It's been 25 years and the truth is still freakin' out there, people.

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With The X-Files celebrating its 25th anniversary today, what better time to dust off, and shine up, our picks for the greatest standalone episodes from the show ever? That's right, these are episodes that don't involve the over-arching alien mythology. They're most commonly categorized as being "Monster of the Week" chapters, which in X-Files' case often led to some of their best and most creative episodes.But why a top 12? Simple: When we first created this list based on the original run of the show, it was a top 10. But since then we got two more modern seasons of The X-Files, and we just had to add two more of our favorites. So let's get into the Top 12!

12 "The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat" (Season 11)

11 "Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster" (Season 10)

10 "Humbug" (Season 2)

9 "Paper Hearts" (Season 4)

8 "Drive" (Season 6)

7 "Bad Blood" (Season 5)

The messaging of the likely final, eleventh season continued here about how no one (whether it's the American public or actual viewers of The X-Files) cares about shadowy government conspiracies anymore because everything is terrible and nothing is scared. It sort of all funneled into a joke this episode as Mulder and Scully found themselves in an absurdist adventure all about collective acceptance of lies. Or false memories. Or whatever you want to call it when no one's ever really on the same page about the truth, which is supposed to be an objective construct.Written and directed by Darin Morgan, this romp featured all-rounder Brian Huskey as Reggie, a man on the brink of mental collapse who tries to convince Mulder and Scully (aka "Muldy" and "Sculls") that the infamous Dr. They has been systematically changing the population's collective memory - touching on everything from innocuous old toys, TV shows, and Jell-O products to illegal government operations. In fact, Reggie will tell you he invented the X-Files division itself - and even hung up the "I Want to Believe" poster! Overall, it's a masterful, and loving, lampooning of the series featuring hilarious performances from both Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny.Everything about this one was solid. From the opening scene featuring Mulder chucking pencils at Scully's poster to him trying to figure out how to photo and/or video the mystery creature for proof of its existence (we just get a shot of Mulder screaming hysterically as blood lands on his cheek) to the were-monster himself lying about Scully coming onto him in the cellphone shop, this installment was on its toes the entire time. The monster man got a dog and NAMED HIM DAGOO! C'MON!And Scully hit the nail on the head with "I forgot how much fun these cases could be." Yeah, she knew Mulder was being "batcrap crazy," but it was the Mulder she preferred. The kind of Mulder who'd stand in front of her and rambunctiously act out her side of a hypothetical argument about lizard men.This Season 2 episode was an early attempt at the dark humor that would prove to work so well on The X-Files. While never undermining the story or its characters, the laughs in "Humbug" come from the self-awareness of the show's creators (particularly the episode's writer, Darin Morgan). Take the scene when one of the freaks talks about how, thanks to the inevitable genetic engineering of the 21st century, people like him are a dying breed. "I've seen the future and the future looks just like him," he says, pointing at Mulder in the distance, who is striking a particularly heroic (bordering on ridiculous) stance. "Imagine, going through your whole life looking like that."Aside from the humor, the episode also benefits from some truly stylish touches, as when Scully awakens to see what appears to be men literally falling from the sky. Supported by a great guest cast of familiar favorites (Vincent Schiavelli, Twin Peaks' Michael J. Anderson), "Humbug" is requisite X-Files viewing and a segment that only gets better with age.Duchovny adds a layer of pain and torment here, as we find out just how deeply scarred he is from his sister's disappearance. The bad guy -- a sick and twisted child murderer named John Lee Roche (Tom Noonan) -- is one of the most disturbing villains to make an appearance in the series. There's no Cigarette Smoking Man, no black ooze, no special powers – just undeniable and all-too-real evil. This is one of those episodes that proved the series could get under your skin. It also showed us the many levels of Fox Mulder and why David Duchovny was so essential in creating this iconic character."Drive" opens with a mock news report of the car chase in question, echoing the O.J. Simpson incident of just a few years earlier. But it's the interplay between Mulder and Crump that makes this episode a standout. The tragic victim of an overreaching military experiment, Crump is the living proof of the conspiracies which are Mulder's life mission to uncover. Played by Bryan Cranston -- in the episode that put him on Vince Gilligan's radar, eventually leading to their collaboration on Breaking Bad -- Crump here is an antagonistic yet heartbreaking character, and as he and Mulder become unlikely allies."Drive" in turn becomes a memorably scary X-Files episode - not for any particular monster or alien presence, but because of the perhaps most frightening element of the show's world ever: mankind itself, and the governments that supposedly protect us.The real fun lies in how Mulder and Scully choose to see themselves as well as each other. Scully paints herself as a devoted and heroic martyr, going without food and sleep to please a selfish and bossy Mulder, while he portrays her as a mean and whiny jerk, constantly sneering at his polite and scholarly arguments in favor of the supernatural. "Bad Blood" is full of truly funny moments, like Scully getting a craving for pizza while cataloguing a victim's stomach contents during an autopsy. It also brilliantly explores, through humor, how deeply Mulder and Scully crave to be better understood and appreciated by one another.