by Gurjit Singh

created March 2016

DON'T WORRY! THERE ARE NO SPOILERS IN THIS LONG DOCUMENT!

I PROMISE! IT'S SAFE!

This Document is the Ultimate Guide to The X-Files Franchise.

This Guide has 3 Main Purposes:

1. X-Files Franchise' Chronological Viewing Order

2. X-Files Skip/Watch Guide
3. All the Information packed in one Source, so no need to look Stuff up!
 Click on the Links below to Navigate. If you want to get back to the
First Page, just press the HOME Key.

INTRODUCTION ...........................................................3

SEASON 1 ...............................................................4

SEASON 2 ...............................................................5

SEASON 3 ...............................................................6

SEASON 4 ...............................................................7

SEASON 5 ...............................................................8

1st Movie ..............................................................9

SEASON 6 ..............................................................10

MILLENIUM .............................................................11

SEASON 7 ..............................................................12

SEASON 8 ..............................................................13

THE LONE GUNMEN .......................................................14

SEASON 9 ..............................................................15

2nd Movie .............................................................16

SEASON 10 .............................................................17

Criteria for Skipping .................................................18

External Links ........................................................19

IMDb Lists ............................................................19

 INTRODUCTION

All Episodes in this List are marked with a Prefix.

[MYTHOLOGY] = Mythology Arc Episodes

[STANDALONE] = Monsters of the Week Episodes.

All Mythology Episodes are included in this List as they are the most
important ones. None of the Mythology Episodes should be skipped.

All the skippable Episodes in this List are the crappiest and the most
boring Monsters of the Week Episodes. You don't miss anything by skipping
those Episodes as they dont affect the central Theme (Mythology Arc) at
all! So nothing to worry! Skipping is fine!

The Standalone Episodes are truly Standalone, so basically you can save a
lot of your Time by only watching the Mythology Episodes. BASICALLY!

If you are interested in binge-watching the entire filmed Franchise, this

List also tells you when to watch the Spin-Off Series and the Movies.

But only the first X-Files Movie is really important to watch. Neither
Millenium, nor The Lone Gunmen really add anything to the X-Files narrative!

!! Before I tell you which Episodes to watch and which not !!

I recommend you to atleast watch every single Episode of the first Season
to be convinced that you really need this List to skip the waste of time
crappy Episodes.

Don't wanna take a Risk? Just want to see the good Stuff from the very
beginning?

Alright! Let's do this!

 SEASON 1

WATCH:

[MYTHOLOGY] 1x01 Pilot

[MYTHOLOGY] 1x02 Deep Throat
[STANDALONE] 1x03 Squeeze
[MYTHOLOGY] 1x04 Conduit
[STANDALONE] 1x08 Ice
[MYTHOLOGY] 1x10 Fallen Angel
[STANDALONE] 1x11 Eve
[STANDALONE] 1x13 Beyond the Sea
[MYTHOLOGY] 1x17 E.B.E
[STANDALONE] 1x20 Darkness Falls
[STANDALONE] 1x21 Tooms
[MYTHOLOGY] 1x24 The Erlenmeyer Flask

SKIP:

[STANDALONE] 1x05 The Jersey Devil

[STANDALONE] 1x06 Shadows
[STANDALONE] 1x07 Ghost in the Machine
[STANDALONE] 1x09 Space
[STANDALONE] 1x12 Fire
[STANDALONE] 1x14 Gender Bender
[STANDALONE] 1x15 Lazarus
[STANDALONE] 1x16 Young at Heart
[STANDALONE] 1x18 Miracle Man
[STANDALONE] 1x19 Shapes
[STANDALONE] 1x22 Born Again
[STANDALONE] 1x23 Roland

12 Episodes skipped (Lots of Crappiness in S01 but it gets better)

 SEASON 2

WATCH:

[MYTHOLOGY] 2x01 Little Green Men

[STANDALONE] 2x02 The Host
[STANDALONE] 2x04 Sleepless
[MYTHOLOGY] 2x05 Duane Barry
[MYTHOLOGY] 2x06 Ascension
[MYTHOLOGY] 2x08 One Breath
[MYTHOLOGY] 2x10 Red Museum
[STANDALONE] 2x13 Irresistible
[STANDALONE] 2x14 Die Hand die verletzt
[MYTHOLOGY] 2x16 Colony
[MYTHOLOGY] 2x17 End Game
[STANDALONE] 2x20 Humbug
[STANDALONE] 2x22 F. Emasculata
[STANDALONE] 2x23 Soft Light
[STANDALONE] 2x24 Our Town
[MYTHOLOGY] 2x25 Anasazi

SKIP:

[STANDALONE] 2x03 Blood

[STANDALONE] 2x07 3
[STANDALONE] 2x09 Firewalker
[STANDALONE] 2x11 Excelsis Dei
[STANDALONE] 2x12 Aubrey
[STANDALONE] 2x15 Frsh Bones
[STANDALONE] 2x18 Fearful Symmetry
[STANDALONE] 2x19 Dd Kalm
[STANDALONE] 2x21 The Calusari

9 Episodes skipped
 SEASON 3

WATCH:

[MYTHOLOGY] 3x01 The Blessing Way

[MYTHOLOGY] 3x02 Paper Clip
[STANDALONE] 3x03 D.P.O.
[STANDALONE] 3x04 Clyde Bruckman's Final Response
[STANDALONE] 3x08 Oubliette
[MYTHOLOGY] 3x09 Nisei
[MYTHOLOGY] 3x10 731
[STANDALONE] 3x12 War of the Coprophages
[STANDALONE] 3x14 Grotesque
[MYTHOLOGY] 3x15 Piper Maru
[MYTHOLOGY] 3x16 Apocrypha
[STANDALONE] 3x17 Pusher
[STANDALONE] 3x20 Jose Chung's From Outer Space
[STANDALONE] 3x22 Quagmire
[STANDALONE] 3x23 Wetwired
[MYTHOLOGY] 3x24 Talitha Cumi

SKIP:

[STANDALONE] 3x05 The List

[STANDALONE] 3x06 2Shy
[STANDALONE] 3x07 The Walk
[STANDALONE] 3x11 Revelations
[STANDALONE] 3x13 Syzygy
[STANDALONE] 3x18 Teso Dos Bichos
[STANDALONE] 3x19 Hell Money
[STANDALONE] 3x21 Avatar

8 Episodes skipped
 SEASON 4

WATCH:

[MYTHOLOGY] 4x01 Herrenvolk

[STANDALONE] 4x02 Home
[STANDALONE] 4x04 Unruhe
[MYTHOLOGY] 4x07 Musings of a Cigarette Smoking man
[MYTHOLOGY] 4x08 Tunguska
[MYTHOLOGY] 4x09 Terma
[STANDALONE] 4x10 Paper Hearts
[STANDALONE] 4x12 Leonard Betts
[MYTHOLOGY] 4x14 Memento Mori
[MYTHOLOGY] 4x17 Tempus Fugit
[MYTHOLOGY] 4x18 Max
[STANDALONE] 4x20 Small Potatoes
[MYTHOLOGY] 4x21 Zero Sum
[STANDALONE] 4x22 Elegy
[MYTHOLOGY] 4x23 Demons
[MYTHOLOGY] 4x24 Gethsemane

SKIP:

[STANDALONE] 4x03 Teliko

[STANDALONE] 4x05 The Field where I Dies
[STANDALONE] 4x06 Sanguinarium
[STANDALONE] 4x11 El Mundo Gira
[STANDALONE] 4x13 Never Again
[STANDALONE] 4x15 Kaddish
[STANDALONE] 4x16 Unrequited
[STANDALONE] 4x19 Synchrony

8 Episodes skipped
 SEASON 5

WATCH:

[MYTHOLOGY] 5x01 Redux

[MYTHOLOGY] 5x02 Redux II
[STANDALONE] 5x03 Unusual Suspects
[STANDALONE] 5x04 Detour
[STANDALONE] 5x05 The Post-Modern Prometheus
[MYTHOLOGY] 5x06 Christmas Carol
[MYTHOLOGY] 5x07 Emily
[STANDALONE] 5x08 Kitsunegari
[STANDALONE] 5x11 Kill Switch
[STANDALONE] 5x12 Bad Blood
[MYTHOLOGY] 5x13 Patient X
[MYTHOLOGY] 5x14 The Red and the Black
[MYTHOLOGY] 5x15 Travelers
[STANDALONE] 5x16 Mind's Eye
[STANDALONE] 5x18 The Pine Bluff Variant
[STANDALONE] 5x19 Folie Deux
[MYTHOLOGY] 5x20 The End

SKIP:

[STANDALONE] 5x09 Schizogeny

[STANDALONE] 5x10 Chinga
[STANDALONE] 5x17 All Souls

3 Episodes skipped
 1st Movie

[MYTHOLOGY] The X-Files: Fight for the Future

Absolutely Critical to watch this Movie between Season 5 and 6. Dont skip
it! Not just because of the Mythology! It also happens to be a great Action
Movie! It connects Season 5 and 6.
 SEASON 6

WATCH:

[MYTHOLOGY] 6x01 The Beginning

[STANDALONE] 6x02 Drive
[STANDALONE] 6x03 Triangle
[STANDALONE] 6x04 Dreamland
[STANDALONE] 6x05 Dreamland II
[STANDALONE] 6x06 How the Ghosts stole Christmas
[MYTHOLOGY] 6x09 S.R. 819
[STANDALONE] 6x10 Tithonus
[MYTHOLOGY] 6x11 Two Fathers
[MYTHOLOGY] 6x12 One Son
[STANDALONE] 6x14 Monday
[STANDALONE] 6x15 Arcadia
[STANDALONE] 6x19 The Unnatural
[STANDALONE] 6x20 Three of a Kind
[STANDALONE] 6x21 Field Trip
[MYTHOLOGY] 6x22 Biogenesis

SKIP:

[STANDALONE] 6x07 Terms of Endearment

[STANDALONE] 6x08 The Rain King
[STANDALONE] 6x13 Agua Mala
[STANDALONE] 6x16 Alpha
[STANDALONE] 6x17 Trevor
[STANDALONE] 6x18 Milagro

6 Episodes skipped
 MILLENIUM

NOTE: The "Spin-Off" Millenium adds absolutely nothing to the X-Files

narrative. (Millenium is not even a proper Spin-Off...)

It's not a bad show but you absolutely don't have to watch it to
follow The X-Files...

If you want to watch Millenium, do it here before proceeding with Season

7. The Cliffhanger will be resolved in The X-Files S07E04 Millenium.

Between Season 6 and

Season 7 is the right Time
to watch Millenium or just
skip it completely Your
Choice!
 SEASON 7

WATCH:

[MYTHOLOGY] 7x01 The Sixth Extinction

[MYTHOLOGY] 7x02 The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati
[STANDALONE] 7x03 Hungry
[STANDALONE] 7x04 Millenium
[STANDALONE] 7x06 The Goldberg Variation
[STANDALONE] 7x08 The Amazing Maleeni
[MYTHOLOGY] 7x10 Sein und Zeit
[MYTHOLOGY] 7x11 Closure
[STANDALONE] 7x12 X-Cops
[STANDALONE] 7x13 First Person Shooter
[MYTHOLOGY] 7x15 En Ami
[STANDALONE] 7x17 all Things
[STANDALONE] 7x19 Hollywood A.D.
[STANDALONE] 7x21 Je Souhaite
[MYTHOLOGY] 7x22 Requiem

SKIP:

[STANDALONE] 7x05 Rush

[STANDALONE] 7x07 Orison
[STANDALONE] 7x09 Signs and Wonders
[STANDALONE] 7x14 Theef
[STANDALONE] 7x16 Chimera
[STANDALONE] 7x18 Brand X
[STANDALONE] 7x20 Fight Club

7 Episodes skipped
 SEASON 8

WATCH:

[MYTHOLOGY] 8x01 Within

[MYTHOLOGY] 8x02 Without
[STANDALONE] 8x04 Roadrunners
[STANDALONE] 8x05 Invocation
[STANDALONE] 8x06 Redrum
[STANDALONE] 8x07 Via Negativa
[MYTHOLOGY] 8x11 The Gift
[MYTHOLOGY] 8x13 Per Manum
[MYTHOLOGY] 8x14 This is not Happening
[MYTHOLOGY] 8x15 Deadalive
[MYTHOLOGY] 8x16 Three Words
[STANDALONE] 8x17 Empedocles
[MYTHOLOGY] 8x18 Vienen
[STANDALONE] 8x19 Alone
[MYTHOLOGY] 8x20 Essence
[MYTHOLOGY] 8x21 Existence

SKIP:

[STANDALONE] 8x03 Patience

[STANDALONE] 8x08 Surekill
[STANDALONE] 8x09 Salvage
[STANDALONE] 8x10 Badlaa
[STANDALONE] 8x12 Medusa

5 Episodes skipped
 THE LONE GUNMEN

NOTE: Unlike Millenium, The Lone Gunmen IS a proper Spin-Off and it concludes
in X-Files S09E15 Jump the Shark. It's not a bad show but you don't
have to watch it as it adds almost nothing to the X-Files narrative.

Episode 12 of The Lone Gunmen is the only Episode very briefly

connected to The X-Files narrative but this show is still not necessary
to watch as all the important Information is provided in the Intro of
The X-Files S09E15 Jump the Shark.

Just care about the Episode connected to The X-Files?

I recommend reading the Plots of the first 2 Episodes of The Lone Gunmen
on Wikipedia to learn about the Characters and then watch Episode 12 before
proceeding with The X-Files Season 9.

Not Convinced? Dont wanna skip it at all?

Watch The Lone Gunmen. It's not a bad Show after all. And do it here before
proceeding with The X-Files Season 9! BUT switch the last 2 Episodes. Watch
Episode 1 through 11, 13 and then 12. The Cliffhanger of Episode 12 will
be resolved in The X-Files S09E15 Jump the Shark.
 SEASON 9

WATCH:

[MYTHOLOGY] 9x01 Nothing important happened Today I

[MYTHOLOGY] 9x02 Nothing important happened Today II
[STANDALONE] 9x03 Dmonicus
[STANDALONE] 9x04 4-D
[MYTHOLOGY] 9x06 Trust No 1
[MYTHOLOGY] 9x09 Provenance
[MYTHOLOGY] 9x10 Providence
[STANDALONE] 9x11 Audrey Pauley
[MYTHOLOGY] 9x15 Jump the Shark
[MYTHOLOGY] 9x16 William
[STANDALONE] 9x17 Release
[MYTHOLOGY] 9x19 + 9x20 The Truth

SKIP:

[STANDALONE] 9x05 Lord of the Flies

[STANDALONE] 9x07 John Doe
[STANDALONE] 9x08 Hellbound
[STANDALONE] 9x12 Underneath
[STANDALONE] 9x13 Improbable
[STANDALONE] 9x14 Scary Monsters
[STANDALONE] 9x18 Sunshine Days

7 Episodes skipped
 2nd Movie

[STANDALONE] The X-Files: I Want to Believe

This Movie is basically a Monsters of the Week Episode! Watch it between

Season 9 and 10. Not the best Movie I have ever seen but there are worse
Movies out there! You wont miss anything if you skipped it! Your Choice!
 SEASON 10

[MYTHOLOGY] 10x01 My Struggle

[STANDALONE] 10x02 Founder's Mutation
[STANDALONE] 10x03 Mulder and Scully meet the Were-Monsters
[STANDALONE] 10x04 Home Again
[STANDALONE] 10x05 Babylon
[MYTHOLOGY] 10x06 My Struggle II

No Episodes skipped
 Criteria for Skipping

There are a lot of weak Episodes in The X-Files. The Main Criteria for
Skipping an Episode in this Guide was my personal Preference BUT a lot of
Skip/Watch Guides are similiar to my Guide atleast when it comes to the
Skippable Episodes! If you look up the skippable Episodes on IMDb, they all
have low Ratings so the thousands of people who voted on IMDb also tend to
agree with me!

To make things easier for you, I created IMDb Lists where all the Monsters
of the Week Episodes can be looked up. These Lists only contain the MOTW
Episodes as all the Mythology Episodes are critical to watch!

I still recommend watching every single Episode of the First Season and
then look up the Ratings of those Episodes using my IMDb Lists. You will
see that almost all the Episodes rated below 8.0 tend to be skippable. I
still recommend to watch some of the lower rated Episodes in this Guide
because IMDb Ratings were just a Tool and not the sole reason to doom an
Episode as Skippable.

So my personal preference, IMDb Ratings and other Watch/Skip Guides were

the "Tools" I used to create this Guide.

I hope you are now convinced that it is indeed Safe to follow this Guide.

Click here for my IMDb Lists.

 External Links

Skip It/Watch It Guide by Liz Shannon Miller

Roadmap for Beginners by Den of Geek

The Essential X-Files by ragan651 (Reddit)

X-Files Episode List Wikipedia

IMDb Lists

Season 1 MOTW Episodes

Season 2 MOTW Episodes
Season 3 MOTW Episodes
Season 4 MOTW Episodes
Season 5 MOTW Episodes
Season 6 MOTW Episodes
Season 7 MOTW Episodes
Season 8 MOTW Episodes
Season 9 MOTW Episodes
Season 10 MOTW Episodes
All MOTW Episodes

You are Welcome!