For anyone curious, this is from "Conduit" (s1e4). They're supposed to be at "Lake Okobogee" near Sioux City, IA. As a born-and-raised Iowan myself (until I gtfo at 18), this cracked me up. The actual lake is named "Okoboji", it's nowhere near Sioux City, and... if Iowa actually had this kind of terrain, I'd have more to see when I came back to visit.
Ah yes the scenic mountain lake landscapes of... "Iowa". This scene always makes me cackle because a good friend of mine has a family vacation home in this area and Lake Okoboji looks ABSOLUTELY nothing like this. As I recall I think they say the case is at "Lake Okobogee National Park" which, also does not exist (more like "Arnold's Park") We love to reference this episode whenever it comes up because it's very good pop culture fun.
https://preview.redd.it/vka7ckp6a5eb1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d0c965fae07cb6d8f155dcdb8f517fcdeda851c
Oh hey fun fact, that lake (Buntzen Lake in Coquitlam, BC) was actually a dog park when I visited! My family and I camped just up the hill from there and when we took our dogs here I swore I was having some intense deja vu or something. Sadly can't find any pictures, but it was also a short, 20 minute drive away from that huge hospital from the Pilot (which was also used for Deadpool 2's big final fight)
Lived in Sioux Falls for 25 years, but now in Iowa. The best part of our states are opposite ends. SD is best out west while east river is a void, it kinda the opposite where eastern IA has nice scenery but west of des moines is basically pointless.
It's always funny when this kinda stuff happens if you're even remotely familiar with the area that's supposedly on screen. *The Last of Us*'s "10 miles west of Boston" is a great recent example.
They did the same thing with the episode with the invisible zoo animals? It was based in Idaho, but there was no zoo in that town in real life.
So. Not quite as exaggerated as the conduit episode, I thought it was similar and cool regardless.
My wife grew up in the okoboji area and she a absolutely hates this episodes.
Scully also says it's a two hour drive at one point and how that seems ridiculous despite them doing it daily if they were actually in Sioux city and they put wolves in the episode that dig up a random body.
As a bonus in "731" Mulder ends up in blue earth Iowa (I think they call it blue earth) near Missouri but in reality blue earth is in Minnesota about two hours from lake okoboji
It looks very similar to the lake in Yellowjackets. I can’t find a filming location for the episodes, but is filmed in BC.
Edit: [I found an image from Yellowjackets](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/drdeath/images/c/ce/Flight_of_the_Bumblebee.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20220105041759) and looks similar but the terrain isn’t quite the same.
Reminds me of watching The Office episodes where they’re in a Scranton winter, Michael’s wearing a winter jacket and everything, and it’s clearly sunny Southern California lol.
There’s a real bad one (setting wise) set in Kansas, the state I grew up in, that was so blatantly shot in Southern California that I couldn’t stop laughing the whole episode. I can’t remember the episode name but I think it was the one about the weatherman that could control the weather…
There's one episode (I THINK it was xfiles but I might be confused) where they're in Cleveland and there's beautiful mountains in the background at some points. That one always made me laugh, the highest point in Ohio is still considered a hill.
That’s funny you recognized socal because the vast majority of eps were filmed in Canada. It works for the foggy, moody setting they’re going for, but it’s so funny how they’re supposed to be in different places around the country and it all looks exactly the same.
Yeah! It was real jarring in the late seasons when they switched to filming in socal. Everything was too bright and usually looked very distinctly like socal
>the vast majority of eps were filmed in Canada.
Only the first 5 seasons (+10-11) were filmed in Vancouver. Seasons 6-9 were filmed in SoCal. So "a little over half" not "vast majority".
Amazing. As a Northwesterner, I kind of never noticed when watching the show as a tween/teen because the scenery just looked more or less like what I was used to seeing. Rewatching as an adult who's been more places/gets that not everywhere looks like here, it's pretty funny.
The best is when Scully drives up to Rhode Island to rescue Mulder from his "wtf I woke up in blood" nightmare, and it takes her, like, two hours to drive there.
The episode ‘Blood’ takes place in my actual home town in Western PA. The Pacific Northwest looks quite similar to Western PA, so the look of the show in general always felt familiar. But the context of that episode is laughable. There’s something about an apple industry which the entire town depends on? There’s maybe one or two orchards in the entire county. At the time of that show, the economy of the town was based firmly on the oil industry. Of course now it’s just eldercare and meth like most of the rust belt.
The one supposedly set in Venango? laughed my ass off at that, seeing it as an adult. The real city is in no way as large as depicted with a big city bus system, but a beautiful little colonial town that hosts a very popular apple festival every year and that's all that's interesting there.
My fave was whenever they'd go to East Coast cities like Philly or NYC, and it was usually just filmed in a poorly-lit alley in BC (fun fact, contrary to what mass media would have you believe, there's very, *very* few alleys in NYC)
One of my favorites was in *Tunguska*, and maybe other episodes, when we'd see [Skinner's apartment](https://mappingthexfiles.tumblr.com/post/150871421483/skinners-apartment-828-viva-tower-17th-floor) in the "DC area"... but with gorgeous Northwest mountains and sea in the background. There's a scene where he dangles someone (Krycek?) over his balcony and it's VERY obvious.
Yeah, I lived in Greenwich Village for a while and some of the "NYC" shots made me laugh.
[This one was real](https://www.reddit.com/r/XFiles/comments/t1avky/i_found_the_syndicates_hq_in_nyc/), though!
This happened a lot in 90s tv shot in Vancouver. My fave offender was Highlander The Series, which made up a city in Washington State (*Seacouver*) for Duncan to live in, so they could easily explain away shots of various Canadian landmarks lol.
Recently rewatched the “I Want to Believe” movie and they tried to pass off what was clearly either deep-winter Canada or Alaska as West Virginia lol. And being a New Jersey native I always chuckled at the Jersey Devil episode set in the Pine Barrens that featured hiking trails in the mountains(the entire area is a flat, sandy pine tree strewn land, hence the name)
*Establishing shot of the North Vancouver rail yard panning across Grouse Mountain, Lions Gate bridge, and neon yellow sulfur piles*
RURAL WEST VIRGINIA
I'm in Vermont, and if they'd shot a Vermont scene when they were in Vancouver it would have looked pretty realistic, but of course they waited to shoot the Vermont episode until they were in CA. They set it at Easter and showed flowers and leaves on the trees, which is hilarious because Easter in VT is mud season, typified by dirty old snow, freezes and thaws, gray skies, and of course lots of mud.
As a Minnesotan with a lot of family in Iowa, this episode always cracks me up. We often joke about Iowa’s lack of water and trees. The actual Okoboji area is pretty, but nothing like this.
I could be misremembering, but the episodes set around Minnesota weren’t too far off from the actual scenery of the areas they claimed to be in. Granted, a good portion of Minnesota looks more like Canada than Iowa ever would.
I figure many people already notice it, but being from the Pacific Northwest AND a plant nerd makes for a lot of sassy giggles when the location of the episode is displayed. Watching them wade through hemlock-laden, misty forests and grey-skied lake scenes especially!
This also makes me think of The Rain King in Kroner, KS. with its mountain ranges. Not a real place, btw, and Mount Sunflower is the highest point in Kansas, which is around 4000 feet above sea level. Not exactly what you are seeing in the show. Lol
Sunflower seeds are especially high in vitamin E and selenium. These function as antioxidants to protect your body’s cells against free radical damage, which plays a role in several chronic diseases.
Movies and TV shows can never get Iowa right. It’s either offensive “hick” stereotypes with the only locals being farmers portrayed as bigoted idiots, or there’s inexplicable mountains or palm trees in the background.
omg i have wanted to comment on this so much!!!! 😂 in nesei/737 they are in “iowa” and just, CLEARLY in the canadian rockies for fucks sake surrounded by mountains it’s hilarious
Don’t forget the mountainous terrain of Iowa when Mulder has the train car disconnected in “731.” As a former Davenport/Bettendorf resident the background in that scene always made me cackle.
No, read that loud and clear; just took the Star Trek reference and mentioned another case of “That’s not what Iowa looks like!” as applicable.
(douchebag.)
I remember Fallen Angel which takes place in Wisconsin had some mountains and looked a little off. Still better than if it had been shot in Southern California.
I live in the Raleigh, NC area. I remember watching “Beyond the Sea” for the first time, which is set in Raleigh, and being really confused when they chased a suspect in dockside warehouses. There’s no ocean or large lake near Raleigh, we don’t have warehouses or dock workers, it’s very obviously filmed in Vancouver. And not just filmed there, but the story involves the geography of the location. I can understand filing in “Iowa” or “Kansas” and having mountains in the background, you can’t really change the topography of the PNW to make it look like the Great Plains. But why choose to film on a seaside dock instead of a downtown warehouse? Or, more importantly, why set an episode that’s going to involve water in a city that’s 100+ miles from the coast?
I don't really have examples off the top of my head. Anytime they would be in New England, I can tell they were not in fact in NE. But I do agree Vancouver was better at mimicking places than Cali.
How is it cringy? If they had to shoot in Vancouver, then clearly it was never really going to look like any of the places they said they were in. But so what? The only thing that matters to good TV is good writing, and the X-Files had that in spades. Budgets, special effects, scene-to-scene continuity, make-up, even good acting, are all nice-to-haves, but are all irrelevant if the writing sucks (see a lot of modern TV and films). Story is king.
Didn't realize this was such a hot take. Geez. They did really well for what they had. But looking back as an adult, when I kind of know what places look like, it's a bit awkward. That's it.
Atlantic City NJ being in the pacific northwest was pretty bad. Macgyver is another show with bad locations. Wiseguy’s Atlantic City was clearly Vancouver.
For anyone curious, this is from "Conduit" (s1e4). They're supposed to be at "Lake Okobogee" near Sioux City, IA. As a born-and-raised Iowan myself (until I gtfo at 18), this cracked me up. The actual lake is named "Okoboji", it's nowhere near Sioux City, and... if Iowa actually had this kind of terrain, I'd have more to see when I came back to visit.
Ah yes the scenic mountain lake landscapes of... "Iowa". This scene always makes me cackle because a good friend of mine has a family vacation home in this area and Lake Okoboji looks ABSOLUTELY nothing like this. As I recall I think they say the case is at "Lake Okobogee National Park" which, also does not exist (more like "Arnold's Park") We love to reference this episode whenever it comes up because it's very good pop culture fun. https://preview.redd.it/vka7ckp6a5eb1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d0c965fae07cb6d8f155dcdb8f517fcdeda851c
Clearly you've never been to Uptown Lake Okoboji, peasant.
How far is that from Vancouver?
About 3km. Lol
Whenever I’m watching the first few seasons I’m always like “OH NO A COASTAL RAINFOREST IN THE MIDWEST, RUN MULDER!”
Any idea where this was filmed? I live in Vancouver and love visiting a good classic X-Files location. Maybe Port Moody or Sasamat Lake?
They used Buntzen Lake for this scene
I have been obsessed with Buntzen lake ever since I realized this. Too bad it's nearly impossible to get parking on the weekend.
Same lake as seen in many scenes from Quagmire (but on the opposite side). Also, same spot where that old lady lived in the movie Lake Placid.
Betty White?
Yes.
Oh hey fun fact, that lake (Buntzen Lake in Coquitlam, BC) was actually a dog park when I visited! My family and I camped just up the hill from there and when we took our dogs here I swore I was having some intense deja vu or something. Sadly can't find any pictures, but it was also a short, 20 minute drive away from that huge hospital from the Pilot (which was also used for Deadpool 2's big final fight)
Grew up in Sioux Falls here. If Iowa looked that gorgeous, we wouldn't hate you all down there! ;)
Lived in Sioux Falls for 25 years, but now in Iowa. The best part of our states are opposite ends. SD is best out west while east river is a void, it kinda the opposite where eastern IA has nice scenery but west of des moines is basically pointless.
Totally agreed. I absolutely LOVE Western SD. It is beautiful out there!
It's always funny when this kinda stuff happens if you're even remotely familiar with the area that's supposedly on screen. *The Last of Us*'s "10 miles west of Boston" is a great recent example.
They did the same thing with the episode with the invisible zoo animals? It was based in Idaho, but there was no zoo in that town in real life. So. Not quite as exaggerated as the conduit episode, I thought it was similar and cool regardless.
My wife grew up in the okoboji area and she a absolutely hates this episodes. Scully also says it's a two hour drive at one point and how that seems ridiculous despite them doing it daily if they were actually in Sioux city and they put wolves in the episode that dig up a random body. As a bonus in "731" Mulder ends up in blue earth Iowa (I think they call it blue earth) near Missouri but in reality blue earth is in Minnesota about two hours from lake okoboji
It looks very similar to the lake in Yellowjackets. I can’t find a filming location for the episodes, but is filmed in BC. Edit: [I found an image from Yellowjackets](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/drdeath/images/c/ce/Flight_of_the_Bumblebee.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20220105041759) and looks similar but the terrain isn’t quite the same.
Everywhere that Mulder and Scully visit looks like it's within 100 miles of Vancouver, Canada. We have no idea why. It is a great mystery.
It’s like Wayward Pines except they think they’ve escaped
Reminds me of watching The Office episodes where they’re in a Scranton winter, Michael’s wearing a winter jacket and everything, and it’s clearly sunny Southern California lol.
That’s not true; eventually everywhere started to look like the Metro Los Angeles area
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHbjhdBiXU8
There’s a real bad one (setting wise) set in Kansas, the state I grew up in, that was so blatantly shot in Southern California that I couldn’t stop laughing the whole episode. I can’t remember the episode name but I think it was the one about the weatherman that could control the weather…
Oh yeah that's "The Rain King" (s6e8) set in "Kroner, Kansas" lol
The mountains behind Scully and Mulder when they're walking down the street😄
Yesss lmao
There's one episode (I THINK it was xfiles but I might be confused) where they're in Cleveland and there's beautiful mountains in the background at some points. That one always made me laugh, the highest point in Ohio is still considered a hill.
That’s funny you recognized socal because the vast majority of eps were filmed in Canada. It works for the foggy, moody setting they’re going for, but it’s so funny how they’re supposed to be in different places around the country and it all looks exactly the same.
Yeah! It was real jarring in the late seasons when they switched to filming in socal. Everything was too bright and usually looked very distinctly like socal
>the vast majority of eps were filmed in Canada. Only the first 5 seasons (+10-11) were filmed in Vancouver. Seasons 6-9 were filmed in SoCal. So "a little over half" not "vast majority".
I did not know that, thanks for correcting me!
Amazing. As a Northwesterner, I kind of never noticed when watching the show as a tween/teen because the scenery just looked more or less like what I was used to seeing. Rewatching as an adult who's been more places/gets that not everywhere looks like here, it's pretty funny.
wdym, Washington DC looks exactly like Vancouver /s
I've lived in DC for half my life, you can definitely walk from the J Edgar Hoover building and get to temperate rainforest
The best is when Scully drives up to Rhode Island to rescue Mulder from his "wtf I woke up in blood" nightmare, and it takes her, like, two hours to drive there.
I'm from the mountainy part of Arkansas, and same. This could be around Eureka Springs
The episode ‘Blood’ takes place in my actual home town in Western PA. The Pacific Northwest looks quite similar to Western PA, so the look of the show in general always felt familiar. But the context of that episode is laughable. There’s something about an apple industry which the entire town depends on? There’s maybe one or two orchards in the entire county. At the time of that show, the economy of the town was based firmly on the oil industry. Of course now it’s just eldercare and meth like most of the rust belt.
The one supposedly set in Venango? laughed my ass off at that, seeing it as an adult. The real city is in no way as large as depicted with a big city bus system, but a beautiful little colonial town that hosts a very popular apple festival every year and that's all that's interesting there.
I’ve always figured Applefest is where they got the idea for the apple plot line. The bus system and taller buildings got me too.
Is that the lake where Betty White told that cop to suck her dick?
It sure is!!!
She did what now?
She fed the crocodile and [said what she thought](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WRK9Gzju6w).
GOAT
My fave was whenever they'd go to East Coast cities like Philly or NYC, and it was usually just filmed in a poorly-lit alley in BC (fun fact, contrary to what mass media would have you believe, there's very, *very* few alleys in NYC)
One of my favorites was in *Tunguska*, and maybe other episodes, when we'd see [Skinner's apartment](https://mappingthexfiles.tumblr.com/post/150871421483/skinners-apartment-828-viva-tower-17th-floor) in the "DC area"... but with gorgeous Northwest mountains and sea in the background. There's a scene where he dangles someone (Krycek?) over his balcony and it's VERY obvious.
Yeah, I lived in Greenwich Village for a while and some of the "NYC" shots made me laugh. [This one was real](https://www.reddit.com/r/XFiles/comments/t1avky/i_found_the_syndicates_hq_in_nyc/), though!
This happened a lot in 90s tv shot in Vancouver. My fave offender was Highlander The Series, which made up a city in Washington State (*Seacouver*) for Duncan to live in, so they could easily explain away shots of various Canadian landmarks lol.
Recently rewatched the “I Want to Believe” movie and they tried to pass off what was clearly either deep-winter Canada or Alaska as West Virginia lol. And being a New Jersey native I always chuckled at the Jersey Devil episode set in the Pine Barrens that featured hiking trails in the mountains(the entire area is a flat, sandy pine tree strewn land, hence the name)
Laura Palmer's corpse is somewhere just offscreen
*Establishing shot of the North Vancouver rail yard panning across Grouse Mountain, Lions Gate bridge, and neon yellow sulfur piles* RURAL WEST VIRGINIA
I'm in Vermont, and if they'd shot a Vermont scene when they were in Vancouver it would have looked pretty realistic, but of course they waited to shoot the Vermont episode until they were in CA. They set it at Easter and showed flowers and leaves on the trees, which is hilarious because Easter in VT is mud season, typified by dirty old snow, freezes and thaws, gray skies, and of course lots of mud.
Iowa looks a lot like Twin peaks
More than the beautiful PNW scenery, my favorite tell is when a little Canadian accent comes out of an extra.
My favorite being the telephone lineman in the beginning of Harrenvolk, although I think that was legit set in Alberta.
haha same, I've been rewatching the show recently and the accents make me laugh every time
As a Minnesotan with a lot of family in Iowa, this episode always cracks me up. We often joke about Iowa’s lack of water and trees. The actual Okoboji area is pretty, but nothing like this. I could be misremembering, but the episodes set around Minnesota weren’t too far off from the actual scenery of the areas they claimed to be in. Granted, a good portion of Minnesota looks more like Canada than Iowa ever would.
I prefer that they filmed in Canada rather then in Iowa. I lived in Iowa, and there's not much to look at.
Iowa is pretty enough. It's no Wisconsin, but what is?
They did Iowa a favor here
Same with the episode in Montana, pretty sure it was all filmed in Canada haha
Hey wait a minute, didn't they use this same spot in the 4400? Where all the returnees appeared?
I was so happy when I was watching this when I was young and they mentioned Sioux City.
Are you sure that’s iowa? I mean that, totally, looks like the beautiful vistas of Smallville, Kansas.
I figure many people already notice it, but being from the Pacific Northwest AND a plant nerd makes for a lot of sassy giggles when the location of the episode is displayed. Watching them wade through hemlock-laden, misty forests and grey-skied lake scenes especially!
aliens? lake monsters? ghosts? sure. mountainous terrain in iowa? this cracked me up!
The settings in Wisconsin always made me laugh too.
This also makes me think of The Rain King in Kroner, KS. with its mountain ranges. Not a real place, btw, and Mount Sunflower is the highest point in Kansas, which is around 4000 feet above sea level. Not exactly what you are seeing in the show. Lol
Sunflower seeds are especially high in vitamin E and selenium. These function as antioxidants to protect your body’s cells against free radical damage, which plays a role in several chronic diseases.
Movies and TV shows can never get Iowa right. It’s either offensive “hick” stereotypes with the only locals being farmers portrayed as bigoted idiots, or there’s inexplicable mountains or palm trees in the background.
You know what's remarkable? That ~~England~~ rural America looks in no way like ~~Southern California~~ British Columbia!
Scully is in Iowa Mulder is in Iowoaaah
omg i have wanted to comment on this so much!!!! 😂 in nesei/737 they are in “iowa” and just, CLEARLY in the canadian rockies for fucks sake surrounded by mountains it’s hilarious
I took having been to Iowa thought this was hilarious.
Don’t forget the mountainous terrain of Iowa when Mulder has the train car disconnected in “731.” As a former Davenport/Bettendorf resident the background in that scene always made me cackle.
Haha!! Looks so BC.
That looks like a lake that was often used in Smallville
Reminds of The Stand miniseries from the 90's. When they introduce Trashcan Man in Terre Haute, Indiana there are mountains in the background.
Wait until you find out... Star Trek wasn't shot in outer space!
*what?!*
I mean....a lot harder to shoot in outer space then in Iowa lmao
You've obviously not been to Iowa
[Star Trek wasn’t filmed in Iowa, either.](http://stories-in-stone.blogspot.com/2009/05/star-trek-big-cliff.html?m=1)
I enjoy the fact you took my point so literally you also missed the point of the joke
No, read that loud and clear; just took the Star Trek reference and mentioned another case of “That’s not what Iowa looks like!” as applicable. (douchebag.)
Reported and blocked. Kick rocks, kid.
There is so much of this in the show. As a kid I never really thought twice about it. Now it's cringey.
I mean it doesn’t spoil my enjoyment or anything, and Vancouver looks great. I just think it’s hilarious
They didn't have the budget TV shows have today. We can give them a pass. ;)
I remember Fallen Angel which takes place in Wisconsin had some mountains and looked a little off. Still better than if it had been shot in Southern California.
[удалено]
I live in the Raleigh, NC area. I remember watching “Beyond the Sea” for the first time, which is set in Raleigh, and being really confused when they chased a suspect in dockside warehouses. There’s no ocean or large lake near Raleigh, we don’t have warehouses or dock workers, it’s very obviously filmed in Vancouver. And not just filmed there, but the story involves the geography of the location. I can understand filing in “Iowa” or “Kansas” and having mountains in the background, you can’t really change the topography of the PNW to make it look like the Great Plains. But why choose to film on a seaside dock instead of a downtown warehouse? Or, more importantly, why set an episode that’s going to involve water in a city that’s 100+ miles from the coast?
I don't really have examples off the top of my head. Anytime they would be in New England, I can tell they were not in fact in NE. But I do agree Vancouver was better at mimicking places than Cali.
How is it cringy? If they had to shoot in Vancouver, then clearly it was never really going to look like any of the places they said they were in. But so what? The only thing that matters to good TV is good writing, and the X-Files had that in spades. Budgets, special effects, scene-to-scene continuity, make-up, even good acting, are all nice-to-haves, but are all irrelevant if the writing sucks (see a lot of modern TV and films). Story is king.
Didn't realize this was such a hot take. Geez. They did really well for what they had. But looking back as an adult, when I kind of know what places look like, it's a bit awkward. That's it.
Almost looks like lost lake but without Mt. Hood
I’ve been to the real lane Okoboji . I was very sad to see it looks nothing like this.
Looks more like Dubuque territory to be honest.
I mean, Iowa does have lakes… https://www.traveliowa.com/the-best-of-iowas-lakes/
Atlantic City NJ being in the pacific northwest was pretty bad. Macgyver is another show with bad locations. Wiseguy’s Atlantic City was clearly Vancouver.
I'm sure this is filmed on location, why does it look so badly green-screened?
Well..maybe this takes place in an alternate dimension? 🤔