The X-Files

Paper Clip (3) - S3-E2

Factual error: In the footage's right-hand side, we can see the Church of the Covenant's facade, which is located at East 42nd St. New York. However, the subtitle erroneously states 46th St. (00:09:40)

Paper Clip (3) - S3-E2

Factual error: Mulder tells Scully that he is trying 27828 and it is not working. It is not surprising that it is not working, because the Napier constant is not 27828, it is 271828. Plus they somehow they know how many digits from this constant should be entered on the keyboards. (00:15:55)

Chop Luftmysza

Oubliette - S3-E8

Factual error: Scully stops Mulder from performing CPR on Amy when, as a medical doctor, she should have known that it is possible to revive cold-water drowning victims long after the heart stops. (00:39:25)

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

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.

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

Apocrypha (2) - S3-E16

Factual error: At The Beginning of the "Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man" episode Frohike says that the CSM appears when Trotsky was assassinated, i.e. 20 August 1940, but he does not claim that this is an exact date of birth. However, he further says that during the Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939-41) the CSM's father "kept NKVD informed on American plans to enter World War II" and for this reason he was executed before the CSM learned to walk. This means that his father could not have been executed earlier than in 1941. Assuming that babies learn to walk between a few months and 2 years, the CSM could not have been born earlier than in 1939. It means that in 1953 he should have been a young teenager, and not an adult man, as he is presented. (00:03:45)

Chop Luftmysza

Teliko - S4-E3

Factual error: A 747 jumbo jet is shown in the first scene of the episode. Later we can see the aircraft cabin with a 3X3 seat configuration. However, there is no 747 with such layout. (00:01:40)

Unruhe - S4-E4

Factual error: The episode is supposed to take place in Traverse City, Michigan, United States. Mountains are visible in the sequence when Mulder is chasing after the killer on foot. The show was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia.

manthabeat

Tunguska (1) - S4-E8

Factual error: This is probably the first time in history of civilized mankind that a person with a diplomatic visa is full-body-cavity searched, not to mention the illegal opening of the diplomatic bag. (00:04:05)

Chop Luftmysza

Terma (2) - S4-E9

Factual error: The last number on the truck's license plate is "77." On Russian plates the last two/three digits stand for a registration place. "77" is a number for Moscow, but the Gulag is located in Krasnoyarsk region, so the number should be different. Besides, the format of the plate (LDDDDL|DD) is incorrect - the correct one is LDDDLL|DD (L - letter, D - digit). (00:11:05)

Chop Luftmysza

Leonard Betts - S4-E12

Factual error: When Scully is performing the autopsy on Leonard Betts' severed head, she states "As remains are incomplete, all observations refer to a decapitated head." This phrasing is redundant. The proper terminology would be "disembodied head." As a medical doctor, Scully should know this.

Phaneron

Never Again - S4-E13

Factual error: The first time we see Ed's tattoo, it is supposed to have been freshly done and he even removes the new bandage. However, there is no blood or excess ink on his arm, no redness around the lines, no swelling at all; no way at all that it could be a fresh tattoo.

Unrequited - S4-E16

Factual error: By its uniforms, rank insignia (i.e. point-down chevrons), drill and instrumentation (e.g. tubas instead of sousaphones), the military band performing at the re-dedication ceremony at the Vietnam War memorial in Washington is a Commonwealth (probably Canadian) band and not an American band. Unlikely at a formal military ceremony in the United States.

Necrothesp

Tempus Fugit (1) - S4-E17

Factual error: In the background the full moon is visible and it's early morning (approx. 6:00 AM). However, at the start of the episode we see the full moon at night (approx. 19:50). Due to the fact that these are consecutive days, this situation is impossible from an astronomic point of view. (00:14:35)

Chop Luftmysza

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.