The X-Files

Born Again - S1-E22

Continuity mistake: When Felder is being strangled to death by his scarf getting trapped in the bus door, pay attention to the bus driver throughout the sequence. He is a young black guy for most of the sequence however there is one shot from the front of the bus were you can see he has suddenly changed to a white man. (00:21:53)

Jack Vaughan

Pilot - S1-E1

Continuity mistake: When Peggy is killed on the highway we see her watch and the minute hand is touching the 1. When we see the close up the hand is no longer touching the 1. (00:31:00)

Ssiscool

Provenance (1) - S9-E9

Continuity mistake: Agent Doggett holds the rubbings in his hands and after a while, he hands them over to Agent Reyes. However, when filmed from behind Doggett, the rubbings are in the same position in both situations. (00:07:45)

Chop Luftmysza

4-D - S9-E4

Continuity mistake: When Agent Doggett follows Lukesh into the parallel universe trying to find him, Lukesh suddenly reappears from Doggett's left and is pointing at him with the gun held in the left hand, while in the next shot he is aiming at the agent from his right holding the gun in his right hand. (00:03:25)

Chop Luftmysza

Two Fathers (1) - S6-E11

Continuity mistake: When doctors make a cut on Cassandra's belly, the green substance comes out of the cut and pours down directly onto the piece of blue cloth she is covered with. In the next shot the fragment of cloth that was in contact with the substance is dry, but in the following shot, there is a large soaked stain on the piece of cloth. (00:00:50)

Chop Luftmysza

Redux (2) - S5-E1

Continuity mistake: When the CSM discovers the bright spot on the carpet, he immediately realises that Mulder's apartment was under surveillance. However, one can notice that soon after entering Mulder's apartment, the CSM looks down at the floor and carpet covered with blood and there is no bright spot. (00:14:00)

Chop Luftmysza

Terma (2) - S4-E9

Continuity mistake: The truck stolen by Mulder from the Russian labor camp is Unimog 406. However, during the accident scene, when it comes out of the woods and falls from the hill, it miraculously turns into Unimog 404 model. (00:13:30)

Chop Luftmysza

Redux (2) - S5-E1

Continuity mistake: During the meeting at a horse track, after the CSM says "You need my expertise, " the First Elder raises his head. In the following shot from the other side, he raises it again. (00:21:00)

Chop Luftmysza

Shapes - S1-E19

Continuity mistake: When Mulder and Scully talk about the piece of skin while driving to the reservation, one can see that there are green trees from the Mulder's side of the road, but when the shot is taken from the outside of the car, there are only grey bushes and landscape devoid of nearby trees on both sides of the road. (00:07:00)

Chop Luftmysza

Ascension (2) - S2-E6

Continuity mistake: When we see Dana Scully after being abducted she has an instrument in the middle of her stomach, inflating it. When we see it in the first shot there is nothing but the instrument, then in the next shot there are gauze pads taped down all around it.

Invocation - S8-E5

Continuity mistake: When Scully finishes her conversation with Doggett and walks away, there is only one dark-haired policeman watching the crime scene, but when Doggett looks at the crime scene and Mr. Underwood gets up, there is a blond-haired policeman talking with someone. (00:41:55)

Chop Luftmysza

Via Negativa - S8-E7

Continuity mistake: When Doggett and Skinner visit Dr. Andre Bormanis at his place, in the first shot from the back he is leaning over some laboratory gear that is holding in his hands, while in the next front shot he is standing upright manipulating on the table with his hands. (00:18:10)

Chop Luftmysza

Paper Clip (3) - S3-E2

Visible crew/equipment: When Mulder and Scully enter the abandoned mine through a doorway, the viewer can see at right in the distance a number of people sitting on a wall, and one crouching in front of the wall with what looks like a dog. They are sitting still, but there is still movement there. (00:16:00)

More mistakes in The X-Files

Triangle - S6-E3

Skinner: Use your head Scully. It'll save your ass.
Scully: Save your own ass, sir. You'll save your head along with it.

More quotes from The X-Files
More trivia for The X-Files

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.

More questions & answers from The X-Files

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.