The X-Files poster

TV series

The X-Files

1993TV-1411 seasons8.4 / 10

The truth is out there.

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 of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is assigned to make scientific analyses of Mulder's discoveries that debunk Mulder's work and thus return him to mainstream cases.

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Checked Jul 22, 2026

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Synopsis

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 of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is assigned to make scientific analyses of Mulder's discoveries that debunk Mulder's work and thus return him to mainstream cases.

Season 6 episodes

Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.

← Season 5

Episode 1

The Beginning

46m7.8 / 10

Mulder is less than thrilled when an Office of Professional Conduct board refuses to reassign him and Scully to The X-Files and even more so when he learns that Agent Spender and Agent Fowley have become their successors. When Gibson Praise reappears and comes to them for help, Mulder and Scully attempt to continue their quest undercover despite having fewer friends and less access and protection than ever before.

Episode credits

Directed by Kim MannersWritten by Chris CarterGuest stars Mitch Pileggi, William B. Davis, Mimi Rogers, Wayne Alexander, George Murdock, Benito Martinez, Wendie Malick, Jeff Gulka

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Episode 2

Drive

46m8.1 / 10

Mulder is trapped in a car with a man who has developed a serious ear condition which can only be suppressed by driving west at high speeds. As Scully tries to find the cause and a cure for the problem, Mulder and the man get closer and closer to the ocean.

Episode credits

Directed by Rob BowmanWritten by Vince GilliganGuest stars Michael O'Neill, Junior Brown, Bryan Cranston, Bob Peters, Janine Venable, Frank Buckley, Mindy Seeger, Harry Danner

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Episode 3

Triangle

46m8.0 / 10

Mulder goes to the Bermuda Triangle when he learns that the Queen Anne, a British luxury liner which disappeared during WWII, has reappeared in the middle of the Sargasso Sea. Mulder's boat is wrecked and after floating in the water, he is hauled aboard the ship which has just been hijacked by the Nazis searching for the man who will build the atom bomb. Mulder tries to convince the crew that they have traveled into the future, but evidence further suggests that it is he who is back in the past.

Episode credits

Directed by Chris CarterWritten by Chris CarterGuest stars Greg Ellis, Trevor Goddard, Madison Mason, Arlene Pileggi, G.W. Stevens, Laura Leigh Hughes, Robert Thomas Beck, Robert Arce

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Episode 4

Dreamland (1)

46m8.2 / 10

While being detained near the famed "Dreamland" Area 51, a strange craft flies overhead and Mulder swaps bodies with an Area 51 "Man-in-Black". While the other agent has fun in Mulder's body, Mulder himself finds it difficult to fit into someone else's life, especially a shadowy one. Mulder contacts Scully about the body swap and tries to get her the flight data recorder from the UFO test flight, but his alter ego uses Mulder's FBI persona to have him arrested.

Episode credits

Directed by Kim Manners, Michael W. WatkinsWritten by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank SpotnitzGuest stars Michael McKean, Tyler Binkley, Michael B. Silver, Nora Dunn, Dara Hollingsworth, Julia Vera, Laura Leigh Hughes, Scott Allan Campbell

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Episode 5

Dreamland II (2)

46m8.2 / 10

Mulder is thrown in jail at the Area 51 compound but is released when it is discovered that the flight data recorder he stole was a fake. Scully comes to her senses and realizes that the Mulder she sees isn't who he really is and heads back to Nevada to help the real Mulder. Meanwhile, the mechanism that caused the body swap is rapidly snapping back, undoing everything in its wake, and Mulder and his alter ego must race to put themselves back where they belong.

Episode credits

Directed by Kim Manners, Michael W. WatkinsWritten by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank SpotnitzGuest stars Michael McKean, Tyler Binkley, Michael B. Silver, Nora Dunn, Dara Hollingsworth, Chris Ufland, Julia Vera, Lisa Joann Thompson

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Episode 6

How the Ghosts Stole Christmas

45m7.7 / 10

Mulder talks Scully into investigating a haunted house on Christmas Eve where several couples have met their fate on that very night. While there, they encounter endless tricks and traps set by a ghostly couple who originally made a lovers suicide pact in the house. The ghosts try to convince Mulder and Scully to kill each other.

Episode credits

Directed by Chris CarterWritten by Chris CarterGuest stars Lily Tomlin, Ed Asner

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Episode 7

Terms of Endearment

46m7.3 / 10

After a scan of a couple's unborn child is found to have strange growths protruding from the head and back, the fetus is taken from inside the mother by a demon creature while she is asleep. Mulder heads to investigate after Agent Spender dismisses the claims, and discovers that the father is actually a demon who wants to have a normal child.

Episode credits

Directed by Rob BowmanWritten by David AmannGuest stars Bruce Campbell, Michael Milhoan, Grace Phillips, Lisa Jane Persky, Lenora May, Michael Rothhaar, Jimmy Staszkiel, Chris Owens

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Episode 8

The Rain King

46m7.4 / 10

Strange weather phenomena in a small town leads Mulder to believe that a weatherman's deep emotions and unspoken love toward his workmate are becoming real in the form of snow and tornadoes.

Episode credits

Directed by Kim MannersWritten by Jeffrey BellGuest stars Dirk Blocker, Clayton Rohner, Victoria Jackson, David Manis, Frankie Ingrassia, Brian D. Johnson, Dan Gifford, Sally Stevens

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Episode 9

S.R. 819

46m7.5 / 10

Mulder and Scully have 24 hours to save A.D. Skinner from being killed by a biologically engineered disease. The disease appears to be created by a shadowy government organization, but in order to save Skinner's life they must determine who wants him dead and why. With Skinner's condition worsening, Mulder seeks assistance from Senator Matheson, who he hopes can provide some answers and help him to find a cure.

Episode credits

Directed by Daniel SackheimWritten by John ShibanGuest stars Mitch Pileggi, John Towey, Jenny Gago, Kenneth Tigar, Arlene Pileggi, Raymond J. Barry, Nicholas Lea

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Episode 10

Tithonus

46m7.6 / 10

Assistant Director Kersh tries to tear Scully and Mulder apart when he partners Scully with a New York agent investigating Alfred Fellig, a freelance police photographer who conveniently shows up to document the scene of a death as soon as it happens. While the young hotshot agent is convinced that Fellig is murdering the people, Scully has other (paranormal) theories.

Episode credits

Directed by Michael W. WatkinsWritten by Vince GilliganGuest stars Richard Ruccolo, Geoffrey Lewis, James Pickens Jr.

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Episode 11

Two Fathers (1)

44m8.0 / 10

While the Cigarette-Smoking Man recites to an unseen listener everything about the work of the Syndicate involving a global conspiracy in cooperation with an alien species, Cassandra Spender reappears and is pursued by the scientists who would rather kill her than keep her alive. Cassandra runs to Mulder's apartment and demands that he shoot her because she is the culmination of 50 years work - a living alien/human hybrid - and colonization will begin if the aliens find out about her.

Episode credits

Directed by Kim MannersWritten by Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz, Jeffrey BellGuest stars Mitch Pileggi, Nick Tate, Veronica Cartwright, George Murdock, Al Ruscio, Mimi Rogers, William B. Davis, Don S. Williams

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Episode 12

One Son (2)

45m8.2 / 10

The Cigarette-Smoking Man reveals all the government secrets from the past 50 years in order for his son, Jeffery Spender, to join him in his work. Mulder learns that the final stage of the conspiracy will soon begin with the hybridization of the Syndicate members, and he must stop it from happening. Agent Spender deceives his father and arranges for Mulder and Scully to be reassigned to the X-Files, which doesn't sit too well with the Cigarette-Smoking Man.

Episode credits

Directed by Rob BowmanWritten by Chris Carter, Frank SpotnitzGuest stars Mitch Pileggi, William B. Davis, Veronica Cartwright, Mimi Rogers, Al Ruscio, Laurie Holden, Scott Williamson, Frank Ertl

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Episode 13

Agua Mala

45m7.2 / 10

Arthur Dales summons Mulder and Scully to his holiday home in Florida where he is concerned over the disappearance of his neighbors. Despite the raging hurricane, Mulder and Scully head out to investigate and discover several strange deaths caused by an octopus-like sea creature that swam in through the overflowing sewer system.

Episode credits

Directed by Rob BowmanWritten by David AmannGuest stars Joel McKinnon Miller, Diana Maria Riva, Jeremy Roberts, Darren McGavin, Silas Weir Mitchell, Valente Rodriguez, Nichole Pelerine, Max Kasch

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Episode 14

Monday

46m7.9 / 10

A woman is forced to relive the same day over and over as she tries to prevent Mulder and Scully from being killed by her boyfriend during a bank robbery attempt. As the events restart again and again, Mulder's sense of Deja-vu grows stronger.

Episode credits

Directed by Kim MannersWritten by Vince Gilligan, John ShibanGuest stars Mitch Pileggi, Darren E. Burrows, Carrie Hamilton, Suanne Spoke, Monique Edwards, Mik Scriba, David Michael Millins, Arlene Pileggi

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Episode 15

Arcadia

46m7.9 / 10

On their first official case back on the X-Files, Mulder and Scully go undercover as a married couple at a prestigious planned community where several residents have recently disappeared after failing to comply with the rules and regulations.

Episode credits

Directed by Michael W. WatkinsWritten by Daniel ArkinGuest stars Marnie McPhail, Tom Virtue, Abraham Benrubi, Debra Christofferson, Tom Gallop, Juliana Donald, Roger W. Morrissey, Tim Bagley

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Episode 16

Alpha

46m6.5 / 10

A mysterious dog thought to be the last of a rare Asian breed is responsible for several murders which Mulder and Scully are investigating. Now the agents have to find a way to stop the dog before it kills again.

Episode credits

Directed by Peter MarkleWritten by Jeffrey BellGuest stars Melinda Culea, Tuan Tran, Dana Lee, Yau-Gene Chan, James M. Connor, Lisa Picotte, Thomas F. Duffy, David Starwalt

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Episode 17

Trevor

46m7.0 / 10

After a tornado rips through a prison camp, one of the inmates disappears from solitary confinement and the prison warden is killed. As Mulder and Scully track him, he appears to have the power to pass through solid matter while changing its composition.

Episode credits

Directed by Rob BowmanWritten by Kenneth H. Hawryliw, Jim GuttridgeGuest stars Tuesday Knight, Catherine Dent, Frank Novak, John Diehl, Jeffrey Schoeny, David Bowe, Keith Brunsmann, Robert Peters

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Episode 18

Milagro

46m7.2 / 10

A writer living next to Mulder becomes obsessed with Scully and confesses to her that he is using her for a character in his novel. Scully finds herself strangely drawn to him even though he is now the prime suspect in the murder case that she and Mulder are investigating.

Episode credits

Directed by Kim MannersWritten by Chris Carter, John Shiban, Frank SpotnitzGuest stars John Hawkes, Michael Bailey Smith, Jillian Bach, Nestor Serrano, Angelo Vacco, Durrell Nelson

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Episode 19

The Unnatural

46m7.9 / 10

Mulder meets with Agent Arthur Dales' brother (also named Arthur) and is told a tale of a talented negro baseball player from Roswell, New Mexico in the 1940's who may have been an alien that ran away from his colony because of his love for the game.

Episode credits

Directed by David DuchovnyWritten by David DuchovnyGuest stars Jesse L. Martin, Paul Willson, Brian Thompson, M. Emmet Walsh, Fredric Lehne, Vin Scully, Jesse James, Burnell Roques

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Episode 20

Three of a Kind

46m7.4 / 10

While on a stakeout of a Government Defense Convention in Las Vegas, The Lone Gunmen are reunited with Susanne Modeski, the mysterious woman who disappeared ten years earlier when they first met Agent Mulder.

Episode credits

Directed by Bryan SpicerWritten by Vince Gilligan, John ShibanGuest stars Michael McKean, Signy Coleman, John Billingsley, Jim Fyfe, Jeff Bowser, Charles Rocket, Jason Felipe, Phil Abrams

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Episode 21

Field Trip

46m8.2 / 10

When the bodies of a couple who have been missing for less than a week are discovered to have been reduced to bone, Mulder suggests that recent paranormal phenomena in the area may have caused the accelerated decomposition.

Episode credits

Directed by Kim MannersWritten by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank SpotnitzGuest stars Mitch Pileggi, David Denman, Robyn Lively, Jim Beaver, Bruce Harwood, Dean Haglund, Tom Braidwood

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Episode 22

Biogenesis (1)

46m7.7 / 10finale

Two scientists confer about each of their metal objects that were found in Africa and they theorize that the objects are pieces of a puzzle which could be undeniable proof that human, plant, and animal life did not originate on this planet. When one of the scientists is killed and the objects are stolen, the agents investigate and Mulder begins to experience severe neurological pain caused by the objects.

Episode credits

Directed by Rob BowmanWritten by Chris Carter, Frank SpotnitzGuest stars Mitch Pileggi, William B. Davis, Mimi Rogers, Michael Ensign, Murray Rubinstein, Bill Dow, Michael Chinyamurindi, Warren Sweeney

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Episode information updated Jul 23, 2026

More about The X-Files

Cast

David DuchovnyFox Mulder
Gillian AndersonDana Scully
Robert PatrickJohn Doggett
Annabeth GishMonica Reyes
Mitch PileggiWalter Skinner
Cary ElwesBrad Follmer
John FinnMichael Kritschgau
William B. DavisCigarette Smoking Man

Credits

Created by
Chris Carter

Production details

Status
Ended
Series type
Scripted
Episodes
218
Original language
English

Networks & production

  • FOXUnited States
  • Ten Thirteen ProductionsUnited States
  • 20th Century Fox TelevisionUnited States

Themes

alienamerican folkloreconspiracyfbifbi agentgovernment cover-upinvestigationparanormal investigation