The X-Files

10 Best Episodes of The X-Files - Season 4

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.

Written by Sophie and last updated on feb 04, 2023.

PS: The following content contains spoilers!

PPS: I will admit that parts of this page was written with the help of AI - it makes my work so much easier to not start from a blank page!

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The X-Files - S4E19

#15 - Synchrony (Season 4 - Episode 19)

A case involving a strange old man warning two scientists of events in the immediate future which come to pass (and the use of their experimental flash-freezing compound that does not exist yet) has Mulder believing that one of the scientists has come from the future to stop his own scientific breakthrough from becoming reality.

The episode was rated 7.64 from 520 votes.

The X-Files - S4E2

#14 - Home (Season 4 - Episode 2)

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A baby is found buried alive in shallow ground and appears to have birth defects resulting from generations of inbreeding, leading Mulder and Scully to a reclusive family who have a history of inbred children.

The episode was rated 7.73 from 681 votes.

The X-Files - S4E4

#13 - Unruhe (Season 4 - Episode 4)

Several kidnappings of young women linked by distorted photographs lead Mulder and Scully to a man who can imprint his darkest fantasies onto undeveloped film and is trying to save the women from the "Howlers".

The episode was rated 7.76 from 571 votes.

The X-Files - S4E21

#12 - Zero-Sum (Season 4 - Episode 21)

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Skinner destroys evidence to cover up a woman's death and poses as Agent Mulder to complete the task. Mulder finds out about Skinner's deception and confronts him, and Skinner reveals that he is working for the Cigarette-Smoking Man in order to obtain a possible cure for Scully's cancer.

The episode was rated 7.81 from 554 votes.

The X-Files - S4E12

#11 - Leonard Betts (Season 4 - Episode 12)

After the body of a decapitated EMT disappears from the morgue and an identical man starts work at the same hospital, Mulder believes that the man has the ability to regrow parts of his body, including his head. The agents soon discover that Betts' body is riddled with cancer and he is able to live in that condition but needs to feed on cancerous tumors to keep up his strength.

The episode was rated 7.81 from 575 votes.

The X-Files - S4E9

#10 - Terma (2) (Season 4 - Episode 9)

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While imprisoned in Russia and infected with the Black Cancer, Mulder learns that Krycek is working with the men responsible and everything has been a setup from the start, while Scully and Skinner are called to a suspicious Senate hearing where the only question is the whereabouts of Agent Mulder.

The episode was rated 7.84 from 576 votes.

The X-Files - S4E14

#9 - Memento Mori (Season 4 - Episode 14)

Scully's recent failing health is revealed to be inoperable brain cancer, which is common among abductees. She meets with other abductees with the same condition and forms a special bond with a dying woman, while Mulder tries to save her from a doctor who may be connected with the abductions.

The episode was rated 7.90 from 588 votes.

The X-Files - S4E10

#8 - Paper Hearts (Season 4 - Episode 10)

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Mulder's dreams help him in finding the body of a little girl which reopens one of his old cases in the Violent Crimes Unit and leads him to believe the killer he captured had more victims and may have taken his sister many years before.

The episode was rated 7.94 from 565 votes.

The X-Files - S4E8

#7 - Tunguska (1) (Season 4 - Episode 8)

A rock sample taken from Mars is intercepted at an airport and infects a security officer with the Black Cancer, while Mulder is given a tip about potentially dangerous paramilitary operations but is doubtful when the informant turns out to be Alex Krycek. Reluctantly, Mulder accepts Krycek's help and tracks the rock to Russia where he discovers an elaborate test being performed by Russian scientists.

The episode was rated 7.99 from 607 votes.

The X-Files - S4E17

#6 - Tempus Fugit (1) (Season 4 - Episode 17)

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While celebrating Scully's 33rd birthday, a strange woman informs Mulder that NICAP member Max Fenig (see Fallen Angel) has recently died in a plane crash. After a visit to the crash site and finding Max's body with radiation burns on it, Mulder suggests that the plane was intercepted by a UFO and is rapidly being covered up by the military.

The episode was rated 8.03 from 582 votes.

The X-Files - S4E18

#5 - Max (2) (Season 4 - Episode 18)

Mulder is arrested for investigating the plane crash and interfering with a military operation, while Scully is caught in an attempted assassination of Corporal Frish which claims the life of Agent Pendrell. Scully bails Mulder out of prison, and they go to Max Fenig's trailer to find out why he was on the plane. Mulder finds evidence of alien technology and boards a plane with it, but the plane is intercepted mid-flight and it disappears. Mulder is again left with nothing.

The episode was rated 8.04 from 547 votes.

The X-Files - S4E1

#4 - Herrenvolk (2) (Season 4 - Episode 1)

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Jeremiah Smith and Mulder are on the run from the alien bounty hunter, and Smith takes Mulder to a small farm tended to by identical sets of children, and all the girls are clones of his sister when she was still a child. Mulder prepares to take Jeremiah and one of the clones to see his mother in the hospital, but the bounty hunter catches up with them. Meanwhile, the Syndicate suspects that they have a traitor in their midst and plan a trap which results in X being executed by the Cigarette-Smoking Man.

The episode was rated 8.08 from 654 votes.

The X-Files - S4E24

#3 - Gethsemane (1) (Season 4 - Episode 24)

While investigating the discovery of a preserved alien body found in the mountains of Canada, Mulder is contacted by Michael Kritschgau. He tells Mulder about a government conspiracy to make people believe in aliens without question, and Mulder has been the prime target.

The episode was rated 8.09 from 572 votes.

The X-Files - S4E20

#2 - Small Potatoes (Season 4 - Episode 20)

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Five babies in the same town are all born with tails and the local OB-GYN is blamed for tampering with fertilized eggs. However, Mulder discovers the culprit to be a simple man with a genetic deformity who may have the ability to alter his appearance.

The episode was rated 8.09 from 572 votes.

The X-Files - S4E7

#1 - Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man (Season 4 - Episode 7)

Frohike pieces together and recites to Mulder and Scully what could be the possible life story of the Cigarette Smoking Man; from a young captain in the U.S. Army recruited to assassinate President Kennedy, to becoming the mysterious man in the shadows at the height of a global conspiracy. What measures will the Cigarette Smoking Man take to ensure that he remains a mystery forever?

The episode was rated 8.19 from 665 votes.

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