**Warning: spoilers ahead**
PAPER HEARTS (4x08)
This episode has so many things going for it; the dream sequences, the possibility of knowing what happened to Samantha, Tom Noonan's amazingly brilliant and underplayed turn as serial killer John Lee Roche, the climatic scene in the bus depot...it's just stunning. Written by Vince Gilligan with Noonan in mind to play Roche, it might be my favourite of the fourth season. The way Mulder's memories are manipulated by Roche, and the constant 'did he?/didn't he?' undercurrent make it stand out from the usual X-Files fare. I just can't speak highly enough of this one.
MEMENTO MORI (4x15)
Scully's battle with cancer sees her undergo treatment and spend time in hospital while Mulder desperately searches for a cure. He even considers making a deal with the Cigarette Smoking Man, until Skinner strongly advises him against such an action. Watching Scully come to terms with what is happening to her body is one of the most heartbreaking moments in the whole series. Mulder's little covert raid with the Lone Gunmen is another big highlight too.
TEMPUS FUGIT (4x17)
I love that Max Fenig returned to the show, (albeit only for two episodes, and even then, he's hardly in them) and I dug the whole concept of trying to piece together the final events of Flight 549. Scary Moustache Man (as I call him) makes for a nice mysterious villain too. If only Tom Selleck was available for the role! The concluding episode Max is also good, but the sheer scale of recreating an aerial crash site puts this entry slightly ahead. I love that title translates to 'time flies' as well.
SMALL POTATOES (4x20)
Another cracking episode from Vince Gilligan that is filled with humour as we follow Darin Morgan as Eddie Van Blundht, a man who can assume the shape of any other person. I thought I had remembered this episode as being better than it actually was, but my recent viewing confirmed its status as one the series' best, in my opinion. One of my favourite moments occurs when Mulder and Scully knock on the door of Van Blundht's father's house. Throughout the episode he constantly corrects the spelling of his surname, in that it has a 'D' in it. After the home's door is struck, the 'D' from the lettering bearing the family name on door falls off. It's so subtle, that you might have missed it, but it cracked me up.
GETHSEMANE (4x24)
This episode is pretty polarising, as its cliffhanger ending would have us believe that Mulder has become so disillusioned and lost that he has taken his own life. While that's too extreme a notion for some to entertain, surely most viewers would have seen the truth that was revealed in the season five opening episode coming. As if Mulder would die. Remember the Anasazi cliffhanger? I can see how his character could have considered that option. The episode pretty much tears down all the things he was lead to believe over the last four years (or did it?) and the truth he thought he desperately came close to uncovering was in fact the biggest lie of all. In addition to that, his hope to one day learn the truth about his sister's disappearance seemed further from his grasp than ever. Written by Chris Carter himself, I love the way the plot unfolds via Scully's narration at the FBI hearing. For me, the image of the big rectangular table all lit up is synonymous with this episode. Gillian Anderson's role as the narrator and participant of the story is also very well done, and I think her performance while revealing Mulder's 'fate' at the end is quite excellent. The discovery of the alien body and all the other facets of the mythology in this outing are hugely entertaining too. There many religious overtones throughout as well, not least being the title. Another highlight for me is the first appearance of Michael Kritschgau, played by John Finn. I have no problem citing this as one of my five favourites.HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Home, Unruhe, Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man, Tunguska and Max.
STINKERS: The Field Where I Died (my vote for the worst X-Files episode of all time) and El Mundo Gira.
