Before the eighth season started filming, the big question was if David Duchovny would return to the show that made him a superstar. Fox executives breathed a sigh of relief when he did. But he wasn’t there every week. With Mulder trapped onboard an alien space ship somewhere for the first half of the season, Scully was stuck with a new partner…Agent John Doggett (Robert Patrick), a tough, closed minded and by-the-book veteran who, like Mulder, suffered a traumatic lose years earlier. His relationship with Scully was not a comfortable one for much of the season…he didn’t believe the outrageous ideas that Scully recently came to accept, and nor was he able to make an emotional connection with her. However, he eventually won her trust and proved to be a true friend in her hour of need.

Scully’s mysterious pregnancy was, surprisingly, not much of a dramatic issue until the concluding episodes. Some could argue that it really wasn’t developed well enough, and the reason it happened in the first place is more than a little vague. When Duchovny made his full return, the season found renewed energy and intrigue, with an exciting new spin on the old alien invasion and coverup scenarios. The introduction of Adam Baldwin as Knowle Rohrer and, most importantly, Annabeth Gish as Agent Monica Reyes added a lot to the proceedings. The popular recurring character of Skinner well and truly became one of the heroes in the eighth season. In the opening and closing shows, he grabbed the part of resourceful, determined good guy like never before. His relationship with Scully was also fascinating to behold.

It’s also notable that there wasn’t a single comedic episode in the whole batch. This was probably a good thing, as I didn’t have any desire to sit through another Rain King or Fight Club. Instead, Carter and company spent their (and our) time putting horror and thrills onscreen…even though a good deal of them had disappointing stories. Among the highlights of the season were such standalones as Patience, Redrum (a showcase for guest star Joe Morton), Roadrunners and Medusa. But it was the conspiracy tales that gave the season it’s juice, and much needed it was after a number of average or worse segments like Surekill, Via Negativa, Badlaa and Invocation. Unfortunately, looking back on the season, there were no classics…nothing along the lines of Home, Beyond The Sea, One Breath, Hollywood AD or any number of Darin Morgan yarns. But for the most part, the eighth season was stronger than the two previous.

WITHIN

Directed by Kim Manners. Written by Chris Carter.

EPISODE RATING (1 to 4 stars): ***

Following the disappearance of Fox Mulder, apparently due to alien abduction, Scully and Walter Skinner stand alone in their beliefs as the new Deputy Director, Kersh (James Pickens, Jr., last seen in season six) launches a manhunt for the missing agent. Placed in charge of the search is agent John Doggett, who immediately gets off on the wrong foot with Scully, who's also having dreams of Mulder. And suddenly someone is stealing computer drives and files, even from Scully's apartment, and Mulder himself is suspected of being behind it. As Skinner and The Lone Gunmen travel to work out where the space ship that took Mulder will return, Scully learns some startling secrets about her partner: due to the illness he suffered in the 'BioGenesis' arch, Mulder had come to realise he was slowly dying, and had begun taking secret treatments. And all this points to Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka), the gifted boy who was the target of the Conspiracy several years ago, now attending a special school. Doggett and his crew race to pick him up, but Skinner and Scully plan to reach him themselves. But someone else is also on the trail...

The eighth season premiere has an overwhelming feel of change about it. You get the feeling, for better or worse, The X-Files is never going to be the same again. For the first time, the opening credit sequence has been changed, which makes sense considering Robert Patrick has joined the show. Duchovny is still given top billing, despite the fact we know we're not going to be seeing much of him in coming year. The story picks up where the seventh season finale 'Requiem' left off. Although 'Within' doesn't pack the punch that 'Requiem' did, it's still a strong installment, and an intriguing way to start the latest season. The abduction of Mulder is handled well, with the characters acting believable to the situation. Of course, it's Scully who has center stage, and Anderson does a great job in displaying her character's frustration and sorrow. Interestingly, her pregnancy is not really made an issue of, and there's still no word on the actual father is. Naturally, we're supposed to suspect Mulder, especially in light of the previous season episode 'All Things', but, at this point, who knows?

One of the best things about this episode for me personally is the way Skinner is pretty much upgraded to the role of heroic male lead. He and Scully now seem to represent "the truth", and Skinner proves he'll do anything to save Mulder and protect Scully. After years on the show, Skinner is well and truly aligned with our heroes. The character of Doggett is introduced quite well, and the always interesting Patrick (who recently did some stellar work on The Sopranos, but was best known for playing the T-1000) bringing a tough, professional presence to the part. How he'll shape up as a real person, and how he'll relate to Scully over the season should be good to watch.

Director Manners keeps a good balance between the thrills and the human drama throughout the episode, although the reintroduction of Gibson Praise seems somewhat rushed, almost as if Carter's story needed a new direction to keep things involving.The credits sequence also includes several new imagery, including one of Duchovny slowly falling backwards into an eye. This visual doesn't work, and actually comes off as rather silly. It reminds me of a similar, intentionally funny image from Mel Brooks' spoof High Anxiety.

'Within' isn't the greatest X-Files season premiere, but it it's certainly better than the previous one ('The Sixth Extinction'), and most importantly, it offers a potentially thrilling new direction for the series to take.

WITHOUT

Directed by Kim Manners. Written by Chris Carter.

RATING: ***

Agent Doggett finds alien link Gibson Praise...and Mulder has him. Doggett rescues the boy, but Mulder throws himself off the cliff to avoid being caught. The fall should have killed him, but instead he gets up and leaves. Doggett is confused about the incident, yet can't bring himself to accept Scully's story of a shape changing alien bounty hunter. Doggett and his federal unit soon have another encounter with the hunter, who takes on the form of Scully. The injured Gibson again disappears, but Scully locates him and Skinner secretly escorts him to hospital. Unfortunately, Doggett's actions lead the hunter directly to Gibson and Skinner, and Scully races to save her allies. In the wake of this situation, Scully learns that Doggett has now been assigned to The X-Files.

'Without' is a decent follow up to 'Without', but never really delivers the goods promised. There's not really a lot going on, and it's surprising that it's stretched out to a whole episode. Plus the whole Gibson Praise angle is never fully explained, and he basically just acts as the reason why the FBI and the alien chase each other around. The whole thing revolves around the bounty hunter (the always menacing Brian Thompson), and perhaps the story would have had more impact if we hadn't seen the character before. But this villain has been on the show about a dozen times before, so he's no longer surprising. That said, there are some suspenseful moments between the characters, particularly Skinner and Scully, both wary of who the other truly is. The hospital set finale between Scully and the hunter is pretty good, and it's good to see one of our heroes finally getting the upper hand on the shape shifter. Mark Snow's score is very different from what we've come to expect from this series, not necessarily great, but an interesting change of pace. Another asset is the performances...Anderson, Patrick and Pileggi (who's really come into his own over the last year) are all terrific.

Directed and written by Chris Carter.

Doggett gets his first X-File, as he and Scully travel to a small town where a several brutal murders have occurred. The question is whether the deaths are the work of a person or an animal, or, as Scully suspects...something somewhere in between. Doggett doesn't believe her ideas at first, but it's he who discovers what may indeed be the truth: a man-bat creature.

RATING: ***

This is an old fashioned "creepy monster" (as I now call them) episode, like we had so many of during the first five years of the show before the invasion of humorous installments. And although it doesn't hit the heights of such faves as 'The Host' or 'Squeeze', this is a pretty good throwback. The bat creature is well done, seen in brief shots and never really shown clearly, which makes it even more effective. It's at it's best during the pre-credits sequence, and the scene it which attacks the local cop in the graveyard. In fact, those two scenes reminded me of Tim Burton's remarkable Sleepy Hollow; Carter floods these sequences with atmosphere via shadows, moon light, moody art direction and great camera work. The pre-credits scene has a kickass weather vain shot that's a classic.

Unfortunately, the plot about the bat's revenge just never really clicks...by the third act, it doesn't seem interesting any more. Whats more, the pacing is somewhat weak, and the story slows dangerously on occasions. More compelling is the way Scully pursues this case...now that she's partnered with Doggett, she's become the open minded one with outrageous concepts. She's become Mulder. It's a natural progression for the character who's seen so much over the years, and finally able to accept it. Doggett admits to being strictly by the book, yet seems capable of "taking leaps" when there's no logical answer.

While no 'Squeeze', 'Patience' is a fun stand alone with a cool villain.

Directed by Rod Hardy. Written by Vince Gilligan.

RATING: ***

A man with a bizarrely destroyed spine is found in the middle of nowhere, beaten to death, and another young man (One time 21 Jump Street star David Barry Gray) goes missing. Scully goes out to assist local law enforcement in their investigation, but never makes it. Her car breaks down, near a tiny community with no phones, and her cell can't work in that area. But soon she comes across the missing man who appears to have a living organism inserted into his spine, and the local people would do anything to protect it...and find it a suitable new host. Elsewhere, Doggett starts the search for her, but may be too late to save the day.

Like 'Patience', 'Roadrunners' generates enough suspense to cover up a sometimes weak plot, and ultimately comes out with a solid piece of work. Most of the credit goes to X-Files new comer Hardy, who provides a number of tense and gripping scenes, especially in the second half. The actual parasite creature is effective, and it's effects on several characters are wonderfully gruesome. The concept of the creature is not particularly original...things such as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Dax and The Puppet Masters spring to mind...yet it still works as a plot device. Although, one has to wonder how Scully does survive the finale, considering just what is done to her. It's rather nasty...and, logically, probably fatal. Again, Scully is the center piece, and once again shows how she's changed from the by-the-book federal agent of the old days to Mulder-influenced rule breaker Anderson also does a great job of showing her character's frustration of being trapped (figuratively at first, literally towards the end) in the technology deprived town, and dealing with the slightly off-center citizens (including Home Improvement's William O'Leary and veteran character actor Lawrence Pressman).

Anderson is nothing short of riveting in this one, and, along with the direction, makes this a fine case file.

Vince Gilligan on 'Roadrunners': " 'Roadrunners' is a bit of an homage to the Spencer Tracy movie Bad Day At Black Rock. It's a wonderful movie in which Spencer Tracy visits a small town in the desert, and quickly realizes nobody wants him there. He winds up uncovering its dark secret, although that secret has nothing to do with Giant Messianic banana slugs. If you're not familiar with this movie, by all means go out and rent it. I won't ruin the ending for you."