The 8 Best X-Files Episodes Written By Vince Gilligan

Vince Gilligan is well-known for creating the hits Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. His new series, Pluribus, is already being hailed as one of the best sci-fi shows in recent years, leading some to think he’s changed direction. However, it’s more accurate to say he’s revisiting his early work. Gilligan first gained recognition as a writer for The X-Files, and his episodes are still considered among the best from that classic 1990s show.

Some storylines in The X-Files seem silly at first, but the show is often funny and self-aware. Other episodes are surprisingly profound and even heartbreaking. Many of the episodes that made The X-Files a beloved classic were written by Vince Gilligan, and watching the series now, you can often see how those episodes foreshadowed ideas in his later work.

Jump The Shark

Season 9, Episode 15

The X-Files episode “Jump the Shark” starts out sounding quite ridiculous, but quickly becomes a very sad story, especially for longtime fans. The plot revolves around a dangerous bioweapon created using shark organs, and a desperate attempt to prevent its release. Ultimately, The Lone Gunmen realize they can’t stop it in time and make the selfless, but devastating, decision to seal themselves in with the weapon, sacrificing their lives to save others.

Killing off the Lone Gunmen on The X-Files was a tough decision, made because their own spin-off series wasn’t successful. The writers weren’t happy about it either, and Vince Gilligan specifically regretted having to remove the characters. Luckily for fans, they continue to exist in The X-Files comic books, where they’ve faked their deaths with help from the FBI and live on in a different reality.

Leonard Betts

Season 4, Episode 12

Despite being an older show, The X-Files still holds up incredibly well, especially when it comes to its special effects. Many episodes feature unsettling and realistic body horror, and ‘Leonard Betts’ is a prime example. The episode centers around a mutant who feeds on cancer and can regenerate lost limbs, and it’s considered one of the show’s strongest standalone ‘monster of the week’ stories.

Vince Gilligan is skilled at creating shocking moments within seemingly strange scenarios to deepen the overall narrative, like the famous toilet scene in Breaking Bad where Hank realizes who Heisenberg is. The episode “Leonard Betts” is a prime example of this technique, though it was co-written by John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz alongside Gilligan. In the episode, Betts traps Scully in an ambulance and tells her “you have something I need,” leading her to believe she has cancer.

Bad Blood

Season 5, Episode 12

Gillian Anderson considers “Bad Blood” a standout episode of The X-Files, especially for its humor. The episode centers around Mulder and Scully trying to coordinate their accounts of a shooting – Mulder believed he killed a vampire. However, their recollections of the event differ wildly, and through exaggerated, comedic portrayals, the episode reveals their underlying perceptions of each other.

The idea for the episode came from a Dick Van Dyke Show episode where two characters each told their own version of an argument. To create a sense of consistency, the scenes were filmed one after the other using the same camera setups, with the only change being who was narrating. To keep things straightforward, Gilligan initially wrote a simple vampire horror story, but the way it was told ended up making it funny.

Small Potatoes

Season 4, Episode 20

The episode “Small Potatoes” starts with the unusual event of babies being born with tails. It’s a popular favorite among fans and features some of Agent Mulder’s most memorable lines. Mulder is particularly pleased when the typically skeptical Scully begins to suspect the villain is a shapeshifter, playfully suggesting they start choosing china patterns together.

By its fourth season, The X-Files was really finding its footing, earning a perfect 100% positive rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Writer Vince Gilligan, known for tackling the show’s heavier storylines like Scully’s cancer, wanted to demonstrate his ability to write more comedic episodes. The season features a rather sad villain who uses shapeshifting to manipulate women, a plot that might be handled differently today, but it also resulted in some of the show’s most memorably silly moments.

Paper Hearts

Season 4, Episode 10

The episode “Paper Hearts” follows a “monster-of-the-week” format, but it also connects to the ongoing mystery of Mulder’s missing sister, who he thinks was taken by aliens. The episode challenges Mulder’s beliefs by presenting a darker possibility: that his sister may have been a victim of a serial killer who cuts hearts out of his victims’ clothing.

Vince Gilligan still remembers a problem with an X-Files episode from years ago. To meet broadcast rules at the time, he had to alter a key scene. In it, Mulder shoots a killer in the head, but due to a visual effect – a broken window with no corresponding wound on the killer – it looks like the shot didn’t land. While this created a strange moment, Gilligan considers “Paper Hearts” one of the strongest episodes of the series.

Pusher

Season 3, Episode 17

The X-Files episode “Pusher” was groundbreaking for television, famously featuring a game of Russian Roulette – something never before depicted on a TV show. Creator Chris Carter was surprised that the network allowed the intense scene to remain, considering it his strongest work. The episode revolves around a man who can control people’s minds and uses this ability as a hired assassin.

Most of the episode focuses on a tense chase between the villain, Robert Patrick Modell, and Mulder, leading to a dramatic Russian Roulette standoff. Writer Vince Gilligan masterfully builds suspense, a skill he’d later refine in Breaking Bad with scenes like the one involving Gus Fring and a box cutter, and Walt’s urgent appeal for Hank. Gilligan is also adept at subtly revealing character traits; Mulder fights more fiercely when Modell tries to force him to harm Scully than when his own life is in danger.

Drive

Season 6, Episode 2

The hit show Breaking Bad owes a debt to a specific episode of The X-Files – it’s where creator Vince Gilligan first met Bryan Cranston. The episode features a disturbing racist character suffering from a strange and agonizing condition, which is temporarily relieved by high-speed travel. New York Magazine highlighted the casting of Cranston, noting that Gilligan was looking for an actor who could portray someone both frightening and unlikeable, yet still possess a core of genuine humanity.

Gilligan was initially unsure about Bryan Cranston for the role of Walter White, but after seeing his work in an episode of The X-Files, he was convinced. Gilligan said that footage was “all it took” to seal the deal with AMC executives. The episode itself was inspired by the action movie Speed, starring Keanu Reeves, and also drew from actual experiments conducted by the US Navy using long-wavelength radio waves.

X-Cops

Season 7, Episode 12

Though many fans remember “Drive” for featuring Bryan Cranston, the episode “X-Cops” is arguably one of the most memorable from The X-Files‘ eleven seasons. It was so impactful that an actor from the show’s recent revival suggested bringing the concept back. “X-Cops” was unique because it was filmed like an episode of the reality show Cops, and even used members of that show’s production team to achieve the style.

This episode centers around a creature that transforms into each person’s worst fear. This leads Mulder to initially believe he’s tracking a werewolf, and the story includes a surprisingly relevant mention of hantavirus, plus a guest appearance by Freddy Krueger. Creator Glen Morgan originally proposed a crossover with Unsolved Mysteries several years earlier, which eventually became the episode “Bad Blood.” However, as the show sought new directions, Chris Carter, the series creator, approved a crossover with Cops, resulting in one of The X-Files‘ most memorable and humorous episodes.

2026-05-17 23:21