The X-Files

The X-Files (1993)

17 corrections since 9 Jan '17, 00:00

(12 votes)

Tempus Fugit (1) - S4-E17

Corrected entry: At the crash site of Flight 549, Scully says "The plane came in nearly vertical at 300 miles per hour." yet the fly-over view of the debris field shows it spread out over hundreds of feet. Unfortunately, on 9/11 we learned when large commercial aircraft crash straight into the ground, they leave massive, smoking holes. First responders at Flight 93 were not even aware they were looking at a crash site.

stevewaclo

Correction: The appearance and shape of a crash site depends on many factors, such as the exact angle of impact, density and composition of the ground, landform, airplane construction, amount of fuel, and more. Since we have virtually no information regarding these factors, the comparison between Flight 549 and Flight 93 seems to be far-fetched.

Squeeze - S1-E3

Corrected entry: At The End of the episode Scully handcuffs Tooms to the bathtub and Mulder says "he's not gonna get his quota this year" and Tooms seemingly accepts his capture. Given that he can stretch his whole body (and as specifically shown in the episode, his hands/fingers) couldn't Tooms have escaped from the handcuffs?

Jack Vaughan

Correction: He probably could have, but it's not something he can do instantly, and he also has a gun drawn on him. He likely decided it would be better to bide his time and escape later, which he eventually does.

Phaneron

I doubt that's what the filmmakers intended you to think though. It's a slip in the writing.

Jack Vaughan

And how do you know what the filmmakers were thinking? They obviously intended to use the character again since he appears later in the season. If you could slip out of handcuffs, but a federal agent was pointing their gun at you, would you risk death or try to escape at a later time?

Phaneron

Yeh, I'm not gonna pretend that this mistake was solid. Fair enough.

Jack Vaughan

Correction: Already submitted and corrected. He can't slip out of tight spaces instantly, and when he is arrested, he is surrounded by people with guns who could shoot him on the spot.

Phaneron

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Suggested correction: These are two different porticos. The columns in the Boston picture show concentric grooves, and the fascia on the front of the roof structure is smooth and rounded. The Provo portico has smooth columns and the front fascia is composed of flat rectangular panels. In both pictures the porticos seem to be well-matched to the building structure and landscaping. It's unlikely that the production would have gone to the considerable expense (in the 1990's!) of a digital enhancement.

I could have worded the entry better, but while it's not the exact same portico, it appears to be the same building, but different entrances. The two structures have the exact same kind of writing on the right side and the overall design of the structures is remarkably similar, with some subtle differences in the columns and fascia, as you pointed out. Seems highly Improbable that a building in Boston and another in Utah that are not supposed to be affiliated with each other would look so alike.

Phaneron

It's also worth pointing out that the shot of the BYU Medical Center from Roadrunners showed the Kansas state flag flying outside the building, suggesting that the crew either had stock footage of the building, or they happened to be in Kansas and filmed the building in question. It's highly unlikely they went to the effort to find stock footage or actually went to a different building with a similar looking portico for the sole purpose of using it as an establishing shot of a different hospital in another episode.

Phaneron

After studying the photos again, I would have to agree that it is probably the same building, probably with an addition added to closely match the original construction. As to the improbability of two hospital architectures being so similar, I would reply that this may be common. I had occasion in the 90s to visit a hospital in East Lansing Michigan and later one in Alexandria Virginia that were virtually identical and owned by different health care systems.

Rain King - S6-E8

Corrected entry: In the scene where Daryl Mootz pulls up in his SUV for the rain-making event, there is a shot of the SUV with a front Kansas license plate. Cars in Kansas only have rear license plates. (00:12:55)

Correction: Cars in Kansas do have front license plates if they are personalized just like Daryl Mootz's RAINKING license plate.

Pilot - S1-E1

Corrected entry: When Mulder, Scully and the other police officers are digging Ray Soames's grave, one strap of the coffin breaks and the coffin falls and starts to roll. When it hits a tombstone and opens, you can see there's a normal size body in the coffin. When they look into the coffin, there's this small alien body. (00:13:35)

sam68

Correction: When the coffin opens, it is impossible to notice what sort of body is located in the coffin without using slow motion, which invalidates the mistake.

Chop Luftmysza

Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man - S4-E7

Corrected entry: This episode contradicts the season 2 episode "Apocrypha" where young CSM was seen in the 1950's with Bill Mulder as already a shadowy agent and smoking. This episode has CSM still a young man and not part of the Syndicate in 1963, and does not smoke yet. Also this episode fails to mention anything about the conspiracy with an alien species which is one of the key features about the CSM.

Correction: Melvin is simply guessing at some of the details, he probably got some of those incorrect details from the story that Carl Gerhard Busch wrote, which is because the main character is based on himself, and how would you keep your involvement in an alien conspiracy hidden from the public if anyone could find out who you are?

Correction: This whole episode is based solely on Frohike's guesses about CSM, so obviously, he was wrong on some details.

Zero Sum - S4-E21

Corrected entry: Misty finds the cabin Jane was in open, however when Jane went to the toilet, she locked the cabin. Because of the bees Jane could not have unlocked the doors. (00:02:55)

Chop Luftmysza

Correction: In fact, Jane managed to open the cabin's door even though she was attacked by bees.

Chop Luftmysza

Two Fathers (1) - S6-E11

Plot hole: Agent Spender watches in horror as Alex Krycek stabs the neck of an alien directly in front of him and the usual bubbling green blood spills out. In every other instance of a human being in such close proximity to the green blood, the person has immediately taken a painful reaction to the substance, including severe damage to the eyes. Spender however is completely unaffected, as is Krycek, who was also close enough to feel the effects.

Purple_Girl

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Suggested correction: The Syndicate is well aware of the effects that the alien blood has on humans and the inherent risk of being exposed to it. They would have inoculated Spender and Krycek in preparation for this.

Phaneron

There was no inoculation ever mentioned to counter the effect of the acidic blood. Also, Spender wouldn't have let someone randomly inject him with something with no explanation, it would be completely out of character, and he was surprised at what happened.

Purple_Girl

Suggested correction: I think that this is to do with where he is hit. I don't recall anyone suffering the toxic effects when the weak spot at the back of the neck is successfully hit with the spike weapon. When Mulder tried to kill the alien bounty hunter (think it was in Colony?) He missed the weak spot, which is why the blood had an effect on him and the bounty hunter survived.

Correction: Cyrillic bears similarities to Greek, Slavic, Russian, and some Middle-Eastern lettering. Considering the tattoo was on the decomposing skin of a body that had been submerged in water, it's reasonable to assume it would be difficult for anyone to recognise. Also, nothing is ever mentioned about Scully's education to suggest she should have any particular knowledge about multi-cultural writing styles, the most we know is that she had a decent grasp of German.

Purple_Girl

I agree with the original post. It is inconceivable that someone with Scully's education wouldn't recognise Cyrillic (which is the script in which Russian is written, incidentally, and looks nothing like any Middle-Eastern alphabet, although it is certainly similar to Greek). Any good general education would give you that knowledge.

Necrothesp

The Walk - S3-E7

Corrected entry: When Lt. Col. Stans tries to kill himself by submerging himself in boiling water using the hydrotherapy tub, he sets the gauge to 200 (where it stays). The water boils as planned, but water doesn't boil that low. This takes place in Maryland; assuming an elevation of 3,360 feet, water shouldn't boil until 206°. (00:01:25)

Correction: That's not the water boiling, it's the massaging jets of the hydrotherapy tub (like a Jacuzzi or hot tub).

Bishop73

Unusual Suspects - S5-E3

Factual error: When two unidentified men who approached Susanne Modeski in the warehouse take out their handguns, they have regular pistols. However, when they start to shoot, continuous fire is heard that could only be produced by an automatic weapon. (00:28:40)

Chop Luftmysza

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Suggested correction: Fully automatic pistols exist, such as the Glock 18.

Small Potatoes - S4-E20

Corrected entry: Eddie's ability to shape-shift is attributed to every muscle in his body being striated. While that's a reasonable explanation as to how he can change his face, it doesn't explain how he is able to change his hair. He has short hair and is balding, but when he mimics Mulder, he is able to match Mulder's longer and thicker full head of hair.

Phaneron

Correction: When "Mulder" Eddie drops by to Scully's apartment, she says, "We discovered an additional anomaly relating to the hair follicles in his scalp." That would account for the change in hairstyle.

Chop Luftmysza

Correction: CSM's writing means a great deal to him, and while he must certainly be aware that he has the power to have his stories published, it's highly likely that like many creatives, he simply wants them to be wanted on their own merit.

Purple_Girl

Arcadia - S6-E15

Plot hole: Big Mike was attacked by the creature, because his bulb was broken just for a couple of seconds. It would mean that even if something like this happened to somebody else by accident, this person would also be killed by the creature. That would drastically increase the kill rate in the community. (00:16:15)

Chop Luftmysza

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Suggested correction: That was the whole point of the creature, to enforce the HOA rules so that no violations occurred, even by accident. Although prior to the attack, Gene Gogolak describes Big Mike as a weak link that had to be dealt with, so the bulb was just an excuse to attack him.

Bishop73

Trivia: Rebecca Toolan plays David Duchovny's mother in the series, even though in real life she's only a year older than him.

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Suggested correction: This entry is actually incorrect. There are records that prove she is much older than what's stated. By 1968, she married her first husband and was a university professor. Https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22109182/wedding-announcement-rebecca-cox-and/.

While there are many conflicting reports about Rebecca Toolan's age, it seems the Wikipedia entry is the most incorrect (which is where you got your source). It seems more probable than not that whoever edited her Wikipedia page linked a article about the wrong Rebecca Toolan.

Bishop73

Pilot - S1-E1

Continuity mistake: When Scully walks into Mulder's office, she stops in the position with the "I want to believe" poster in the background, then she takes a couple of steps to make acquaintance with Mulder, and she finds herself again in the position with the poster in the background. (00:05:15)

Chop Luftmysza

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Suggested correction: She steps forward 2 paces. Enough for the poster to remain in shot.

Ssiscool

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Trivia: Scully's father and the man Mulder thought was his father were both named William. Mulder's actual father, Cancer Man, was played by William B Davis. Scully and Mulder's son was also named William.

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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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