Season Eight Episode Reviews

8X21    Existance (part 2 of 2) 

8X20    Essence (part 1 of 2) 
Plot:  An unstoppable Billy Miles goes after the medical conspirators and Scully as well.

Great ep, only surpassed by "Three Words" this season.  Unstoppable Billy Miles killing everybody left and right is very cool, though it's extremely derivative from The Pilot in "Colony".  Billy beheading people with his bare hands is particularly cool.  It's really cool to see almost every mythology character from this entire year returning, for once the show has a season length coherence in its mythology.  Mulder et al fighting Billy was particularly entertaining, and it's great to see everybody teaming up including Reyes and most of all Krychek, in a wonderfully benign role for once.  Krychek showing up to run over Billy was particularly memorable.  Plus we get some clear exposition on the state of the mythology now, with the post-Syndicate conspiracy and the aliens' intentions.  The final fight with Billy was particularly suspenseful and ingenious.  The cliffhanger with Crane revealed as a Thrall was interesting but not terribly suspenseful.  Once again we get stuck with a horrendously pretentious Cris Carter Teaser Voiceover.

8X19    Alone 
Plot: Doggett is paired with a newbie to hunt a reptilian monster but they run into trouble.

Another great non-mythology episode with important character details.  The monster plot is again the less important aspect, but the lizard-monster was a damn cool one, and Doggett and Harrison getting blinded and trapped in tunnels was very cool as well.  Great monster plot.  I really like Harrison, most of all because of all the continuity references she made!  This is a show terrified of referencing itself, so this was a real treat.  They mention "Dreamland", "Quagmire", "Max", "The Host" "The Beginning" "Detour", and finally in a hilarious Mulder-Scully exchange the end of The Movie with Scully bickering that it wasn't a spacecraft.  It's a real shame she was just a one time character!  Mulder masquerading as Kersh was very funny too, and the scientist turning out to be the reptile was a nice shocker.  The ending where a blinded Doggett relies on Mulder to aim him was very good too.

8X18    Vienen 
Plot: Mulder and Doggett investigate Black Oil posession on an off-shore oil rig platform.

Great mythology episode!  And it's nice and confusing too, so on first viewing nothing really makes any sense (though it was never as good/bad as the good old days of Season Two-Four).  Absolutely wonderful to see the return of the Black Oil (not seen since The Movie three years ago!!!), and even better the return of it being a sentient radiation-flasher, not seen since its *first* appearance *five* years ago.  Great retro feel to the whole episode.  The on-location filming on an actual oil rig on the open sea was absolutely beautiful!  The old confined location deal works to great effect, most especially when they find *everyone* is infected.  The final leap from the exploding rig was particularly wonderful.  Mulder teaming up with Doggett was very interesting, as the sideline stuff with Scully, Skinner, and Kersh.  Of course it raises one big question, if the Colonists still have the Black Oil why bother with those obvious neck-spikes like in Knowle in "Three Words"?

8X17    Empedocles 
Plot: Reyes calls in Mulder on a possession case involving Doggett's son's murder.

Interesting interim episode with lots of good character establishment/interaction between Mulder, Scully, Doggett, and Reyes.  In fact, the monster plot is barely existent in the episode.  The teaser was extremely interesting, but the actual plot never lives up to that promise, and the ending is a complete cop-out.  While the character interaction was great stuff, and Reyes again impresses, the monster plot could have really used some more development and action in it, and an ending that actually does something.  Interesting to learn that Doggett's son was murdered by a possessed guy, but it's just ridiculous that Doggett *happened* to have a paranormal experience before joining the show.

8X16    Three Words 
Plot: Mulder returns to duty to discover government knowledge of Colonist infiltration.

The best yet this year!  It really is wonderful to have Mulder back in action, his character, his humor, his determination, was sorely missing from the show, suddenly the series doesn't feel incomplete anymore.  Not to mention there's nothing I love more than Mulder running  off to expose aliens and get in huge trouble; the infiltration of the government center was very exciting with very welcome Lone Gunmen involvement.  Kersh continues to be a wonderfully arrogant adversary.  The opening storming of the White House was very cool, especially the Fight the Future reference.  Absalom kidnapping Doggett was a real shocker, but Absalom getting executed was even more shocking.  Great stuff!  The big revelation that the Colonists have infiltrated the government conspiracy which is trying to keep track of them was very cool, and promises some very cool stuff in the future, though having spikes in their neck is *way* too obvious and easy to check.  I'd much prefer Pilots.

8X15    DeadAlive  (part 2 of 2) 
Plot: Three months later Mulder and Billy Miles are found to be barely alive; Krychek threatens Skinner.

The best episode yet this season, certainly the most mythology heavy thus far.  It's great to see Mulder's return of course, and very cool to *finally* see Krychek again.  Tons of great continuity nods, most especially Krychek using the nanos on Skinner again.  The makeup on Mulder and Billy were wonderfully gruesome, and it's nice to learn about why the abductees were being returned (as a slave race).  The Doggett-Krychek fight was a nice bit of Old Style Mythology Episode, very nice.  The final episodes should be quite good.

8X14    This Is Not Happening (part 1 of 2) 
Plot: Alien abductees are being returned in horrific conditions.

Heavy on the setup but pretty entertaining.  Loved seeing all the UFOs (especially that opening car chase with one!).  The myth arc finally starts moving again with returned half-dead abductees and the very very welcome of Jeremiah Smith, I loved that guy.  He better return!  The new recurring character Monica Reyes was very interesting, I liked her, nice to have someone down to earth like Mulder.  It was cool to see a big FBI team storm a compound, though it was an absolute joke how they all happened to be inside or away from the UFO came by.  The ending, with a dead/dying Mulder and Jeremiah abducted and Scully screaming was very cool.  Great cliffhanger!

8X13    Per Manum 
Plot:  Scully investigates pregnent women giving birth to alien babies who are then killed.

A sorely missed mythology episode!  Finally we're seeing some further development on the whole alien pregnancy thing, not to mention some brilliant past continuity nods.  Interesting to see some sort of government conspiracy remains the death of the Syndicate, and it's very cool that the entire episode was a plot to use Scully.  The flashbacks with Mulder were interesting.  My only real beef with the episode is Scully displaying some stupefying stupidity by going to a MILITARY hospital; has she forgotten every single thing that happened the last eight years!  I'm glad that Doggett found out about Scully being pregnant, and Scully apparently has taken a leave of absence.

8X12    Medusa 
Plot: A mysterious contagion infects the Boston subway system.

Great stand-alone medical thriller with some beautiful location filming in a subway system!  The video link between Scully in the C&C and Doggett in the tunnels was very cool, and the whole thing with Doggett and the team was suspenseful and interesting.  I like that Scully didn't go in herself for the unmentioned reason of her baby (I presume!).  The FX of the flesh-eating organism once again tops the record as the grossest and coolest effect they've ever done, my god that was disgusting!  Like all the bit characters too.

8X11    The Gift 
Plot: Doggett investigates Mulder's last case involving a Native American soul sucking beast.

Great stand-alone with more arc references!  Of course it's wonderful to see Mulder again, to see Doggett actually searching for Mulder (that's his job isn't it!), and to see Doggett wondering about Mulder.  The Native American soul sucker was a really interesting idea, and I love how he was a victim of the townspeople who use him to heal themselves, and how Mulder refused to give in to it.  The soul sucker eating the person then vomiting them back out has to be the creepiest thing they've ever done!  I love seeing Doggett paired with Skinner, and Skinner defending Mulder and Scully to him.  The Lone Gunmen make a hilarious cameo.  Doggett rescuing the girl from the caves was a great scene, but the ending was just spectacular.  Doggett was killed and resurrected by the soul sucker!  My god I couldn't believe they were willing this to go this far with Doggett!  I can't wait to see how this affects him, if he accepts it or not.  Doggett having a vision of Mulder is also great.

8X10    Badlaa 
Plot: An Indian cripple travels to America and kills with psychic abilities.

This is exactly the kind of episode we should be seeing!  Scully feeling forced into the believer role and clearly struggling with it; Doggett being open but realistic and having a sense of humor about it all.  Unlike the last two episodes we finally get one that focuses on Scully and Doggett.  The bad guy managed to be really creepy, especially given the fact that he's a tiny leg-less cripple.  And the image of him crawling up that fat guy's ass has to be the sickest thing they've ever done (I mean that in a good way!).  This is a great case of a potentially silly premise being used to the best extent.  The mystery of why he's killing keeps attention to.  Scully seeing him crawl out of a corpse and then chase him around was a great scene.  Nice to see Chuck Burks again.  Love Scully breaking down in tears at the end because she was willing to shoot what appeared to be a kid on Mulder's beliefs.  Stellar, moving ending.

8X9    Salvage 
Plot: A man returns from the dead infected with living metal for revenge.

Like "Surekill" before another forgettable boring standalone that takes a potentially interesting idea and robs it of all coolness.  A guy infected with living metal sounds cool, but this is not the way to do it.  This would have been great as a military conspiracy episode tied into Krychek's nanotechnology infection of Skinner, and should have had some kind of shootout with the metal man.  Once again Scully and Doggett are bit characters to the story, and instead we're stuck with these lifeless characters.  I'm starting to get worried about the Doggett Years here, and I'm really starting to miss Mulder's off beat humor and the Mulder-Scully interaction.

8X8    Surekill 
Plot: A pair of brothers use remote vision to assassinate for money.

Slow paced and uninteresting, which is a shame because the paranormal concept was extremely interesting.  It starts out interesting enough with the guy's head exploding in the police station and them taking down a drug bust, but after that it gets incredibly dull.  This should've been a really action packed episode, with them going after all sorts of criminals and whatnot!  But instead we get this insipid gangster romance tale between the two brothers and the secretary.  Yawn.  Scully and Doggett are barely in this one!

8X7    Via Negativa 
Plot:  Doggett and Skinner investigate a cult leader murdering people through their sleep.

Another great standalone! I'm glad Scully was written out, because the emphasis on Doggett in the paranormal, plus the heavy Skinner, Kersh, and Lone Gunmen involvement, made it above average and interesting.  The third eye effect was extremely creepy, and the gross out factor of the chopped foreheads was great as well.  This was a very interesting monster idea!  Given that I wouldn't have rated it above "Redrum" until that spectacular final act where Doggett is attacked in his dreams.   This entire sequence was just beautiful.  Things just look completely bizarre and surreal even though they're set in normal environments, and Patrick really sells the mood.  Doggett in Scully's apartment with the slowly pulsating blue light and darkness was the best bit though, that was an incredibly creepy dramatic effect.  Plus we get hints that something may be up with Scully's pregnancy...

8X6    Redrum 
Plot:  An attorney finds himself living backwards from his death to his wife's murder.

This was an excellent standalone, especially considering Scully and Doggett only make cameos.  The whole backwards time travel concept was very cool and it really generated interest in the episode, you're left trying to guess what will happen, it gives the whole episode more energy than normal.  Wells was a cool character to sympathize with despite his earlier crimes, his plight is really delivered well.  I'm a little surprised the spider-tattoo guy had no connection to the time travel, but it was still a cool episode with neat twists.

8X5    Invocation 
Plot:  A boy returns after a ten year absence without aging a day and acting strangely.

The first bad episode of the season, just totally uninteresting not to mention unnecessarily confusing.  Plus it ended up being just another ghost story something that has been done many times before.  The first half of the episode was incredibly slow as well.  The characters and situations are just boring.  The Scully Doggett interaction is as well; about the only thing to catch my interest was the hint that Doggett lost a child or young relative in a similar way.

8X4    Roadrunners 
Plot: Scully is trapped in a small desert town with a strange cult and a parasitic organism.

Decent but the slow pace hurts, the episode felt extremely padded in the first half since it's basically Scully wandering around a small town.  However the ending was very suspenseful and disgusting.  I particularly liked when Scully was captured and about to be given to the sluggo and she screams to them that she's pregnant.  And Doggett cutting the sluggo out of Scully's back was absolutely revolting, I loved it!  The religious cult angle was interesting if underdeveloped, though thinking a little sluggo is the Second Coming was hilariously ludicrous.   I'm glad that Doggett rescued Scully and she didn't save herself.

8X3    Patience 
Plot:  Scully and Doggett take their first case; a killer man-bat.

This was an excellent standalone that beautifully established the new Scully-Doggett relationship.  I really like how the entire case was symbolically about Mulder, specifically this old guy who's hid on an island for 44 years because he fears the wrath of the man-bat; that guy IS Mulder.  The stuff with the bigoted sheriff and Doggett defending Scully was interesting.  It's nice to see an episode that really revolves around the investigative techniques.  I really like the Doggett character!  The Man-Bat was an excellent if unoriginal monster of the week, I wouldn't be opposed to a return appearance... I especially loved that 20 foot leap!

8X2    Without (part 2 of 2) 
Plot:  The FBI continues to hunt for Gibson and Mulder and encounters The Pilot.

Another great episode!  I particularly loved the FBI encountering The Pilot and the fight scenes with The Pilot, though of course they could have taken this much much further!  It was pretty shocking when faux-Scully crushed the agent's throat, and that they had two Scullys in front of that entire FBI force- Doggett surely was confused.  Also love the opening scene with Doggett and faux-Mulder jumping off the cliff.  I liked the revelation that Kersh had put Doggett in charge in order to discredit him, and for reporting the truth he got demoted to the X-Files.  One really bad thing about this episode; they were very inconsistent with the rules of The Pilot.  In the previous seven years of continuity, bullets could not kill The Pilot even through the neck, hell not even the ALIEN KILLING BLADE could kill The Pilot through the back of the neck!  So Scully shooting him and killing him is laughable.  Also, he bleed blood from his neck which should have infected both Scully and Gibson with the alien retrovirus, unless somehow their abductee blood saves them from this.  At least they infected Skinner!  Also Doggett steps in the pile of alien goo which should have rotten his feet off not just stick to his shoes.  Ah well.  See you in February Mulder!

8X1    Within (part 1 of 2) 
Plot: John Doggett leads the FBI manhunt for Mulder while Scully and Skinner also investigate.

Great season premiere that reinvested my interest in the series!  It might have been a little slow pace at first but it was still enjoyable.  I likeDoggett's introduction though he was made out to be a bit more villainous than is necessary.  It's wonderful to see Skinner as a more activecharacter and a believer as well.  I love the Scully brooding scenes with that great mood music.  The Mulder torture scenes were absolutely revolting I can't believe they got that stuff beyond the censors!  I love the speech that Scully gives about silly people not believing in aliensbeing intercut with Doggett investigating, great stuff.   Great to see Kersh back as well as Gibson- in fact the Gibson plot twist made perfect sense and I applaud them for remembering continuity once again.  There was some beautiful location filming in the desert at the end.  I can't wait to see what happens next when we can actually get some action!  This series has definitely reinvigorated itself!  They could have done a better cliffhanger though, does anybody actually think that isn't The Pilot I mean really!