"Patience"

"The only thing I know about the paranormal is that men are from Mars, women are from Venus."
Originally Aired 11/19/00

By no means is this a great episode of The X-Files but it does get the job done as the first standalone without Mulder; welcome to the era of John Doggett. Doggett has been established as having a background in law enforcement and that's what he brings to his partnership with Agent Scully. I liked the fact that there was an actual investigation in this episode, with it's back-to-basics style, even down to the agents encountering local law enforcement just like the old days. The projector slide show even makes an appearance, too. So many times over the last season or two, Mulder would know exactly what the case is right away leaving no mystery, but with Doggett's approach of applying street smarts, his prediction is it's a one-legged man. Ha! Scully is also doing her best to think like Mulder while also trying to balance it with her scientific background. Neither are on the same page at all, although this is their first time together and she's still thinking of Doggett as an enemy more than ally. It's just too bad the actual case of a "man-bat" isn't all that interesting.

While the case isn't up to the usual level, I do like Doggett and Scully's interactions. Doggett is trying his best to solve the case using knowledge of crimes and homicides, yet he's clearly a "fish out of water." It's a new wrinkle to his character that he tells Scully he was down in the office all night going through their old X-Files case files. It's too bad the episode didn't start that way, though, with her walking in and seeing his "interest" in the cases. Instead he walks down to the office with a few of his agent buddies and it irks his new partner. While he has friends now, maybe they could slowly show Doggett being shunned for associating with the X-Files. My assumption I made in "Within" was that Doggett was a real dick and that appears to be slowly fading by this third episode of the season. Although there is one moment where he talks about Scully with his back to her, and I felt just as uncomfortable as she did. While Doggett may have had good intentions in standing up for his new partner, that bit of writing by series creator Chris Carter isn't doing any favors for his new character.

With this being Scully's first investigation without Mulder, she appears a little in over her head too. The local sheriff guy she has to deal with isn't helping either, since he's clearly a bigot or just very stubborn. We've seen episodes where the locals didn't want the FBI around but I can't recall any that have flat-out insulted the agents. That guy was the real dick, not Doggett, so I'm glad he encountered the monster he didn't believe in and came out on the losing end. While this case is far from classic X-Files, since these monsters who attack every full moon or every turn of the century are a played-out gimmick, the great visuals are still present which is all the more interesting since Chris Carter turns in a rare directing performance. There's a neat scene of the man bat hanging upside down inside of a barn, also a fun gag with Doggett asking if Scully ever carries a flashlight. Doggett even encountered a guy wearing a coat and hat with his face bandaged, which I took as a clever reference to The Invisible Man film.