"Daemonicus"

"You know, Monica, a room here just came open."
Originally Aired 12/2/01

"Daemonicus" acts as almost a reset, as Doggett and Reyes are on their first case together, while Scully is moved to a teaching position at the FBI Academy in Quantico. She still offers medical assistance through autopsies and such, so the series now has essentially three leads. Years ago, when I began watching The X-Files through reruns and DVDs, that was one of the bigger issues I had with this season because it seemed too crowded with three agents on the case. It's the opposite now, revisiting it years later, as I dislike everything I used to enjoy in "Daemonicus."

It's a creepy case involving supposedly demonic possession, with creepy whispers, grotesque masked men, and the gore dialed up to 11. I just find all of it a rehash and "over the top" in it's attempts to be disturbing. A good analogy would be that it's trying to be unsettling like Season 4's "Home", which is a "classic" among series' fans, but it ends up being more like "Sanguinarium" from the same season. Not only does this episode feature gallons of puke, a lady also gets stabbed with a dozen hypodermic needles in her face, so maybe that's why I made the connection to from that episode from Season 4. The puke really is quite excessive and deserves another mention because there is actually so much puke, that the actor whose puking actually slips and falls into it. I don't know if that was unintentional or the actor was really getting into his character's vomitting. Frank Spotniz, who wrote this episode, must have a vomit festish because he even had a monster who literally vomitted Doggett back to life in an episode last season.

The demonic possession being investigated is figured out very early in the case, much like the instances when Mulder would be clued into what's really going on, except it's actually Doggett who figures everything out rather quickly. Doggett figures it out, we as the audience figure it out, yet Scully and Reyes fail to see the truth, which makes the episode drag on too long as it limps to it's conclusion.

Another annoying wrinkle in "Daemonicus" is that Frank Spotnitz also tries to shoe-horn in that Doggett is actually in love with Scully. Never once did I pick up on that while watching Season 8 for the first time through in 2008, nor again this past year. The only way I knew about it was because Frank Spotnitz mentioned it in part of his commentary for Season 8's "Deadalive." I think this is just a subplot he was trying to get across in his own episodes. In this episode, the villain tries to get under Doggett's skin by insinuating that harbors deep feelings for Scully, so I'll leave it at that- just more of his mind games.

Three episodes into Season 9 and it's off to a sluggish start, so it's no wonder there was a mass exodus of the fanbase following David Duchovny's departure. Not to take away from Robert Patrick, Gillian Anderson, and the rest of the crew, who are still in top form. I feel like Spotnitz and creator Chris Carter needed to take a rest from the series for awhile because the fatigue in writing 180-odd episodes is apparent.