Entertainment
The Best X-Files Episode Completely Changed The Show
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Every X-Files fan has a favorite episode, from darkly whimsical one-offs like “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” to iconic mythology stories such as the Anasazi trilogy. Personally, my favorite has always been “One Breath,” which returns the abducted Scully to Mulder, deepening their relationship and giving the show a heretofore unseen spiritual side. It turns out that was completely intentional: the episode writers had feared that The X-Files was becoming overly bleak, so they went out of their way to create a story in which the paranormal served as a source of comfort and strength.
Like many of the best early X-Files episodes, “One Breath” was scripted by the writing duo of Glen Morgan and James Wong, and Morgan was quoted in X-Files Confidential as believing that the show had become too dark: “The show had been so dark and bleak, and Jim and I feel that there is a side to the paranormal that’s very hopeful,” he said. With “One Breath,” the writers “wanted to do that side of it.”
The Softer Side Of The Supernatural
How did the episode portray the softer side of the supernatural? Previously, Agent Scully had been kidnapped, first by a mentally ill man named Duane Barry and second by, seemingly, aliens. In “One Breath,” she suddenly reappears in a hospital, with Cigarette Smoking Man later taking the credit for returning Scully to Mulder because he likes them both. But it’s unclear if Scully will ever wake up from her coma, and she (as a medical doctor) left in her will very specific instructions to remove her from life support if she ever ended up in such a condition.
Mulder and Scully’s family (her mother and sister) are understandably worried about Scully because it looks like she might never wake up, and the doctors will soon be legally forced to pull the plug. This evokes very different reactions among her loved ones: Mulder becomes obsessed with finding and killing the people who abducted his partner, while Scully’s hippie sister (she’s into all things mystical) thinks he just needs to spend time with Scully. This culminates in a scene where she encourages him to visit a seemingly dying Scully, but Mulder is in the midst of an active plan to ambush and kill Scully’s kidnappers.
Mulder Vs. Mysticism
In an effort to convince him to go see Scully, she drops some very New Age wisdom: she tells him that “I don’t have to be psychic to see you’re in a very dark place…willingly walking deeper into darkness cannot help her at all.” She starts to say “Only the light” before Mulder interrupts, telling her, “Enough with the harmonic convergence crap…you’re not saying anything to me.”
That’s when Melissa Scully gets fairly blunt, telling Mulder to “drop your cynicism and your paranoia and your defeat.” After this, she tells him something that writer Glen Morgan considered the most important line in the episode. “Just because the belief is positive and good doesn’t make it silly or trite.”
The Woman Who Taught Hope To Mulder
After these and a few choice other words (“I expect more from you…Dana expects more”), she leaves, and Mulder ultimately abandons his revenge plan in order to visit Scully in the hospital. This was always an emotionally moving scene, but knowing that the writers fully endorsed Scully’s New Age sister changes everything. After all, X-Files writers typically script most of the show from Mulder’s perspective, and he has embraced cynical paranoia as a way of simply surviving in a world where shadowy government forces can and often do try to kill him whenever his crusade to uncover the truth becomes inconvenient.
This paranoia is so baked into Mulder’s personality (and, accordingly, the show’s DNA) that it is part of arguably The X-Files’ most famous catchphrase: “trust no one.” Notably, “One Breath” writers Glen Morgan and James Wong played a major role in the show’s bleak paranoia by writing seminal early episodes like “E.B.E.” (where Mulder’s government ally Deep Throat lies to him to protect a major coverup involving a hunt for an alien) and “Little Green Men” (in which a senator sends Mulder to a Puerto Rican SETI station, where he is nearly killed by both an alien presence and a military artworks squad).
Mulder Gives Scully A Hand
That bleakness never truly went away, either, as they later wrote the controversial Season 4 masterpiece “Home,” where inbred hillbillies with a mommy fixation terrorize small-town America. But for one brief, shining moment in Season 2, they presented a different perspective: that paranormal phenomena could be a force for good and that the only way to cure depressive paranoia is earnest and unshamed love. Mulder chooses love over revenge, holding Scully’s hand and talking to her throughout the night. She miraculously wakes up the next day, with medical science unable to explain how she managed such an inexplicable recovery.
Admittedly, Beatles-like message (all you need is love!) is very different from the rest of the series, and one that wouldn’t really survive past this episode. But iconic X-Files scribes Glen Morgan and James Wong used “One Breath” to teach Mulder a very necessary lesson: the truth he is relentlessly seeking has been right in front of him the entire time. That truth is his love for Scully, something that would always be enough to save both of them, even when (especially when) all hope seems lost.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 19, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you have a sweet tooth.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
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Yellow: Lippy
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Green: Gowns
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Blue: Played in Vegas
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Purple: Sweet treats
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: Cheeky
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Green: Dress measurements
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Blue: Cards in Texas Hold ‘Em
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Purple: Last words of candy brands in the singular
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #1043 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Cheeky: ARCH, FRESH, SASSY, WISE
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Dress measurements: BUST, HIPS, LENGTH, WAIST
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Cards in Texas Hold ‘Em: FLOP, HOLE, RIVER, TURN
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Last words of candy brands in the singular: CAP, DUD, KID, MINT
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for April 19, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you’re constantly changing.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Small change
The words are related to changes.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe fine-tuning.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is There I Fixed It.
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NYT Strands word list for April 19
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There I Fixed It
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Adjust
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Modify
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Alter
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Improve
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Tweak
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Refine
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.
Entertainment
Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 19, 2026
Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you can never sit down.
If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
Where did Wordle come from?
Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
What’s the best Wordle starting word?
The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?
The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
Is Wordle getting harder?
It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
To rise.
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Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
There are no recurring letters.
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Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter T.
The Wordle answer today is…
Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today’s Wordle is…
STAND
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.
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