Case 05, File 17: All Souls

AKA: In The Arms Of An Angel

There was this kind of a trend in fantasy circles in the 90s of instead of drawing on stuff like Norse and Greek mythology for their stuff, they would instead draw on Catholic apocrypha and Antediluvian (it's a word, look it up) myth. This was partially for access to some really odd shit (Antediluvian myth is really weird guys) but also to grant it a slight edge. After all these aren't just weird monsters, these are weird monsters that are based on stuff that is kind of technically related to stuff that people actually believe. Some of this stuff was good, a lot of it was bad but all of it was really really weird.

Case 05, File 16: Mind's Eye

AKA: Justice Is Blind But Also Has Psychic Powers

What makes an X-Files episode good is a nebulous thing, and honestly, even I can't pin down exactly what connects the episodes I like. Sure there's some common elements (good script, solid concept, entertaining banter, all the usual suspects) but what exactly tips an episode from "Good enough to watch" (which is basically the entire series, outside some outliers) to truly great is something I have trouble nailing down.

Case 05, File 15: Travelers

AKA: Turns Out Roy Cohn Is The Real Monster

I always got the sense The X-Files regretted killing off Mulder's dad as early in their run as they did. Mulder's dad is a conceptually fascinating character, with his conflicted loyalties to his family and to the Conspiracy, the fact that he gave up Samantha to be abducted, his friendship with the Cigarette Smoking Man, all of that stuff could make for a fascinating character, but they killed him off in more or less the same breath in which he arrived in the series. So it's understandable they'd want to jump back to show him in flashbacks.