Random X-Files Storylines That Never Aired (16 items)

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  (#8) Mulder Entombed

  Some unmade X-Files episode ideas didn't move beyond a premise or location. Take, for example, the concept James Wong pitched about Mulder or Scully being trapped inside a tomb. Fox execs refused it outright, without reason or consideration. That's showbiz, folks.
  
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  (#1) The "Unsolved Mysteries" Crossover

  Before the success of the season 7 crossover episode COPS, X-Files head writer Vince Gilligan (wait, the Breaking Bad guy? Yes, that guy.) toyed with the idea of an episode of X-Files produced as an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. The episode would have featured 
  Unsolved Mysteries host Robert Stack and re-enactments with unknown actors who looked like Mulder and Scully. After a few tries at getting the story right, Gilligan gave up on the idea and instead wrote the episode "Bad Blood" featuring young, pre-fame Luke Wilson. 
  
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  (#13) The Bad Water That Should've Been a Gold Mine

  Imagine Mulder and Scully chasing a monster through a labyrinthine underground gold mine. Sounds like a million dollar idea, right? That's what writer David Amann thought. But series executive producer Frank Spotnitz thought a gold mine was a bit trite, so the location was changed to a hurricane-flooded, monster-infested building, and the episode became "Agua Mala."
  
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  (#16) The Aborted Supernatural Abortion

  Abortion is a touchy subject, and corporations don't like touchy subjects, because perception of taking a political stand might impact the bottom line. This is probably why Fox vetoed the idea to do a story based on abortion, sight unseen. It was a pitch from veteran writer James Wong, but the suits at Fox weren't even interested in the story.
  
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  (#11) The Tilt-A-Whirl Hostage

  This pitch never evolved past a basic idea from writer Vince Gilligan. For years, he tried to sell the other writers and producers on the concept of an episode in which a man holds a hostage on a Tilt-A-Whirl. It was a funny gag in theory, but ultimately it was decided there wasn't much of a mystery to build around it. Vince would later re-use some ideas from his pitches for the episode "Drive," featuring future Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston.
  
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  (#9) Mulder Gets Abducted

  David Duchovny dreamed of writing and directing an episode in which Mulder is abducted, and seen trapped in an alien spaceship. The episode would explain Duchovny's absence from the show after he left. Unfortunately, he was on rocky ground with series creator Chris Carter after leaving, and Carter flatly told Duchovny he wasn't interested in such an episode because it didn't feature Dogget, the character who replaced Mulder. Ouch.
  

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