"Medusa"

"I'm a good shot."
Originally Aired 2/11/01

At this point in the season, at the 10th "monster of the week" in a row and 12th episode overall, I was ready for a break from this type of story-telling. Give me Mulder, give me aliens, give me anything to sink my teeth into. I couldn't recall much from "Medusa" before I sat down to watch it, except that I have a doll of Agent John Doggett, who's decked out in tactical gear from this episode. Moments into "Medusa", I recalled the plot right away, and felt like it was a strong episode among Season 8's crop of stories.

Apparently some chemical or ooze is causing human flesh to disintegrate in the tunnels of the Boston Subway, so Doggett and Scully are called in as consultants because of their knowledge of weird happenings like that. I like how Doggett basically knows his role and shuts his mouth, saying "I'm with her", and lets Scully take charge. After ten cases together, Doggett is finally getting the hang of his role in The X-Files. I really like the scene where Doggett "suits up" with his crew, which is when we're introduced to several faces from television and film. Penny Johnson (from The Larry Sanders Show, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Castle) is a doctor with the CDC, except she mostly just looks at things in the subway and then yells to Agent Doggett. There's also a guy by the name of Brent Sexton, whom I can't recall from any specific roles, yet I know I've seen his face. He's usually in roles like this, where he's a sidekick or "heavy" and then gets killed. Another member of the group is actor Vyto Ruginis, playing the stereotypical tough guy Lieutenant who may or may not be Italian, and I know I've seen him in roles like that before, too. All four of them suit up in tactical gear and bring a lot of fire power into the subway, yet we sadly don't get to see any of that in use.

Meanwhile, Scully stays above ground in an elaborately decorated control center and also yells to Agent Doggett a lot. She's really annoyed by another familiar face, actor Ken Jenkins, who was a doctor on Scrubs. I usually confuse him with actor Philip Baker Hall for some reason. His character in "Medusa" is that of Chief Karras, who keeps reminding Scully that he's releasing the trains on time for the 5 o'clock commute, whether Doggett is out of the subway or not. Now I've said before that Doggett's hard boiled character in this world of the paranormal is like putting Snake Plissken into a horror movie, and "Medusa" is coincidentally the best example of that. Karras has placed a deadline on Doggett and Scully, much like Snake's 24 hour mission into New York City. He's also decked out in tactical gear, somewhat like Snake's leather and camo appearance. This episode also makes use of an incredibly elaborate subway that I assume is a set built just for this episode, heightening the action movie-like quality of the episode.

When the mystery is revealed, it's not quite as impressive as the build to that mystery, though I still enjoyed this episode quite a lot. Several X-Files tropes are present- local law enforcement standing in their way, giant flashlights in dark passageways, and also "annoyed Scully" makes an appearance. I love "annoyed Scully" so much and she always raises the bar for every episode she appears in. I assume "Medusa" won't be many X-Files fans' cup of tea, but I'm an action movie fan, and I enjoy this 40-minute attempt at being a blockbuster action movie of the 90's. It feels a little like that Daylight movie with Stallone (granted I only watched that once on tv over a decade ago) and that one movie with Penelope Ann Miller in the sewers (which I saw once on HBO even further back.) Doggett is on the clock and racing against time, Scully is barking orders and rushing around to find answers while watching on closed-circuit monitors, and I was entertained, so there. Bravo X-Files.