This week The X-Files follows up a nuanced and touching first half of a two-parter with a second part which is only fitfully either of those things. Michaela and Ed discuss what the show could have done to avoid squandering some real potent material, and whether this episode just exists as an emotional Saw trap for Scully.

Time feels different at Christmas... Michaela and Ed discuss a sound character episode, and try not to look too closely at reality.

Michaela and Ed get to dig into a very strange and meaty episode this week, one which allows them to discuss the intricacies of black and white cinematography, post-modernism as a school of thought, and Cher.

Content warning: Due to the nature of the storyline in this week's episode, there is some discussion of sexual assault early on, which is marked in the timestamps for this episode if you want to skip it.

Michaela and Ed discuss a tingling sense of deja vu, management workshops, and the uncanny resemblance between Florida and Canada.

The X-Files travels back to 1989 this week to explain how The Lone Gunmen came together, how they met Mulder, and how Mulder only believes in aliens because he got gassed? Michaela and Ed discuss whether the episode is a little too neat for its own goods, and talk about their New Year's resolutions for 2026.

The X-Files resolves some long-running plot threads in this emotionally satisfying episode, and Ed and Michaela talk in generally non-spoiler terms about how the first season of Pluribus turned out.

The X-Files returns from a shocking cliffhanger - is Mulder really dead?!? - with pretty lackluster answers. Michaela and Ed discuss how well the show handles its explanations for Mulder's survival, and wonder if the X-Files missed a golden opportunity to ditch its complicated mythology.

Before they dive into season five of The X-Files, Michaela and Ed fulfill their prerogatives at millennials by talking about The Simpsons on the internet. Specifically, the X-Files/Simpsons crossover episode, The Springfield Files. They also commiserate over both being either sick or just recovering from being sick.

Correction: When Ed is talking about visiting York, he mistakenly says that some of the streets were used for filming the first Harry Potter film, which is incorrect - they are often assumed to have been inspiration for Diagon Alley in the books.