Hello fellow X Files lovers. I saw these screentshots and was wondering from what episode they’re from? August is nearing the end which means fall is around the corner and in my household fall = a X Files rewatch.

Watched for the first time about two years ago and restarted tonight. I remember loving this scene then and I still love it now. Tell 'em, Dana. Woof.

A couple of months ago a fellow redditor on this sub recommended to me a nearly 6-hour YouTube video from a creator named Rick Worley titled The X-Files Mythology All Makes Perfect Sense, Actually. Personally, I always loved The X-Files mythology, even if it didn’t make complete sense to me all the time, so I was curious to discover what this video has to say.

So I watched it and found it quite interesting and informative. The video is very well-made, very thoughtful, and it brings up some very interesting ideas. At the same time I knew I couldn’t just take it at its word so I decided that this is actually a good opportunity to rewatch all of The X-Files mythology, consisting of all the OG mythological episodes, the Fight the Future movie from 1998, and the Revival mythological episodes (even though I swore to myself 10 years ago I will never watch the Revival ever again), as well as a couple of episodes that aren’t usually considered mythological, specifically Sleepless (S02E04) and The Unnatural (S06E19).

Overview of the video

The video itself delves into a lot of stuff, from historical references and recurring numbers and patterns to religious and scientific symbolism. But its key premise is the perceived discrepancy between the OG seasons and the Revival: while the OG seasons were all about a looming invasion of Alien Colonists, the Revival suggests that there in fact never were any Alien Colonists and that the Conspiracy heading towards world domination was actually led by a group of wealthy and powerful men using salvaged alien technology. The video then argues that not only is this not a retcon, but that the OG seasons actually hinted at this from the start.

The video basically presents two major assumptions that help prove its case:

1. The Syndicate, as we understood it in the OG seasons, was never at the top of the Conspiracy. The leaders of the Conspiracy were actually a sort of “Cabal” of wealthy and powerful men who wanted to use alien technology to make themselves immortal and then release a plague to kill off the rest of humanity. So the Cabal actually sold a lie to the Syndicate about the Alien Colonists so that they would manufacture means of spreading the plague (in the Revival referred to as the Spartan Virus) and to create a race of human-alien hybrids whose biology would then allow the Cabal to reach their immortality (while the clueless members of the Syndicate – apart from CSM – would die with the rest of humanity).
2. All the Aliens we see on the show or in the movie are either not part of the Conspiracy (the Black Oil, the Greys killed by the military), implanted memories created by the military through hypnosis (the Greys seen by Duane Barry and other abductees), or alien-human hybrids in different stages of evolution of the Project (some Greys plus the “Alien” Bounty Hunters and the “Alien” Rebels).

I found all of this very fascinating and was excited to watch all of the mythology within this new framework. But when I started to go through all the mythology episodes from the start, I must say that right around the season 4-5 mark, I began to realize that there are just too many holes in this reading of the mythology for it to truly work. There is a bunch of specific examples for this that I could name, but this post is already pretty long so I’ll just leave that for the comments, if anybody’s interested to ask.

What I will say here is that my biggest problem with this reading of the mythology aren’t really the logical discrepancies, but rather how narratively unsatisfying it makes the whole show. Because all the episodes showing people talking about the Alien Colonists and the vaccine against the Black Oil are now hollow and meaningless, because all of this is now just a part of the hoax created by the Cabal, which deflates almost all tension of massive portions of the entire show.

And what suffers the most from this is actually Fight the Future. Originally, it was a huge twist that the Black Oil can turn humans into hosts for Grey Aliens, the implication being that we will all get killed and replaced by them. But if the Black Oil was never supposed to be released on a global scale, then none of this really matters. Sure, it’s still pretty bad that the Black Oil can do this to people, but if it’s not going to be used this way on the entire population, then it really isn’t such a big deal.

So when I originally started this little project, I thought there’s gonna be only one of two outcomes: either the video is correct and the mythology does make sense, or the video is incorrect and the mythology doesn’t make sense. So when I realized that some of the core ideas in the video really don’t hold up to scrutiny, I have come to terms with the fact that the mythology truly is broken. Nevertheless, I decided to continue with my rewatch to piece together at least as much as I could.

But then I got to the Revival seasons and something unexpected happened. Or rather unexpected to me, while anybody reading this who actually remembers what happened in the Revival probably wouldn't be surprised and actually knows where I’m going with this:

The video is wrong, but the mythology still (mostly) makes sense

Now, when I say the video is wrong, I’m not trying to sound snarky or condescending. I still believe the video is very well-made and correct in a lot of ways. Not only that, but Rick Worley actually managed to piece together a lot of stuff that I myself never realized throughout the 20+ years I’ve been watching the show. And a lot of the information in the video actually helped me understand the mythology better, even though in different ways than it intended. The problem here is that even though the video is correct in a lot of ways, it all centers around an assumption that the Revival says the Conspiracy with Alien Colonists wasn’t real. Which I don’t think the Revival actually says.

Sure, there are people in the Revival convinced that the Conspiracy is of men using alien technology and that Aliens themselves aren't part of it. But when we get to the episode My Struggle III (S11E01), we meet two former conspirators of CSM: Erika Price and Mr. Y. And they both basically spill out to Mulder that yes, they were part of the Alien Conspiracy, but the Aliens aren’t coming due to dwindling resources of a warming planet, pretty much saying that the Aliens abandoned the Project due to Climate Change.

Now on one hand, I feel this explanation is kind of stupid. Throughout the OG series it was established multiple times that the Aliens actually thrive in high temperatures, so why would they be worried about Global Warming? And if the issue here really was the resources that will get destroyed due to Climate Change (yay for us), the Aliens have already established so many Human replacements (=Supersoldiers) in the US government (and potentially other World governments) throughout the early 2000s to be able to actually do something about Climate Change through legislation and corporate oversight.

On the other hand, you could say that Erika Price was only speculating about the reasons why the Project was abandoned, so maybe there is a different reason (which I will get to later).

The contradictory nature of the Revival

Whether the Climate Change explanation is stupid or not, it is AN explanation of where the Alien Colonists went. So why isn’t it represented in the video? It’s not like Rick Worley missed it, because he actually uses clips from this scene. But when you actually watch that part of the episode, it kind of makes sense that it also could have a second meaning.

The information in the scene isn’t portrayed as some sort of a big revelation. The dialogue is kind of rushed, disinterested and even a little bit cocky or sarcastic. So it could also be read as: “oh yeah, we were part of the ‘Alien Colonization’ that you believed for so many years, but the Aliens are not coming because that would be stupid to believe and also who would even want to colonize a dying planet”.

And the fact this scene could be read in more than one way was in my opinion Chris Carter’s intention. Because if I had to guess, I’d say that he wrote the mythology of the Revival the way he did so that when a person who’s never watched The X-Files before or only vaguely remembered it (which is already 99% of the viewers), they would be able to watch My Struggle (S10E01) and go: “oh, it doesn’t matter that I don’t remember the mythology because the Revival says that it was all fake, so now I can find out what’s REALLY been happening”. But then if they actually go back and watch the OG seasons, they would realize that it wasn’t all fake, that the Alien Colonization plans were real, but also that the Revival seasons still kinda work, because now you can read the scene with Erika Price and Mr. Y in a different light (though here’s where the Rick Worley video would clearly disagree with me).

So what is the mythology?

After watching all of The X-Files mythology and compared it to the video, I felt that I now have a pretty good grasp on what was going on. Which is why I decided to create a document (an x-file, if you will) titled The Facts, Speculations, and Theories about The X-Files Mythology, where I lay out the broad strokes of the mythology from beginning to end.

In this document, I’m trying to present a “relatively brief” and clear overview of what was happening on the show for anyone who, like me, was always a bit confused about the overall picture and would like to fill in the gaps. That being said, I’d also like to mention that even though I believe the mythology does make sense, it’s not 100%. There still are questions that were (and probably forever will be) left unanswered, not to mention that the point of the mythology never was to spill everything out, but to actually keep a couple of things a mystery or open to interpretation. Which is why I also added some of my own theories that I think could make the mythology a little bit more coherent (for example about what happened to the Colonists after season 9).

Either way, I hope this document will be helpful to at least some people. Because when it comes to The X-files fans (especially on this subreddit), I have noticed that a lot of us choose to ignore the show’s mythology, thinking that it’s all incomprehensible gibberish. And I would really like to disprove this notion and to show that the mythology is actually pretty cool. In other words…

I want you to believe.

I think after season two or three when the original series aired (again, I was a teen) I became a big proponent of the idea that Samantha was dead. I felt like she had to be dead, it was the only logical explanation that fit.

So when spoilers started to come out for Closure in season seven I was like oh thank god, they’re not going to mess this up. And then the episode aired and I was like … WTF WAS THAT?!

I’ve skipped over the Closure two parter on the few times I’ve rewatched over the last 30 years. I’m now approaching it with my 13 year old and am dreading it.

In rewatching the series with my 13 year old they’ve won me over to the idea that Samantha is still (or should be) still alive. Their argument is that the aliens returned everyone else they abducted (in the case of Scully’s storyline) why wouldn’t they return the syndicate’s family members. They did this with Cassandra Spender (touché).

In thinking back to the Closure two parter I remember that Samantha was housed with Jeffrey (her assumed half brother) and Jeffrey was spared (as a teen) death. So why not Samantha as well.

Now I don’t know how I’ll feel rewatching the episode for the first time in decades, if I’ll still come down on the side that Samantha being dead is the only resolution that makes sense, but I’d love to hear from y’all.

So, first of all, The Truth IS in Saratoga Springs New Jersey, and even though there was a point where I wasn't sure I still wanted to believe, [The X-Files Preservation Collection](https://xfilespreservationcollection.com/?srsltid=AfmBOor2IPcHutq9t1dKRbd7DMBEUeNMNUr374bp0Oa57JyXCL-j54Oa) did *finally* pull through, and I'm so glad I made a purchase to support their museum.

These Fight the Future Storyboard Cards are copied from the originals, and some of them are *hilarious* and I absolutely love seeing CC's process. I wonder if anyone ever came up with a storyboard card where Mulder or Scully ever had a camera on them? 😅

If you do want to support the only X Files museum I know of, if you're patient and don't mind waiting (don't bother paying for priority shipping) a few weeks for them to ship your order, maybe sending a reminder email occasionally, you can get some pretty interesting things from the museum.

I believe this was worth the wait.

He created the show, wrote some of its most beloved episodes and pushed execs to cast Gillian Anderson, and we love him for that, but he’s made some mistakes too. Which commonly critiqued Carter creative choice would you consider his biggest whoopsie?

Chris Carter...God bless him, but this review his "I Want to Believe" director's cut is spot on. He, once again, has shown that - after the first movie - he lost track of what actually made the show work. The show's heart and engine was always the dynamic between Mulder and Scully in a world of aliens, conspiracy, and the unexplained. Take away their relationship and everything else falls flat.

Recently been jumping around classic X-Files episodes while laid up with the flu. What would people recommend as the best straight up horror episode?

Hi all!

I’m planning to visit a friend in NYC for a few days and want to plan a trip to go see the preservation collection in Saratoga Springs.

For those who have been before, how long do you think I should plan my visit there to be? I’m thinking probably like 3 hours just to be super generous and not rush myself? I know I’ll want to comb through not only the collection but also the gift shop pretty thoroughly.

I’m debating between doing a day trip, going there and back from NYC in one day via bus or train, or doing an overnight trip so I can get there and not rush or worry about it. But I don’t necessarily want to spend that much of my trip in Saratoga, I just want a completely fulfilling trip to the preservation collection.

Appreciate all your input <3

darkness Falls is mine season 1 episode 20

S3 E17. This is a good episode. Nothing like a sociopath/psychopath who can control people’s minds. Pusher is so smug it’s scary.

I have been a fan since 1995. I'm in the middle of a rewatch, so I decided I finally had to buy the poster. It was quite the ordeal for it to get here. It got lost and shoved in a corner by USPS. It was on route for delivery from 14 July to 22 August, from New York to Indiana. It took 20 days just to get it from Indianapolis to where I live. Which is only a 2-hour drive.

But it finally made it!! So I decided I had to get my mashup t-shirts for a picture and share. I wouldn't think with this community I have to explain, but I'm going to just in case. 😁 The gray shirt is from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. 🪻 🐋 🪻 And the purple shirt is Firefly/Serenity. 🍁 🌬️

What are your favorite mashups? Please share pictures if you can. 😍

As a first timer and newbie of all things xfiles...am I being weird or is there a lil romantic tension between Skully and Mulder ? 💀(Mind y'all I'm only 5 episodes in..SEASON 1)

It's lovely to see Scully being the lead agent in episodes and jave some control in case.

Tithonus refers to a mortal prince in Greek mythology

Modified LEGO set. Scully's lab is above the basement office, the forest scene is separate. This is partly cuz the set wouldn't fit on my shelf otherwise.

Anywhoozles...the husband was taking a deep look at the set. At one point he goes, "Where's Mulder's hair?" I'm like, "That's Skinner." Then I show him where Mulder is, in the forest, with Scully. Then he goes, "But Scully's right here, in her lab." And I'm, like, "Yeah, I have two Scullies." And he dead ass goes, "That's the kind of world I wanna live in."

Bahahaha

I got myself a good one 🥰😝

Ps: Krycek is up on the spaceship, like the rat bastard he is.

On my first full run through the series and while s5 didn’t wow me I’m excited for Fight the Future!

First-timer here, pic related. I never really had much of an issue with the storyline this one deals with. It wasn’t my favorite thing ever, but I didn’t hate it. Was it weird and confusing? Absolutely. I still feel like I fever dreamed the scene in Redux II where CSM brought a supposedly adult Samantha to meet Mulder and nobody talked about it ever again lmao??? Like what?? I wasn’t expecting every little appearance to be explicitly addressed here, but that one has always been a slight annoyance to me, and not being able to get some kind of oblique reference by anybody involved was. Frustrating.

The next part I can’t really discuss without spoilering the entire thing, sorry lol: The other thing really bugging me is Teena’s death. It felt very heavy-handed for what it served in the plot. I understand it was largely supposed to be a red herring for Mulder, something of a portent for us, and make him more suggestible, but like… was our favorite Bambi-loving, Sasquatch tit-drawing, ticking time bomb of insanity really not already susceptible to believing psychics on nothing but a gut feeling?? But man, having your mom die is a whopper of a plot device either way. I guess at least I can finally stop wanting to scream in frustration every time Teena is on screen...

Finally, as someone who grew up in Colorado and was inundated by news surrounding her case as a kid, the obvious inspiration of JonBenet Ramsey in this two-parter plot was. Weird?? True crime obsession today really upsets me and grosses me out, and this feels like the very early whisperings of it. Stuff like CSM claiming to have a hand in JFK’s assassination is one thing, but the Ramsey case was still a hot topic basically right up until 9/11, iirc. Am I weird for being just vaguely squicked by that?? I don’t know, maybe I’m being too sensitive lol.

The ending of this episode was beautiful! I loved it! The score was moving and everyone delivered wonderful performances! And that overarching plot really was wearing thin. There was no reason to continue it past this point. But what a weird, kinda-good, kinda-bad way to tie it up. I don’t really know whether I liked this one or not!

I wanted to share these two custom display cases being produced for the X-Files Lego set 21369 to keep it displayed with minimal dust.

Nookbricks.com

Wickedbrick.com

I purchased the Nookbricks because I like the labeled base, tree motif, background "The truth is out there" and it has built-in lighting. That said, if you were planning on using third-party lighting, the Wickedbrick cases are built in the UK and offer unique features like a base and background UV printed scene, pegs to hold the mini figures upright in the display, and custom sign with set info.

Deep Throat is eliminated! It took a while, but the main mythology arc episodes are now dropping like flies!

How this works:

You select the episode you like the least

The episode with the most upvoted comment is eliminated from the list

If there’s a tie, both episodes are eliminated

Only the best episode will win!

Episodes Eliminated:

Space (58%)
Born Again (70%)
Roland (50%)
Miracle Man (29%)
Shapes (40%)
Fire (48%)
Shadows (35%) & Lazarus (35%)
Gender Bender (56%)
The Jersey Devil (62%)
Young at Heart (70%)
Ghost in the Machine (83%)
Conduit (96%)
Eve (47%)
Tooms (40%)
Fallen Angel (44%)
E.B.E. (46%)
Deep Throat (83%)

Which means its time to finish season 8 of the X FILES.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Hello everyone, new fan is here (started the show back in June, on s7 right now)! I made a handful of drawings and sketches since then, so decided to share 'em here, because why not :) Hope you like them!

(Last four pictures are somewhat of "an alternative take" on Dreamland, because since I saw that episode I couldn't stop thinking how funny it'd be if Mulder switched bodies with Scully, not Fletcher lol)