Boyle’s episode and “Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space’” = the two best.
There need to be two divisions for best episode. One serious, one not so much. I nominate the vampire episode for best non-serious.
Here’s the link to the vulture list:
http://www.vulture.com/2016/01/every-episode-of-the-x-files-ranked.html
It’s all on one long page which is good for scrolling/searching for notable keywords in the author’s commentary.
THE best: "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space' ".
Fantastic dialogue:
Blaine: [about Scully and Mulder] One of them was disguised as a woman, but wasn't pulling it off. Like, her hair was red, but it was a little too red, y'know? And the other one, the tall, lanky one, his face was so blank and expressionless. He didn't even seem human. I think he was a mandroid.
Jose Chung: Aren't you nervous telling me all this? After receiving all those death threats?
Blaine: Well, hey, I didn't spend all those years playing Dungeons and Dragons and not learn a little something about courage.
Jose Chung: Seeking the truth about aliens means a perfunctory 9 to 5 job to some - for although Agent Diana Leski [Scully reading the final book "From Outer Space"] . . . is noble of spirit and pure of heart - she remains nevertheless - a Federal employee. As for her partner - Ranerdt Muldradt - a ticking time bomb of insanity - his quest into the unknown has so warped his psyche - one shudders to think how he receives any pleasures from life.
And I liked that continuity was maintained, and Scully's "inherited" dog was eaten in a future epi, by "Nessie/Ogopogo".