The X-Files split its time between telling stories about its alien-based conspiracy theories and showcasing the basic Monster of the Week episodes. While the alien mythology attracted many fans to the sci-fi franchise, it was the Monster of the Week episodes that provided the most fun, with Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully heading into different towns around America and dealing with every sort of monster imaginable. The X-Files was Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural before those urban fantasy shows dominated the airwaves, although The X-Files was more sci-fi-based than either of the latter series. Despite this, all these shows lived and died by their monsters.
Looking at the 218 episodes of The X-Files aired during its 11 seasons, here is a look at the 10 best Monster of the Week episodes of the groundbreaking sci-fi show that are actually better than the alien mytholgy episodes.
“War of the Coprophages” was an X-Files Season 3 episode that sees Mulder and Scully investigate a town that finds itself under attack by killer cockroaches. That description alone secures this a spot as one of The X-Files‘ creepiest Monster of the Week episodes. However, the twist arrives when Mulder and Scully learn the cockroaches aren’t actual bugs, but are instead small, complex robots that might come from another planet. The series even shows what happens during times of paranoia and fear, with people panic shopping, looting, and causing trouble, all while the robot bugs attack in the background.
Released in Season 5, “Bad Blood” is an episode written by Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad) that is one of the funniest of the series’ run. Told out of order, it opens with Mulder and Scully talking about a recent case in “trailer park, Texas” where Mulder thinks they found a vampire. Since this is told from Mulder and Scully’s point-of-view as they retell the tale, it is a little exaggerated and extremely funny. It also has the Rashomon effect, as Mulder killed a young man he thought was a vampire, and his and Scully’s stories remained very inconsistent. The ending punchline is perfect, helping make this an almost perfect X-Files Monster of the Week episode.
For one good reason that Chinga was such a scary X-Files Monster of the Week episode, look at the person who wrote it. Stephen King wrote this episode that follows Dana Scully as she takes a vacation to Stephen King’s home state of Maine and discovers people who have self-inflicted wounds, who claim a young girl made them do. Set in a small fishing town, with a creepy little girl and an even scarier creepy doll, this is a disturbing episode that is clearly King’s homage to the killer doll stories.
Darin Morgan was one of the best writers in X-Files history, at least for penning stories that were unlike any other the show produced. His first-ever episode was the second season’s “Humbug.” Mulder and Scully head to a town built by carnival performers, and a town where these misfits live. However, a series of murders has them scared, and it’s up to the FBI to find the killer. This was the first X-Files episode that attempted straight-out humor, as Mulder and Scully are completely at a loss in solving this case. The ending is a killer twist and helps elevate this X-Files Monster of the Week episode even more.
“The Post-Modern Prometheus” is an homage to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and it even pays homage to the James Whale movie, delivering the entire episode in striking black and white. Mulder and Scully head into a small town to find what they believe to be a modern-day Frankenstein’s monster, who might have impregnated a middle-aged woman. However, this is a funny and sweet story and shows what would have happened if the townspeople had accep[ted Frankenstein’s Monster in the classic horror story. The moment at the end with Mulder and the Prometheus might be the best ending of any X-Files Monster of the Week episode.
Released in the first season of The X-Files, the eighth episode, “Ice,” remains a highlight of the show’s Monster of the Week releases. Mulder and Scully head to Alaska after a team there attacks and kills each other, with no one surviving. This sounds a lot like John Carpenter’s The Thing, but the monster here is a parasitic alien life form that infects animals (and humans), making them violent and homicidal. Just like The Thing, this is about paranoia, and it is one of the best thriller episodes in The X-Files’ history.
“Home” is an X-Files episode supposedly based on a true story, or at least one told in Charlie Chaplin’s autobiography. The episode had Mulder and Scully investigating a dead baby born with severe physical defects. What they find is the home of the Peacock family, where three brothers who are the result of years of inbreeding guard their home, while their dominating mother lives inside. This was a shocking episode and was the first X-Files release to include a viewer discretion warning.
The most unnerving monster to appear on The X-Files has to be the creature from the Season 2 episode “The Host.” This monster owes its existence to The Creature from the Black Lagoon, but it is more disturbing and gross than that monster ever dreamed of being. Known as the Flukeman, this sewer creature lived in the New Jersey waterways and resulted from the Chornobyl disaster. Half-man and half-flukeworm, this monster somehow made its way to America and started killing. This remains the scariest monster appearance-wise in X-Files history.
Eugene Victor Tooms was the first monster ever to appear on The X-Files in a Monster of the Week episode. While his first appearance was the scariest Monster of the Week episode of the entire series, his second appearance was only a little big behind. That was “Tooms,” which saw the serial killing mutant released from prison, where he then planned for his hibernation by killing more people. This led Mulder and Scully to set off after him again. Knowing he is a monster made this episode a little less scary than his first appearance, but Tooms is a creepy monster, and that makes both X-Files episodes equally terrifying in different ways. “Tooms” might be the best X-Files Season 1 episode, but his previous appearance is scarier.
As mentioned, Eugene Victor Tooms is the scariest monster ever to appear on The X-Files because he appeared to be a regular man with some terrifying powers. “Squeeze” was when he first appeared, and when he appeared to be a terrifying serial killer, it was actually scarier than it was when he showed from the start that he was a monster. “Squeeze” was The X-Files’ first-ever Monster of the Week episode, the third episode of the series, which played as a locked door mystery. That mystery shows that Tooms can squeeze his body through tight spots, including air vents, and might hibernate. As the first Monster of the Week episode, it was shockingly terrifying, and Tooms remains the creepiest villain ever to appear on The X-Files.
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