing girls who disappeared after their fathers were murdered in an identical fashion.Mulder and Scully investigate two murders: one in Connecticut, one in California, both of which are mysteriously linked by matching dates and times of death, and by two identical little girls. As the plot unravels, the mystery leads them to discover the horrifying story of a top secret cold war operation. Eve is a truly fascinating episode, with one of the best plot twists in the series.
Rating: 10/10 - DirectorRobert MandelStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonCharles CioffiAgent Dana Scully is instructed to debunk an FBI project dubbed "The X-Files," paranormal cases that have been reopened by Agent Fox Mulder.The First ever episode of The X Files sees FBI partners Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigate the mysterious deaths of four high school students. As the mystery deepens, the circumstances surrounding the deaths become more and more unusual, and soon Mulder begins to suspect an extra terrestrial influence.
Rating: 10/10 - DirectorHarry LongstreetStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonDoug HutchisonMulder and Scully search for a humanoid killer whose savage murder spree reoccurs every 30 years.Squeeze is without a doubt, the scariest episode in the series. Mulder and Scully investigate three murders in Maryland. In each case, the victim's liver has been removed from their body and seemingly stolen. After investigating a murder scene Mulder finds evidence that links the case to two other murder sprees that occurred thirty years apart. Eventually, through the process of deduction, they manage to capture a supposed culprit, who Mulder believes has the unique ability to fit through incredibly tight spaces, and who requires the livers of his victims in order to survive another thirty years.
Rating: 9.2/10 - DirectorDaniel SackheimStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonJerry HardinMulder and Scully investigate the mysterious case of a military test pilot who disappeared after experiencing strange psychotic behaviour.The second episode of The X Files sees Mulder and Scully investigate the mysterious disappearances of six test pilots from a top secret military air base in Idaho. The military are stubborn and refuse to give any details, but after making inquires with the local people, Mulder discovers rumors of frequent U.F.O activity in the nearby area, and soon begins to suspect that the technologies being experimented with at the air base are not of human origins.
Rating: 9.0/10 - DirectorWilliam A. GrahamStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonJerry HardinMulder and Scully become the focus of a disinformation campaign when they attempt to trace the government's secret transport of an alien life form.After investigating a U.F.O sighting in Tennessee, Mulder and Scully discover that the case could be linked to a rumoured U.F.O crash in Iraq. The discovery leads them to believe that a live alien specimen is being transported across the U.S to a top secret military base. Mulder and Scully race to try to intercept the delivery and confirm whether or not their suspicions are correct.
Rating: 8.8/10 - DirectorR.W. GoodwinStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonLindsey GinterDeep Throat tips Mulder to a critically important case involving a missing fugitive and the cloning of extraterrestrial viruses.Mulder is contacted by an outside source and given information on a recent mysterious event. Mulder is told by the source that he is closer to "the truth" than ever before. Clues lead Mulder to a scientist working in Maryland, who Scully eventually discovers has been experimenting with bacteria of unearthly origins. Meanwhile Mulder visits the scientist's home and finds keys to a storage facility. As the plot beings to thicken Mulder visits the storage facility and discovers a shocking secret, that leads to his capture by government hit-men. Scully finds a way to deal with the hit-men, exchanging a stolen government secret with Mulder.
Rating: 8.6/10 - DirectorDaniel SackheimStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonCarrie SnodgressMulder becomes obsessed with solving a case that closely parallels an "encounter" he experienced as a child.Mulder and Scully travel to Iowa to investigate a U.F.O abduction case, possibly linked to a number of different U.F.O sightings that happened at various times in the past, all around the same area. Mulder discovers that the abductee's younger brother seems to be under an extra-terrestrial influence, and as the story unravels, Mulder and Scully discover a bizarre history of alien involvement within the family.
Rating: 8.4/10 - DirectorWilliam A. GrahamStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonEd LauterWhen a space shuttle mission is sabotaged, Mulder suspects it may be the work of an alien spirit that inhabits the body of a former Gemini astronaut.Space sees Mulder and Scully summoned to N.A.S.A, where it is believed that someone is attempting to sabotage rocket launch attempts. As they investigate the mystery, they discover that all is not quite as it seems, and that an old secret that holds the truth to the situation is being hidden from them.
Rating: 8.2/10 - DirectorDavid NutterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonDoug HutchisonEugene Tooms, a supernatural killer whom Mulder helped incarcerate, is released on parole.Though it wasn't as terrifying as the story that it built upon, Tooms still managed to bring scares with the return of the infamous stretchable mutant from squeeze. The plot picks up from where squeeze left off. The creature responsible for the deaths of four Maryland citizens is on the lose again, and it is up to Mulder to stop it before it can murder again.
Rating: 8.0/10 - DirectorDavid NutterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonXander BerkeleyMulder and Scully are sent to investigate when a team of geophysicists stationed at a remote Alaskan outpost are killed by a parasitic alien life form.Ice is one of the most intense episodes of the series, however unfortunately it never quite reached the heights it could have. It sees Mulder, Scully and a team of scientists go out to a remote research base in north Alaska, in an attempt to investigate the cause of the deaths of all the scientists previously working there. After arriving, they discover that the scientists dug too deep, and awoke something hidden under the ice for thousands of years.
Rating: 8.0/10 - DirectorLarry ShawStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonFrederick CoffinThe future of the X-Files project is jeopardized after Mulder secretly infiltrates the government cover-up of a UFO crash.Fallen Angel is a messy episode with a plot that is intriguing but muddled. It sees Mulder attempt to investigate a U.F.O crash in Wisconsin. Only when doing so, Mulder is caught and jailed by the local military. Scully arrives the next day to free Mulder, but as they are leaving they are dragged into an incredibly dangerous situation. It appears that the occupant of the U.F.O is not dead, and is out on rampage.
Rating: 7.7/10 - DirectorJerrold FreedmanStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonBrian MarkinsonAn 8-year-old girl is the prime suspect in a series of bizarre, seemingly unrelated deaths.Born again is the most chilling story in the first series of The X Files. It follows Mulder and Scully as they investigate the death of a police officer, supposedly linked to a young girl. As other policemen in the area also die in similarly mysterious circumstances, Mulder and Scully being to discover a terrible event that happened nine years ago, an event that links all of the dead policemen together, and strangely also the little girl.
Rating: 7.5/10 - DirectorLarry ShawStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonAmanda PaysMulder and Scully join forces with an inspector from Scotland Yard when a man with pyrokinetic powers stalks members of the British aristocracy.Fire boasts a compelling plotline that sees Mulder and Scully investigate a case originating in England. Various members of the English aristocracy are being targeted by an assassin who is somehow capable of burning his victims alive with no trace of evidence. The latest target managed to escape from the killer once, and so has fled to Cape Cod for protection. But unknown to him, the killer has followed, and so Mulder and Scully must uncover the identity of the killer, before they strike again. This does however cause the story to feel long and a little too drawn out, with a climax that is ultimately a little unsatisfactory.
Rating: 7.0/10 - DirectorMichael LangeStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonR.D. CallThe agents investigate a ministry led by a man whose son possesses the power to heal, and to kill, with a touch of his hand.Many would criticise Miracle Man for its unapologetically religious story, however, unlike many of the episodes featured in this series, Miracle man is original and well written, even if it doesn't really fit into the typical X Files image. The episode follows Mulder and Scully as they investigate a mysterious situation in Tennessee, where a local evangelists' son is capable of healing anyone no matter what their disability is, only recently instead of healing the sick, the boy is killing them. Mulder believes the boy to be innocent and so begins to investigate the circumstances closer, revealing an unexpected truth whilst doing so.
Rating: 6.9/10 - DirectorMichael LangeStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonDick Anthony WilliamsA criminal believed to have died in a prison years earlier wages a vendetta against Mulder.One of the most fascinating premises is squandered by a dull, forgettable plot. Young at heart has all the right ideas, but it fails to really make any of them work to their full potential. The episode sees Mulder stalked and threatened by an old foe who Mulder helped to capture on his first case. Only the problem is, the man who Mulder captured died in prison years ago. Unfortunately the episode is let down by it's predictable climax and slow story progression.
Rating: 6.4/10 - DirectorJoe NapolitanoStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonJason BegheA group of loggers working in a remote forest unearths thousands of deadly insectlike creatures that paralyze and cocoon their victims. Scully, Mulder and a few others end up trapped there.With a plot far too similar to Ice's only much sillier and a lot less intense, Darkness falls my boast a mysterious and fascinating atmosphere, but overall it fails to stand up to any of the season's best episodes. Mulder and Scully head deep into the Olympic National Forest to investigate the disappearance of a group of loggers. They stumble straight into a full out war between the logging company and eco-terrorists, but something else is also lurking in the woods, something that has been dormant for thousands of years and has only just been woken up. It's Ice all over again, only much, much worse.
Rating: 6.1/10 - DirectorMichael KatlemanStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonBarry PrimusMulder and Scully investigate the deaths of two men believed to have been killed by a powerful psychokinetic force.Shadows is undeniably spooky, but thoroughly clichéd. It sees Mulder and Scully investigate the deaths of two men, both seemingly strangled from the inside. The men later turn out to be muggers, but CCTV footage reveals that when attempting to mug a woman, they were brutally murdered a mysterious, blurry figure. As Mulder and Scully begin to investigate, they uncover a terribly evil operation being ran by a local company, and by the looks of things someone is out for revenge, only from beyond the grave.
Rating: 6.0/10 - DirectorJerrold FreedmanStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonJerry HardinOn Halloween, Mulder and Scully investigate the death of a corporate executive who may have been murdered by a thinking computer.Similar to Young at Heart, Ghost in the machine has all the right ideas, but fails to really make any of them work. The episode follows Mulder and Scully as they investigate the mysterious death of a Virginian businessman. As the plot slowly progresses, Mulder discovers that all is not quite as it seems with the building in which the man died. Within the computer system, lies a secret that has been hidden from everyone. Everyone accept the viewer, who has to wait for a full forty minutes before anything interesting happens.
Rating: 6.0/10 - DirectorDavid NutterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonTy MillerA creature, possibly from Native American lore, is suspected of killing a man, bringing Mulder and Scully to the Indian reservation where the attack occurred in order to uncover its identity.Silly as it is forgettable, shapes was never destined to be any sort of success. The story sees Mulder and Scully travel to Montana to investigate strange, monstrous creatures blamed by the locals for killing livestock. Mulder discovers that the case is closely liked to the first ever X File, which was reported in the same area. Mulder also learns of an old Native Indian tale, that seems to offer an explanation as to what these creatures are. The episode is bland however, and fails miserably to induce any sort of fear whatsoever.
Rating: 5.9/10 - DirectorDavid NutterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonChristopher AllportThe consciousness of a dangerous criminal possesses an FBI agent who is also Scully's ex-boyfriend.Featuring quite possibly the dullest plot in the series, Lazarus fails on just about every level. Though intense, the story is clichéd and downright silly. Scully and a fellow FBI agent help to stop a bank robbery, only the fellow FBI agent is shot and nearly killed in the process. Scully kills one of the bank robbers, while the other escapes. Afterwards, Scully's friend is revived, only it appears that the soul of the bank robber has taken control of his body. At first Scully is sceptical of this idea, but Mulder is certain of it. During another operation, the revived agent kidnaps Scully in an attempt to save his accomplice, leaving Mulder to track them down and rescue her. Lazarus has an interesting premise, but like many of the episodes in this season, fails to build on it.
Rating: 5.2/10 - DirectorDavid NutterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonZeljko IvanekWhen scientists at an aeronautics lab die under mysterious circumstances, the agents suspect a mentally challenged janitor may be the culprit.Roland is certainly creepy, but beyond that, there are few positive things to say about it. Mulder and Scully visit a research lab in Colson, where scientists are slowly being picked off one by one. The only link between the deaths: the presence of a mentally disabled cleaner. Though the plot does slowly build, and become more interesting as it does so, it never reaches a level that can honestly be called satisfying.
Rating: 5.0/10 - DirectorJoe NapolitanoStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonClaire StansfieldMulder and Scully track a legendary creature that has roamed the New Jersey countryside for over 40 years.Low Budget, and it shows, The Jersey Devil has a suspenseful atmosphere that is totally ruined by a laughably bad climax. It sees Mulder and Scully travel to New Jersey to investigate a body found with a limb seemingly chewed off. The plot builds as the local authorities attempt to cover up the situation but as Mulder investigates, he discovers something that has been living unnoticed in the nearby woods for many, many years.
Rating: 4.5/10 - DirectorRob BowmanStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonBrent HinkleyA religious sect becomes the prime suspect in a murder spree.Gender Bender is undoubtedly the worst episode in The X Files season 1. It is so bad, it almost feels like the producers made it for a joke. It takes everything in The X Files lore, and utterly squanders it in a burst of stupidity. The story follows Mulder and Scully as they travel to Massachusetts to investigate the deaths of a number of young people. They race to uncover a truth hidden amongst the shady lives of a local Amish community, which turns out to be that the deaths are being caused by a sex deprived being capable of morphing into the shape of anyone it has intercourse with, killing them in the process. Television does not get much more ridiculous
Rating: 3.5/10