Case 09, File 01: Nothing Important Happened Today

AKA: You Find Out Why It's Called That Next Episode

9 Seasons is, in tv terms, a goddamn eternity. Lots of incredibly iconic shows never got to that number or called it quits right around there. And by the time The X-Files arrived at Season 9, it was already limping, from the loss of Duchovny (who is completely out this season) to the recent failure of its spinoff, to the simple fact that Season 8 was kind of uneven and still hasn't figured out how to best utilize Robert Patrick. Add in to that that they were already deep into 2001 and the political ground was shifting beneath their feet, and we all know The X-Files was in for a rough year.

Case 8.5, File 13: All About Yves

AKA: How Many People Have Actually Seen All About Eve?

Season finales for shows like this are tricky, especially if you're unsure if you're getting another season. You want to leave enough plot to pick up next season if you get another, but definitive enough to be a proper ending if you don't. That's a hard needle to thread, but it's one that the first season of The X-Files managed to thread really well, in my opinion. And it's one that the first and only season finale of The Lone Gunmen dramatically fails to thread.

Case 08, File 21: Existence

 AKA: No, Not The Cronenberg Film, That Has A Z In The Title

One of the things about a TV show this late in the game that's trying to hold itself together, is that you basically get to see them working stuff out in real time. Watching the writing shift around Doggett as they try to get a handle on his character and Robert Patrick's strengths as an actor was entertaining but awkward. And as the series enters its final stretch (or its final original stretch), the series seized in on a concept that no show, trying to hold itself together has ever thought of; Why not just add in a whole new character?