15 times The X-Files’ Dana Scully was the best character on TV

7. She keeps her cool during a bug-related riot

Though I’m a veteran fan of The X-Files, this episode gives me the creeps. It’s not aliens, fluke monsters, or even the Cigarette Smoking Man that fills me with unease, however. Fair warning: it’s  all about cockroaches.

While there’s no denying the unearthly fright that filled my soul whenever young me saw the gray aliens, it just doesn’t compare to the roaches. The same apparently applies to the people in “War of the Coprophages,” the 12th episode of the third season.

It all starts with the untimely death of an exterminator. The poor man dies while exterminating roaches in a local scientist’s basement. Said scientist, a real nervous tweed-wearing type, promptly freaks out upon discovering the man’s body, covered in roaches.

Soon enough, everyone in the town is losing their mind over a supposed invasion of deadly cockroaches. Deaths that would have otherwise been attributed to accident or a poor lifestyle are suddenly linked to a wave of bugs. It doesn’t help when Mulder shows up and starts investigating—if an agent from the FBI is looking into things, it must be really serious, right? His general spookiness adds to the paranoia.

While he’s causing trouble, Mulder calls Scully at home. She’s trying her best to do boring adult stuff, like giving her dog a bath, while her wackadoo partner is ringing in with news of—what, Mulder? Murderous roaches? Seriously?

She can’t help but head over to investigate, especially when she thinks Mulder may be in serious trouble. On the way, she encounters a panicked crowd in a gas station that nearly riots when someone spills some Raisinets and mistakes them for the infamous roaches. Scully keeps a cool head and even gets some free Raisinets in the process, all while proving she’s the smartest one in most situations.