Mulder and Scully both managed to find themselves in peril more times per year than the average person is during their entire lifetime, which makes narrowing the list of potential entries for this list down to just ten incredibly difficult. Seriously, there were over ten potential incidents just from season one. After much deliberation then, here are our Top Ten times Mulder was in peril; find out what made the cut after the jump.
10. "First Person Shooter"
While most of the moments in this list will occur during serious episodes, frequently as part of the mythology, our first entry falls clearly into comedy episode territory. After the death of Daryl Musashi and with the Lone Gunmen in danger themselves, Mulder decides the only thing to do is to enter the game himself, because clearly if a world expert gamer cannot defeat it, an FBI agent with a penchant for “getting his yayas out” will be able to. Of course, Mulder ends up trapped inside the game itself, requiring Scully to "Suit Up" and save his ass with the help of a gun that’s almost as big as she is!
You okay?
Ask me if I'm humiliated.
9. "Folie a Deux"
“You must have seen this coming,” Mulder quips while strapped down to a hospital bed in a psychiatric ward, and indeed we all did. In fact, the only thing that shocked us was that it had taken until the end of season five for us to get there! Convinced that a monster capable of “hiding in the light” is on the loose in Illinois, Mulder is finally locked away for his ramblings. It is only Scully’s belief in him, her determination to keep searching for more answers, and her willingness to finally “see” the truth Mulder has been insisting on all along that provides the evidence to release him.
Scully, you *have* to believe me. Nobody else on this whole damn planet does or ever will. You’re my one in … five billion.
8. "Demons"
While Scully's perilous moments usually come as a result of incidents out of her control (serial killers and government ordered illnesses topping the list) - Mulder's usually come as a direct result of his own pig headedness and inability to think things through. "Demons" is a prime example of this as we see him deciding to undergo a radical and dangerous experimental therapy out of State without bothering to inform anyone of where he is going or what he is doing. This is probably because he was concerned they might (quite rightly) attempt to talk him out of it! Luckily for him Scully is always prepared to drop everything and drive to his rescue, even in the middle of the night.
There's... t-there's blood all over me.
Are you hurt, Mulder?
I don't think so. I don't think it's my blood.
7. "Anasazi"
Although he was always somewhere in the background pulling strings, the Smoking Man rarely dirtied his hands by becoming directly involved with whatever nefarious plot he was behind that week. In "Anasazi" however he takes center stage arriving by helicopter to chase down Mulder. His order to burn the buried train car, presumably with Mulder trapped inside, becomes all the more horrifying in later seasons when we realise he is ordering the murder of his own son.
Nothing vanishes without a trace. Burn it.
6. "Pusher"
"Pusher" is a rare example of Mulder finding himself in danger not because of his own choice to run head first into it, but due to circumstances at least partially out of his control. Modell’s ability puts anyone close to him at risk, and although Mulder does choose to walk into the danger, he does so whilst taking minimal risks - leaving his gun behind with Scully to avoid “pointing it at anybody except Modell”. Of course this being Mulder he still ends up unwillingly pointing a gun, both at himself and at Scully. It is this latter command that is so abhorrent to Mulder - more so than pointing the same gun to his own temple - that he is able to fight Modell off long enough to let Scully distract him and turn the tables in their favour.
Mulder, fight him. You can fight this.
5. "Triangle"
You'd think that by season six, Mulder would have figured out that ditching his partner to go off investigating by himself in foreign lands never works out well. “Triangle” proves that this is not the case. Mulder manages to crash a boat (which apparently he has learned to drive since “Quagmire” when he needed Scully to take the wheel), get himself punched in the face, and get thrown overboard into the Atlantic where he nearly drowns. It is only the Gunmen's nosiness and Scully's determination that save him from a watery fate, although it is never made clear exactly how long he was in the water between his jump from the Queen Anne and his apparent rescue.
Get some rest, Mulder, 'cause when you get out of here I'm going to kick your butt but good.
4. "The Erlenmeyer Flask"
The first ever X-Files season finale upped the stakes in many way, including putting Mulder into some of the most serious peril he had encountered so far. Held captive by henchmen of the shadow government he is trying to expose, Mulder is exposed to the toxic green ooze we know as alien-human hybrid “blood” and Scully is forced into a deal that results in the death of one of their few allies.
The wellspring, Miss Scully. The original tissue. If they've got Agent Mulder, they might be willing to make a deal. It could save his life.
3. "End Game"
Ditching Scully rarely end up going well for Mulder, but “End Game” might take the cake for worst outcome. Leaving her behind while disappearing himself up to Alaska manages to result in his boss and his informant brawling in his apartment complex elevator, himself being nearly chopped in half by a submarine AND exposed to an alien retrovirus, and Scully having to race thousands of miles to his bedside in order to save his life. Did he learn his lesson? History tells us no!
Where is she? Just tell me where she is.
She's alive. Can you die now?
2. "Deep Throat"
Mulder only managed to make it to episode two before finding himself in peril, which is an impressive feat for someone who is generally remembered for doing more of the rescuing than being rescued himself - at least Scully got to episode three before requiring help! Breaking onto a secret military base, Mulder decides to simply stand in the middle of the runway to watch the light show and subsequently (shockingly) finds himself caught by security personnel. "Deep Throat" is also the first example of the infamous Mulder ditch: one of his favourite methods of getting himself into trouble in the first place!
I did see something, but it's gone, they took it from me, they erased it. You have to tell me what it was.
1. "The Sixth Extinction: Amor Fati"
The "Biogenesis" arc is definitely one of the worst situations Mulder ever found himself in, over the course of just three episodes he ended up not only in a psychiatric ward but also having unauthorised brain surgery performed in the Pentagon. The events of the arc also had repercussions that stretched all the way into season eight - a rarity for a show that often seemed to forget the concept of continuity - when the brain surgery caused Mulder to develop a disease that we later discovered was slowly killing him.
Mulder, you've got to get up. I don't know how much time we have. You've got to get up, Mulder. No one can do it but you, Mulder. Mulder, help me. Please, Mulder.