TV Shows

The X-Files

Best x-files episodes

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50contenders high-voltage

288votes

2TopList

0commentsUpdated on 10/17/2026 at 04:00 AM

03×10 – 7311348

The worldwide ranking generated by 288 votes

50 / 50

03×10 – 7311348

03×20 – Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'1337

02×25 – Anasazi1336

04×08 – Paper Hearts1310

01×12 – Beyond the Sea1283

04×05 – The Field Where I Died1280

06×03 – Triangle1276

02×05 – Duane Barry1261

04×17 – Tempus Fugit1259

#10

01×23 – The Erlenmeyer Flask1257

#11

05×12 – Bad Blood1242

#12

06×08 – How the Ghosts Stole Christmas1240

#13

02×20 – Humbug1239

#14

03×16 – Apocrypha1239

#15

11×04 – The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat1238

#16

01×16 – E.B.E.1230

#17

03×02 – Paper Clip1228

#18

03×04 – Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose1224

#19

06×20 – The Unnatural1221

#20

07×11 – Closure1218

#21

06×21 – Field Trip1217

#22

06×15 – Monday1215

#23

03×17 – Pusher1215

#24

02×08 – One Breath1210

#25

01×07 – Ice1204

#26

03×12 – War of the Coprophages1201

#27

04×24 – Gethsemane1196

#28

04×03 – Home1196

#29

07×18 – Hollywood A.D.1189

#30

01×79 – Pilot1185

#31

01×19 – Darkness Falls1180

#32

01×10 – Eve1180

#33

07×22 – Requiem1178

#34

02×14 – Die Hand Die Verletzt1175

#35

07×12 – X-Cops1173

#36

06×02 – Drive1163

#37

02×17 – End Game1155

#38

01×02 – Squeeze1153

#39

02×06 – Ascension1148

#40

09×13 – Improbable1147

#41

06×04 – Dreamland1146

#42

04×20 – Small Potatoes1143

#43

02×13 – Irresistible1137

#44

10×03 – Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster1130

#45

04×15 – Memento Mori1124

#46

01×20 – Tooms1120

#47

04×07 – Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man1119

#48

05×03 – Redux II1096

#49

05×06 – The Post-Modern Prometheus1056

#50

02×02 – The Host1029

What the community says

Rank the 50 best episodes of The X-Files, a cult sci-fi series packed with paranormal investigations.

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →