25 best standalone episodes of The X-Files

22. “Arcadia”

X-Files fans have spent many years making hay from the Scully-Mulder relationship. After all, it’s tough for anyone who watched the long-running show not to have thought, at least once, that Mulder and Scully were kind of into each other. At the very least, show creators made it clear that the two shared a strong bond. Whether or not said bond was platonic or otherwise was up to the individual writer or viewer.

One aspect of a strong bond between people is the ability to give one another hell. If you can’t get on someone’s nerves in a good-natured sort of way, then you’re really missing out. Clearly, Mulder has no intention of passing up any such opportunity with Scully.

Now, a large part of the fun of “Arcadia” comes from this aspect of their relationship. In this sixth season episode, Mulder and Scully are posing as a married couple, Rob and Laura Petrie. They’re moving into the former home of the Klines, a married couple who were mysteriously killed. The Klines, by the way, lived in a planned community called the Fall of Arcadia.

While setting up camp in their new neighborhood, Mulder and Scully – sorry, Rob and Laura – are greeted by their neighbors.

Their new associates seem more worried than usual about neighborhood rules and the homeowner’s association. Everyone seems to live in particular fear of Gene Gogolak, the president of the association. Gogolak himself is fanatically devoted to enforcing the rules. Could he have anything to do with the Klines’ deaths?

As grim as that may sound, this is in fact one of the funny monster-of-the-week episodes. For one, “Arcadia” presents a nearly pitch-perfect parody of life in a gated community ruled by associations and covenants. Of course, there’s also the awkward and yet comfortable situation presented by Mulder and Scully as they pretend to be married. Surely, it presented much fodder for fans.