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Season 3 – The X-Files

Play trailer Poster for Season 3 – The X-Files Sep 1995 Holiday Drama Sci-Fi Mystery & Thriller Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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88% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 97% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
In one of the longest-running science fiction series in network TV history, FBI special agents investigate unexplained, mind-bending cases known as "X-Files." Though the government is convinced that the outlandish reports are false, conspiracy theorist Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and realist Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), for most of the series, stop at nothing to prove that "the truth is out there." Series creator Chris Carter also serves as executive producer of the thrilling pop-culture phenomenon.
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The X-Files — Season 3

Critics Reviews

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Eric Mink New York Daily News 10/25/2017
I've seen Talitha Cumi, tonight's season finale of The X-Files (9 o'clock on Fox), and it is, to use a technical TV-industry term, a doozy. Go to Full Review Nick De Semlyen Empire Magazine 10/15/2017
But while the action-adventure elements are to the fore, there's also plenty of the emotional backbone that makes the show so watchable. Go to Full Review Ira Madison III New York Magazine/Vulture 10/15/2017
This season has the series' best mythology episodes, back when the villains were still scary and the conspiracy seemed like it was building to something sublime. Go to Full Review Jonathan Hatfull SciFiNow 10/25/2017
By the time the show really hits its stride with the second and third season, the writers had found a near-perfect balance between its arc plot and its monsters of the week. Go to Full Review Grace Duffy The Mary Sue 10/15/2017
Even at that, clones and shapeshifting might be pushing it. I have no idea what's going on. The CSM is a very strange, stupefying, and utterly ridiculous man. Go to Full Review Nick Nunziata IGN Movies 09/27/2017
9/10
The third season is considered by many to be the best, and if you look at the list of episodes it's a strong argument. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Matheus F @matheusf_neto Sep 3 The best season of the show! thanks to Clyde Bruckman (Peter Boyle)! See more Craig B @Boundsy 06/19/2025 Great series which redefined the quality production standards of TV shows which followed. The first 7 series were defined by mostly great stories with two stars in David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson (yummy) who you could not take you eyes off. However, by series 8, the show was running out of steam, and suprising it lasted until series 11... the power of the shows fan base I guess. See more 07/01/2022 Still the best season of the show in my view. Good balance between monster-of-the-week and mythology episodes. The mythology mystery was still going strong, the cast was really settled in and the production value was extraordinary! Always worth a rewatch! See more Tim L @RT73328012 08/11/2021 This season kind of slipped a little, but definitely worth watching. See more 04/03/2021 This is really awesome and cool and clever See more 03/23/2020 The best season yet, the X-Files' third season boasts some truly classic episodes, a good mixture of MOTW and mythology episodes, attention-grabbing cinematography, fleshing out the side characters more to the point that Skinner got his own episode, great performances from our two leads - special mention goes to Mulder and Scully's conversation on a rock in "Quagmire" about Moby Dick - and stellar production values to the point that you could edit the two-part episodes into one and they honestly wouldn't look too out-of-place on the big screen. Oh, and did I mention this season was funny, too? "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" was a genuinely great episode with the best part not being the Rashomon thing it's got going on but this one Man in Black being very insistent that people saw the planet Venus. Though I had quite a blast with "War of the Coprophages" I had a great time watching this third season and truly hope that I'll enjoy the critically acclaimed darker and edgier fourth season just as much, if not more. See more Read all reviews
The X-Files — Season 3

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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David Duchovny

FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder

Gillian Anderson

FBI Special Agent Dana Scully

Mitch Pileggi

Asst. Dir. Walter Skinner

Bruce Harwood

John Fitzgerald Byers

William B. Davis

Smoking Man

Dean Haglund

Richard "Ringo" Langly

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Sep 22, 1995 The Blessing Way Assuming Mulder is dead, the FBI strips Scully of her credentials for withholding information about the missing computer disk. Details Episode 2 Aired Sep 29, 1995 Paperclip Reunited, Mulder and Scully secretly continue the investigation; they learn the truth about Mulder's parents and discover Skinner's true colors. Details Episode 3 Aired Oct 6, 1995 D.P.O. After deaths are attributed to lightning, Mulder and Scully determine a teen who survived a lightning strike may be the murderer. Details Episode 4 Aired Oct 13, 1995 Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose While tracking a serial killer of fortunetellers, Mulder meets a man (Peter Boyle) he believes to be a genuine psychic. Details Episode 5 Aired Oct 20, 1995 The List An inmate's final vow prompts the agents to investigate a mysterious death which occurred after the man's execution. Details Episode 6 Aired Nov 3, 1995 2Shy Mulder and Scully track a serial killer whose gruesome MO includes leaving many victims but few clues. Details Episode 7 Aired Nov 10, 1995 The Walk Mulder and Scully investigate a man whose wounds reportedly resulted from suicide attempts but seem to suggest something sinister. Details Episode 8 Aired Nov 17, 1995 Oubliette When a child is abducted, the detectives seek the help of a woman once kidnapped by the same psychopath. Details Episode 9 Aired Nov 24, 1995 Nisei The agents uncover more information in the government's attempt to hide the truth about extraterrestrial life when Mulder discovers a video of an alleged alien autopsy. Details Episode 10 Aired Dec 1, 1995 731 The agents' investigation into the government's knowledge of extraterrestrial life puts them in danger; Scully is forced to trust a mysterious man. Details Episode 11 Aired Dec 15, 1995 Revelations Mulder and Scully must protect a child from a serial killer with a penchant for murdering those claiming to suffer from religious wounds. Details Episode 12 Aired Jan 5, 1996 War of the Coprophages The agents investigate death cases in which the presence of cockroaches is the only common denominator. Details Episode 13 Aired Jan 26, 1996 Syzygy The agents visit a small town to investigate a series of bizarre deaths that coincide with strange astrological phenomena. Details Episode 14 Aired Feb 2, 1996 Grotesque The agents assist Mulder's former mentor with a case involving a serial killer who claims to be possessed by a demonic force. Details Episode 15 Aired Feb 9, 1996 Piper Maru The divers from a French salvage ship fall prey to a bizarre illness after working on a mysterious wreckage from World War II. Details Episode 16 Aired Feb 16, 1996 Apocrypha Officials hamper an investigation of a radiation disease plaguing divers who took salvage from a 1940s shipwreck. Details Episode 17 Aired Feb 23, 1996 Pusher Mulder battles a manipulator when the agents are assigned to a case involving a man seemingly capable of bending people to his will. Details Episode 18 Aired Mar 8, 1996 Teso Dos Bichos An ancient artifact brought from South America to Boston triggers a series of deaths. With David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. Details Episode 19 Aired Mar 29, 1996 Hell Money The agents investigate the mysterious deaths of Chinese immigrants whose bodies were missing various internal organs. Details Episode 20 Aired Apr 12, 1996 Jose Chung's From Outer Space Mulder and Scully investigate a couple's claim that they were abducted by aliens; guest Charles Nelson Reilly. Details Episode 21 Aired Apr 26, 1996 Avatar Mulder and Scully learn more about Director Skinner's personal life as they work to unravel a conspiracy and clear him of murder. Details Episode 22 Aired May 3, 1996 Quagmire The agents investigate deaths and disappearances near a lake where small-town residents revive stories about a legendary killer sea-serpent. Details Episode 23 Aired May 10, 1996 Wetwired The agents uncover a government mind-control experiment thrust upon unsuspecting citizens via their television sets. Details Episode 24 Aired May 17, 1996 Talitha Cumi The agents' pursuit of a man who seems to possess strange powers leads to the discovery of a dangerous secret from Mulder's past. Details

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The X-Files — Season 3

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Season Info

Director
Chris Carter, Rob Bowman, Kim Manners, David Nutter, R.W. Goodwin, Tucker Gates, James Charleston
Executive Producer
Chris Carter
Screenwriter
Chris Carter, Howard Gordon, Darin Morgan, Kim Newton, Jeff Vlaming, John Shiban, Vince Gilligan, Charles Grant Craig, David Duchovny, Mat Beck, Frank Spotnitz
Network
Fox
Rating
TV-14 (V)
Genre
Holiday, Drama, Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller, Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date
Sep 22, 1995