The X Files Season 6 (30 Year Rewatch)

Following the movie, it feels a bit like The X Files had written themselves into a corner. For years they had been teasing at conspiracy—there definitely was one—but we could never be sure what was going on. We got hints that something real was happening, but the tension between Mulder’s blind faith and Scully’s healthy skepticism was held in balance. In “Fight the Future” all doubt was dissolved. Aliens were here and they were colonizing, and the conspiracy was helping them to try to buy time to outsmart them.

Season six makes an effort to undo all of that to get back to the previous balance. Mid-season. There is a reset where almost all of the conspirators are wiped out. Most of the mythology episodes are devoted to destroying what had come before in an effort to get back to the narrative tension that worked so well before.

There are plenty of good stand-alone stories here, however. In fact, nearly every episode that does not center on the mythology can be counted as among the greats. Drive, Triangle, Dreamland, How the Ghosts…, Terms of Endearment, and Rain King constitute a string that might be unparalleled in the series. After a couple of myth-centered stories sandwiching a good Tithonus, we get another great string of episodes including Agua Mala, Monday, and Arcadia. Later The Unnatural, Three of a Kind, and Field Trip round out a season that is at the peak of the series.