"Existence"

"I'm the one who kept you alive, praying you'd win somehow."
Originally Aired 5/20/01

The previous episode, "Essence", had me once again pumped up for The X-Files. It showed there were still mysteries left to be unraveled in this series, such as the Syndicate's work continuing without them and how it related to Scully. The re-emergence of Krycek was also exciting, which is actually what served as my introduction to the character way back in 2008. Here in "Existence", Krycek is clearly out for himself only, as he avoids the rampaging Billy Miles, then holds Mulder at gunpoint in another tense parking garage scene. I feel like every crucial moment in the history of the series has taken place in a darkened, empty parking garage, and if it didn't take place in one, then it's not worth mentioning.

On one hand I feel sorry that the character of Krycek was practically killed in cold-blood by Skinner. It seems more like he should have died as a result of one of his betrayals, possibly even back in Season 6 when the Faceless Aliens were lighting Syndicate members on fire with their caddle prod sticks. Yet, with David Duchovny leaving the series following this episode, it's fitting that his nemesis should exit with him. It seemed like they never fully committed to making him a true formidable foe for Mulder anyways, since Season 6 shifted to gears to make him more of an enemy of Skinner instead, after he had gained some form of upper-hand over the Assistant FBI Director through the use of the nanobot device. Perhaps leaving Krycek for dead with a bullet in his head is just payback for Krycek leading Mulder to his possible death in the woods in last season's finale.

Yet there are other characters in this final hour of Season 8, such as Agent Reyes, whose "whale song" is even worse in hindsight. I just feel like they weren't even trying with this character at all. She's basically the 'Phoebe Buffay' of The X-Files, if she were played by one of the least interesting actresses they could find. Maybe this 'new age' character made more sense from the 1990's state-of-mind, but in the 21st century, it hasn't aged well at all.

Doggett is once again the most interesting aspect of the episode. He knows from the get-go he's being played by his former buddy Knowle Rohrer and doesn't budge at all in giving out the secret location of Scully's hiding spot. He even gets a cool parking garage scene of his own, when his former FBI Agent buddy-turned Super Soldier hangs onto the side of his SUV and is taken for a wild ride. Following the episode's climax, Doggett even calls out his boss and tells Kersh that he's under investigation, which left me mega pumped for Season 9 back when I first saw this scene. While I am fully aware now how Season 9 ended, Doggett and Kersh on-screen together is always a great moment. Even Doggett and Rohrer, played by Adam Baldwin, have a great scene together that is full of necessary exposition. They lay out the entire conspiracy behind this current season for anyone who was still slightly confused as to what's really going on- Scully's abduction in Season 2 was a military operation to install a chip, which has now become active, triggering her pregnancy. She was part of the Syndicate's experiments, while Billy Miles is part of the alien colonists' experiments, which they see Scully's baby as a threat because he would be immune to them as a true human-alien hybrid. What I still don't get 8 years later is why the Soldiers just suddenly back away and let the baby live?

The best sequence of the entire episode for me as a viewer and also a fan of Doggett, is the scene with his 'heart to heart' with Mulder, coincidentally is also in a parking garage. I think Fox may have saved a lot of money by using the same parking garage over and over again this season. Over the years so many characters have asked "HOW FAR WOULD MULDER GO?", which is practically the same exact quote from 4 or 5 different characters. Even Scully asked Mulder why he's still searching for answers two years ago in the Season 6 finale. This time, it's actually Doggett who turns the tables and asks Mulder when his search will end. For this entire season, Agent Doggett has been on the receiving end of Scully's advice, and this moment with Mulder seems to be a defining moment for the guy I once called "Dick Doggett." He asks, "How long until the next Billy Miles rears his head? The next threat? The next phantom? When will it end?" Mulder, the selfish jerk that he is, just smirks and says "maybe it doesn't." Maybe he really should have been abducted for good so he wasn't ruining more lives and getting even more people killed. As one of my good friends always says, "Mulder is the worst." Now *I* believe.

While this is a somewhat weak ending for Season 8, I really enjoyed the second half of this season's episodes as they were all given a sense of purpose. Everything was driven toward the birth of Scully's baby, which brought back Krycek, introduced new enemies in the form of alien replicants, and also closed the door on the Syndicate's mysterious experiments. Nearly all of my favorite episodes are found in the second half of the season, though the first half did offer plenty of scares and a greater focus on eerie cases of the week.

Top 5 of Season 8
1. Via Negativa
2. Vienen
3. Three Words
4. Essence
5. Empedocles