The X-Files

The X-Files (1993)

492 mistakes - chronological order

(12 votes)

731 (2) - S3-E10

Visible crew/equipment: As the camera flies over the train, in the upper right corner of the screen there is some equipment and umbrella visible that are not likely to just be in the middle of nowhere - probably filming equipment. In the next shot they are gone. (00:31:05)

Chop Luftmysza

731 (2) - S3-E10

Revealing mistake: At the very beginning of the scene when the bomb is shown, in the lower part of the screen a moving red spot appears which probably comes from the reflection of the bomb's red diode in the camera. (00:36:50)

Chop Luftmysza

731 (2) - S3-E10

Revealing mistake: When Mulder finds the Japanese doctor dead on the floor of the train bathroom, the man's eyes are open. Just before the shot cuts to the girl and boy at the door, he closes his eyes.

731 (2) - S3-E10

Factual error: In the opening scene it says it takes place in West Virginia, as the Army unit executes the hybrids, you can see their unit patch on their left shoulder. The patch is a diamond shape with a sunburst in the middle, this is the patch of the 40th Infantry Division of the California Army National Guard.

Revelations - S3-E11

Continuity mistake: When filmed from the inside of the basket, the openings in the basket structure are big enough to put a finger into it, while in the outside shot the structure is compact and dense. (00:21:00)

Chop Luftmysza

Revelations - S3-E11

Continuity mistake: Kevin's mother uses her car to hit the 'devil' and shatters the bottom right of the windscreen. The following shots, including the crash into the ditch, show the car with the windscreen undamaged. (00:28:59 - 00:29:22)

Revelations - S3-E11

Factual error: After the agents meet with Kevin's father in the mental institute, Scully lists the medication that he is on: haloperidol, loxapine, and chlorpromazine make sense, but the fourth medication - LARGACTIL - is in error. Not only is it a brand-name of chlorpromazine, but it is not available in the USA, it is a CANADIAN drug. (00:36:10)

War of the Coprophages - S3-E12

Factual error: In the scene where Mulder, the police officer and the doctor are in the doctor's room, the time on the clock reads 8:40. The doctor announces that he going to the bathroom. The scene cuts to him in the bathroom and then back to the doctor's office with Mulder and the police officer. Another cop comes in and says, "Come to the bathroom, something's happened." The clock still reads 8:40.

Syzygy - S3-E13

Continuity mistake: When Scully arrives to investigate the kid who was crushed by the bleachers the time stamp says 5:10AM. It seems strange that the investigation would start the next morning, unless the high school holds basketball practice at 3:00 in the morning. (00:16:35)

Grotesque - S3-E14

Continuity mistake: When Scully and Mulder first visit John Mostow he says that he drew all the pictures of Gargoyles, which would have been a pretty good act considering he was in a strait jacket and would not have been allowed to have paper and drawing materials anyway. (00:07:30)

Piper Maru (1) - S3-E15

Factual error: At The Beginning of the scene, XO Johanson is looking through the periscope. However, it is nonsense, because the submarine was in silent running, and the Japanese destroyer was circling it, so the sub must have cruised in deep submersion. The water depth there was approx. 270 meters, as the French salvage team claims at The Beginning of the episode. There is rarely any significant light beyond 200 meters. Looking through the periscope in these conditions would be completely useless. (00:32:25)

Chop Luftmysza

Piper Maru (1) - S3-E15

Continuity mistake: When Skinner walks into the cafe (the time he gets shot) another man is just walking out, leaving a table with a used glass and coffee cup. The waitress is in the back, getting Skinner a cup of coffee (she couldn't have cleaned the other table yet), but when we look over Skinner's shoulder you can see that the other table is cleared and has a clean coffee cup (turned upside down) on it.

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Trivia: The Cancer Man smokes Morley cigarettes, a fake brand that has appeared in a number of TV shows and movies since the '60s.

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Show generally

Question: In a vast majority of the episodes, whenever Mulder and Scully investigate some mysterious or paranormal phenomenon, Mulder believes that some unknown force is responsible but Scully always has a rational explanation for what is happening. In other episodes, when Scully herself is caught up in something mysterious, she is the believer but Mulder is the skeptic. In those episodes, why would Mulder be skeptical about an unexplained phenomenon considering that he a was witness to his own sisters abduction and he saw many strange things that defied explanation while working for the F.B.I.?

Answer: As he stated many times throughout the series, Mulder needed Scully to be sober and skeptical. Whenever Scully's skepticism wavered and she started questioning her own rationality, Mulder would try to restore her sense of skepticism, because he needed her to be clear-thinking.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: A variety of reasons. Just because Scully saw something unusual does not mean that it was. Mulder always needs concrete proof before he'll believe there's some otherworldly explanation for unexplained phenomena. He's too experienced to take a novice's explanation as fact. It is also a plot by device by the writers to switch the tables on the characters to make it more interesting and to let viewers see another side of their relationship.

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