The X-Files backdrop
Mystery•Sci-Fi & Fantasy•Crime

The Best Episodes of The X-Files Season 3

Every episode of The X-Files Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The X-Files Season 3!

Binge this in 18h 5m•Peaking at 9.2/10

The exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is

Airs on
FOX
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons11

All1234567891011

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    The X-Files Season 3 Episode 1 - The Blessing Way (2)
    8.6/10(5664 votes)

    #1 - The Blessing Way (2)

    S3:E1

    Scully finds her career with the FBI in jeopardy as Mulder is still missing and the Cigarette Smoking Man is pursuing the stolen files. The Navajo elders find Mulder's body in a cave and perform an ancient ceremony to call the spirit back to the empty vessel.

    Director:R. W. Goodwin
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 2 - Paper Clip (3)
    9.0/10(6025 votes)

    #2 - Paper Clip (3)

    S3:E2

    A.D. Skinner and Scully are at a standoff when Mulder bursts in and discovers that Skinner has the digital tape. Reunited, Mulder and Scully travel to a secret vault inside a mine and find an elaborate filing system of medical records which reveals that Mulder's sister may not have been the first choice for abduction. Meanwhile, Skinner deals with the Cigarette-Smoking Man for their safety.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 3 - D.P.O.
    7.7/10(5854 votes)

    #3 - D.P.O.

    S3:E3

    Mulder and Scully investigate a series of human and cattle deaths by lightning and are led to a teenage boy who is the only survivor out of five people recently hit by lightning strikes.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:Howard Gordon

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 4 - Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose
    9.2/10(8496 votes)

    #4 - Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose

    S3:E4

    In the midst of a psychic sideshow while on a murder case, Mulder and Scully enlist the help of a man who may have a true psychic ability to foresee how people will die to help the agents catch a man killing fortune tellers.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writer:Darin Morgan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 5 - The List
    7.1/10(4967 votes)

    #5 - The List

    S3:E5

    Nobody takes much notice when a death row inmate vows on the electric chair to come back from the dead and kill five men who have wronged him during his time in prison, until a guard is mysteriously murdered in the former inmate's cell.

    Director:Chris Carter
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 6 - 2Shy
    7.4/10(5118 votes)

    #6 - 2Shy

    S3:E6

    A man with a genetic abnormality, who must prey on overweight women in order to suck the fatty tissue from their bodies, begins to meet his victims through internet chat rooms.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writer:Jeff Vlaming

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 BEST Episodes of The X-Files

    READ
  7. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 7 - The Walk
    7.1/10(4848 votes)

    #7 - The Walk

    S3:E7

    After a suicide attempt and multiple murders at a military hospital, Mulder and Scully meet a quadruple amputee who has gained the power of astral projection and is taking out his personal frustrations on his commanding officers.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writer:John Shiban

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 8 - Oubliette
    7.6/10(5207 votes)

    #8 - Oubliette

    S3:E8

    Mulder seeks the help of a woman who he believes has a special connection with a young girl who has recently been kidnapped by the same man who held her captive many years earlier.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:Charles Grant Craig

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 9 - Nisei (1)
    8.5/10(5202 votes)

    #9 - Nisei (1)

    S3:E9

    An investigation into a video of an alien autopsy puts Mulder and Scully in the middle of a conspiracy involving WWII Japanese scientists brought to America to continue their experiments which may shed light on Scully's abduction.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writers:Howard Gordon, Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 10 - 731 (2)
    8.7/10(5315 votes)

    #10 - 731 (2)

    S3:E10

    Mulder is trapped inside a train car which contains a suspected alien-human hybrid and also a bomb, while Scully pursues the truth about her abduction and the mystery behind the implant in her neck.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writer:Frank Spotnitz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 11 - Revelations
    7.1/10(4775 votes)

    #11 - Revelations

    S3:E11

    Mulder and Scully swap roles as they pursue a man killing priests that claim to have the wounds of Christ. The agents find and must protect a young boy who may be a real stigmatic. While Scully's faith draws her close to the boy, Mulder is convinced of another explanation.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writer:Kim Newton

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 12 - War of the Coprophages
    8.6/10(6546 votes)

    #12 - War of the Coprophages

    S3:E12

    Widespread panic is caused in a small community after numerous deaths are linked to killer cockroaches, and a government agricultural agency is discovered to have set up a secret experiment involving insects.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:Darin Morgan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 13 - Syzygy
    7.6/10(5646 votes)

    #13 - Syzygy

    S3:E13

    A rare planetary alignment causes strange behavior in the residents of a small town, but particularly in two teenage girls who were born at the exact same moment on that date. While investigating the strange occurrences Mulder's interest in the local female detective makes Scully jealous.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 14 - Grotesque
    7.3/10(4857 votes)

    #14 - Grotesque

    S3:E14

    A serial killer is captured after a three year manhunt, and he claims an evil spirit is responsible for the crimes. When the killings continue as he sits in jail, Mulder's battle with a former colleague gets more heated when he suggests that something more paranormal may be involved.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:Howard Gordon

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 15 - Piper Maru (1)
    8.4/10(5014 votes)

    #15 - Piper Maru (1)

    S3:E15

    A French salvage ship searching for a lost WWII fighter plane unknowingly surfaces an alien which appears in the form of black oil and has the ability to jump hosts. Mulder heads to Hong Kong to investigate the salvage broker who sold the information to the French and he encounters Krycek, who has been selling information from the MJ documents. As Mulder prepares to take Krycek back to the US, the alien makes its way to Hong Kong and takes control of Krycek.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writers:Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 16 - Apocrypha (2)
    8.5/10(4988 votes)

    #16 - Apocrypha (2)

    S3:E16

    Mulder pursues Krycek (unaware of the alien that has taken over his body) to get back the DAT tape containing the MJ documents. Meanwhile, the shooting of A.D. Skinner uncovers evidence that could lead Scully to her sister's murderer.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writers:Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 17 - Pusher
    8.4/10(5638 votes)

    #17 - Pusher

    S3:E17

    Mulder and Scully are asked to help in a case involving Robert Patrick Modell, a murderer possessing the psychic ability to force his will onto people. Due to a brain tumor that is slowly killing him, he is searching for a "worthy adversary" and forces Mulder into a battle of mind over matter.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writer:Vince Gilligan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 18 - Teso Dos Bichos
    5.9/10(4584 votes)

    #18 - Teso Dos Bichos

    S3:E18

    The unearthing of an ancient Ecuadorian Amaru urn and its removal to America despite protests leads to a series of deaths linked to a shaman spirit released by the urn.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:John Shiban

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 19 - Hell Money
    7.0/10(4586 votes)

    #19 - Hell Money

    S3:E19

    Mulder, Scully and a local Chinese American cop investigate deaths of several Chinese men found to be missing vital internal organs. The clues lead them to a deadly secret lottery run by the Triads in San Francisco's Chinatown district. The game is free to play but losing will cost you more than an arm and a leg.

    Director:Tucker Gates
    Writer:Jeff Vlaming

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 20 - Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"
    8.8/10(7462 votes)

    #20 - Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"

    S3:E20

    A alien abduction of two teenagers with endless versions of the same story prompts a science-fiction novelist to to write a book about the incident; however, nobody involved with the investigation can tell him the full story with any accuracy.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writer:Darin Morgan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 21 - Avatar
    7.6/10(4703 votes)

    #21 - Avatar

    S3:E21

    During a one-night-stand in the midst of his divorce, A.D. Skinner becomes a murder suspect, and Mulder and Scully return the many favors that he has done for them by analyzing evidence that someone doesn't want uncovered to prove his innocence.

    Director:Jim Charleston
    Writers:David Duchovny, Howard Gordon

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 22 - Quagmire
    8.0/10(5176 votes)

    #22 - Quagmire

    S3:E22

    Mulder and Scully investigate a series of disappearances and attacks around a lake where Mulder believes that the local legend about a lake monster may be all too real. Frustrated Scully insightfully confronts Mulder about the futility of their work on the X-Files.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:Kim Newton

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 23 - Wetwired
    8.3/10(4916 votes)

    #23 - Wetwired

    S3:E23

    Mulder and Scully investigate a series of murders linked to a mysterious device that alters television signals causing paranoid hallucinations. One of them falls victim to it.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writer:Mat Beck

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. The X-Files Season 3 Episode 24 - Talitha Cumi (1)
    8.5/10(4744 votes)

    #24 - Talitha Cumi (1)

    S3:E24

    After his mother suffers a stroke under strange circumstances, Mulder searches for a strange, benevolent alien man that possesses miraculous healing powers. With the help from Mr. X, he learns about the involvement of the Cigarette-Smoking Man and uncovers some secrets kept by his parents.

    Directors:David Duchovny, R. W. Goodwin, Chris Carter
    Writers:David Duchovny, Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Season 3 Ratings Summary

"The Blessing Way (2)" is the best rated episode of "The X-Files" season 3. It scored 8.6/10 based on 5664 votes. Directed by R. W. Goodwin and written by Chris Carter, it aired on 9/22/1995. This episode is rated 0.4 points higher than the second-best, "Paper Clip (3)".