The X-Files 31 days of Halloween

 Dr. Bethan Jones @memorieschild.bsky.social academic of fan culture author of "The Truth is Still Out There Thirty Years of The X-Files"

10/13 Grotesque- This is a deeply psychological episode (which I always love) and it's great to see some of what Mulder must have been like prior to being assigned to The X-Files. The visuals, especially the room full of gargoyles, are so very well done too.

•          Never Again - A lot of fans don't like this once because it suggests that Scully gets it on with someone who's not Mulder, but I was never a shipper so that doesn't bother me! I like that we see Scully questioning her life (and maybe Mulder's role/position in it); as she says at the end not everything is about him. It also features tattoos and as someone with a lot of them that pleases me.

•          Unusual Suspects - I like finding out what characters did before they became involved in The X-Files and this is another episode that does that. I love seeing the Gunmen and getting their origin story, and I love the hints to another past that Mulder had (like I said, I'm not a shipper).

•          Sixth Extinction II - This, along with Biogenesis and Sixth Extinction I, forms a cracking series opener. And I love the fact that Diana Fowley plays such a pivotal part. I think Fowley was a chronically underused character and I find her fascinating so it was nice to see her featuring, and redeeming herself, here. I also love the visuals as we see an alien-induced end-of-the-world apocalypse, a sign of what might come should Mulder stop chasing for the truth of his sister's disappearance.

10/24 Hollywood AD –When The X-Files does comedy it does it well and Hollywood AD, with its multiple in-jokes, references to pop culture conspiracy theories and general weirdness is up there with the best of them. It's silly and self-referential but I thin that's what we need sometimes.