"Small Potatoes" is the twentieth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files.

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.

Mulder and Scully arrive only to encounter a suspect, Eddie Van Blundht (Darin Morgan), who proves nearly impossible to identify.

Gilligan asked former series writer Darin Morgan, who had penned four episodes in the second and third seasons, to play Eddie Van Blundht.

Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate the birth of five babies in the town of Martinsburg, West Virginia, who were born with tails.

Scully believes Eddie used a date rape drug although Mulder questions how he could be in the position to give it to the women.

Performing an autopsy on the body, Scully finds that he had an extra sheet of muscle under his skin, which Mulder concludes Eddie inherited and uses to transform his appearance.

Eddie returns to Washington as Mulder with Scully and presents the case to Skinner with a poorly written report.

[2] Second, he wanted to "lighten up" the rather bleak fourth season, which had featured a number of grim episodes and also introduced a story-arc in which Scully develops cancer.

[4] The tails were created with computer-generated imagery (CGI) technology, with a green mark painted on the babies' backs serving as a reference for the animators.

[4] Gilligan complimented both Duchovny for his comedic performance and Gillian Anderson for acting as the "straight woman" in the episode.

[11] The episode is popular with fans, specifically for the scene where Eddie, who has changed into Mulder, tries to seduce Scully in her apartment.

[12] Robert Shearman, in his book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode five stars out of five and wrote that "this is what Vince Gilligan has been working towards all season.

"[13] The author praised Gilligan's writing, applauding his decision to critically examine Mulder rather than merely tell jokes.

[13] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a rave review and awarded it a rare four stars out of four.

Tor.com reviewer Meghan Deans was more critical of the episode, writing that it had a "flawed construction that diminishes what should have been one of the series' smartest and most affectionate demonstrations of self-parody".

[15] She found the way it attempted to depict Van Blundht as a sympathetic villain and play rape for laughs to be unsettling.