"Hellbound"

"I always said there's three kinds of people in the world- them who make things happen, them who watch things happen, and them who wonder what happened."
Originally Aired 1/27/02

The X-Files has encountered cases of reincarnation and past lives before, in Season 1's "Born Again" and Season 4's "The Field Where I Died." In this instance, the reincarnation plays out in a cycle, with everyone living and dying in the same loop. It's a pretty grim tale, continuing the recent trend of darker stories, which began with the eighth season.

When I had previously watched these Season 9 episodes, which is going on ten years now, as much as I liked the Doggett character, I hated his partnership with Reyes. It seemed unnecessary having 3 leads on the show, with Scully being their unofficial partner, and even worse is it seemed to shove Skinner further to the sidelines. What I appreciate now with a different perspective is that it has made a few of these episodes a little more intriguing. Doggett and Reyes actually put in solid investigating work, whereas Mulder would often leap to the source of the paranormal activity upon arriving on the crime. Adding more suspense to this story is that it appears that ex-cons attending a focus group are killing each other, so anyone could be the murderer. The skinned alive victims bump up the creep factor just a little bit further, putting this one in "classic" X-Files territory, as it does feel like a return to the early days of the series with their special effects and make-up work being outstanding.

The presence of law enforcement is a callback to the early days as well. Scully paying a visit to the retired detective from a similar series of murders, evokes the feeling from the Tooms murders in "Squeeze." They also twist the concept of Mulder and Scully's typical interactions with law enforcement by making this guy, Detective Van Allen, the actual murderer. Usually for Mulder and Scully, they'd just end up being an ignorant bumpkin for who hates their presence in the investigation.

I can't say this makes me like the character of Reyes more than I previously did, but I do like the use of her in these Season 9 episodes. I have the same feelings toward this week's episode, as "Hellbound" is a little better than my memory had led me to believe. It's not among the best episodes the series has to offer, but it is good enough for Season 9, and I'm ok with that.  

"John Doe"

"Because its mine."
Originally Aired 1/13/02

Before I sat down to view this episode, I was told by a new friend that The X-Files is a very serious show. Ten years of being a fan may have caused me to forget just how much the show asks of its viewers during the Pilot and the initial episodes- Mulder is a kooky FBI agent who works out of the basement and investigates freaky occurrences; Scully has been assigned to work with him, and her beliefs clash with her new partner; there are aliens hovering overhead and possibly abducting kids from the woods in the Pacific Northwest; shadowy government agents are lurking around every corner to steal evidence; and Mulder has been searching for answers about the disappearance of his younger sister, and hoping his work on The X-Files will give him answers. That's "heavy", in the words of Doc Brown from Back To The Future. The series eventually embraced it's comedic side, which was always bubbling beneath the surface, thanks to many one-liners from David Duchovny. Perhaps I also stayed closer to the comedic and light-hearted episodes, with many of my favorites coming from the minds of Vince Gilligan, Darin Morgan, and even David himself.

"John Doe" is a dark and deeply personal episode for Agent John Doggett, as he finds himself stranded in Mexico, unaware of how he arrived there and even who he is. The episode itself is also dark because of how it's filmed, with some tinkering done to the exposure so it appears its filmed in a sweltering desert. Many scenes are either super dark when indoors, or appear washed-out with white light when outside. The close-ups are also a bit jarring, since I can see every pore on the face of Robert Patrick.

Although Doggett seems to be suffering from amnesia, he does have brief flashes to memories of his young son. Doggett keeps fighting to find out who he is, while his partners back home are doing the same. Reyes is a lot less annoying this time around than previous episodes, especially when she stands her ground with a shady business man and his lawyer, reminding me of one of her better scenes in "4-D." Maybe this is a sign on things to come for the Reyes character.

When Reyes finally connects the dots and traces a phone that may have been made by her partner, it leads to an action sequence and shoot-out down in Mexico, which is straight out of a Clint Eastwood movie. There's even a bus that gets used as a battering ram when Doggett and Reyes bust out of some building after coming under fire from the Cartel. Perhaps I'm making a leap here like Mulder would do, but I feel like the setting and filming of this episode could have played a hand in the creation of Vince Gilligan's series Breaking Bad, since he admittied he used the portrayal of Bryan Cranston in Season 6 to influence his casting of Walter White. Connection to that series or not, I enjoyed "John Doe" and it features some of the best work that Robert Patrick did during his run on The X-Files.

"Trust No. 1"

"Your staring over my shoulder doesn't make me go faster."
Originally Aired 1/6/02

These conspiracy episodes usually give me a lot of material to write about, whether it's good or bad, and "Trust No. 1" is definitely not lacking. I used to like this episode when I originally watched it on DVD ages ago, yet I made excuses for why I enjoyed it. Even the writers and director had mixed reactions, too. I recently read that series writer Chris Carter wrote this episode to include Mulder's disappearance because it was never properly dealt with during David Duchovny's time off last season, yet, that was last season. This season David Duchovny is no longer even a member of the cast, so referencing the character makes it seem like cheating the viewers. Even the director Kim Manners stated that, "The only thing I thought we didn't do right during seasons eight and nine was that a lot of the shows were about Mulder, and I thought it was a mistake to make a series about a man that wasn't standing in front of the camera." He's right, they should have written Mulder off properly in the season opener, rather than this "bait and switch" move, which teased his appearance when they knew they couldn't deliver.

Despite the awful taste in my mouth regarding Mulder, there still is quite a bit to enjoy in this episode. While the episode is all about advancing the sinister nature of the villainous Super Soldiers, there's an undertone that relates to the episode's title of "Trust No. 1." It was always Mulder's "mantra", and here it's eerily relevant following 9/11 regarding national security. There's a "watch dog" division of the government that spies on everyone, tracking the moves of every citizen. Unfortunately it isn't followed up beyond that, because it's just a way for the bad guy to contact Scully, although they could've mined this subplot for a few more episodes.

In fact, that bad guy is another highlight as Terry O'Quinn (or here, Terrance Quinn) makes an appearance as the character of "Shadow Man." I loved Terry on Millennium as Peter Watts, as Locke on Lost, and as Santiago on the very, very short-lived Harsh Realm. Maybe it's just his cool mustache as the reason why I like him. Even a character's dying words on Millennium were, "don't you just love that mustache?"

Once again, Robert Patrick is the standout of the three leads, as he tried to convince Scully to trust him and even discovered crucial evidence on the "Shadow Man." Although it seemed in the season premiere that the writers' intent was to insert Doggett into the role of Mulder, here Scully finds herself in Mulder's shoes. She's the one who is willing to trust any one against her better judgment, with Doggett now playing Scully's role as the one seeking hard proof. It's a bit of whiplash with the role reversals, especially with Doggett even telling Scully the same things she used to tell Mulder. I guess she's just really lost without her partner and trusted confidant of 8 years. Which leads me to one major gripe I had with the episode, that Scully is such a terrible mom in this episode. She invited a stranger into her house with an infant, then fell asleep in another room. Later, she leaves for what looks like an entire day to follow the instructions of the "Shadow Man", as it's daylight when she hits the road and it's night time when she finally meets the bad guy in some deserted field. Luckily for her, Agent Reyes is a better babysitter than she is an FBI agent.

I feel like "Trust No 1" is far from a classic episode, even further from being a considered a good episode, so it's a telling sign that this is one of the better episodes that Season 9 has to offer. 

"Lord Of The Flies"

"This guy's the Horse Whisperer, only for bugs?"
Originally Aired 12/16/01

"Lord Of The Flies" marks The X-Files' return to quirky, comedic episodes for the first time since the end of Season 7. Also notable is that two of this episode's guest stars would become recognizable household names on television shows that premiered towards the end of the decade, Jane Lynch and Aaron Paul. In fact, Aaron Paul's role as "Jesse" was on Breaking Bad, created by longtime X-Files writer, Vince Gilligan.

The episode's villain is a literal lord of flies, as his changing teenage body is producing hormones that allow him to control swarms of killer bugs. It's a metaphor for going through puberty, as the kid's mom later warns that he's changing, only the end result won't be that he'll become a man. Maybe the director should've went with David Bowie's "Changes", instead of the Syd Barrett references, just to add extra emphasis to the changes within the teenager. It's a much better teen angst episode than previous attempts, with Season 7's "Rush", and even earlier with Season 5's "Schizogeny." Those were darker tales, whereas this relies on quirky performances, and even a timely spoof of MTV's Jackass. A doctor even gets to throw out some lines about wacky, excessive lawsuits filed by the parent of a teen that died in one of the Jackass-inspired stunts, dating this as an episode definitely made in the 21st century. I just realized we've had X-Files episodes produced in three decades- the 1990's, 2000's, and recently in 2015. Crazy.

While episodes this season have either hinted at Doggett's feelings for Scully or feelings between Doggett and Reyes, this time around there's an Entomologist who's all hot and bothered for Agent Scully. His name is Dr. Rocky Bronzino, and while the doctor's performance is rather over the top, I liked Scully's efforts to thwart his "romantic" attempts. Annoyed Scully is the best Scully.

Another positive about "Lord Of The Flies" is the return of the closing monologue from Agent Scully, which I can't recall hearing at the end of an episode in at least a season and a half. Except, due to Scully being called in as consultant of Doggett and Reyes, shouldn't it be one of them whose narration acts as closing their case file? Nit picking aside, much like last week's "4-D", I enjoyed this a lot more than I had expected. With "Lord Of The Flies" being credited to first-time writer Thomas Schnauz, it seems as if these second-tier writers are doing a much better job at crafting compelling stories than the big guys in charge, Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz.

"4-D"

"Plates? For crying out loud, who eats polish sausage with plates?"
Originally Aired 12/9/01

Revisiting this episode was a 180 degree experience from the previous episode, "Daemonicus." "Daemonicus" was somewhat of a bore and full of mindless gore, which is a rhyme I didn't intend on making, but sums up that episode quite nicely. "4-D" is one I could barely remember, except that it featured Doggett confined to a hospital bed following a nearly fatal gunshot, and had too much of Agent Reyes for my liking. It turned out that "4-D" was just as experimental and out-there as episodes in Season 6, with their wacky time loops, body swapping, and holiday ghosts, only this episode took a much darker turn.

The villain of the week is a creepy murderer in the same vein as Norman Bates, with an overbearing mother who watches his every move, except she doesn't realize he can also move into a parallel universe. This villain, Erwin Lukesh, slips to the other side and commits grisly murders, then slides back unnoticed. The X-Files never gets into the how and why, which is always the way the series works; I've learned you just have to go with it and not ask questions. This actor playing Lukesh, Dylan Haggerty, was also a similarly creepy guy on X-Files' sister series Millennium, so it's nice to see him being recast as another bad guy.

Agent Reyes takes center stage for this episode, with Skinner, Scully, and Follmer assisting in various roles for the investigation into Lukesh. Doggett is on the sidelines as he's confined to a hospital bed, communicating only by clicking with one finger to type up messages for Reyes. It reminded me a lot of the Star Trek episode where Captain Pike's only way to communicate was through blinking lights. They even make a Star Trek reference too, with Doggett mocking Reyes' mirror universe theory. Actually, episode writer Steven Maeda, drew inspiration from a real-life journalist who was paralyzed.

Playing Doggett in a hospital bed for a majority of the episode seems like it would be a pain for Robert Patrick, though he was actually really damn good at emoting through facial expressions, and I can't imagine the episode would be as good if the roles were reversed with Reyes. Although the only slight gripe I have with "4-D" stems from last week's episode, where they tried to insinuate Doggett harbored feelings for Scully. This time, Reyes appears to have feelings for Doggett as she wipes away mustard from his lips, then shaves his face while he's in the hospital. Typically the measuring stick for quality of these latter seasons is if I can't find a decent quote to feature in these reviews, then it's kind of poor episode. For once, "4-D" is a good episode, with little to no funny lines... likely due to Doggett's inability to speak.

"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.

"Nothing Important Happened Today II"

"She's the key to everything in this case, right to the FBI."
Originally Aired 11/18/01

Typically the season finales and season premieres of The X-Files feature all of the big players returning to the series for their two-part, and even three-part, story arcs. This is the lightest it's ever been since the first season ended. All of the Syndicate was burnt to a crisp, the Smoking Man took a spill down a flight of stairs, while the remaining men in black have taken a bullet to the head, leaving us with the bare bones "agents vs evil FBI" story which was the central arc for the series in its earliest episodes. That, in theory, should be a good storyline to center this 9th season around, with Doggett and Reyes trying to see just how deep the Super Soldiers have infiltrated the government.

Instead, this episode muddies up the weird plot from last week, involving a conspiracy to tamper with the water supply, and it now somehow involves a big boat. Before I viewed this episode again, I used to think the boat should've been linked to the alien oil which resurfaced in last season's "Vienen." Perhaps the infected oil workers managed to stow away and spread the virus on land, which I think would have made more sense than what we got. "Nothing Important Happened Today II" tries to link the dead water treatment workers to this boat, which is then connected to the Super Soldiers' plot, and somehow that all ties to Scully's baby. Scully's son William also might be part alien, and it's odd to me how she never refers to him by his name; she only says "my baby." Nothing happened is a fairly accurate title.

Shannon (played by Lucy Lawless, by way of whispy Marita Covarrubius) is a Super Soldier that confesses her story to Team Mulder, yet she could be playing them just like everyone else who ever told Mulder anything government conspiracy-related. We've seen this before countless times. Brad Follmer returns from last week too, still trying unsuccessfully to keep Reyes from working with Doggett so her reputation won't be tarnished. Knowle Rohrer was assumed dead after an explosion at the end of Season 8, and now he's back as well, lending some truth to Shannon's tale of the "unstoppable" Super Soldiers. Most times these season premiere story arcs end up being fairly weak anyway, but I can't help but feel like this is all just "Alien Bounty Hunter-lite", and replace the bees with water. Their little neck protrusion just doesn't match the visual effect of the bubbling alien blood either.

The best part of this episode is John Doggett, who's slipped into Mulder's Nikes so well that he's even borrowing his lines, when he tells Scully and Reyes that "she is the key to everything." Later Doggett nearly gets his head popped like a pimple by Knowle, before he has a scene with Kersh that is the highlight of this entire two-parter. It's so good that it nearly redeems the previous 80 minutes of TV; except that it's a condensed version of an even better scene! Kersh and Doggett get their dialogue chopped in half, likely by the same cutting crew that lifted a scene with Krycek and CSM from "One Son" that gave reason for Alex attempting to dupe the Smoking Man again. Robert Patrick and James Pickens, Jr. seem to have a real chemistry together that makes these scenes with Doggett and Kersh so fun to watch. It's a shame the rest of these episodes just aren't as good.

"Nothing Important Happened Today"

"So what I'm hearing, if I don't drop it, I'm alone on this."
Originally Aired 11/11/01

It's weird, usually in the 'off-season' I'll still watch the series, or even re-write reviews of the early seasons for my blog. My earliest reviews were Facebook Notes, which are likely now lost in the abyss. I think that feature is long deceased. The weird part is that I can count the amount of episodes that I've watched since May on one hand, which were a couple from the recent X-Files "Event Series" when it hit Blu Ray, and a few other comedy episodes when I was in the mood for a laugh. I can't lay blame for my lack of enthusiasm on that "Event Series", since it had already aired and wrapped long before I finished viewing all of Season 8. Not even (briefly) meeting David Duchovny over the summer could give me a boost of the necessary excitement. I feel it's not even that Season 9 is as terrible as it's made out to be by the legions of "X-Phile" fans. Personally, it's that my quest that I started in 2008 is nearing its end. I started this lengthy process of writing and reviewing the entire 9 season run in the fall of 2008; which coincidentally was the first time I moved out of my parents' house. Now, here I sit at a computer, struggling to write a review, while also weighing the pros and cons of moving back into my parents' house. Is this a vicious cycle? 

It's been said before that The X-Files was unable to figure out it's place in the world, post-9/11. After finally viewing this episode within the context of the series, I think The X-Files was just unable to recover from the loss of it's star, David Duchovny. My inability to completely leave my parents' house must be exactly what was happening for Chris Carter, mirroring his inability to let go of Fox Mulder. Carter "lost" Mulder once before in the previous season, with Duchovny appearing only in the second half of the season, and again was never given a proper exit from the series at the season's conclusion. This episode, "Nothing Important Happened Today", picks up within a day or two following last season's finale, "Existence", when Scully had given birth to her baby boy and Doggett hand-selected Agent Reyes as his new partner. He launched an investigation against his boss, FBI Deputy Director Kersh, who appears to be linked with the series' new villains, the alien replacements known as "Super Soldiers." Except Dogget and Reyes realized their only evidence, which was on a security camera, has been erased. I guess that means Krycek is forgotten as well, because apparently someone has scraped his body off the pavement. Poor guy, after all these years he ended up with the same fate as Agent Spender. At the time when I first watched this episode years ago, I always wondered why Skinner wasn't in as much hot water as Doggett over the whole parking garage shooting.

In fact, Skinner is pretty much a non-factor in this episode. Team Mulder, or now rather Team Doggett, has too many people on that side so the writing staff decided to add another character to the mix to balance it out. Team Kersh, for lack of a better term at the moment, adds Assistant Director Brad Follmer (reference to a real-life member of the production crew) played by Cary Elwes. I noticed his real-life English accent slipped through right away when he pronounced Hoover Building as "Hoo-vah." His portrayal of Follmer is much better than I had previously given him credit for, although the characterization is still fuzzy at best.

I did notice something as well that I hadn't realized before, which is precisely the reason why I wanted to watch these episodes in order and stretch them out like I've been doing. Having not watched this episode since mid-2008, it now feels "fresh" and slightly new, so mission accomplished. That realization I had is actually that this season premiere mirrors last season's premiere- Mulder is "missing"; there's an investigation within the ranks of the FBI, which is now led by Kersh's appointed stooge Brad Follmer, rather than Doggett; the vague presence of those Super Soldiers, who no doubt cleaned up the evidence from the parking garage, mirrors the Bounty Hunter(s) cleaning up evidence of alien abductions; and the biggest of all is that Doggett has actually morphed into Fox Mulder. He's Chicken Little, yelling that the sky is falling, yet no one believes him. It's crazy that they've taken an old X-Files script and basically played a game of "Mad Libs", just inserting new characters into the roles of previous ones. Even the set pieces are just swapped around, trading a nuclear power plant (think "The Beginning") for a water treatment facility. At least The Lone Gunmen are here to add some much needed humor. Thank God they've managed to dodge a bullet all this time.

"Writing out" an important character is never easy, and I wouldn't even have a clue where to begin to explain Mulder's absence if I were a script writer. Another favorite series of mine is Homicide: Life On The Street, which debuted in 1993 and had even worse luck when it came to several of its lead characters. A few times they lost a lead actor between seasons, so the writers never had a chance to properly explain that character's disappearance. However, when they did get around to finally crafting an episode to tie up those loose ends later along in the season, it was always a worthy conclusion. Chris Carter should've taken notes. I do have to hand it to Chris and co. for their casting of Robert Patrick as Agent Doggett. He plays the role well as this Clint Eastwood-styled gunslinger, which is the best description that I have for him since he appeared last season. His quick scene with Kersh in the elevator at the "Hoo-vah" Building is the true highlight in this episode. Maybe the best course of action would have been to continue on with Doggett and Scully as partners, or even Doggett solo, rather than tip the scale by adding Reyes as a full-time member of "Team Doggett." I guess that'll be continued next time in "Nothing Important Happened Today, Part 2."