The X-Files changed the way sci-fi is portrayed on TV, but you know what’s more fun that discussing the pop-culture impact of a show? Watching its best episodes! So here are nine fantastic episodes that everyone in the world should watch. (I have left off the big mythology episodes that focus on the meta-arc; you can watch those once you inevitably fall in love with the show. For the record, my favorite mythology two-parter is “Duane Barry/Ascension.”)

Season 1, Episode 1 “Pilot”: Watch it not only because it’s the first episode, but also because it’s fantastic. Mulder and Scully’s first meeting will give you chills. “Sorry, nobody down here but the F.B.I.’s most unwanted.”

Season 1, Episode 3 “Squeeze”: The first “Monster of the Week” episode features a fantastically creepy bad guy (Doug Hutchison) who can stretch his body and eats human livers to survive, because those two things go together. The actor later married a 16-year-old girl and showed us that he’s still good at playing creepy.