The File Room

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 o...

We've come to the end of another season so Michaela and Ed take a little time to look back on the highs and lows of Season 4 of The X-Files. Thank you all for listening to us in 2025! We hope that you have had a good holiday period and a Happy New Year!

Shocking season finale... but can we buy it? Ed and Michaela try to forget what they know to unpick the storytelling PLUS get your tastebuds ready whilst we discuss Ed's Thanksgiving meal.

Mulder wakes up in a bad situation and has to figure out how he got there, and Michaela and Ed discuss the ways in which different Arnold Schwarzenegger movies emotionally scared them.

Michaela and Ed discuss this episode that is... let's say "clumsy" in its treatment of people with autism.

Michaela and Ed discuss the very nature of horror itself as Walter Skinner finds himself trapped in the web of the Cigarette Smoking Man.

Ed and Michaela discuss Vince Gilligan's homage to Darin Morgan, starring none other than Darin Morgan himself. Heads up about content: if you've watched the episode you know it touches on sexual assault. We'll be discussing that in this episode.

The X-Files tackles time travel (yay!) but it's not as fun as you'd hope (boo!). Michaela and Ed try to figure out what's missing from an episode that on paper should be really good.

Ever heard of Horace Pinker? No, neither had we. Michaela and Ed chat Tickle Me Elmo, Headbanger's Ball and classic cinema inspo in this week's episode. Plus why Michaela once had to wear someone else's underwear. We promise this is a podcast about the X Files.

Mulder and Scully investigate a plane crash involving Max Fenig, previously seen in Season One's "Fallen Angel", and Ed and Michaela get to enjoy a mythology episode which is mostly free of the usual hybrid/colonisation baggage.

Michaela finds dogs and an Alien in some dude's house in London, and we discuss whether this episode is an effective snapshot of 90s America with Ed's Historian Help. Apologies for the echo-y audio - we had some microphone issues that weren't apparent until after we had recorded.

Ed and Michaela discuss a very emotionally and thematically rich episode, one which draws upon Jewish folklore and mysticism for a story that remains potent almost 30 years later.

Should we be calling this a 'Messology' episode? We catch up with Scully's cancer journey, some more hybrids, PLUS Ed has a time in an airport carpark. 

Ed is back from traveling seemingly the entirety of the UK by train, so he and Michaela catch up before talking about a very fun episode of The X-Files that came close to being a very different kind of episode entirely.

Michaela and Ed tackle the most-watched episode of The X-Files ever, a fact which is very funny when you consider what the episode is actually about. They also talk about whether the episode's blending of monster of the week and mythology might be a good blueprint for the new X-Files.

In the ignominious tradition of "Jersey Devil", this episode finds The X-Files taking a popular cryptid (in this case the Chupacabra) and just using the name to do something else entirely. Michaela and Ed discuss problems with striking the right tone, the X-Files' clumsy attempts at social commentary, and what a good job the special effects department did on all that fungus.

Vince Gilligan uses a manipulative serial killer to distort central X Files canon, but does it work? Join Ed and Michaela as we discuss this and more, plus catch up on our indulgences or attempts to moderate. Apologies for the rougher-than-usual audio in this episode.

"Tunguska" left Mulder stranded in a gulag and asked 'how will he get out?' This episode replies 'Surprisingly easily.' Michaela and Ed discuss the ever-growing number of problems with the mythology, and the dangers of trying to set up the plot for a movie that isn't going to come out for two years. Also, sorry that the audio is a little rough in this episode.

Ed has a nice cup of tea, and we discuss the punchability of faces, the road to the X Files movie, and why black oil is so compelling.

It's a fun one this week as The X-Files delves into the (possibly all false) back story of one of its most iconic and mysterious characters, while Michaela and Ed talk about the very notion and purpose of conspiracy theories.

Ed and Michaela try to stomach this episode, have a disappointing revelation and even disagree... 

Mulder regresses through his past lives and Michaela and Ed struggle to stay awake. Dreadlocked - As mentioned in the intro, here is the funny little "documentary" that Michaela and Ed made at university about Michaela getting her dreadlocks cut off for charity. (It's a bit slow for the first two minutes but then it gets silly.)

The mechanics of mystery are picked over in this week's especially creepy episode, plus, at what point does Mulder's leaps become 'a bit much'? All this, plus Ed's 4th of July menu for your listening delectation. 

Michaela and Ed spend way too long talking about taxes at the start of this episode, which is a pretty good indicator of how exciting "Teliko" is.