Paranormal activity knows no bounds, and chasing those strange occurrences took Fox Mulder and Dana Scully all over the United States throughout their time with the X-Files.
And in a recent rewatch of the show, I had forgotten about an early season-three episode that saw Mulder and Scully visiting Cleveland, Ohio.
In "2Shy," the pair are investigating a series of murders in Northeast Ohio where a mutant killer is meeting unsuspecting women through online chat rooms and extracting their body fat for sustenance, essentially dissolving/liquifying the victims in the process.
Our 2Shy mutant would certainly give the Torso Murderer a run for their money, which ultimately brings Mulder and Scully to the case (Mulder, of course, has already been tracking a series of similar murders around the United States to this point, as he often does).
Did the X-Files Actually Film in Cleveland?
In case you were wondering, no, this episode was not filmed in Cleveland, Ohio. As with many episodes in those early seasons, it was filmed in Vancouver; this particular episode was filmed around the city's Quebec Street.
For anyone from the Cleveland area, it becomes evident pretty quickly this episode was not filmed in Northeast Ohio. After all, here's a nice shot of the supposedly Cleveland skyline, from a pier where Mulder and Scully inspect the first victim:
So sure, it's disappointing that the show didn't actually film the episode in Cleveland, though there is a scene in the middle of the episode that has a nice resemblance to the Flats.
And The X-Files did its best (sort of) to make you think you were in Northeast Ohio, though, labeling police uniforms and vehicles with Cleveland's name and strategically placing a Cleveland Indians pennant behind Mulder:
Like any good Clevelander, I started jumping on my couch like a crazed chimp when I saw that our city was being featured in an X-Files episode. That fact that nothing truly Cleveland ever showed up didn't dampen my spirits - any Cleveland representation in my favorite show works for me.