Case 8.5, File 06: Madam, I'm Adam

AKA: You Think They Named The Episode Or The Dude First?

One of The X-Files' pieces of quiet brilliance was its decision to have its leads be FBI Agents. In a Monster-of-the-Week format, you need to have the leads find out about the monster, have a reason to get involved and then travel to the monster before you can get to actually dealing with the monster; Having Mulder and Scully be FBI Agents instantly gives them access to knowledge, motive and transportation, so you make your life very easy that way. The Lone Gunmen on the other hand, don't have any of that stuff so the episodes have to contrive a reason for them to get involved, with varying degrees of contrivance.

Case 8.5, File 05: Three Men and a Smoking Diaper

AKA: I Haven't Seen Three Men And A Baby Either

As The Lone Gunmen settles more naturally into a comedy mindset, it's going to have to start figuring out what kind of stories it wants to tell. Sure it could lean into The X-Files stuff and have the characters chase monsters and conspiracies, but the more overt comedic tone of the show makes those kinds of episodes feel incongruous, and besides, feeling too similar to the show it's spinning off from is how spinoffs sink. As such the show has two major directions it can go; Either lower the stakes so they can fit more nicely into the style or raise them to ridiculous levels to make the whole thing feel like a parody.

Case 8.5, File 04: Like Water For Octane

AKA: Oh Shit, I Just Realized I've Never Seen Like Water For Chocolate

One of the core issues The X-Files (and by extension, The Lone Gunmen) has to work around is that the heroes can't actually win, which is a bigger problem than you might think. Mulder and Scully (or Doggett or Reyes) can't actually get proof of aliens or monster, and the Lone Gunmen can't get real proof of their various conspiracies, or the world will change in ways the show isn't willing to deal with, so the series has to walk the line of having a satisfying story, while still maintaining the status quo, which is hard to maintain.