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The X-Files - The Complete Fourth Season

In its fourth season, The X-Files proved once more its progressive increase of quality, deepening several mysteries of its characters, while complicating the life of others. However, this may be confusing for someone who isn’t familiar with the show’s main plot.

In this season, Scully will develop a critical disease in consequence of her abduction in the second season. This complication will spam through several episodes.

The fourth season has some of the best “monster-of-the-week” episodes, labeled as such because they aren’t related to the show’s main plot and can be watched independently.

In “Home,” Mulder and Scully are driven to the small town of Home, Pennsylvania, after the body of a malformed baby is found in a shallow grave.

During the investigation, they come across the Peacocks, a local family deformed by years of inbreeding and now reduced to just three brothers. A very thrilling episode, “Home” was probably the inspiration for the movie, Wrong Turn (2003), which is very inferior.

Strange abductions are the subject of "Unruhe," in which the only clues are mysterious and disturbing photographs that seem to have been taken from the victim’s, or the kidnapper’s, thoughts. The chase will become a personal matter for Mulder, after Scully becomes a victim.

"The Field Where I Died" shows The X-Files' approach to past lives. During the investigation of a religious cult, Mulder will discover a past life connection with one of its members.

To be able to enjoy "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man," you have to be familiar with the show’s main antagonist, the CSM, or the Cancerman. This episode will show his unauthorized biography and his participation in several events from American history.

"Tunguska" and "Terma" mix Cold War feelings with alien vaccines and deepen the story of the “black oil,” an alien life form that was introduced in the previous season and was the main subject of The X-Files feature film.

In "El Mundo Gira," Mulder and Scully will come across one of the infamous Latin-American myths, El-chupacabra, the goatsucker, an alien creature that sucks the blood of goats; but more than just broach the subject of an alien creature, this episode broadens the meaning of the word, “alien.” It is one of the most well-written episodes in this season.

"Leonard Betts" is a very interesting tale of a man able to control cancer, but not only control, he can regenerate body parts through cancer cells. In this episode, Scully will discover the first signs of her abduction-related disease.

"Kaddish" plays with a creature from Jewish mythology, the Golen, a monster made from wood or mud and brought to life through the will of its creator. Racism and intolerance are some of the subjects broached by this episode.

"Synchrony" is a very well-made tale of cryogeny - human congelation - and time travel.

In "Small Potatoes," Mulder and Scully are driven by strange babies who are being born with tails and will run across someone with the ability of shifting his appearance.

By the fourth season of The X-Files, the fans were wondering if Mulder and Scully’s professional relation would evolve into something more intimate and romantic, specifically if they would kiss. This episode plays with the fans' feelings around that.

In its fourth season, The X-Files makes a more “serious” approach of its subjects. The well humored episodes from the previous season were substituted by a higher dose of suspense and thrill.

They chose to change their focus to darker and bitterer subjects, mixed with analyses of the emotional behavior related to the supernatural elements in the stories, which proved that The X-Files had a wide range of possible approaches.

Written by: Edward Olivier

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