# The X-Files season 2
**The X-Files season 2** is the second season of the Fox science-fiction drama *The X-Files*, consisting of 25 episodes that aired on Fox from September 16, 1994, to May 19, 1995.[1](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-87402113-EXA-4.pdf) It was the season in which the series, filmed in Vancouver for its first five years, became a mainstream hit rather than a cult curiosity, and it contains several of the episodes most often cited as the show's best.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55946-story.html) • [3](https://reviewsfrommycouch.com/2010/11/television/rewatching-and-reviewing-the-classics-x-files-season-2/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Run | 25 episodes, September 16, 1994 to May 19, 1995, Fridays at 9:00 p.m. on Fox[1](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-87402113-EXA-4.pdf) |
| Viewership | 16.1 million for the premiere, 16.6 million for the finale, 14.5 million season average[1](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-87402113-EXA-4.pdf) |
| Nielsen rank | 93rd for the 1994–95 season per one ratings table; another compilation lists 63rd of 141 shows[1](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-87402113-EXA-4.pdf) • [4](https://findatwiki.com/The_X-Files) |
| Critical score | 89% Tomatometer and 97% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; ranked #2 of the series' 11 seasons[5](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/the-x-files-seasons-ranked-by-tomatometer/) |
| Story driver | Gillian Anderson's real-life pregnancy produced the Scully abduction arc in "Duane Barry" and "Ascension"[6](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1294/2/WRAP_THESIS_Johnson2_2002.pdf) |
| Recurring cast | Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek and Brian Thompson as the Alien Bounty Hunter appear this season, alongside Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_x_files/s02) |
| Honors | Entertainment Weekly "Program of the Year" for 1994; Emmy nominations in 1995 including Outstanding Drama Series, with CCH Pounder winning Outstanding Guest Actress[8](https://ummp.unixploria.net/the-x-files/) • [9](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/x-files) |
## Production context
Season 2 began after a first-season finale in which series creator Chris Carter had the X-Files unit shut down, allowing the agent [Fox Mulder](https://www.edgepedia.org/fox-mulder) to work more independently at the start of the new season while his partner [Dana Scully](https://www.edgepedia.org/dana-scully) was reassigned.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55946-story.html) [The X-Files](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-x-files) were officially reopened by Mulder's supervisor in the episode airing November 18, 1994, restoring the partners' regular working relationship.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55946-story.html)
The season's most consequential production event happened off screen. [Gillian Anderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/gillian-anderson), who plays Scully, learned she was pregnant the winter before filming, and Carter decided to shoot around the pregnancy rather than write it into the show.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55946-story.html) In practice this meant reducing Scully's visibility through early episodes with scenes of her on the phone or behind a computer, and shots framed from the chest up.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55946-story.html) The larger solution was a story arc carried over several episodes in which Scully is abducted by an unknown force,[6](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1294/2/WRAP_THESIS_Johnson2_2002.pdf) which allowed Anderson maternity leave after the birth of her daughter Piper in September 1994.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55946-story.html) Anderson returned to work in Vancouver only two weeks after the birth, and the pregnancy was concealed on camera with baggy shirts, giant clipboards, and camerawork.[10](https://gilliananderson.ws/transcripts/94_95/95tvweek2.shtml) Carter considered making Scully a single mother but resisted, saying the show works best as two FBI agents investigating unexplained phenomena.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55946-story.html)
## The mythology episodes
The series alternates two kinds of stories: self-contained "monster of the week" cases, and serialized "mythology" episodes about a conspiracy to hide the existence of extraterrestrial life.[6](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1294/2/WRAP_THESIS_Johnson2_2002.pdf) Season 2 features what one retrospective ranks as arguably the best mythology episodes of the series, beginning with the premiere "Little Green Men" (September 16, 1994), in which Mulder investigates a tip that leads him to a communications center in Puerto Rico.[3](https://reviewsfrommycouch.com/2010/11/television/rewatching-and-reviewing-the-classics-x-files-season-2/) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_x_files/s02)
The centerpiece is the abduction sequence. "Duane Barry," written and directed by Carter himself, aired October 14, 1994, and drew 13.9 million viewers; "Ascension" followed on October 21.[11](https://x-files.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_The_X-Files_episodes) In these episodes an escaped mental patient who says he was experimented upon by aliens abducts Scully, and when she returns she is in a coma.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55946-story.html) The writers had constructed the coma storyline so that Anderson could return with a less demanding workload.[12](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED439031.pdf) The season's cliffhanger finale, "Anasazi," is among the episodes critics later singled out when assessing the year, along with "The Host," "Ascension," "One Breath," and the "unforgettable" "Humbug."[8](https://ummp.unixploria.net/the-x-files/)
Recurring characters appearing this season include [Nicholas Lea](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicholas-lea) as the fellow agent [Alex Krycek](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-krycek) and Brian Thompson as the Alien Bounty Hunter, listed in the season's cast alongside [Mitch Pileggi](https://www.edgepedia.org/mitch-pileggi) as Assistant Director Walter Skinner and William B. Davis as the Smoking Man.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_x_files/s02)
## Monster of the week and critical standing
The second episode, "The Host" (September 23, 1994), in which Mulder discovers a genetically mutated creature stalking victims in the sewer system, is frequently highlighted in retrospective assessments of the season.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_x_files/s02) • [8](https://ummp.unixploria.net/the-x-files/) The season also included early work by writer Darin Morgan, who wrote the story for "Blood" (September 30, 1994).[11](https://x-files.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_The_X-Files_episodes)
On Rotten Tomatoes the season holds an 89% Tomatometer from 9 reviews and a 97% audience score, and the site's season ranking places it second among the 11 seasons, behind season 4's 100%.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_x_files/s02) • [5](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/the-x-files-seasons-ranked-by-tomatometer/) During the season, [Entertainment Weekly](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment-weekly) named *The X-Files* "The Program of the Year" for 1994, stating that "no other show on television gives off the vibe that The X-Files does."[8](https://ummp.unixploria.net/the-x-files/) The Los Angeles Times reported in late October 1994 that the show had "caught fire" early in its second season, with ratings up 36% over the same period the previous year and 60% among adults 18 to 49, the demographic group for which advertisers pay most; Fox added Sunday-night repeats through the November sweeps period.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55946-story.html) A recent New Yorker essay had called the series this generation's "The Twilight Zone."[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55946-story.html)
## Viewership and awards
The season aired Fridays at 9:00 p.m. and grew the show's audience relative to its first year, which had averaged 11.21 million viewers and ranked 105th.[1](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-87402113-EXA-4.pdf) The season 2 premiere drew 16.1 million viewers, the finale on May 19, 1995 drew 16.6 million, and the season averaged 14.5 million.[1](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-87402113-EXA-4.pdf) Sources disagree on the exact seasonal rank: one ratings table lists the season 93rd for 1994–95,[1](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-87402113-EXA-4.pdf) while another compilation lists it 63rd of 141 shows;[4](https://findatwiki.com/The_X-Files) a television almanac places the show 65th among the top programs of 1994–95 with a 9.2 rating.[13](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-International-Television-Almanac/1996/Television-and-Video-Almanac-1996.pdf)
At the 47th [Primetime Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/primetime-emmy-awards) in 1995, covering June 1994 through May 1995, the season earned nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing in a Drama Series for Chris Carter, cinematography, editing, sound editing, and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.[9](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/x-files) CCH Pounder won Outstanding Guest Actress for playing Agent Kazdin.[9](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/x-files) The show also won a Golden Globe for best dramatic series during the second season's run.[14](https://gilliananderson.ws/transcripts/94_95/95people2.shtml)
## Home media
The DVD release of the complete season collected the 25 episodes, about 1,200 minutes at 48 minutes each, across seven dual-layered discs, with four deleted scenes, three behind-the-scenes clips, 20 international clips in dubbed Japanese, German, Spanish, and Italian, 49 TV spots, nine "Behind the Truth" segments, 12 interview clips with Chris Carter, and a "The Truth About Season Two" featurette.[15](https://archive.thedigitalbits.com/reviews/xfilesseason2.html)
## References
1. [Nielsen ratings table for The X-Files, USPTO TTAB document](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-87402113-EXA-4.pdf)
2. [A Surreal 'X-Files' Captures Earthlings!, Los Angeles Times, October 28, 1994](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-28-ca-55946-story.html)
3. [All 25 episodes of 'The X-Files' Season 2 (1994-95), ranked, Reviews From My Couch](https://reviewsfrommycouch.com/2010/11/television/rewatching-and-reviewing-the-classics-x-files-season-2/)
4. [The X-Files, Find at Wiki (Nielsen ratings table)](https://findatwiki.com/The_X-Files)
5. [The X-Files Seasons Ranked by Tomatometer, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/the-x-files-seasons-ranked-by-tomatometer/)
6. [Conspiracy, Procedure, Continuity: Reopening The X-Files, WRAP thesis, University of Warwick](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1294/2/WRAP_THESIS_Johnson2_2002.pdf)
7. [The X-Files: Season 2, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_x_files/s02)
8. [The X-Files, Unixplorian Museum of Motion Pictures](https://ummp.unixploria.net/the-x-files/)
9. [The X-Files, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/x-files)
10. [Gillian Anderson interview transcript, The Official Gillian Anderson Website](https://gilliananderson.ws/transcripts/94_95/95tvweek2.shtml)
11. [List of The X-Files episodes, X-Files Wiki (Fandom)](https://x-files.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_The_X-Files_episodes)
12. [Gillian Anderson, Biography Today Author Series (ERIC)](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED439031.pdf)
13. [Nielsen Ratings: Top Programs of 1994-95, Television and Video Almanac 1996](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-International-Television-Almanac/1996/Television-and-Video-Almanac-1996.pdf)
14. [Gillian Anderson interview, People, via The Official Gillian Anderson Website](https://gilliananderson.ws/transcripts/94_95/95people2.shtml)
15. [DVD Review: The X-Files: The Complete Second Season, The Digital Bits](https://archive.thedigitalbits.com/reviews/xfilesseason2.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Seasons, episodes, and installments › Screen seasons › Science fiction, fantasy, and horror series seasons*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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