10 Criminally Underrated X-Files Episodes

Fox's revival of one of its biggest hits, The X-Files, has been one of the biggest stories in television this year. Premiering after the network's broadcast of the NFL's NFC Championship game, millions of eyeballs will be glued to their TV sets, waiting to see if production company 1013 and stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny can recapture the magic (and chemistry) they had so many years ago.

2008's I Want To Believe, the second feature film in the franchise, seems to have been forgotten. That's probably not a bad thing - while not outright horrible (nothing with Billy Connolly ever is), it is more more or less an elongated X-Files episode to begin with. Somewhat underrated, but far from criminally so.

However, with the new season on its way - a revival, not a reboot or remake, just six new episodes - now is a great time to look back at some X-Files episodes that really were, in fact, criminally underrated. These are the episodes that never caught on with fans, critics, or both. Yet upon further review, they're actually quite good - and in some cases, excellent.

Breaking Bad fans arguably have Drive to thank for the casting of Bryan Cranston as Walter White on Vince Gilligan’s breakout hit. Gilligan was the writer behind Drive, part of The X-Files sixth season, and one of its better episodes (it should be noted that Dean Norris and Aaron Paul also appeared on The X-Files, making the paranormal drama very much the point of conception for the AMC hit).

Up to this point, Cranston was probably best known to viewers as the beleaguered dad from Malcolm in the Middle, the popular FOX sitcom. After Drive, well, suddenly it became apparent that the man was an extremely versatile actor.

Playing the crude, racist Patrick Crump, who is initially encountered on a high speed chase with his wife in the back seat of the car, Drive digs into government conspiracies and the idea that an ELF project might have caused a horrific inner ear condition to form in Crump and his wife capable of killing them. Only speed reduces the effects. The episode was well received at the time it aired, but (criminally, frankly) doesn’t even make the top fifty of many episode guides/rankings, including Ranker. However, the chemistry between Duchovny and Cranston in this episode pushes it to another level, as does the rather original idea of making the primary set piece a pursuit.