Continuity mistake: When Mulder experiences his near-death trance state his body is lying, apparently lifeless, in a star spangled sky. As the camera tracks in on him the toes on his right foot twitch, just after Deep Throat begins to speak. The foliage covering his chest also changes position between shots. In the wide shot he is covered up to the armpits. But the first close up shows his chest is exposed. Then in later close ups it is covered again. (00:14:25)
Continuity mistake: In the mine with the medical records we see Samantha's file. In the season 1 episode "Conduit" we see the X-File Mulder opened on her. In the previous episode she is listed as Samantha T. Mulder and her birth date is 1/22/64. Here we see her name as Samantha Ann Mulder and her birth date as 11/21/65. (00:20:40)
Continuity mistake: The car where the guy is killed is a 1970 Ford LTD convertible in front but a 1969 Ford LTD from the rear.
Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose - S3-E4
Continuity mistake: Clyde Bruckman commits suicide by placing a plastic bag over his head until he asphyxiates. However, when Mulder and Scully first discover him you can see in the shot just before Scully holds his hands that there is no plastic bag around his head (may only be visible in widescreen format). (00:42:55)
Continuity mistake: Later in the episode a man bangs on an air conditioner to try and stop it from making noise. In the first scene you can tell air is moving because the streamers are moving. After he bangs on the unit the streamers stop moving. The air conditioner is still on. (00:32:30)
Continuity mistake: During the autopsy, Scully says that the date is August 29. The two previous episodes were set in September. (00:09:50)
Continuity mistake: Ellen stays by the door looking to the right from it, but in the next shot she looks straight at Mr Incanto. (00:33:55)
Continuity mistake: The drawing image of the killer loads twice on the computer. You can see it start to load in the first shot which is closer. In the very next shot it loads from nothing again.
Continuity mistake: When the prostitute, Holly MacClaine, is first murdered, we see her face up. The next morning, when the police are at the crime scene, we see her face down.
Continuity mistake: General Callahan tells Mulder that the man he saw in his office said his name, but all he said was, "Your time has come, killer". (00:13:10 - 00:17:25)
Continuity mistake: General Callahan, who is referred to as General Callahan throughout the episode by Mulder, gets called "Lieutenant" Callahan in the last scenes in the steam-room, while lying on the floor.
Continuity mistake: Near the start, the train on the track adjacent to the train car's track is either moving or not, depending on the shot. (00:01:05)
Continuity mistake: Mulder jumps down by the fence in two configurations: one when he is filmed with a closeup (left side), and the other while he is filmed from the distance just a moment after (right side). (00:08:15)
Continuity mistake: When Senator Richard Matheson tells Mulder about the four Japanese Nationals had been murdered, he says that the murders had occurred several weeks ago. But when Mulder brings Scully up to speed a scene or two later, he tells her that someone must have been able to identify the four doctors who were performing the autopsy because they were murdered YESTERDAY. (00:30:05 - 00:33:10)
Continuity mistake: When Mulder breaks into the boat, the door shuts, but in the next shot it's wide open. Shot after that, it's closed again.
Continuity mistake: If you watch closely you can see that Mulder runs the key card through the door scanner the wrong way, scanning nothing but plastic. (00:25:40)
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)
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)
War of the Coprophages - S3-E12
Continuity mistake: The bug exterminator squeezes his throat with either left or right hand depending on the shot. (00:02:25)
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)
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