The X-Files: Top 5 mythology episodes from the series

Susan Leighton

The X-Files – UFOs – Courtesy of Fox

Since the X-Files are temporarily shut down, I thought I would take a look back at the series. Most people cite the monster of the week episodes as their favorites. I prefer the “mytharc.” Here are my top 5 choices.

“I wanted to believe, but the tools had been taken away. The X-Files had been shut down.” – Fox Mulder

Looking Back

As television series go, The X-Files is amazing. Why? Because how many other shows could come back 14 years later and still get fans tuning in?

Granted the ratings weren’t what they used to be during the glory days but let’s face it, when the dust settles there is a place in pop culture history for Chris Carter’s creation and rightfully so.

Most fans cite the monster of the week episodes as their favorites. I have always preferred the “mytharcs.” To me, the mythological shows were the heart and soul of the series. They also gave viewers a chance to delve into the Mulder and Scully connection.

Some of the most emotional moments were found within these storylines so that is why I felt the following segments should be highlighted.

Emily

The X-Files – Emily – Courtesy of Fox

I remember exactly when this aired. It was right before Christmas 21 years ago. All I can say is this episode had such an impact on me that there was no way it wasn’t going to take the top spot on my list.

Emily is a young girl who was orphaned when her mother dies and her father is sent to jail for murder. This is the first episode to reference the fact that Scully (Gillian Anderson) may have been an unwilling egg donor when she was abducted during Season 2. Also, that she may have had a child prior to William.

As it turns out, we discover that Emily is in fact, Scully’s biological child. Which seems impossible because she was told she could never bear children. At Mulder’s (David Duchovny) behest, the Lone Gunmen have found out that Scully’s daughter had a surrogate named Anna Fugazzi.

Scully has petitioned to adopt Emily with the court in San Diego. Of course, the judge overhearing the case is skeptical and even more so when Mulder informs him of the truth surrounding Emily’s parentage.

However, while Scully and her offspring share some DNA, her daughter has a decidedly different chemical structure. This leads Mulder to believe that she is an alien hybrid. Circumstances take a turn for the worse when the child’s doctor who is also a hybrid is murdered by rogue extraterrestrial bounty hunters.

Surrogates

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Emily’s condition continues to deteriorate. Ever intrepid, Mulder tracks Anna Fugazzi down to discover that she is an elderly woman. In fact, all of the elderly women in the nursing home are being used as incubators.

He also finds out that there are medical records with Scully’s name on them. While this is happening, Dana is being told to cease making decisions on Emily’s behalf by the adoption agency. Mulder is doing his best to try and find someone who can help the girl.

While he is fighting to save Emily’s life, she slips into a coma and dies several days later. A heartbroken Scully is in the chapel. Mulder tells her that all evidence of the hybrid experiments has vanished except for Emily’s body.

Scully looks in the coffin only to find sand bags and the cross that she gave to Emily. This is a wrenching moment that will leave even the most hardened viewer bereft. Gillian Anderson handles her grieving so convincingly that you share her pain with her.

Christmas Carol

The X-Files – Christmas Carol – Courtesy of Fox

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This is the episode before Emily where we find Scully at home in San Diego during the holidays. She feels incredibly out of place. The news of her brother and his wife expecting has put her in a bit of a funk. Out of the blue, she receives a mysterious call from someone who sounds incredibly like her deceased sister, Melissa.

The message is unnerving, “She needs your help.” Spooked, she gets her friend at the FBI to trace the call. It comes back as being registered to the Sims household.

Scully has no idea who they are but when she arrives at the house there is quite a bit of police activity. She finds out that Mrs. Sims has committed suicide. When she sees Mr. Sims and his daughter, Emily, she is stopped dead in her tracks. Emily is the spitting image of Melissa.

Dana returns to her brother’s house. In the middle of the night, she receives another strange call. This time she is told to “go to her.” Scully arrives at the house again only to be told by Mr. Sims that no one used their phone.

From her vantage point, she can see two men in dark suits sitting at the kitchen table. Her curiosity piqued, Dana requests info on Mrs. Sims as well as Melissa to see if there are any similarities.

After performing an autopsy on Sims, she finds out that prior to her death she was injected in the heel. Her husband claimed after the hypodermic needle was found in the trash that it was for Emily’s treatments since she is anemic.

My Daughter, Myself

Dana has a test done on Emily and she finds out that the little girl’s DNA matches Melissa’s. So, Scully infers that perhaps when her sister was out of touch with the family that is when the birth may have occurred. This information prompts Scully to try and adopt Emily.

Mr. Sims ends up confessing to murder even though he had witnesses claiming he didn’t do anything. Meanwhile, Scully finds out that the family was receiving money over a year from Prangen Industries, a pharmaceutical company. When she investigates why the funds were being received one of the staff members, Dr. Calderon explains that Emily was participating in a trial run.

In the end, Scully finds out that her application to adopt Emily has been rejected and that the girl is being taken away by Social Services. She also receives the news that she is Emily’s mother not Melissa. In a heartbreaking scene, Dana gives Emily her prized possession, the cross necklace she received from her father.

This was predominantly Gillian Anderson’s episode and she owned it. All of Scully’s life has been about her career but now she is forced into taking a look at what she is missing. The regret that she is feeling is very tangible and this particular show will leave you with a feeling of melancholy.

Erlenmeyer Flask

The X-Files – The Erlenmeyer Flask- Courtesy of Fox

Purity Control Is the Answer

Now all the pieces are starting to come together and it appears like humans are being experimented on with the ET virus. Anyone that can be of importance to Mulder and Scully figuring out the mystery is systematically killed off.

First the lab technician that analyzed Purity Control is killed in a car accident. Then Secare is shot by one of the men in suits. As it just so happens, Mulder is talking with him at the time of his murder. The noxious green fumes emitted from his wounds knock Fox out so that he is captured.

Scully finds herself in the Purity Control containment facility on credentials given by Deep Throat. He is also trying to broker Mulder’s release by having Dana remove a fetus from the lab. Using that as the bargaining chip, Fox is released only to have his source shot and killed before him.

Jerry Hardin’s death was definitely unexpected and came at you like a sucker punch to the gut. But this episode really highlighted the beginning of the conspiracy along with the experimentation that would play such an integral role in the series to come.

Anasazi

The X-Files – Anasazi – Courtesy of Fox

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Having lived in New Mexico and Arizona, I could truly appreciate this particular show which was steeped in Navajo culture. We also get introduced to an interesting and vital character, Albert Hosteen (Floyd “Red Crow” Westerman).

A Navajo code talker from World War II, he becomes extremely essential to the plot. When a young Indian boy finds an alien body from a buried rail car in the desert, he brings it home for his father and grandfather to see.

Albert immediately knows that his grandson has found something valuable that will cause people to come as he so prophetically pronounces. After this happens, back in Washington, Mulder goes to see the Lone Gunmen who have an associate that needs to speak with him.

Apparently, their colleague has downloaded the Department of Defense’s secret alien files. He turns the tape over to Mulder who is thrilled with the potential juggernaut that could take down the Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) and his cronies. However, it is indecipherable.

Scully takes a look at some of the text and tells Fox that it may be Navajo. She takes the tape to have it deciphered.

Fox loses his cool and ends up taking his frustration out on Skinner (Mitch Pileggi). Of course, this gets him in trouble and on the verge of suspension. CSM goes to visit Mulder’s dad, William (Peter Donat) thinking that he might know about the tape. Which he doesn’t, however, after the visit, Bill calls his son.

Sins of the Father

While Scully is trying to find resolution and translation for the tape, Mulder heads up to Martha’s Vineyard to see what his Dad wants. When he gets there, Bill informs his son that he has some important information for him.

He excuses himself to go to the bathroom and ends up getting shot by Alex Krychek (Nicholas Lea). Mulder calls Scully who tells him to leave the scene. Fox ends up crashing at Dana’s place. While he is sleeping, she takes his gun to have a ballistics report done to rule him out as a suspect.

When Mulder awakens and Scully isn’t there, he goes back to his place only to find Krychek ready to kill him too. On a hunch, Scully winds up at Mulder’s apartment just in time. To prevent Mulder from being murdered she shoots him in the shoulder and Alex escapes.

Finally, Dana and Fox take off to New Mexico where they meet Albert who has agreed to translate the secret tapes. While they are there, the grandson takes Mulder to the rail car. Ever curious, Fox goes underground and discovers a bunch of bodies.

At first, he thinks they are aliens but then he notices the small pox vaccinations on their arms. More alien hybrid experimentations. Before he can emerge from the car to go back to Hosteen’s house, the army arrives and drops an explosive in the hatch incarcerating Mulder.

What I like about this particular show, in addition to the mytharc, we also learn about the Navajo and the belief of indigenous peoples that they are descendants of “beings from the skies.” Viewers also know that the hybrid project is widespread and can be transmitted through vaccinations.

Memento Mori

The X-Files – Memento Mori – Courtesy of Fox

Desperate Measures

Fox with the help of the Lone Gunmen heads for the fertility clinic. He discovers that Dr. Scanlon, Scully’s physician is on staff there. Mulder manages to break in to the facility and he discovers Scully’s ova.

Dana is doing her best to comfort Penny through her rigorous treatments. After Fox finds out about her Doctor, he heads back to the hospital where he helps Scully cope with the loss of her friend. He takes care of her.

The next day, Dana informs Skinner she is coming back to work. We learn that he has contacted CSM to see if he could broker a deal for Scully’s cure.

When Dana breaks down in Fox’s arms, you get the sense of how much these two mean to one another. The reality of the casualties resulting from the Syndicate and their desperate measures to adhere to their alien agenda is also extremely powerful.

Do you have a favorite X-Files mythological episode? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. We want to hear from you.

Next: The X-Files are closed temporarily

Susan Leighton can be found on Twitter and Facebook @SusanontheLedge. She is also featured on Friday Night Tights, the ultimate pop culture wrap up show at Nerdrotic Podcast every Friday night at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT. You can catch her weekly coverage on IFC’s Brockmire at TV Series Hub.

Susan Leighton

"It's not possible, it's necessary." You can find me on Facebook and on Instagram @defactoscribe. Look for my upcoming pop culture musings in the book, "Tonight, on a Very Special Episode," coming soon! https://www.facebook.com/veryspecialepisodes/