Paper Clip

"Paper Clip"
The X-Files episode
Mulder below an alien spaceship.
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 2
Directed by	Rob Bowman
Written by	Chris Carter
Production code	3X02
Original air date	September 29, 1995 (1995-09-29)
Running time	45 minutes
Guest appearances
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner Walter Gotell as Victor Klemper Melinda McGraw as Melissa Scully Sheila Larken as Margaret Scully Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek William B. Davis as The Smoking Man John Neville as the Well-Manicured Man Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike Dean Haglund as Richard Langly Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers Rebecca Toolan as Teena Mulder Don S. Williams as the First Elder Lenno Britos as Luis Cardinal Floyd Westerman as Albert Hosteen
Episode chronology
← Previous "The Blessing Way" Next → "D.P.O."
The X-Files season 3
List of episodes

"Paper Clip" is the second episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on September 29, 1995. It was directed by Rob Bowman, and written by series creator Chris Carter. "Paper Clip" featured guest appearances by Sheila Larken, Melinda McGraw and Nicholas Lea. The episode is one of those that explored the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Paper Clip" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.1, being watched by 17.2 million people in its initial broadcast. "Paper Clip" has received highly positive reviews from critics; it is generally considered by both critics and cast/crew as being among the best episodes of the series.

The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder and Scully investigate information gleaned from secret government records, finding that a Nazi scientist working as part of Operation Paperclip may have been responsible for creating a race of human-alien hybrids. "Paper Clip" concludes a three-episode storyline, carrying on from the second season finale "Anasazi" and the third-season premiere "The Blessing Way".

The creators of the series likened themes of the episode to the Star Wars trilogy, referring to the revelations about Mulder's father, and Sophie's Choice, referring to how William Mulder was forced to choose Fox or Samantha to be taken.