"Via Negativa"

"Everything seemed real...but then it was a dream. A dream that ended in their deaths."
Originally Aired 12/17/00

Earlier this season was an "evil" religious episode in which an isolated town worshiped a slug-like creature. Here we have another such episode, except this time those worshipers were already found slaughtered in the opening of "Via Negativa". I guess they should have chosen to worship Jesus instead, since he offers things like wine and holy water, not wounds to the forehead! This cult's leader was Anthony Tipet, who founded the cult after he served time for the "bludgeoning" death of his wife, and coincidentally many of the deaths in this episode are similar fates. Tipet and his cult were trying to find God through a higher plane, but it seems they found something much worse, as "Via Negativa" is explained by Skinner to be a plane of darkness.

If the evil cult already sounded familiar to you, well there are even more similarities to other episodes found in this episode. Season 4's "The Field Where I Died" featured a doomsday cult, a pack of rodents were used in Season 3's "Teso Dos Bichos", and death by dreams was even used back in Season 2's "Sleepless." Despite the similarities to previous episodes, I still felt "Via Negativa" had plenty to offer on it's own. Writer Frank Spotnitz has mostly contributed to mythology episodes with Chris Carter, and also teamed with John Shiban and Vince Gilligan, but this is his first solo script since Season 5's "Detour". I didn't even know I wanted another Frank episode until after I watched this, and now all I want is more Frank. For as good as this episode is at creating a creepy atmosphere and all of it's horror movie imagery, it's also a great way to throw Doggett into the deep end of X-Files territory. It's sink or swim, and there's no turning back for this guy now.

In fact, Doggett is on a clear descent into darkness throughout this episode, and it feels a lot like a few of the late 90's Hellraiser movie sequels. Two in particular feature a character who has come into contact with the deadly cube, the Lemarchand's box, and nothing is as it seems. Doggett meets a similar fate when he comes into contact with Tipet towards the end of this episode. Robert Patrick plays this paranoia to perfection, and it's his best performance yet in his short tenure as a lead on The X-Files. Mitch Pileggi gets more to do here as Walter Skinner fills the void left when Scully is off to have a doctor visit and he easily slides into the "believer" role. David Duchovny departing the series should have thrown the series out of whack without its believer-skeptic dynamic and all of the humor that it provided, yet it actually feels like a breath of fresh air without Davey. Robert has great scenes with Mitch Pileggi, James Pickens' Director Kersh character, and now the Lone Gunmen are thrown into the mix. I like how they just happen to be hanging out in the basement office when those conspiracy theorists should have a hard time making it through a security check-point; although they somehow had access to the FBI offices in last season's finale, "Requiem."

Along with Frank Spotnitz turning in a rare solo script, this episode also features first-time series director Tony Wharmby. Tony, along with the special effects artists and lighting staff, created such an eerie atmosphere that I think this might even crack my top ten episodes once again. I say "once again" because I had a few I would call favorites before I began to watch the series in order in 2008, but I scrapped that list and decided to start over. Most of my previous favorites remained firmly in the top ten, like "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" and "The Host", while a few new ones were made like "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man." I expected to not like "Via Negativa" as much when I finally made my way around to it, yet there was much to re-discover. The only sequence I could recall was the ending where Doggett is standing over Scully with an axe while there's a scary, purple, strobe effect. I only now realized after watching it for the 6th time in 3 days that Doggett is actually about to turn the axe on himself. What an ending!

"Redrum"

"If you don't remember, how can you be certain that you didn't?"
Originally Aired 12/10/00

This is an episode that I loved upon my first viewing of Season 8 years ago. I was drawn to this show because it felt like each story was much like The Twilight Zone, with a different creature or freaky happening every week, it's just that The X-Files had two people investigating those instances. The Twilight Zone's favorite scenario was to take everyday men and place them into extraordinary situations, like when Burgess Meredith portrayed a nerdy vacuum salesman who was suddenly given great strength by aliens. Another scenario was famously spoofed on Seinfeld:

Jerry: "You know, this is like that Twilight Zone where the guy wakes up and he's the same and everyone else is different."

Kramer: "Which one?"
Jerry: "They were all like that."

The X-Files would have many that ventured into Twilight Zone territory, especially in Season 6 where Mulder swapped bodies with a Man In Black from Area 51, and later when Mulder and Scully were stuck in a fatal time loop. "Redum" is much like that doomed fatal time loop episode, however it flipped the scenario. This time it's centered around a man who has been charged for the death of his wife, yet he's living the week in reverse, with Scully and Doggett acting as background characters. That man is guest actor Joe Morton, famous for his role in Terminator 2, which also starred The X-Files' Robert Patrick. Morton plays his role of "Martin Wells" convincingly as he lives each day of the week in reverse, leading up to the moment when his wife is murdered. The mystery isn't the why and how he's in the time loop, but instead, "Can he prevent his wife from being murdered?" In fact, it almost feels closer to being a freaky episode of Law & Order. The X-Files even had John Munch from Homicide: Life On The Street (and later Law & Order SVU) as a guest start in Season 5, so it might have been cool to see one of the many Law & Order judges presiding over the hearing to further the connection between these tv shows.

One of the best scenes occurs roughly half-way through when Martin explains to Scully and Doggett what is actually happening, and that he doesn't remember his wife being murdered because to him, it hasn't happened yet. Doggett refuses to believe and walks away, while Scully asks him why he thinks it's happening. I really like Scully a lot in these brief moments in this season, as she is walking the line between science and supernatural. The 7 years she's spent on X-Files cases has given her this sage-like knowledge. Martin is left wondering why this is happening, when Scully tells him maybe the answer is already inside of him. Young grasshopper Martin Wells isn't quite ready to snatch the pebble from Master Scully's hand just yet. When he does snatch the pebble, he realizes that he's responsible for his own situation and accepts the consequences of his actions, for better or worse.

Aside from Joe Morton guest-starring as Martin Wells, there's also another famous face present that I actually forgot about. Danny Trejo guest stars as the villain, who is probably the king of these types of villainous roles over the last 20 years, with appearances in Con-Air, Predators, Spy Kids, From Dusk Til Dawn, and even the starring role in Machete.

A minor notable moment worth mentioning about "Redrum" is that we see that Doggett is actually a homeowner. Mulder had an apartment, where we typically saw him sleeping on his couch or taping an "X" to his window. Scully has her own apartment, or maybe even a condo, I can't be sure. This could actually have been done to distance Doggett from Mulder and Scully since he was married before and had more of a stable life, such as owning a home, while Scully and especially Mulder have become too engrossed into their work to have any kind of life resembling normal. Or this could be just a fan "over-thinking" a minor detail like a house.

While some fans may be upset over the supporting appearances of Scully and Doggett, with "Redrum" centering the story around a guest character, I think "Redrum" is much like the great episodes of Seasons 5 and 6, which stretched the series beyond it's formula. This installment in Season 8 puts a darker spin on it, unlike those lighter episodes of previous seasons.

"Invocation"

"Agent Scully, don't ask me to believe that this is some justice from beyond the grave."
Originally Aired 12/3/2000

This episode takes me back to May 2007, well over a year before I began this season-by-season journey through the series. Prior to that special month May, I had watched several on the Sci Fi Channel (not Syfy as it is now), and several more standalones on DVDs of Seasons 1 and 2. I had been watching the tail end of 7 and the beginning of 8 in the wee hours of the morning on TNT when I made my way to this episode, "Invocation." I fell asleep moments before the climax and I just had to know what happened! Luckily, my girlfriend at the time owned the Season 8 box, so I borrowed it from her so I could finish the episode. What happened after that was fate, maybe destiny, possibly nerdy, or something else entirely. I was so entertained by "Invocation", that I went back an episode to "Roadrunners" which I had missed on TV, and from that point I finished the rest of the season in a single weekend. I believe I watched another two episodes after that on Friday night, followed by another four on Saturday, then my Sunday was spent entirely in bed as I watched 9 straight episodes. What felt like an intense marathon for me back then is likely nothing compared to people's binge-watching habits on Netflix.

As for the episode itself, it doesn't seem to hold up nearly as well to my memory. In fact, it feels much more like an episode of Millennium. The opening sequence, it's eerie lullaby score and use of slow motion, is much more like The X-Files' sister series than it's own. While this season of The X-Files was filmed in sunny California, there is a definite lack of that sunshine, and the episode appears to be heavy on greys and cloudy skies much like the first season. The wooded scenes remind me of Millennium, even down to a scene where a skull is unearthed.

The-Files, "Invocation"

Millennium, "Skull and Bones"

Doggett is very much the focus of the episode, with Scully almost a background character. Most of her lines appear to be a variation of the same thing, telling Doggett that a child who was missing for 10 years has been returned at the same age he was when was abducted, an "anomaly." Doggett appears more like Mulder in this hour of television, pushing the child to speak and also pushing for the suspect to confess. Doggett is acting a bit of a character than what we've previously seen of him this season because he's "personalizing" the case, much like Mulder would do when faced with a case about young girls, like Season 3's "Oubliette." With Doggett, its the case of a missing boy because his own son went missing. There have been many complaints of retreading the same storylines since Mulder was faced with similar situations because of his sister, with now Doggett having struggles because over his son. I'm okay with that, as Doggett needs an arc of his own to be a fully developed character on this show, otherwise he'd just remain a side character floating aimlessly like Krycek. Spender was even given an arc of his own as he eventually had to confront his own beliefs in "Two Fathers" and "One Son", so this could lead to Doggett overcoming his as well. The ending scene with Scully is the episode's highlight, as these last several episodes have been very good with character moments between Doggett and Scully. It's as if she's holding his hand and guiding him on this quest for Agent Doggett to open his eyes and believe, much like Mulder did with Scully at the end of "Beyond the Sea." In fact, this episode could very well be Doggett's "Beyond the Sea".

A TV and movie trope that has been done to death is the "creepy child." The X-Files has went to that well already, this episode is even treading in similar waters of "Born Again" from Season 1; that's an episode I always forget about and even had to look up it's title to make sure I was right. Billy, the child who was abducted and now returned, delivers on that creep factor. It's the brother Josh, however, that is actually the irritating one as he just makes weird faces the entire episode. While "Invocation" might be a mixed bag of previous episodes, it still has enough of a creepy factor to make it watchable, and I'll always look back fondly as it was another stepping stone on my road to X-Files fandom.

"Roadrunners"

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"Patience"

"The only thing I know about the paranormal is that men are from Mars, women are from Venus."
Originally Aired 11/19/00

By no means is this a great episode of The X-Files but it does get the job done as the first standalone without Mulder; welcome to the era of John Doggett. Doggett has been established as having a background in law enforcement and that's what he brings to his partnership with Agent Scully. I liked the fact that there was an actual investigation in this episode, with it's back-to-basics style, even down to the agents encountering local law enforcement just like the old days. The projector slide show even makes an appearance, too. So many times over the last season or two, Mulder would know exactly what the case is right away leaving no mystery, but with Doggett's approach of applying street smarts, his prediction is it's a one-legged man. Ha! Scully is also doing her best to think like Mulder while also trying to balance it with her scientific background. Neither are on the same page at all, although this is their first time together and she's still thinking of Doggett as an enemy more than ally. It's just too bad the actual case of a "man-bat" isn't all that interesting.

While the case isn't up to the usual level, I do like Doggett and Scully's interactions. Doggett is trying his best to solve the case using knowledge of crimes and homicides, yet he's clearly a "fish out of water." It's a new wrinkle to his character that he tells Scully he was down in the office all night going through their old X-Files case files. It's too bad the episode didn't start that way, though, with her walking in and seeing his "interest" in the cases. Instead he walks down to the office with a few of his agent buddies and it irks his new partner. While he has friends now, maybe they could slowly show Doggett being shunned for associating with the X-Files. My assumption I made in "Within" was that Doggett was a real dick and that appears to be slowly fading by this third episode of the season. Although there is one moment where he talks about Scully with his back to her, and I felt just as uncomfortable as she did. While Doggett may have had good intentions in standing up for his new partner, that bit of writing by series creator Chris Carter isn't doing any favors for his new character.

With this being Scully's first investigation without Mulder, she appears a little in over her head too. The local sheriff guy she has to deal with isn't helping either, since he's clearly a bigot or just very stubborn. We've seen episodes where the locals didn't want the FBI around but I can't recall any that have flat-out insulted the agents. That guy was the real dick, not Doggett, so I'm glad he encountered the monster he didn't believe in and came out on the losing end. While this case is far from classic X-Files, since these monsters who attack every full moon or every turn of the century are a played-out gimmick, the great visuals are still present which is all the more interesting since Chris Carter turns in a rare directing performance. There's a neat scene of the man bat hanging upside down inside of a barn, also a fun gag with Doggett asking if Scully ever carries a flashlight. Doggett even encountered a guy wearing a coat and hat with his face bandaged, which I took as a clever reference to The Invisible Man film.

"Without"

"This reads like a piece of pot-boiled science fiction."
Originally Aired 11/12/00

Before this episode resumed the cliffhanger from last week which was literally on top of a cliff, we're treated to another Chris Carter-penned narration with fancy prose like "flights of fancy." At least this one was quick. We then resume the stand-off between Agent Dick Doggett and what appeared to be Mulder, who took Gibson Praise with him. Mulder released Gibson and then toppled over the edge of the cliff, recreating the scene from the recently re-edited X-Files opening credits.

After watching "Within" a second time, I realized the integral moment of this episode is a scene involving a phone call between Kersh and Doggett. Kersh phoned Doggett for a progress report, which Skinner overheard and told Doggett he's just being used as Kersh's pawn. That's basically what I assumed last week, that Doggett was being used and it would be Carter's way of building sympathy for the character. I really liked Doggett's dialog in this scene too, with lines like, "Alright, you've painted me the picture, now put it in a frame." This is what separates Agent Doggett from Agent Spender back when he first arrived on the scene. Doggett is not a believer but he's determined enough to get answers, while Spender's disbelief led him to just blindly dismiss everything. In fact, this conversation with Doggett and Skinner is actually a complete reversal on Scully's hallway scene with Skinner in last week's episode. That time it was Scully telling Skinner that the truth could ruin his career, and now Doggett realizes it's his career which is really in jeopardy.

While last week's episode was mostly exposition to reintroduce Kersh and bring Robert Partrick's Agent Doggett into the fold, "Without" is a little more action packed. The real purpose, however, is to reposition the characters of Doggett and Skinner. Doggett is being moved onto the X-Files division, whether he likes it or not, and Skinner is finally becoming a believer. Although he became a conspiracy victim in Season 6's "S.R. 819" and played the role of the Cancer Man's stooge in "Zero Sum" further back in Season 4, now he finally comes face to face with an alien- the Alien Bounty Hunter. In the past Skinner always walked the line, he was Mulder's boss but would occasionally step out from behind the desk. Now he's all the way out in the desert, tracking down Mulder and assisting Scully as a full-fledged member of "Team Mulder." I guess that's why Kersh was brought back since Skinner is no longer a neutral character. Doggett slides into the role previously filled by Scully in the previous seven years of The X-Files. Rather than using science to find answers, Doggett will use his police academy intuition, one can assume.

That leaves Gibson Praise to be used as another MacGuffin. He's really a non-factor in this episode and was mostly an excuse to get everyone out in the desert and chase shapeshifters. In fact, even his superhuman mind-reading skills were wasted, since you'd think he could have read the Bounty Hunter's mind and warned them, "hey you guys! This ain't Mulder!" That's alright though, because it wasn't the first time this show wasted Gibson and it won't be the last either. The most notable moment in the episode might be that this is the first time the Bounty Hunter has been killed. We know the weapon to dispose of them is the ice pick to the neck, yet Scully must be a crack shot since a single bullet must've hit that sweet spot on the Bounty Hunter's neck. Last season Cancer Man used his neck to smoke a cigarette, and now the Bounty Hunter's neck hole is oozing green goo. Man, I love these creepy visuals on The X-Files.

While this whole season is no longer offering new episodes for me to discover, I'm able to see them all in a new light and I'm still enjoying it. I guess that's what counts.

"Within"

"They can hang me with a lie, too. I'm not going to sell Mulder out."
Originally Aired 11/5/00

The X-Files is back, as it not only returns for new episodes in January 2016, but I'm also beginning the 8th season in my yearly season viewing pattern. This is actually the season where my fandom blossomed back in 2007 and I've anticipated finally getting the chance to rewatch it again within the context of the series, although I'm starting to feel like perhaps this season won't be as great as I remembered. Watching "Within" didn't help in alleviating those fears.

Scully and Skinner do make an interesting team though, as this episode appears to pick up immediately following Season 7's "Requiem"; in fact Scully even says that episode took place the night before. That's a pretty quick turn-around for the FBI to already have a manhunt in place, along with a new Deputy Director, and even a Special Agent in charge of the manhunt. You'd almost think Alex Krycek would be the puppet master getting rid of the evidence and possibly framing Mulder, except he's nowhere to be found. Instead the newly appointed Director is a familiar thorn in the side of Scully, her one-time supervisor in Season Six Kersh, who really seems to relish the moments when he can mock the paranormal. It makes me wish they were building to scene where Kersh comes face to face with an alien, almost like when Venkman meets Slimer in Ghostbusters and screamed. Or that moment when the trio of Ghostbusters run away from that lady ghost in the library. He needs his comeuppance for being such a dick to Mulder and Scully.

That brings us to Kersh's appointed stooge for finding the missing Mulder, Agent John Doggett. Robert Patrick makes his debut in the role that many fans said was just a replacement for David Duchovny, but in fact this episode presents him as a clear opposite of Fox Mulder. He's a former Marine and NYPD officer, but seems to be just as much of a dick as Kersh, so maybe that's why he's the man for the job. I think I'll call him "Dick Doggett", which is funny considering how much of a fan of Doggett I am. Just after Doggett is introduced, the series has probably the most unintentionally funny moment I've ever seen as Scully pulls up Doggett's FBI profile, and then immediately throws up, echoing just how every fan girl felt when they learned David Duchovny was leaving the series. Poor Doggett, he makes women vomit just from the mere thought of him.

Aside from that humorous moment, it felt like Chris Carter went out of his way to put Doggett in such a negative light. Not only does he trick Scully in their first encounter, but Dick Doggett also wonders if she ever really knew her partner the way she thought she did. Where did Chris Carter get that notion? However during a conversation between Doggett and Kersh, I get the impression that even though Kersh is sharing old army anecdotes with Doggett, he's only setting him up to the take the fall for eventually failing to bring Mulder back to the FBI. Carter must be trying to slowly build some sympathy for Dick Doggett when he's thrown under the bus, but he's also making him really hard to like.

Another irritating development within this episode is a new backstory for Mulder that seemed to be pulled from thin air. It stems from the previous season's opening story arc where Mulder suffered a mysterious brain impairment which left him speechless. At first I thought this was just some wacky storyline dreamt up to create drama for drama's sake, but then I realized there never was a definitive solution at the end of "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati." Instead Mulder just woke up with a goofy looking band-aid on his head, mystery solved, and then he seemed to pass on whatever ailed him to the Cancer Man, making him literally a Cancer Man. That's another thing Chris Carter is notorious for doing, which is presenting a story in one episode and then not touching it until a year later. So I'll overlook this weird Mulder brain cancer wrinkle in the mythology.

As much as the first half hour of this episode annoyed me, the closing minutes were actually pretty interesting and seemed to set up the next episode, Without", quite well. Scully and Skinner are racing to the desert to track down the "missing link" in Gibson Praise, while Dick Doggett is hot on their heels. I remember quite a bit more from that episode than I actually did from "Within." Those X-Files visuals the series is known for were present here, and possibly the best part of the episode, with the dream-like nature of Mulder's alien torture. Is Scully dreaming this or is Mulder actually being tortured much like they did to Duane Barry back in Season 2?

"Requiem"

"I want to damn the soul of that cigarette-smoking son of a bitch."
Originally Aired 5/21/00

For anyone who thought The X-Files' Seventh Season was getting staler than a day-old donut, "Requiem" breathed new life into a series not seen since mid-Fifth Season when we first met the Spender Family and the Faceless Rebels. All of the usual suspects are back, well whatever is left of them as per usual for these season finales, including several who were only featured in the Pilot episode which adds to the excitement. I had watched this years ago not knowing the in's and out's of the series, and while I enjoyed it back then, I had no idea just what I was in store for me once I sat down and pushed play.

The teaser for "Requiem" felt just like a First Season episode, and while much of this Seventh Season has been an attempt to return to the simpler "monster of the week" storytelling of those early years, this is the first time it actually appeared authentic. From a scene lifted straight out of "E.B.E." with a fiery crash in a wooded area, to someone "losing time", it was actually the moment I spotted the puddle of green blood that I knew this episode was going to be something special. While we've seen all of this before, it still felt fresh and exciting. I believe this is my first time viewing the teaser too, which is excellently staged by veteran series director Kim Manners. I could only recall the events of the episode from the time a pair of teenagers are caught in the woods til the ending, so I must've joined it in-progress during the wee hours of the morning on TNT.

Among the familiar faces returning is one who hasn't been seen since the middle of Season 6, which I actually didn't mind her absence since she's mostly useless, the shadowy Marita Covarrubias. This is without a doubt her best appearance on the series since she's lacking both her annoying wispy manner of speaking and her awful helmet hair. Why couldn't Laurie Holden have acted this way from the start? I wonder how she was actually cured of the effects of the black oil, but the bigger question is why is Krycek locked away in a penal colony. One small line of dialogue explains that away, with the Smoking Man stating he had Krycek locked up for selling his secrets, which is typical Chris Carter fashion. While more scenes with Krycek may not be essential to the episode's plot, it would be nice to see more of the rogue agent at work, but all is forgiven this time since Krycek is finally given a chance to get the upperhand. *That* was a long time coming.

With the NCAA Championship music playing in my head, Krycek's "One Shining Moment" is a "passing of the torch" moment as it appears the Cigarette Smoking Man is done in by the man he originally hired to sabotage Mulder's quest for the truth. It's ironic that I don't ever recall hearing the Cigarette Smoking Man referred to as "Cancer Man", though I've read that nickname for years around the internet, and now it's clear the man actually does have cancer. He's vastly deteriorated compared to his earlier appearance in "En Ami" and now he's forced to smoke his cigarettes through a clamp on his throat, which is a great visual among many on The X-Files that I'll never forget. It's interesting to note that the Smoking Man seemed to accept his fate and the loss of his life's work during earlier appearances this season, almost acting eerily remorseful. Now he's suddenly back to his evil ways in a last gasp to resurrect his "project", but his greed got the better of him because he shouldn't have expected Krycek to roll over and be his lap dog again.

Those familiar faces from the Pilot would be Detective Miles, his son Billy who's now an officer too, and Theresa Hoese. It's also a fun way to return to the earlier seasons' trend of having Mulder and Scully work with local law enforcement, and this time it's Billy who's assisting rather than actually being the "X-File" like before. Billy tells Mulder and Scully that a Navy Pilot crashed with an unidentified object, which always seems to be the case with these events. Seems to me that none of these UFO's ever have a smooth landing, so you'd think the aliens would eventually learn to land after all of these years. Aside from that, the excellent visuals of the series continue with teens in the woods that encounter a strange, radioactive force field, which causes one to thrash around in a wild blurred effect, while the other ran away after his flashlight heated up. Mulder and Scully even return to the exact scene of their previous alien encounter when Mulder painted an "X" on the highway. And speaking of alien encounters, Skinner even has one himself when he witness the alien craft taking off, which might be the most important moment he's had on the series; it's at least a close race with him telling off the Smoking Man in "Paper Clip."

Lastly but not leastly, are Mulder and Scully who investigate their last case together, which begins with them as the focus of an investigation. The two are being audited over their outrageous expenses, which is a moment that should have happened years ago! Many of my reviews have always pointed out Mulder's globe-trotting, and even the times where the two of them will criss-cross the United States multiple times in a single episode. "Requiem" is no different as Mulder travels with Scully to Oregon, only to return later along with his boss Walter Skinner. The audit is not exactly essential to the plot of "Requiem" but it's more of a way to reflect back on how Scully's views have shifted over the years. When asked whether she believes in aliens, she simply states, "I've seen things that I cannot deny." The disappointing part is that much of this scene ended up on the cutting floor. If anything, I'd rather have lost the second scene with Mulder and the auditor and kept Scully's entire scene intact. I feel that's more essential to the overall storyline of Scully continuing on without Mulder in the next season. It also seems like no episode is safe from unintentional comedy because I laughed when Mulder ordered the kid to fetch Scully some water; where's he supposed to get that in the middle of the forest? Oh, Chris.

With all of the returning faces, I felt like the Smoking Man resembled the Emperor from Star Wars though in the past many have referred to him as the "Darth Vader of the series." Here he seems more like the Emperor trying to pull the strings and failing before Vader tossed him down the air shaft, much like Krycek dumped him down a flight of stairs. In "Requiem" every character was used effectively, unlike last year's finale where a few of the familiar faces only appeared briefly. I'd almost say it's a home run episode if it weren't for the final two words. But that said, bring on Season Eight anyways! This fan's energy is renewed.

As usual, I'll conclude with my Top 5 episodes from Season 7, and oddly enough I feel like this is the first season where the mythology episodes were stronger as a whole than the standalones.

My Top Five Of Season 7
1. "En Ami"
2. "Je Souhaite"
3. "Closure"
4. "Requiem"
5.  "Orison"

Honorable Mention: "The Sixth Extinction Part II"

"Je Souhaite"

"Your wish is breath-taking in its originality."
Originally Aired 5/14/00

There are two distinct episodes I can pinpoint as being watershed moments in my fandom of The X-Files. The first was in 2002 during Senior year of high school when my English class watched "The Host" and it set me on a course to become a fan, though it was a very slow progression. The second moment was when I watched this episode one morning on TNT in May of 2007. I had seen a handful of episodes over the previous five years, it just wasn't until I saw this episode that I was finally "hooked" enough to watch the following episode, which spilled over into Season 8, followed by another batch of episodes on TNT. I needed more.

At the time I knew nothing of Vince Gilligan,  nor the significance of this point in the series, I only knew that the 44 minutes of "Je Souhaite" that I had watched were supremely entertaining. The investigation surrounding a genie seemed really hokey since several other tv series have relied on the "wishes gone bad" gimmick before but none that I've watched have pulled it off as effectively as The X-Files. That remains true today as well. Given what I know now about Vince Gilligan, it's not necessarily about The X-Files doing a "genie" story, instead it's just a creative way to twist their "reluctant villain" storytelling device. The genie isn't bad, it's just that the people that are awarded their three wishes are too careless or not specific enough. Vince Gilligan wasn't the first to feature that type of villain, though he loved finding new ways to keep it fresh and interesting, from a man that consumes cancer to another character that had an appetite for brain matter.

This episode's guest stars are a hoot, with Will Sasso and Kevin Weisman co-starring as dim-witted brothers. Vince also seems to have a knack for telling stories about lower class yokels, like Eddie Van Blundht in "Small Potatoes" and Patrick Crump in "Drive." The pop culture references are also great, with naturally the theme of I Dream Of Genie being referenced, but also Mulder and Scully peering around a corner like The Three Stooges, and a sly reference to Looney Tunes, when Anson attempts to kill himself by setting a fire with a match and gas from the oven. At least that's what it reminded me of, when Bugs Bunny was trying to hide gangsters from the police in an oven. Not only does Vince turn in a great comedic script, he also stepped behind the camera for the first time, and proceeded to blow something up. He really made a "bang" with his first directing assignment.

The significance of "Je Souhaite" that I wasn't aware of during my first viewing in 2007 is that this episode marked the end of an era- the last "standalone" episode for Mulder and Scully. I feel like that's why Vince made this decidedly sweeter and more whimsical than his recent entries and allowed not only Mulder and Scully, but David and Gillian, to have more fun than usual. Although Mulder's overhead projector is absent, he does present the case to Scully in their office, and the episode even ends with a rare "intimate" moment in Mulder's apartment as they share a beer and watch a movie; how cute. Walter Skinner gets a quick appearance too, with all of this proving that Vince Gilligan is as much of a fan of The X-Files as we are. When I watched this years ago it had ranked in my top ten among the episodes that I had seen, but I reset that list when I decided to watch this series in order from the beginning. While it's just shy of my "new" Top Ten, its hands-down the best standalone episode of Season 7 and my favorite standalone episode since last year's "Dreamland II." Thank you Vince.

"Fight Club"

"I guess that's why they put the 'I' in the F.B.I."
Originally Aired 5/7/00

And finally, after seven long years, it's come to this. Yet, finally reaching the end of the line shouldn't feel this anti-climactic. I've long known that "Fight Club" would be my final "new" episode and I've wished there was a better episode to go out on than this one. I knew that Kathy Griffin would be in this and instantly wanted to hate this episode since I find her to be just utterly irritating. I always try to find something positive with each episode, but knew this episode would really put that sentiment to the test since nearly everything I've read about this episode on the internet is that it's nothing short of a mess. In this case, the internet was right; no hyperbole.

It actually got off to an interesting start though with wonderful choreography of bicycle riders in unison. The directing work on the entire teaser is fantastic, which ended with a knock down-drag out brawl between the bicycle riders. Another brawl occured after the opening credits between two FBI agent dopple-gangers that appear to resemble Mulder and Scully and even sound like them, when in actuality they're played by David and Gillian's stand-ins. The highlight of all of the brawling, and possibly even the entire episode, was when the female agent gets in her car to drive off and the male agent grabs onto the side of her car and punches her as she drove off. I must've missed that the first time around and it made me giggle when I finally noticed it during my second time through.

Following the brawing, Mulder and Scully have a great scene between the two of them in the office that furthers their relationship beyond just a partnership, again showing how far their relationship has progressed over these 20-some episodes this year. Mulder and Scully theorize on possible reasons behind this week's investigation, even mentioning that their two look-alikes were also veteran FBI agents of a seven year partnership... *wink wink*, but Scully mentioning a "corporeal likeness that appears unbidden from the spirit world that the sight of which presages one's own death" sounds a lot like Season 4's "Elegy."  She only needed to go back a little to the previous year because this episode feels an awful lot like Season 3's "Syzygy." That's one I didn't appreciate the first time through either but liked it more with each rewatch, although I doubt this will be the case with "Fight Club."

As for that actual X-Files investigation, it just seems stupid to me and makes Mulder and Scully seem stupid as well. There's a red-headed lady named Betty and another named Lulu that appear to be identical twins and keep following each other from town to town, each working odds jobs like wild animal handler and Mongolian grill chef. Now the brawling between the bicyclists occurred outside of Lulu's house, and this FBI brawl happened outside of Betty's, yet Mulder and Scully only track down Betty until mid-way through the episode. Why not look into why the first brawl happened at Lulu's? Then when they finally do find Lulu and their father, the boyfriend the two are "sharing" winds up having a twin of his own. I guess there's probably a reason for all of this- TV shows always make wild leaps of coincidence for dramatic effect and The X-Files uses that to the fullest week after week, but I still just couldn't bring myself to care about the investigation. Especially after Mulder was sucked into a manhole that was clearing blowing out steam. At least the "father" of Lulu and Betty was hilarious...

The most interesting factor about this whole episode is that while I thought I was finally coming to the end of the road with new episodes this year, FOX announced that they're filming 6 new episodes for a mini-series to air in 2016. That's a pretty interesting twist of fate that couldn't have worked out better if I had planned it.

Mulder's got a grill like Lil Wayne.

"Hollywood A.D."

"You see? It's just not true that you can't get good science at Catholic school. It's a lie."
Originally Aired 4/30/00

After 7 long years it finally happened... I watched an episode early! I'd done so good with sticking to air dates but I accidentally jumped the gun with "Hollywood A.D." and watched it a week early. I've been really off for much of this season as it is, since I put it on hold in February to watch "X-Cops" with my grandma, causing me to fall behind by two or three episodes. I did it again with "First Person Shooter" so I could watch that action-packed episode with a friend of mine. So I assumed I was back on track, only to realize after I watched it that my beloved X-Files actually took a week off. But hey, I lasted this long without a slip up, I think that says a lot to my dedication. I only goofed while I was house-sitting for my aunt, so I might even ignore that little mistake since I took on extra tasks like feeding her dog that distracted me.

Now that I'm allowed to watch it for real, I've watched "Hollywood A.D" several times this week in an attempt to fully form my thoughts on it but I still feel it's a mixed bag. While I enjoy the witty dialogue from Mulder, Scully, and their "hologram" sidekick Wayne Federman, I'm still not sold on the actual X-File. There's a religious artifact that can raise the dead, yet I'm lost with what happened between a cardinal of the church and some guy who had forged religious documents. I suppose all of that is meaningless anyway because this episode is really just an excuse to laugh and poke fun at the series, which it does with flying colors. I loved the back and forth one liners, which the series has been lacking since the days of Darin Morgan's episodes. Sure, I've laughed at many episodes since then, but nothing has felt as fresh and as witty as "Hollywood A.D."

During a meeting with A.D. Skinner, Mulder and Scully are informed they're going to be shadowed on their latest investigation by a movie producer, and friend of his named Wayne Federman, which provided the most laughs for me. I loved his description of Mulder: "Jehovah's Witness meets Harrison Ford's Witness". There are other funny quips throughout his scenes like, "St. Peter's bathrobe", "God's Refrigerator", and the episode also references a fan nickname for Walter Skinner which is the "Skin Man." David Duchovny showed his ability to craft another original story for his second episode this season (he shared a co-writer credit with Chris Carter on "The Sixth Extinction II"), which is also quite different from his Season 6 installment, "The Unnatural." While these 3 are completely different stories, I did notice that while his earlier Season 7 entry used religious allegory, this episode pokes fun at religion.

"Hollywood A.D." also pokes fun at the series itself by featuring a movie about The X-Files, well, an amalgamation loosely based on The X-Files, starring Tea Leoni as Scully and Garry Shandling as Mulder. Much of this is actually based on real life events, as Duchovny's wife is Tea Leoni and David Duchovny made guest appearances on Shandling's cable series, The Larry Sanders Show. During David's appearance on that series his amalgamation loosely based on himself had a crush on Larry Sanders, so now that's reversed when Scully jokes that Shandling has a crush on Mulder. While many viewers might not be aware of that in-joke, the movie-within-a-tv series sequences still offer plenty of laughs, like the Cigarette Smoking Pontiff and eccentric actors that only eat "tofurkey."

The real highlights of this hour are actually the one-on-one moments between Mulder and Scully when they discuss their own lives and religion, showing that while David was growing disillusioned with continuing to play a TV character, he still had a grasp on who the character is and what makes him tick; I assume even more than the man who created Mulder. While Carter did create Mulder, it's Duchovny who has brought him to life for over 150 episodes, so I think he should know the man better. David even added a reference to Mulder's porn collection, which I think was nearly forgotten by this point in the series' run. While David may have provided the funniest script of the year, I believe my favorite of these episodes written by cast members remains William B. Davis' contribution, "En Ami." Although nothing against "Hollywood A.D." since I haven't laughed like this all season long. As this season winds down, I only have one new episode left to go, which is next week's "Fight Club."

"Brand X"

"That sounds like a Darryl Weaver problem to me."
Originally Aired 4/16/00

While Season 7 might be the most "uneven" season in several years, the writers did manage to create several interesting villains, with more of a focus on monsters. Those monsters would actually be "human" monsters like Rob Roberts in "Hungry", Orell Peattie in "Theef", and now Tobin Bell as Darryl Weaver in this episode, "Brand X." That particular brand is a brand of cigarette, created by the Morley Tobacco Company, but without an actual appearance by the Cigarette Smoking Man; maybe his choice in brand is why he has developed cancer. This deadly cigarette as a "monster of the week" villain seems timely because if I recall correctly, the early 2000's was full of those 'Truth' PSA's about the dangers of smoking. I even remember one with a board room of executives that were brain-storming ideas, which reminds me of the scene where Mulder and Skinner confront the Morley company.

Speaking of A.D. Skinner, he also plays a larger role in this week's episode, continuing the trend of removing Skinner from behind his desk. In Season 3 he was the "X-File", in Season 4 he was being black-mailed by the Cigarette Smoking Man, and then again in Season 6 he was being manipulated through a device by Krycek. Rather than being a puppet for the Syndicate, this episode puts Skinner in the thick of an investigation for once. Mulder and Scully are mostly sidelined as Mulder comes down with a bad "bug" and Scully gets another interesting autopsy scene. I think Skinner was given much of the spotlight as David and Gillian were tied up with their own directing assignments, with Gillian's airing the week before and David's following "Brand X." I think using Skinner was a much more effective way to work around the lack of their stars than what happened with "Chimera" and "all things." When you have one without the other it seems to create an imbalance, but leaving both out seems to usually produce better results for whatever reason- like the times when the Gunmen had their own episodes and also the Cigarette Smoking Man's episode, too.

The episode was about deadly cigarettes and they took it literally and created many smoke-filled scenes. "Brand X" opened on smoke billowing out of a chimney, it's villain emerged from a fog and served as an awesome visual introduction for the character, and then there's the deadly smoke from the villain himself, Darryl Weaver. The special effects of the beetles and the make-up used for the victims of Darryl's smoke were great visual effects too. I think that while "Theef" earned the show an Emmy for special make-up effects, it should've went to "Brand X."

This bring us to the villain of "Brand X", "Mr. E. Pluribus", Darryl Weaver. He could almost be the true son of the Smoking Man as he sits alone at night in his apartment watching old war movies, he smokes like a chimney while delivering awesome one-liners ("I got all the coffin nails I can suck down"), and both seem to be delusional with the belief that they're a "hero." The Smoking Man felt the weight of the world was on his shoulders because he protected the secrets of an alien conspiracy, while Darryl Weaver seems to think he'll play a pivotal role in science since he's the cure for cancer. While the Smoking Man was in charge of experiments, Darryl actually is the victim of experimenting.

I really enjoyed Tobin Bell as Darryl Weaver as the villain of the week, Skinner had more screen time in an episode than usual, and a thrilling investigation make "Brand X" one of the better episodes of the Seventh Season. That's all the more surprising because it was the creation of a pair of a newbie X-Files writers, Steven Maeda and Greg Walker. Both will also stick around for a few interesting episodes in the Eighth Season which I'm excited to rewatch and see if they can hold up to my original feelings from eight years ago.

Toodles.

"all things"

"And I'm not wearing any pants right now."
Originally Aired 4/9/00

I read a brief quote from Vince Gilligan where he said they took the most risks during their seventh season, or something to that effect. I initially wrote it off as the same statement a musician makes when the current album being released is their best work, and also maybe he took personal risks with his COPS "crossover" episode. However, after watching "all things", I've realized his statement is true. While every season of the series up to this point has taken risks, like series star David Duchovny writing and directing an episode in the sixth season and director Bob Goodwin writing "Demons" in the fourth season, this year has taken the most collectively. In addition to the COPS episode, David Duchovny wrote and directed another episode, William B. Davis wrote "En Ami", Vince Gilligan also directed his first episode, the series crossed over with Millennium and included Lance Henriksen's "Frank Black" character, the Samantha Mulder story was concluded, and now Gillian Anderson has an episode in which she both wrote and directed.

I really wanted to like "all things" since I liked "The Field Where I Died" which was also a controversial episode, but I'm still struggling to fully express if I liked it or not. I appreciate the effort from Gillian and the fact that the show attempted many different styles of storytelling, so chance encounters and "what if's" sounded like an interesting concept to explore. I've always wondered, probably too much wondering, if things I had done would be different if I'd only taken another action instead. Although if I had, it would've resulted in a different 'Andy' who is currently writing this review. Perhaps I may not have even become an X-Files fan in the first place.

The 'holistic' healing is a little weird though, with a lady telling Scully that she recovered from cancer when she cleared her mind. That's also following something else I failed to mention in my review for "En Ami", that a religious family believed God would cure their son only if it was his will, so they shunned medical treatment. That reminded me of the present day scenario with families opting to not vaccinate their children. I think your mental health does affect your physical health, such as when people worry themselves to a sickened state, but I don't think it works backwards with diseases going into remission when you clear your mind. I think maybe this woman had a chance encounter with the Smoking Man's cure for all diseases from a few episodes back. She also said accidents happen when we're not paying attention- yeah, it's called not watching the road, lady.

The episode failed to grab me the first time through, in fact it's the first time I've fallen asleep multiple times since Season 4's "Kaddish." Perhaps I was hypnotized by all of the water droplets, pencil tappings, and ticking noises throughout the episode. There really didn't seem to be much of an "X-File" to be investigated, although several last season weren't traditional cases either. It also seemed odd that Scully had another 'mid-life crisis' moment of not wanting investigate with Mulder... didn't she learn from what happened the last time when she hooked up with that guy with a talking tattoo?? Well this time it's a chance encounter with a man she loved before joining the FBI and The X-Files, a doctor from her time in medical school. It's already been established she liked older men, when it was revealed she had a relationship with her instructor at the FBI in the first season. Maybe it's not the fact that Scully feels she's longing for a past relationship that didn't work out and wondering how things would be if she hadn't joined the FBI, it's the line where she says, "I want everything I should want at this time in my life." I guess it must be that she 'sexed' Mulder, and is actually having doubts....and BOOM! I'm a shipper. I guess I really am a 'shipper' after all since I'm wondering about her feelings for Mulder and when she came to that realization. 'Shipper' has always been a dirty word for me since many fans seem to take their enjoyment for the Mulder-Scully relationship to the extreme. I just like the fact that they have something deeper than just a friendship, but an understanding and an admiration for each other. It's not just the act of sex, but this relationship seems finally confirmed within this episode. She now seems to be a believer in other possibilities, and I think that led to her choice to to stay with Mulder and not continue with the doctor. Perhaps this is also foreshadowing her pregnancy as well. Season 7 must be the year of subtlety.

Just like last week's episode, the "B" plot of the story is weak, as Mulder is off investigating crop circles in England. Really? Crop circles? I think aliens have better things to do than burn images into fields, like burning faces with their cattle prods. Although I do like the clever hat that Mulder is wearing, which reads "Stonehenge Rocks", but I highly doubt he'd ever wear an ugly tan coat like that. Ugh... now I really am a "shipper."

"Chimera"

"You put the service back in the 'protect and serve'."
Originally Aired 4/2/00

This is like 'X-Files meets Desperate Housewives', if only this series was around just a couple seasons longer; maybe then it might have worked as a creepy parody of that ABC drama. Instead I'm trying to view it without my knowledge of "Chimera" being written as an excuse to leave Scully out of the main investigation because Gillian Anderson was tied up behind the scenes with her own episode. Mulder leaving Scully behind on a stake-out leads to a humorous moment or two when they're speaking over the phone, much like "Chinga" was before it, though the reason for even having the stake-out is a little flimsy.

Mulder off on his own to investigate a disappearance in another idyllic town also seems like going to the well again since he was thrust into that life in "Dreamland" and then posed as a married couple in "Arcadia", but "Chimera" adds a different and darker twist. Mulder is actually rooming with a sheriff and his wife as he investigates a murder but finds himself in the midst of a love triangle. It also goes back to the old formula from past seasons when Mulder was working with local law enforcement, twisting it so that now that officer becomes a possible suspect. The domestic life that isn't what it seems, combined with the disappearance of a wife, also reminded me a little of last year's movie Gone Girl. "Chimera" doesn't have the same twists and turns as that story but I got the same vibe. Maybe that's what the movie was lacking- a good supernatural monster.

It seems to me like whenever the X-Files team had a script that didn't quite "click", they didn't try a new idea, they just kept hammering away on the first idea til they got something that might work. That strategy isn't always sound and I think this episode suffered a little. I liked the murder mystery and the revelation of "whodunit?" but I don't get a sense that any of the characters really clicked. Maybe they weren't supposed to due to all of the affairs or I'm missing a cut scene or two, possibly. For what it's worth, in a season of "back to basics" X-Files tales, this is one that is truly back to the good old days and isn't the worst that I've seen this season (or will see.) Although, "it's not the worst" isn't much praise..

"En Ami"

"Wow. I'm learning a whole other side to you. You're not just a cold-blooded killer. You're a pop psychologist as well."
Originally Aired 3/19/00

Finally, the Cigarette Smoking Man is back! These last few seasons have been light on Ol' Smokey, limiting his scenes to only the big event, two-part installments of the on-going conspiracy since Season 5, save for a fantasy sequence as a Nazi in Season 6's "Triangle." Not only is the character back for an episode, but the actor portraying him- William B. Davis, also wrote the script. His scenes in the episode are paired with Agent Scully and it's interesting to see those two interact with each other. This is the man responsible for her cancer so it's only fitting they finally have a face-to-face "confrontation." I can't recall a time where they ever had any scenes together except for those early moments when the Cigarette Smoking Man would lean against a filing cabinet and smoke. I believe she's met every other Syndicate baddie, both the Well-Manicured Man and the 'lead' Elder in Season 3, and Deep Throat long before them.

Just like the ending to "Theef", this is one I saw in the early morning hours on TNT, so I must've watched "En Ami" after that one ended. Either way, I saw this long before I began watching the series in order so my only knowledge of the series' most important villain was only through the "Duane Barry"/"Ascension" two-part story. After seeing the "how" and "why" of the entire cancer storyline with Scully unfold over the years, this episode has a bigger impact than it would've back in 2007. I've read online that some say this episode is out of character for Scully but my opinion differs. This is totally in-line with Dana Scully- why would she ignore a news report of a child who was miraculously cured of cancer? Especially when the boy also has a similar scar on the back of his neck and even the Smoking Man's mention of a chip cannot be ignored. The Smoking Man has always believed his actions have always been for a just cause, and he's viewed himself as a hero, so I chuckled when he told Scully he's doing God's work. Scully is also far from out of character since she realized she might be in the middle of another game of the Smoking Man, whether he actually is doing "God's work" or not, so she wore a wire and attempted to mail cassette tapes back to Mulder for evidence. She'd be a fool to not try to protect herself, because after all, this is a man who murdered his own son Jeffrey. ...or am I the only one who cared about Agent Spender?

It's also neat to see the Smoking Man's office...if it really is his office. In my head I called the building, "Syndicate Central", since we've never seen much other than that smoke-filled office in New York where the Elders would meet to discuss catastrophes that threatened their secrets, like alien rebels and black oil. There has to be some kind of behind the scenes work like that, complete with offices and secretaries, since they did all those experiments with clones and vaccines. Might have been a fun reference to the past if the building was labeled under the Roush company banner.

Not only was it interesting to see a new wrinkle to the series with Scully and the Smoking Man, but they also brought back the grey-haired "Man in Black" from the Fight The Future movie as the Smoking Man's shadowy assistant, and even the Lone Gunmen get a fun appearance when they're each disguised as a different member of the trio. Although this is also a bitter sweet episode because it's the last to be directed by long-time series director Rob Bowman, who's been with the show since late in Season One and also directed the movie, too.

As I'm writing this, I did realize I've been mistaken about any interaction between the Smoking Man and Scully, since it was just a mere four episodes ago when he appeared in her apartment to tell her of his involvement in the abduction of Samantha Mulder. I also said that scene was foreshadowing his larger role in this episode, which this episode and even Season 7 as whole seem to be slowly working towards Scully's character evolving into a "believer." I recalled Scully and Smoking Man interacting but now I can't remember a time when the Gunmen met Skinner. After 7 years of reviews I should've learned to take better notes on these matters. I do have to say that even though I enjoyed this one for what it was in 2007 as a fun goose-chase for a cure for cancer, I now have to say it's the best episode of not just Season 7, but since "The Unnatural." I guess I truly have transformed my own character beliefs, just like Dana Scully, as I'm now a firm believer in the character episodes than the "monster of the week" episodes.