"The Gift"

"You wearing pants Langly?"
Originally Aired 2/4/01

Yet another episode where Doggett's epilogue sums up my thoughts on the episode too, "I don't even know where to begin or how to explain it." My initial thought was that I liked "The Gift" in 2007 when I saw this for the first time, yet revisiting it now in the context of the series only leaves me confused. David Duchovny only has limited amount of screen time this season, roughly half of the episodes, so it seems odd they would use one of those appearances in a one-off episode, especially one about a monster.

The plot of "The Gift" is about Doggett trying to track down Mulder by retracing his steps just before he disappeared at the end of Season 7, so David's appearances as Mulder are limited to a few flashbacks to his final case. These are actually flashbacks to a case we've never seen before, which is because Mulder filed a false report so it never happened. If that sounds confusing, it's because it is- this episode appears to be changing the continuity of events in Season 7. Mulder's brain activity at the beginning of Season 7 was quickly written away and swept under the rug, while the Cigarette Smoking Man seemed to be suffering from the effects instead as he looked progressively sicker throughout the season. The Season 8 premiere, "Within", said that Mulder kept his own condition quiet, so now "The Gift" is trying explain exactly what happened. I can overlook what may appear to be continuity errors, or as some would call "retconning", because the show has a habit of referencing events several episodes, or even seasons, later.

The purpose of this episode is also to deepen the character of Agent John Doggett, who originally appeared to be a real dick upon his introduction in "Within" and "Without." Doggett is a guy who just wants to do his job, which is find Fox Mulder, and he has no opinion on the paranormal. I've likened him to taking a character like Snake Plissken and plopping him into the middle of a horror movie; he's a fish out of water. His experiences over these last few episodes are showing him that you can't do everything by the book, some things are better left unexplained, as Skinner tells him at the conclusion of the episode. I really enjoy their episodes together and any appearance by the Lone Gunmen is always welcome. Some could say Skinner and Doggett is retreading the same waters as the Mulder and Skinner friendship yet I think it's different. Skinner was a non-believer like Doggett is now and I feel like he's just trying to say, "look, I've been there before, this X-Files stuff is crazy...but it's true."

"The Gift" was likely viewed as a misfire in 2001 when it aired on FOX because many fans were rabid for the return of David Duchovny as Fox Mulder. They didn't want to see him in "flashbacks", instead they wanted him returned and investigating new cases alongside Scully. That isn't what they were given. Instead, "The Gift" had Doggett investigating a monster that restored people to life after vomiting them. Scully wasn't even present, either. That vomit monster seemed odd to me too, but I feel like when you're nearing 175 episodes of a series, you're somewhat limited on monster scenarios. The vomit monster is actually another in a long line of sympathetic creatures that aren't really "evil" and it fits the theme of "body horror" that the show loved to do so often. Maybe the actual "gift" here is like getting socks for Christmas- it's not something you really wanted but you'll take it anyway.