Friday, October 2, 2015

"SKumm’s Thoughts" - X-FILES - Week IX



"SKumm’s Thoughts"

X-FILES - Week IX
“The X Files” (FOX, 1993, 9 Seasons)

Ch-ch-changes...  The second-to-last season introduces us to Robert Patrick, who replaces Duchovony as Scully’s new partner on the X Files.  Surely, creator Chris Carter can say that the show was always about Scully, and her journey from skeptic to believer.  But the ever-present chemistry between the two agents was always the biggest draw.  And now, one of them has been supplanted by Terminator 2…  This is not a horrible season; some of the episodes are well written, but keep in mind that they were written with new leads in mind.  And the fact that David Duchovony’s name only appears when he is in an episode (and sometimes those appearances are so brief you wonder why he isn’t listed as a guest star, instead) is disheartening.  The times, they are a changin’…

SEASON 8

Episodes 1 & 2: Within/Without
Ever wanted to know what kind of experiments occur on a UFO?  Find out through little flashes of Mulder, who is having too much fun getting poked, prodded, and drilled into to help Scully and Skinner track down the psychic chess-kid.  The first episode introduces us to Agent John Doggett, who leads the manhunt for the missing Mulder.  The alien bounty hunter is back, there’s a spaceship hiding in the desert, and Scully gets her own annoying soundtrack. (Digital Drawback: gas was $1.87?  Back in 2000?  Huh.  Thanks, Obama.)

Episode 3: Patience
Guess whose name is no longer at the start of the credits?  In the first Mulder-free episode, Scully and Doggett look for a giant freaking killer bat-thing. 

Episode 5: Invocation
A creepy kid reappears ten years after he was abducted, and hasn’t aged a day.  Scully is in full Mulder role, and this episode seems more like a crash course in the supernatural for Doggett than anything else.  But it is a good episode.  Creepy kids make for fun episodes. (Digital Drawback: where’d the mean guy’s truck go if he was inside boning the mom?)

Episodes 6: Redrum
Joe Morton (TERMINATOR 2, “Scandal”) stars as a man jailed for the murder of his wife. To tell you more about the plot would give too much away.  Just know that this is probably THE MOST compelling and well written episode of the season.  Morton does an incredible and credible job carrying pretty much the entire show, and his performance will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Episode 9: Salvage
A guy with smart metals in his blood stream starts hunting down the people responsible, and Doggett proves he is the weakest skeptic on the planet.  He gets the most screen time this episode, but that does not make him the strongest character…(Digital Drawback: Bad voice-over; Clinton is president; the effect with the car was cool, but if the dude is that dense, wouldn’t he make more noise when he walks?  Just sayin’…)

Episode 11: The Gift
Doggett and Skinner investigate a Mulder appearance from the previous year; Mulder was investigating a “soul eater”, and current situations make it’s reappearance into a re-opened x-file.  A quietly moving episode, with an ending you kinda hope for, but are still pleased by.  Unlike my sex life.

Episode 12: Medusa
Doggett descends into the subway to investigate a mutilated corpse.  And everyone plays with glow-in-the-dark paint.  Suspenseful episode, and one that shows Patrick’s confidence in his new role.  But the man tends to get his butt kicked…

Episodes 14 & 15: This Is Not Happening/Deadalive
Mulder is back, and for more than just flashbacks this time. Krycek is also back, pushing Skinner’s buttons.  As an added bonus, Kahn’s right-hand man from the original WRATH OF KAHN plays a prophet at the middle of a bunch of sick abductees.  This arc also introduces us to Doggett’s future partner, Monica Reyes.  Who might be psychic.  Yeah, that’s what I said, too…

Episode 17: Empedocles
A peek into Doggett’s past, and Special Agent Reyes shows up again, investigating a killer that may have something to do with the death of Doggett’s son.  Also, we get a little glimpse of Reyes’ “special” abilities.  (Digital Drawback: Floppy discs.  And I saw the dead lady breathe!)

Episode 18: Vienen
Sometimes it is all about location.  Doggett and Mulder investigate an oil rig that is playing host to the alien virus.  This is the episode which ends with Mulder’s future uncertain.  He’s alive, but now he might be taking Scully’s order at the McDonald’s drive-thru…  (Digital Drawback: Cool idea, bad explosion.  And again with the “170 miles from land” thing, and you can see the FREAKING COAST IN THE BACKGROUND!!!)

Episodes 20 & 21: Essence/Existence
Talk about getting back to edge-of-your-seat episodes…the final two shows of the season deal with the climactic birth of Scully’s baby.  Billy Miles is back, but now he is a super alien soldier hell bent on killing every shred of alien/human fetus experimentation.  That includes the scientists that created it all, the alien fetuses, and…wait for it…SCULLY.  Krycek is also on hand, telling everyone to trust him again.  An epic conclusion to Mulder and Scully’s story arc, which has been the entire preceeding eight seasons.  Nothing, after this final episode of season eight, will ever be the same…  (Digital Drawback: worse fake head in formaldehyde that I’ve ever seen…)

T.S. Kummelman

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