Duane Barry screaming still freaks me out to this day. As does Scully's bottom lip quivering when she sees Duane at her window. And her screaming, "Mulder! I need your help!", never fails to run a chill through me - again, even though I've seen this story arc so many times. Mulder's willingness to listen to and have compassion for people no matter how crazy the world thought they were is my favorite quality of his. You felt like you could tell him anything and he would at least look you in the eye and hear you out. One could argue that 1) he's just gullible and 2) it's also selfishness/obsession with his own quest. There's some of that. But he also really did care about these people. That always shined through.
Seeing these ranked like this made me realize season 2 is better than I remember. So many great episodes. I agree “blood” is a great idea but the episode is so so… season 3 has “wetwired” which complements it well. It’s interesting to see how much Gillian Anderson’s pregnancy impacted the mythology of the show. Great video yet again. Looking forward to season 3.
I think the criteria to rank can be "How well do I remember the plot on this one?", because if it's stuck on your mind, it should be an impressive one. Great listing and can't wait for season 3. Also congrats on 2k subs.
Luckily because of these videos I know more about the franchise than I ever have in the past, but it's still difficult to make a list. Thank you, My goal was to hit 1k by the end of the year, but I couldn't have gotten here without your support.
Generally agree with your list JB! Irresistible would have to be my fave MOTW this season. Of course, the Duane Barry/Scully abduction 3 parter is unmatched and would have to be my favorite this season as well. Well done video per usual!
Because I've been feeling off and this video took so long the next video will be the start of season 3, because I don't want to keep you guys and gals waiting.
This is a really good list. Your top 5 episodes are the same as mine. I find the mediocre episodes nearly impossible to rank but there are always ones I personally think are underrated. Looking forward to Season 3!
Season 3 will start with the next video. I was going to do a horror video after this one, but this took too long to put together so I don't want to keep people waiting.
Anazas- asnaz... Asanzi... Fuck it, the final episode is my fav of this season but the host and some of the alien-centric ones are up there too. All in all, good stuff (both X-files and your content)
I'm happy you're making these videos at this time because I had started a rewatch of the whole series, and I like to see a recap after the end of a series. Especially the first seasons where everything was fresh and exciting. Keep it up please!
LOVE YOUR CHANNEL. Best X-Files on youtube. I do find it interesting that 6 of your top 11 are mythology episodes, which I prefer. About to go count your season 3 rankings LOL
Thanks for these videos, hope you continue with the other seasons! Just started rewatching the series. I started watching it as a kid rather secretly (first episode was the one with the artifact, last episode of season 6, i didn't understand much but i loved the mystery vibe), my father and grandpa recorded the reruns for me during the early 2000s and then i got the DVD boxes somewhere in the mid/late 2000s from my pocket money. Definitely the most impactful tv show for me personally and will continue coming back to it as long as i live most probably.
What a fucking show to watch back again. I love every season for some different reasons (except season 9). Season 1-2 had great monsters of the week and started setting up characters to develop more later, seasons 3-5 were the height of the shows mythology and it was tough to miss any ep, season 6 was funny and the Mulder/Scully relationship started to blossom, season 7 had some good closure with mythology threads and Scully and Mulder's relationship became offical, and season 8 had my favorite season finale of all
Your work has me watching the whole series again...thax Its also interesting that many of the shows mimic Kolchak, which has me watching the night stalker again
People sure do get the jump on Scully quite a bit. Season 2 is still the golden years of X-Files. At the time before streaming and insanely hard to find vhs every week I remember the anticipation for every episode. You were never really disappointed. That's why these shows stick. Could you imagine being able to watch an episode again immediately after it aired back then?
Haha poor Scully does get abused a bit, but Mulder will get his as well. Honestly I hate the instant access, sure it's more convenient, but there's just something about it that just isn't the same.
I was like 10-11 when this came out and was all in at this point, had the cards, comics, VHS of season one and even met Gillian Anderson when she came to oz. Can’t believe my mum let me watch this 😂 my kids would be terrified 😂
My top 3 worst are: 1. 3 (the worst, it's so boring and strange) 2. Fearful Symmetry 3. Sleepless Top 3: 1. Anasazi (classic) 2. Humbug 3. Colony/End Game
0:21 "...just like I did for the first season" I watch your videos using the season playlists, but I didn't remember seeing the season one "worst to best" video. I went back to the season one playlist and it's not in there. Not a biggie, I watched it separately, but I thought I'd let you know, maybe you want to include it in the season 1 playlist. :)
12:45 I had a brain fart at this part, you're talking about a "killer shadow" and the character is not exactly clean shaven in these shots... for a split second i thought you're admiring his beard, because the phrase "5 o'clock shadow" randomly popped up in my head (English is not my first language so my train of thought is sometimes probably totally wacko for you OG EN users) 🤣
I have a certain soft spot for "3" (although I won't argue against people generally not holding it in high regard). When thinking back to the aftermath of my most painful loss, I quite recognize the mood, the style of actions, the place where Mulder's at...it feels familiar.
wish I ranked the episodes every time I watched the series over the years . I find I do feel different about some episodes each time I watch them over the years.
I like this season a lot, large step up from also good in places season 1. Gonna rank this season 2. Great: 1. End Game 2. Colony 3. Anasazi 4. Little Green Men (this used to be my fav series ep! On rewatches the first half can be a tad slow.) 5. Ascension 6. Duane Barry 7. Humbug 8. The Host 9. Irresistible 10. Die Hand Die Verletzt 11. One Breath Av-good: 12. Red Museum 13. Our Town 14. Aubrey 15. The Calusari 16. Fresh Bones 17. Soft Light 18. F. Emasculata 19. Firewalker 20. Sleepless The not so good: 21. Dod Kalm 22. Excelsis Dei 23. Blood (looks so dated) 24. Fearful Symmetry (so bad, could’ve done it way better. Can understand invisibility as they had little budget for special effects required, bad animal CGI would ruin ep even more!) 25. 3 (I like vampire stories just this was very dull)
I watched it when it was on the air back in the '90s and have rewatched the series & movies several times. I own every xfiles cards from the card game, every episode when it initially released on VHS and all of the TV guides that feature X-Files on the cover. I highly recommend watching the interviews with Chris Carter about the series. It seems like you discovered the series and watched it rather than grew up watching it. As well I don't think you actually understand the plot of the overall series. So go back and rewatch the series again & check out all of the interviews with Chris Carter.
Haha I've seen the series at least 6 or 7 times straight through. I watched it when I was a kid back in the 90's and I've seen it even more as an adult.
I keep thinking "oh, this is just like that episode that...." or "I wonder when episode xxxxx is?" only to remember that what I'm thinking of are episodes of Fringe, which really goes to show you how good both shows are, and also how well a lot of X-Files episodes stand the test of time.
I don't remember the episode with the ship and the crew aging, also I recently saw one I didn't remember. They went into a haunted house during Christmas that was a silly episode.
I still need to get to your individual episode reviews for 2nd part of season 2, it got busy here 🙂 My verdict on your bottom episodes is not so harsh - I spot things that make them worthwhile - or at least ok - to me. Btw, you critizised Mulder there - but doesn't it make sense psychologically that Mulder hooks up with a girl in '3' after Scully's abduction? 🤔Scully is his emotional anchor, his partner, maybe his soulmate? Mulder is depressed, anxious, in need of human connection. He's at a low point. It's a human thing to do 🥲
Can't complain much about your list. I would tank F. Emasculata and Anasazi higher, and Fresh Bones is probably too high, but in general it's pretty spot on. The top 13 or so episodes could be in any order really, they are that good.-
I'm pleased to see that you have the correct opinions on X-files. 😉 I think it's a shame "Blood" is such a weak episode since I love William Sanderson and it was a waste not to write him an episode where he gets to be the central antagonist, in the style of Irresistable. In the episode as shot he's almost the antagonist by happenstance. Regarding "Red Museum", I get the feeling that they added Deep Throat's killer very late in the process and as a way to "punch up" a lame script and to introduce a threat. That also explains why it's an episode that goes against Chris Carter's principle of not mixing mythology and the monster-of-the-week, because it's about 80% the latter.
@@JBSpookyReview Well, calling it weak may have been harsh, but it's a bit confused about what it is. Seems to be a commonality for the less good episodes that they try to do too much. Also, agreed on Tony Todd. He's an amazing stage presence.
Season 2 had so many excellent episodes, how does one rank the top 12? I agree with your top 5. Steve Railsback's performance as Duane Berry was superb. Word is Chris Carter pursued him aggressively for a long time to appear on the show. Humbug was a riot, the introduction of writer Darrin Morgan. Thought you'd have Colony and End Game a bit higher, but other than that, bang on. Season 2 doesn't get the credit it deserves. It may have allowed the show to continue. Ratings for season 1 were not fabulous, and credit is due to the powers that be at Fox for sticking with the show.
Rankings are hard and just for fun really. How can you really decide which episode is better than the others? The only reason colony and end game weren't higher is because I prefer the monster of the week stuff. That's literally the only reason. They're both fantastic episodes.
Firewalker was a missed opportunity tbh. The obvious core behind it is that Scully is proving to Mulder that she's ok to work on the X Files following her abduction, not to mention reassuring him that she's not going anywhere. However, the parallels between Firewalker and Ice are downright irritating.
Season 2 was so awesome. There's only one episode I found bad (Red Museum), and 2 meh (the first one and "3"). The rest is very good or excellent (my top 3 is Humbug, Our Town and Duane Barry)
The fluke man haunted me. When that dude coughed up the fluke. OMG.
That part is so disgusting no matter how many times I see it.
Ugh, I try to avoid it every time. Blech!@@JBSpookyReview
Duane Barry screaming still freaks me out to this day. As does Scully's bottom lip quivering when she sees Duane at her window. And her screaming, "Mulder! I need your help!", never fails to run a chill through me - again, even though I've seen this story arc so many times.
Mulder's willingness to listen to and have compassion for people no matter how crazy the world thought they were is my favorite quality of his. You felt like you could tell him anything and he would at least look you in the eye and hear you out. One could argue that 1) he's just gullible and 2) it's also selfishness/obsession with his own quest. There's some of that. But he also really did care about these people. That always shined through.
I think Mulder may be a bit gullible, but it's because of his sincerity.
Seeing these ranked like this made me realize season 2 is better than I remember. So many great episodes.
I agree “blood” is a great idea but the episode is so so… season 3 has “wetwired” which complements it well.
It’s interesting to see how much Gillian Anderson’s pregnancy impacted the mythology of the show.
Great video yet again. Looking forward to season 3.
Wetwired has a similar idea and I think I actually like that one more, but we'll see once I get to it.
@@JBSpookyReview wetwired is one of my favorites
I think it's underrated.
I think the criteria to rank can be "How well do I remember the plot on this one?", because if it's stuck on your mind, it should be an impressive one. Great listing and can't wait for season 3. Also congrats on 2k subs.
Luckily because of these videos I know more about the franchise than I ever have in the past, but it's still difficult to make a list. Thank you, My goal was to hit 1k by the end of the year, but I couldn't have gotten here without your support.
Generally agree with your list JB! Irresistible would have to be my fave MOTW this season. Of course, the Duane Barry/Scully abduction 3 parter is unmatched and would have to be my favorite this season as well.
Well done video per usual!
Irresistible could easily be number 1 on the list period, it's just that good.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video and thank you so much for your support.
Season 3 on the way hurry! Hurry!
Because I've been feeling off and this video took so long the next video will be the start of season 3, because I don't want to keep you guys and gals waiting.
This is a really good list. Your top 5 episodes are the same as mine. I find the mediocre episodes nearly impossible to rank but there are always ones I personally think are underrated. Looking forward to Season 3!
Season 3 will start with the next video. I was going to do a horror video after this one, but this took too long to put together so I don't want to keep people waiting.
Anazas- asnaz... Asanzi... Fuck it, the final episode is my fav of this season but the host and some of the alien-centric ones are up there too.
All in all, good stuff (both X-files and your content)
Anasazi could easily be number 1. For me it's so hard to put these lists together because there are so many great episodes.
Very enjoyable! Made me want to rewatch this wonderful show yet again.
I think you should.
I'm happy you're making these videos at this time because I had started a rewatch of the whole series, and I like to see a recap after the end of a series. Especially the first seasons where everything was fresh and exciting. Keep it up please!
I plan on doing all of it, thank you for watching.
LOVE YOUR CHANNEL. Best X-Files on youtube. I do find it interesting that 6 of your top 11 are mythology episodes, which I prefer. About to go count your season 3 rankings LOL
I'm glad you're enjoying the videos.
Great stuff! Imma need seasons 3 through 6 too, please.
Those will come at some point. I do them after I go through the episodes.
On Season 2 now gonna list my ranking once I'm done! Hope you are doing well thanks for the video!
I'm okay, I hope you're doing well.
Thanks for these videos, hope you continue with the other seasons! Just started rewatching the series. I started watching it as a kid rather secretly (first episode was the one with the artifact, last episode of season 6, i didn't understand much but i loved the mystery vibe), my father and grandpa recorded the reruns for me during the early 2000s and then i got the DVD boxes somewhere in the mid/late 2000s from my pocket money. Definitely the most impactful tv show for me personally and will continue coming back to it as long as i live most probably.
Your father and grandfather were good men. I plan on doing the entire series, but thank you for watching.
What a fucking show to watch back again. I love every season for some different reasons (except season 9). Season 1-2 had great monsters of the week and started setting up characters to develop more later, seasons 3-5 were the height of the shows mythology and it was tough to miss any ep, season 6 was funny and the Mulder/Scully relationship started to blossom, season 7 had some good closure with mythology threads and Scully and Mulder's relationship became offical, and season 8 had my favorite season finale of all
I agree with basically everything you said, including not being a fan of season 9.
love the series watched every episode
It's my favourite series.
Your work has me watching the whole series again...thax
Its also interesting that many of the shows mimic Kolchak, which has me watching the night stalker again
People sure do get the jump on Scully quite a bit. Season 2 is still the golden years of X-Files. At the time before streaming and insanely hard to find vhs every week I remember the anticipation for every episode. You were never really disappointed. That's why these shows stick. Could you imagine being able to watch an episode again immediately after it aired back then?
Haha poor Scully does get abused a bit, but Mulder will get his as well.
Honestly I hate the instant access, sure it's more convenient, but there's just something about it that just isn't the same.
I was like 10-11 when this came out and was all in at this point, had the cards, comics, VHS of season one and even met Gillian Anderson when she came to oz. Can’t believe my mum let me watch this 😂 my kids would be terrified 😂
My father would rent me R-rated horror films as a kid and this show still scared me.
My top 3 worst are:
1. 3 (the worst, it's so boring and strange)
2. Fearful Symmetry
3. Sleepless
Top 3:
1. Anasazi (classic)
2. Humbug
3. Colony/End Game
All good choices my friend.
0:21 "...just like I did for the first season"
I watch your videos using the season playlists, but I didn't remember seeing the season one "worst to best" video. I went back to the season one playlist and it's not in there. Not a biggie, I watched it separately, but I thought I'd let you know, maybe you want to include it in the season 1 playlist. :)
Oh thank you, I didn't realize it wasn't part of the playlist.
12:45 I had a brain fart at this part, you're talking about a "killer shadow" and the character is not exactly clean shaven in these shots... for a split second i thought you're admiring his beard, because the phrase "5 o'clock shadow" randomly popped up in my head (English is not my first language so my train of thought is sometimes probably totally wacko for you OG EN users) 🤣
Haha well his 5 o'clock shadow is pretty killer.
Duane Barry abduction scene freaked me out as a kid too. That and fire in the sky 😅
Yeah the thought of being abducted as a kid was terrifying.
Soft light was the most memorable episode for me, besides the fluke.
Soft Light is underrated.
0:45 The episode is called Excelsis Dei - as in the Latin for 'glory to God', not Day
Thank you, I had no idea how to pronounce it, so I appreciate it.
I have a certain soft spot for "3" (although I won't argue against people generally not holding it in high regard).
When thinking back to the aftermath of my most painful loss, I quite recognize the mood, the style of actions, the place where Mulder's at...it feels familiar.
Oh I don't hate 3, I don't hate any of the episodes really, but I had to put something near the bottom hahah.
WTH you talking about? Fearful Simetry is a great episode. "Man saves Man" before the gorilla vanishes was superb.
I'm not the biggest fan of it, but I'm glad you enjoy it.
@@JBSpookyReview Soft Light is my fav XFiles episode of them all.
That one is underrated.
wish I ranked the episodes every time I watched the series over the years . I find I do feel different about some episodes each time I watch them over the years.
Yeah that's the hard part about ranking them, you always see things differently.
I like this season a lot, large step up from also good in places season 1. Gonna rank this season 2.
Great: 1. End Game 2. Colony 3. Anasazi 4. Little Green Men (this used to be my fav series ep! On rewatches the first half can be a tad slow.) 5. Ascension 6. Duane Barry 7. Humbug 8. The Host 9. Irresistible 10. Die Hand Die Verletzt 11. One Breath
Av-good: 12. Red Museum 13. Our Town 14. Aubrey 15. The Calusari 16. Fresh Bones 17. Soft Light 18. F. Emasculata 19. Firewalker 20. Sleepless
The not so good: 21. Dod Kalm 22. Excelsis Dei 23. Blood (looks so dated) 24. Fearful Symmetry (so bad, could’ve done it way better. Can understand invisibility as they had little budget for special effects required, bad animal CGI would ruin ep even more!) 25. 3 (I like vampire stories just this was very dull)
They definitely found their footing with season 2. I like your ranking.
I watched it when it was on the air back in the '90s and have rewatched the series & movies several times. I own every xfiles cards from the card game, every episode when it initially released on VHS and all of the TV guides that feature X-Files on the cover.
I highly recommend watching the interviews with Chris Carter about the series.
It seems like you discovered the series and watched it rather than grew up watching it. As well I don't think you actually understand the plot of the overall series. So go back and rewatch the series again & check out all of the interviews with Chris Carter.
Haha I've seen the series at least 6 or 7 times straight through. I watched it when I was a kid back in the 90's and I've seen it even more as an adult.
^^^^^^^^^^^^______in my opinion "3" is the most atmospheric episode to watch at night
and has THE BEST music of the entire series
It's really telling how good a season is, this is my favorite, when the weakest episodes are ok.
Yeah there's nothing really bad just a few meh.
I keep thinking "oh, this is just like that episode that...." or "I wonder when episode xxxxx is?" only to remember that what I'm thinking of are episodes of Fringe, which really goes to show you how good both shows are, and also how well a lot of X-Files episodes stand the test of time.
A lot of people have mentioned Fringe, I might have to look into it at some point.
I don't remember the episode with the ship and the crew aging, also I recently saw one I didn't remember. They went into a haunted house during Christmas that was a silly episode.
That is the season 6 episode "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" which is an episode I very much enjoy.
@JBSpookyReview you can tell by the appearance of the show its later seasons, but it is a cleverly constructed story a lot of twist and turns.
One of my all time favorites! I never get tired of watching it.@@JBSpookyReview
I still need to get to your individual episode reviews for 2nd part of season 2, it got busy here 🙂 My verdict on your bottom episodes is not so harsh - I spot things that make them worthwhile - or at least ok - to me. Btw, you critizised Mulder there - but doesn't it make sense psychologically that Mulder hooks up with a girl in '3' after Scully's abduction? 🤔Scully is his emotional anchor, his partner, maybe his soulmate? Mulder is depressed, anxious, in need of human connection. He's at a low point. It's a human thing to do 🥲
Oh I think you're right, Mulder was looking for some kind of a connection with the loss of Scully.
Can't complain much about your list. I would tank F. Emasculata and Anasazi higher, and Fresh Bones is probably too high, but in general it's pretty spot on. The top 13 or so episodes could be in any order really, they are that good.-
These lists are always so tough to put together. You're right though the top episodes really could be in any order.
What happened to playlists on this channel?
Hmm nothing as far as I can see. They're still there.
I'm pleased to see that you have the correct opinions on X-files. 😉
I think it's a shame "Blood" is such a weak episode since I love William Sanderson and it was a waste not to write him an episode where he gets to be the central antagonist, in the style of Irresistable. In the episode as shot he's almost the antagonist by happenstance.
Regarding "Red Museum", I get the feeling that they added Deep Throat's killer very late in the process and as a way to "punch up" a lame script and to introduce a threat. That also explains why it's an episode that goes against Chris Carter's principle of not mixing mythology and the monster-of-the-week, because it's about 80% the latter.
I like blood, but it definitely could have been better and I agree with you on red museum. It kind of felt like it was added last minute.
@@JBSpookyReview Well, calling it weak may have been harsh, but it's a bit confused about what it is. Seems to be a commonality for the less good episodes that they try to do too much.
Also, agreed on Tony Todd. He's an amazing stage presence.
Tony Todd deserves more recognition.
I agree, it was a waste of the talents of William Sanderson.
Creating convincing old person make-up and fake beards are impossible tasks, apparently...
Not impossible, but rarely is it done well.
Season 2 had so many excellent episodes, how does one rank the top 12? I agree with your top 5. Steve Railsback's performance as Duane Berry was superb. Word is Chris Carter pursued him aggressively for a long time to appear on the show. Humbug was a riot, the introduction of writer Darrin Morgan. Thought you'd have Colony and End Game a bit higher, but other than that, bang on. Season 2 doesn't get the credit it deserves. It may have allowed the show to continue. Ratings for season 1 were not fabulous, and credit is due to the powers that be at Fox for sticking with the show.
Rankings are hard and just for fun really. How can you really decide which episode is better than the others? The only reason colony and end game weren't higher is because I prefer the monster of the week stuff. That's literally the only reason. They're both fantastic episodes.
The one you called worst was my favorite
Hey that's alright we all have our favourites.
@@JBSpookyReview it was my favorite back in the day. Gotta do a rewatch
Firewalker was a missed opportunity tbh. The obvious core behind it is that Scully is proving to Mulder that she's ok to work on the X Files following her abduction, not to mention reassuring him that she's not going anywhere. However, the parallels between Firewalker and Ice are downright irritating.
Yeah it's a good concept, but too much of the same.
Yeah the fluke man is still alive
He is and since one of his babies went down the drain, there should be a few.
Season 2 was so awesome. There's only one episode I found bad (Red Museum), and 2 meh (the first one and "3"). The rest is very good or excellent (my top 3 is Humbug, Our Town and Duane Barry)
I can't argue with you on that.
I love 3, it's so moody, very unique episode.
I think it's pretty good.
Loving it, JB! Just literally posted an X-Files video of our own! Hope you'll consider a collaboration with us one day. Keep it up.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll have to check your video out.
@@JBSpookyReview ANOTHER GREAT VID!!! THANKS BRO.
Thanks so much I'm glad you're enjoying the videos.
Nobody likes the x fizzles more than me
I can I at least be number 2 then?
I find _Excelsis Dei_ very unsettling. I don't understand the criticisms leveled at it.
I don't think it's bad, these lists are hard to do haha.
I just completed my Top 50 list.
F. Emasculata is way too low
Its a pretty good episode
I like it, these ratings are just for fun and I can never truly decide lol.
Hi
Hey Jojo how have you been?
@@JBSpookyReview I've been better, still hanging in there though.
Well I hope things pick up for you Jojo.