"Empedocles"

"I saw Elvis in a potato chip once."
Originally Aired 4/22/01

There is a lot going on in this hour of The X-Files, much more character development than your average case-of-the-week episode, especially with "Empedocles" featuring four FBI agents. Technically Mulder is no longer allowed to investigate X-Files cases, so I'm not sure how he still has access to the basement office, let alone free to roam the hallways of the J. Edgar Hoover Building. Maybe he had a spare key made for such occasions, though I really wonder about the security at the FBI. Krycek always seems to have access, too.

Scully has a lighter load as she appears to be on maternity leave, though her role in this episode was not any less essential. Throughout this season she has offered advice to Doggett on their cases together, since she was once in his shoes as the "skeptic." This time Doggett actually comes to her, as the episode's case could have a link back to the mystery surrounding his son's abduction. Their brief moment together is the highlight of this episode as Doggett shows some cracks in his crusty exterior, asking Scully how she became a believer. It segues into a beautifully eerie scene with Doggett appearing in a field, as everyone else around him is in slow motion, which appears throughout the episode and finally reveals the moment when he discovered his son. Doggett later explains to Monica Reyes that he tried to do everything he could to find his son, and if a paranormal link is actually true, that means he didn't explore every possibility in his search. Some fans have said Doggett was merely a replacement character, either replacing Mulder as the person with a mysterious abduction that still haunts him or as a replacement for Scully's skeptic character. This episode strongly disproves either critique of the John Doggett character, as he is neither. While he is strongly skeptical of the paranormal, he approaches it from a different angle than our other characters; he's more like the previous non-believer, Agent Jeffrey Spender.

So with Scully on leave, and Mulder's position at the FBI in limbo, that leaves only two agents- Doggett and Reyes, who brings a case she is consulting on to Mulder's attention. I really like this dynamic with Mulder assuming the role of "mentor", almost sliding into Deep Throat's shoes. Mulder is still able to throw in his classic wisecracks and the tension between Doggett and Mulder is carried over from the previous episode. I feel like they should have done everything within their power to keep Duchovny from leaving the series so the Mulder-Doggett dynamic could continue as regular partners. It's kind of like a tv drama version of the old WWF wrinkle of "tag team partners who hate each other". Monica Reyes still does nothing for me as a character on this series. She feels like a really awkward version of Mulder, maybe even like Phoebe Buffay from Friends. The opening scene where she is asked if a case has a Satanic link because of Marilyn Manson CDs is awkward dialogue and doesn't do the character any favors either.

While I actually like the mysterious X-File case this week, which appears to be a thread of evil that is passed on from person to person at their most vulnerable moments, it seems a little under-developed. Maybe that's because I can't take "Bug" from Uncle Buck seriously as a "villain." I keep picturing him as the guy who's afraid of John Candy's character in that movie. Although the X-Files crew did excellent make-up effects when "Bug" tears skin from his face and reveals lava underneath; pretty creepy. It doesn't matter if that part of the plot isn't given enough time though, because it was mainly there to get Doggett to question his disbelief in the paranormal. This is exactly what the writers should have been doing sooner in the season, because now we only have 4 episodes remaining but there is so much more that could have been done with Doggett-Mulder. I recall this being one of the stronger episodes from Season 8 from when I first watched it, and after viewing it again, it is among the strongest of the entire run of episodes filmed in California. Not only is Doggett's background explored, but they also remembered Mulder's background as a criminal profiler. Bravo to writer Greg Walker!

Actually, excuse me, the best part of this episode was actually a few recurring moments with a sassy black nurse at the hospital. She tells Mulder and Doggett that it's "immediate family only", then later she scolds Doggett while he's visiting Scully. She appears a third time even, telling the agents again that it's family only. Such sass! Give that lady a raise.

"Three Words"

"For a guy who was in a coffin not too long ago, I think I'm doing pretty damn good."
Originally Aired 4/8/01

For the 8th season of The X-Files, David Duchovny was contracted to appear in 12 of the 21 episodes. So far we've seen Mulder in a flashback or two, in his alien fetish chair, as a disguise of the Alien Bounty Hunter, and he's also played dead. In "Three Words", David finally gets to play Fox Mulder alive and well, which marks his 7th appearance overall this season. Halfway through his contracted amount and he's finally able to play Mulder in the way we all know and love seems like it might not be the best use of that contract.

Whether it was the best use of Duchovny or not, I really enjoyed everything about this episode, from the performances to the action. Mulder tells Scully he's not sure where he fits in and this show could've been pretty crowded with three lead actors and guest stars galore, along with the amount of stories it's trying to weave together. The first is the continuation of the mystery surrounding the returned abductees, and it seems a database has gathered information on all of these people, including Mulder and Billy Miles. Mulder investigates and brings along the Gunmen, giving that trio some action in the field in a scene reminiscent of the Mission Impossible films.

Doggett has an investigation of his own though its not of his own freewill. The creepy Absalom from the previous episodes has broken out of jail and he abducts Doggett because he wants to expose the government database too. I'm not sure his plan to break into that government facility would have been very successful, since the computer password was not revealed until much later in the episode. I'm really going to miss Absalom as he was a whole different kind of creepy compared to the Syndicate. He wasn't really a typical villain since he was actually trying to expose the secrets behind the experiments on the abductees, he just had a flair for the dramatic that ended in his death, like the guy who jumped over the White House fence in the episode's opening.

We also learn that not only is Doggett being used as as a fall guy at the FBI, he's also being used by his own friend Knowle Rohrer, played by Adam Baldwin. When we first saw Doggett, he was a golden boy at the FBI and was chummy with his fellows agents, but now all he has is that lonely basement office. He should have listened to Scully's warning and got out before it was too late. I'm not sure what's a worse punishment- being exiled to work in the basement office or being the boss of those who work in that basement? It's also interesting to note how Mulder was given an informant character named Deep Throat (and later X) and his rival was a former FBI agent. Now Doggett has an informant who is also being set up to be his rival. Even more people are shunning Doggett. Poor guy. Although with Rohrer as a new wave of villains with these bumpy neck spikes, and Absalom knowing how to detect them, it would have been a better use of the characters had they been able to come face to face. Perhaps Rohrer was one of the people at Absalom's UFO cult camp, so Rohrer kills him after he informs Mulder of their neck spikes.

The most interesting aspect of this episode is that Mulder is actually on the outside looking in, so he was right when he said he didn't know how he fit in. For 7 seasons the show was through Mulder's eyes and we saw every wrinkle in the conspiracy unfold as he discovered them. In this 8th season, til now it has been mostly Scully's journey as she searched for Mulder and was forced to work with a new partner. However this episode seems to be slowly passing the torch off to Robert Patrick's John Doggett. I used an example before that Doggett is like taking a character like Snake Plissken and placing him into a horror movie, but after viewing the conspiracies in "Three Words", I see Doggett closer to Roger Thornhill in North By Northwest. He's a regular guy that gets mixed up in a conspiracy in classic Hitchcock-style. Scully informed Mulder that Doggett was above reproach, which we know is true since he returned to government facility to save Mulder in the episode's climax, after he realized he unknowingly set up Mulder with the classified information.

Five episodes remain in Season 8, which isn't nearly enough screen time for the "friendship" between Doggett and Mulder to grow. I really enjoy their anti-bromance and it's nice to see Mulder interact with someone he clearly doesn't like, much like those scenes with Agent Spender in Seasons 5 and 6. I'm putting "Three Words" near the top of Season 8's collection of episodes.

"Deadalive"

"All aboard."
Originally Aired 4/1/01

While many fans of The X-Files were losing interest in the series during this time, Season 8 seems to have more of a focus on storytelling through it's mythology arc than previous seasons, with the intertwining of Scully's mysterious pregnancy and the disappearance of Mulder. One of those storylines appeared to meet it's end in the last episode, "This Is Not Happening", when Agent Mulder was returned following his abduction. The opening moments of "Deadalive" revealed several cracks in the direction this arc with Mulder has taken, as he's been dead and buried for three months, with the funeral being the worst scene I've ever watched in this series. Chris Carter has always lacked in trying to create tender moments between his characters and that cemetery scene between Scully and Skinner was truly laughably bad.

I was ready to declare this series as dead as Fox Mulder. However the episode seemed to have steered the ship away from crashing when it focused more on the drama surrounding Agent Doggett. With the investigation into Mulder's disappearance ending in his apparent death, Director Kersh moves for Doggett to be re-assigned off the X-Files division. That's what Doggett has wanted since the season premiere, "Within", yet he's seemingly had a change of heart. If he's reassigned and Scully takes maternity leave, Doggett comes to the realization that the X-Files office will be closed for good. Shaking his "Dick Doggett" image as the season has progressed, Doggett has firmly placed himself on "Team Mulder" with his decision to stay, scoring another one for the good guys.

Doggett has been introduced to the Lone Gunmen, and also worked closely with his superior, AD Skinner, and in "Deadalive" he's introduced to another character, the shady Alex Krycek. Doggett's introduction to Krycek was also my own introduction to him too, as Season 8 was the first season I had watched in order following several standalones seen in reruns. I liked his mysterious appearance as he seemingly holds Mulder's fate in his hands, giving Skinner a life or death choice to make. The parking lot scene between Krycek and Doggett is the best parking garage scene since X called Mulder his "tool" back in "One Breath." Although I can't recall many parking garage scenes in the years since then. If Doggett hadn't already chosen sides, then his attempt at standing up to Krycek firmly places him on Team Mulder.

Speaking of "One Breath", this episode feels a lot like that one, only flipping the scenario so that now Doggett, Scully, and even Skinner are working to save Mulder's life. Not only do these episodes share a lot of hospital scenes, but Doggett's decision on whether to be reassigned echoes Mulder's own decision to resign from the X-Files. Just like Mulder confronted the mysterious Smoking Man for answers on Scully, Doggett even questions another cryptic character, Absalom. Judson Scott has portrayed villains before but here he's excellently creepy and I wish he was being set up as more of a conspirator this season, than just a vessel for the Doggett character. 

The best scene of all in "Deadalive" isn't the conversation between Doggett and Absalom, nor is it the return of Krycek, it was a scene with Billy Miles, who also returned following Season 7's "Requiem." Billy is returned under likely 100 pounds of make-up and prosthetics, which looked super gruesome as he laid in a hospital bed on life support. Back when I first watched this episode as part of a weekend-long binge of Season 8, I was really impressed with the scene of Billy shedding his skin in the shower. It still holds up as a creepy effect, with his "flesh" dropping off and oozing into the shower drain. Just as Billy and Mulder were both resurrected in this hour of television, there still appears to be life left in The X-Files.