Talk:List of The X-Files episodes

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[edit] Early comments

Some of these episode descriptions are incorrectly placed. In Season 1, for example, the description of "Shapes" is actually that of "Dod Kalm," and the description of "Roland" actually describes "Soft Light."

I'm not an X-Files fan. Just surfed in to get a little plot information. Are these plot summaries supposed to be so lame? I've only watched a single episode (season 9, episode 1), but I barely recognized its description in this collection. So I read episode 2 to see what happened next. Useless.

I found http://xfiles.wearehere.net/xfiles.htm#Start to be far superior to the information here. Yeah, I know, this is a wiki and I should just update the pages myself. But I think the show is a waste of my time to watch. So much more, then, spending time editing 'pedia pages related to it. Let a fan do it. <>< tbc 16:46, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

I think the "old way" of listing the episodes was much better then this. In the main X-Files article there were a direct link to each of the seasons and their summaries. The "new way" is just a to cumbersome method of doing it, imho.

What do you think of it?

"There are eight episode themes (official classification)"

Official? Official according to whom? From what source? Chuck 23:26, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

I Googled a bit and couldn't find any source for this classification, so I've deleted it as original research. If there is an independent, verifiable source for it, feel free to revert and add a citation for the source. Chuck 23:13, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Too few info

needs to redicrect to episode desc.list directly,episodes need major expanding.

Disagree with "major expanding." Summaries should be summaries, not transcripts or novelizations. -- Soren.harward 15:39, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reformat

The page should be reformatted so it looks more like the List of Stargate SG-1 episodes, and the Star Trek: Enterprise episodes page. This means screenshots and better summaries. The screenshots I'll be able to provide in time, but summaries are something that many peopl can work on. As soon as you have seen an episode, go summarize! I've already started on Season 6. NeoChrono Ryu 00:31, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree, also the different season lists should also be merged to one article, like the above examples. -- Ned Scott 04:22, 22 June 2006 (UTC)
I agree with you as well, but you should probably see this discussion before changing anything to see how the issue was approached before. I'm not sure whether User:Netoholic is still active. Acegikmo1
As a person having had The X-Files listed, I think that the seasons themselves should be merged with this although can also remain to retain their olde articles just simply put more information on the season and the various changes in the seasons after.
Also, new screenshots rather than simply images uploaded from some site.. This has been done quite alot of the Star Trek: Enterprise episodes page and has proved problematic. DrWho42 16:14, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merge

Threw up some merge notices all around. Speak up if you have objections.--Will2k 19:28, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Merge complete. One key argument against dividing seasons in episode lists can be seen across these 9 seasons. Because there is so little traffic to all 9, changes made to one season are not consistant in another. I have tried to clean it all up a bit but we still need to really drive towards consistancy.--Will2k 17:04, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Object Sorry doesn't seem right to me maybe we could work something out? Also why do you feel the need to merge these? --Mahogany 17:19, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
If you look I was starting to make all the episodes a table, but it takes a hell of a lot of time --Mahogany 17:26, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
The need to merge them was apparent for several reasons:
  1. Most other episode lists like the examples given above are on one page.
  2. Merging the episodes into one list makes it easier to see problems (eg. inconsistancies) across seasons.
  3. Allows quick access to the information someone would want (what if they don't know what season an episode was in, are they going to search all 9 documents?)
  4. Forces episode descriptions to be short and concise for the sake of formatting. Which is a good thing.
I suggest we keep them all merged at least until each season is cleaned up and follows the format suggested at the project. If the article is still too long after that, we can split them up into individual seasons. Also, since you find building tables time consuming, see this template from the project for a shortcut --Will2k 17:35, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Agreed, until we fix these seasons with the proper tables ect. no more will be spoke on the matter --Mahogany 17:39, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Right now there's been no objection to the way I've formated season 1-3 --Mahogany 17:41, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Yes, 1-3 look good, though eventually, I recommend we tweak them to use the template. You will find building season 4-9 easier with the template as well I'm sure. It's conducive to building new tables --Will2k 17:46, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
True! (Back to work)--Mahogany 17:49, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] TfD nomination of Template:X-Files seasons

Template:X-Files seasons has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for Deletion page. Thank you. Will2k 17:04, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

It might be good to add the * as it was before the merger on the episodes which continues the mythology!--82.168.111.16 18:07, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Season 4 & Episode Numbers

I have formatted the rest of Season 4. I intend to fill in lots of holes that are there - writer, director, original air date. I've come across a little issue in Season 4, I am not sure yet if it exists for the others....

It seems that the thing to do for the X-Files is to list the "Production Code" under the "Episode" column. I don't think this is a good idea. The production codes cant be used to order the episodes. Let me give an example.

-"Herrenvolk" is Episode 74, or Episode 1 of Season 4. The production code is 4X01. Fine so far.

-"Home" is Episode 75, or Episode 2 of Season 4. The production code should be (and IS, according to Wikipedia) 4X02, right? NO. 4X02 is actually the prduction code for Episode 77, "Unruhe." The correct production code, for whatever reason, is 4X03.

I think we need to get rid of the production codes, and just use episode numbers, like is the case with many other TV Episode Lists. For now, I will just change the codes to what they really are, but I think getting rid of them should be considered.

Follow Up - I took a look through Seasons 1-5. The first 3 have production codes in an order that makes sense. The production codes for Seasons 4 and 5, however, do not correspond to anything. I like that in Season 5 there is a separate column for the actual episode number. That, however makes me think, "Who cares about the production code? I know I don't. As long as the episode number is given, what does it matter?" --User:WBredefeld 23:30, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

It's important to know whether or not the episodes were shown in the same order in which they were made. Seasons 4 and 5 were not, and using the production code is the easiest way to make the note. Jay32183 02:07, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
I understand. After reading the comment left by Jay32183, I took a look at some featured episode lists. I noticed that they often include both. In the next couple of days, I will add a comlumn for episode number. I propose that in the episode column (as seen in the simpsons episode list, and others) there be 2 numbers. The first being the episode number for the entire show. The second being the season number and the episode number of that season. So it would look like (Ep#) - (Season#)(Ep#).
For the episode "Home"....the number would be 75 - 402. It is the 75th episode. It is the 2nd episode of the 4th season.
I like this idea, but it could be kept simple with just the episode number for entire show (75). WBredefeld 03:08, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Look of table

The table currently looks a little odd. For season 1, most of the production codes are bold, which is unusual for an episode list. I'm proposing that the table be changed to split the Episodes column into three columns, and have the production code, episode number for the season, and episode number overall. It would look something like this:

Image Title Writer(s) Director Original airdate Episode
"Pilot" Chris Carter Robert Mendel September 10, 1993 1x79 1 1
Agent Dana Scully is assigned to work with Agent Fox Mulder on the X-Files in an attempt to debunk his left-field work. Their first case has them travelling to Oregon to investigate a series of deaths within a single high-school class.

Guest starring: Zachary Ansley as Billy Miles

Comments? --MZMcBride 03:13, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

Why 3 sections for the episode number? Is one of the numbers for season number? -- Ned Scott 03:52, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
I personally disagree with the above example. I think it's too different from so many other episode lists.
Here is what I would like to see.
Screenshot Title Writer Director Original airdate Production Code #
"Pilot" Chris Carter Robert Mendel September 10, 1993 1X79 01 - 101
Agent Dana Scully is assigned to work with Agent Fox Mulder on the X-Files in an attempt to debunk his left-field work. Their first case has them travelling to Oregon to investigate a series of deaths within a single high-school class.
Guest starring: Zachary Ansley as Billy Miles 
--WBredefeld 04:40, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
That looks alot better than the former. Though, I'd rather have better screenshots since some of them look like they were taken off of some fan-site.. It's like how the Star Trek: Enterprise list just uses stuff from StarTrek.com and can be rather problematic. DrWho42 04:47, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
Yeah, and most of them don't even have screenshots. Hopefully that can be dealt with. As for the table, please let me know what you think, MZMcBride. Also, are there any other objections/suggestions/comments for how the tables should look?
--WBredefeld 04:52, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
Personally, I don't like taking up so much room for the Production Code column. It seems to just take up too much space when there is limited room for all the information. That's why I thought it would be better if the Episode column could contain all the different numbering schemes for a particular episode, yet not take up a lot of room on the page. The template method is all right, but I'm not a huge fan of the grey background. If others like it, we'll use it. Also, it should be noted that screenshots are a very contentious issue right now on pages exactly like this, so before somebody goes through all the trouble of uploading images for each episode, be forewarned that some users (myself certainly excluded) may take the pictures down under a violation of fair use. --MZMcBride 05:54, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
Okay, I totally udnerstand. Take a look at this one.
Screenshot Title Writer Director Original airdate Code #
"Pilot" Chris Carter Robert Mendel September 10, 1993 1X79 01 - 101
Agent Dana Scully is assigned to work with Agent Fox Mulder on the X-Files in an attempt to debunk his left-field work. Their first case has them travelling to Oregon to investigate a series of deaths within a single high-school class.
Guest starring: Zachary Ansley as Billy Miles 
I haven't saved as much room as you did, but I was able to cut off about a third of the production code column. As for the background, I have no comment about the colour - gray, something else, whatever people want. Screenshots - I would say don't even go there right now. Let us tackle one thing at a time. --WBredefeld 13:56, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
The gray background is sort of being "tried out" right now. I haven't gotten much feedback on it yet, other than here and at WT:LOE#Cell shading, so I'm not sure what to think of it yet. Would another shade of gray or another color look better, or no shading at all? -- Ned Scott 07:05, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
oh, and also, the shading is a lot more noticeable now than it originally was, since now the background of the ShortSummary cell is white instead of a very light grey (which is the default in a wikitable). -- Ned Scott 07:07, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
I like the above layout, with the grey headings, white bg for synopses and blue episode separator. @MZMcBride - I was the one who put the episode numbers in bold, mainly for quick and easy reference for those looking at this article to look up episode names when they only know the number. Makes the number stand out more for those who look for it. 82.32.201.125 04:06, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

I find the # column on the far right of the episode table to be quite confusing. I think it should be removed. Muldernscully 16:44, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

Well, I understand it now, but it is still a bit confusing. Perhaps it can be clarified in some way to indicate what the two numbers signify. Muldernscully 16:52, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

Seasons 3 & 4 still need to be changed to conform with the tables for the other seasons, specifically the episode numbers. I would do it, but I don't know how. Muldernscully 16:28, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

I'll probably have time after work and over the weekend to take care of at least one of those. But if someone beats me to it I won't have a problem. Jay32183 16:56, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Airdates

You guys do know that YYYY-MM-DD and MODAY YEAR look exactly the same when wikified (provided you set up a date preference in your settings)? I noticed some one went out of the way to change them in season four. I used the YYYY-MM-DD on the season five table because it used the fewest characters and I could type it faster and not have to worry about spelling, but I see all wikified dates as MODAY YEAR because thats what I'm used to reading. Jay32183 14:33, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Good Job, Everyone

Well good evening all. I'd like to take a minute off from being serious. I started editing this page just a few days ago, and since then I have seen an incredible amount of time and effort poured out from all of you into this list. Seeing that really makes me smile, despite the fact that smiling is painful since I just got my wisdom teeth out!

So, you all made me smile, and I'd like to send a smile to all of you.

WBredefeld has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling to someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Smile to others by adding {{subst:smile}}, {{subst:smile2}} or {{subst:smile3}} to their talk page with a friendly message. Happy editing!

(You don't really have to pass it on)

Keep up the great work everyone...just a few more seasons to go!

--WBredefeld 05:38, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] episode #'s

The episode #'s at the far right of the episode is very confusing. I don't understand it. Can that be removed?

I'll field this one. I'm not sure how long you have been with this page, but here goes. At first, we had only the production code. We decided to add the episode numbers, because a lot of the episodes were produced out of order. I thought it might be helpful to have the episode number for the entire show, and then the seconde number being the episode number within its season. so.... (EP#)-(Season#)(EP#). For example, the 10th episode of season one would be "10-110"
Using that method was my idea. But if a few people don't like it, I'm sure we can come to a democratic decision to remove it (or keep it if most people like it.) Before you decide what you like, take a look a featured list - List of The Simpsons episodes
Notice that they use this numbering method.
--WBredefeld 17:07, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
I still like the way it's always been done and I don't understand what the problem is (ex. 2x14) --Mahogany 20:18, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikilinks

Something needs to be done about the excess wikilinking on the page. Except for the dates, we should only make a link the first time a topic is mentioned. We don't need a link to Chris Carter everytime he wrote or directed an episode. I would have just done this myself, but I kind of expect an edit war if we don't talk about it first. Jay32183 18:29, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

That is a valid suggestion and it is practiced on every other wikipedia article.--Will2k 15:42, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Episode Articles Themselves

Now that we've got the list polished up really well (screenshots I've got a problem with, but it's simply mine..), should we contact the WikiProject Television episodes to pick up where we left off? It does seem, though, that they don't seem as active. DrWho42 22:04, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

We could begin making pages for indivual episodes while attempting to follow the guidelines at the television episode project. Requesting assistence from the project may fall on deaf ears though. The one suggestion I have with making the pages is take it slow, do not create too many stub pages at once. But you don't have to go so slow as to create a feature article before starting the next one, just bring the article to the point that the deletionists won't be going after it. Jay32183 00:29, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
Quite right, simply follow the usual format of these sorts of things. Really the usual of what I do with alot of the Doctor Who book articles I do to fill in the blanks. DrWho42 02:46, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
Hi, I'd like to help out. I got into The X-Files toward the end of season 7 but I recently bought the first 4 DVD sets and have been inhaling them. Let me know if there is anything I can do once you begin creating pages for the individual episodes. Thanks, - Hollis1138 18:31, 24 July 2006 (UTC)
If each episode is to have its own article (the Firefly episode pages are a great example), it might be helpful to have a template for each season. I've made one here: Template:Xfiles_Season1. Let me know what you think and if this can be useful. -Hollis1138 15:46, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
You know, you don't actually need to put episode in the names of the episode pages. Pilot (The X-Files) would be just fine. Jay32183 01:33, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
Just out of curiosity, what's the perceived need for individual articles, anyway? There are so many episode summaries around, and trying to source all of the speculation people will want to include will just make 100+ more articles to watchlist. On the other hand, without that speculation, I'm fairly certain the articles will be permanent stubs, or judged too crufty. I know other series have done it (Simpsons is a particularly egregious example), but perhaps less is more? -- nae'blis (talk) 01:42, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
Some articles are now using the idea of episode articles by season or story arch. In other words, group detailed summaries that are too long here, likely by season. Each season would then have an article, instead of each episode in that season. -- Ned Scott 03:01, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Screenshots

I began adding screenshots for the episodes earlier this year, per that other episodes for different shows did that. I wanna know if anyone would like to help out and if there is any problem with that? --C.Black 18:01, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Remember, screenshots should be low resolution and should uniquely define the episode in question.--Will2k 21:24, 24 July 2006 (UTC)
I'm more than happy to add screencaps. If there are any problems with them then please don't hesitate to contact me. I'll start adding some tomorrow evening around 6pm (UK time).--Alan-WK 02:42, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
Quite frankly (in my opinion), I'd like for the first few to be changed to something different. Well, mostly I refer to is the Pilot and Conduit since they do not conform as far as shape goes and follows the problem of uploading StarTrek.com images for the Star Trek: Enterprise list.. Conduit even more so since it reminds me of something uploaded from a fan-site and just seems inappropriate. DrWho42 04:35, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
I'm afraid that it won't be tonight I'll be able to start adding screencaps. Tomorrow's Saturday. I'll have more time then. Sorry.--Alan-WK 17:24, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
Again, the images need to be low resolution and uniquely identify the episode (by illustrating the plot, not trivia). Don't forget to put the fair use rationale on the image pages; look at List of Stargate SG-1 episodes for how to do that. Jay32183 18:01, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Could someone add fair use rationales to the image description pages? I'd do it myself but I am not an expert on the series so I cannot explain why particular images were chosen. Jay32183 18:04, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Great job for whoever did all the screen captures for the ep guide. Kudos! Muldernscully 19:53, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mytharc episodes

So there used to be an asterisk marking mytharc episodes, but the current template has no good way to add this information. I don't think tagging the title field is appropriate. I've started a section over at Template talk:Episode list requesting some changes to the template to accomodate this.

I attempted to find a decent way to tag the mytharc episodes with an asterisk. However, it appears that when I edit the episode title to include a marker, it puts it within the quote marks. The only way I can suggest to incorporate the markers into the current template is to add them to the episode numbers. Not an ideal solution. It may be possible to delete the quote marks from the episode names - do we really need them? Aswc 00:43, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Span element around episode titles

I want to mass-add the span HTML element around the episode titles. This will allow linking directly to a table record here from other pages. The reader will not have to scroll through the table to find the desired episode. I will leave a 24 hour period, if anyone disagrees with that. --Dead3y3 Talk page 19:43, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Actually, this is already a function of {{episode list}}. You can use the value of EpisodeNumber or ProdCode.
[[List of The X-Files episodes#epEpisodeNumber]], such as List of The X-Files episodes#ep05-105
or
[[List of The X-Files episodes#pcProdCode]], such as List of The X-Files episodes#pc1X04
-- Ned Scott 03:37, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Going to try to create articles for Episodes

Hi, Over the next few weeks, I will try to create wikipedia articles for the rest of the xfiles episodes.. Note that these will most likely be stubs and will need a proper summary.. --Illyria05-- 18:36, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Okay, FYI, I've created articles from 2x25 (first red link article, and last episode of 2nd season) to 3x24.. I've also added summaries from the list page onto each episode (dont worry, I cited. I am now onto the 4th season, starting with 4x01.. --Illyria05-- 23:49, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
Um, I am withdrawing from creating the episode pages, there are just simply too many episodes left to create, and I do not really have the time to dedicate.. However, I will post what I have created in the last month and a half since my last update.. I created articles for 4x01-5x08, and 9x18.. So, all in all, 2x25-5x08, and 9x18.. Anyway, I did see User:Melissa Westfall create the episode Chinga, so hopefully she will carry the torch for the rest of the episodes.. Illyria05 (Talk • Contributions) 00:34, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Missing Red Speedo?

How come no reference to the red speedo in the summary? That is obviously an important aspect of that episode. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.69.137.7 (talk • contribs) 02:44, 10 February 2007 (UTC).

No reference, because no one has written it yet. That's where you come in, anonymous editor / fan of DD in a red speedo. --lquilter 02:57, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Minor "Closure" Episode comment

Article states "walk-ins, saving the souls of children doomed to live unhappy lives", but I thought that the walk-in's were saving children from abuse and grizzle deaths. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.245.17.138 (talk) 07:52, 22 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Images

I just uploaded all of the images from the Season 2 articles into the guide, save for Our Town which had no image. If someone could help with the rest of the guide that'd be great.--CyberGhostface 16:54, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

What this page really needs is improvement of the summaries so they match the images. In the history there are versions with an image for every episode, but people have been removing them because fair use images are supposed to illustrate the accompanying text. The current summaries frequently tease and leave out the most important part of an episode, but the images usually show just that part. - Peregrine Fisher 17:48, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Table

Can someone fix season 8? It's messed up, and I don't know how to fix it. Muldernscully 15:12, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

The major problem I fixed by finding a wiki link where there was an uneven number of hard brackets "[", if they don't match it can break the table. Another problem is that if a bullet "*" is used to start the last line of the ShortSummary, that also messes up the table. The real problem with this page is we're trying to fit information that should only be on inidividual episode pages inside the shortsummary section. If we can get the ShortSummary section to contain only summary, it would really help the table stay stable. - Peregrine Fisher 16:20, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
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