Directed by Richard Compton. Written by David Amann.
RATING: **
Ten years ago, young Billy Underwood went missing in a playground, with his mother (Kim Griest) nearby. Suddenly, years later, Billy reappears, seemingly unharmed...and exactly the same as the day he vanished. Scully wants to know why the boy has not aged at all, but Doggett is more interested in tracking down the person who abducted Billy in the first place. But, Doggett seems to have a deeper emotional investment in this case...something that stems from his own past.
This is an episode that has an intriguing premise, but the actual delivery disappoints. There's many potential directions for this story to go...including the possibility of Billy being abducted by aliens (which is brought up by our heroes), yet the ultimate revelation of why the child is back is both uninspired and cliche. I would have preferred he was the test subject of some secret government experiment! It's a shame it ends in such a familiar fashion, because what had gone before was quite compelling. Another demerit was the fact an actress the caliber of Kim Griest (who I know best from Brazil, and excellent guest stints on Wiseguy and Chicago Hope) was hired, yet given almost nothing to do! In fact, her best moments come in the first two scenes of the episode, where she loses, and then rediscovers her son.
Another possibly fascinating element...the relationship between Billy and his brother Josh, who was born after the formers disappearance, never makes much sense. Billy is stalking and frightening Josh, yet we never really understand why, though it kind of ties in loosely, and sloppily in the finale. Still, director Compton does build some tension and suspense, especially in a sequence in which Billy enters Josh's bedroom at night, wielding a knife.The aspect about Doggett's own experience with a missing child (his son, we assume) is only touched on briefly, and he never speaks about it with anyone, including Scully. Hopefully, we'll learn more about this in upcoming installments.
'Invocation' is the weakest eighth season entry to date, yet it's not really a bad one...just strictly average.
Directed by Richard Compton. Written by David Amann.
RATING: ***
Respected Baltimore prosecutor Martin Wells (Joe Morton) awakens to find himself in jail and awaiting a prison transfer. He has no idea how he got there or why he's being accused of murdering his wife, and while being taken outside (escorted by Doggett and Scully), he's shot to death by his father in law. And then Wells wakes again...and it's the day prior to his death. He realizes that he's living the last several days backwards, and must work out who framed him for killing his wife...or, from his point of view...who will kill his wife.
Like last season's engaging 'Hungry', this outing is seen through the eyes of the key guest star. He's in every scene, and luckily, the show's producers had the smarts to cast a terrific actor in such a crucial role. Morton, the gifted black actor whose many credits include Terminator 2, Apt Pupil, the Speed movies and a handful of John Sayles' flicks, brings a lot of depth and believability to the part of a man in a baffling situation with everything to lose. There's an extra wrinkle to him when we learn of a element of his past that may be the reason why this bizarre situation is occurring to him. Also on hand is actor/ex.con Danny Trejo (menacing in such movies as Con-Air, From Dusk Till Dawn and Desperado), who has a few scenes as a crook with an axe to grind. Scully only appears as a handful of times, but Doggett has a more substantial part in the episode.
'Redrum' is one of the more Twight Zone-ish entries in The X-Files history. Like season six's 'Monday', it plays games with the whole notion of time and how it works. 'Monday', however, was too similar to 12:01 and the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode 'Cause And Effect'. 'Redrum', however, seems fresher, which is the merit of the inventive script. Kudos also to director Markle, who keeps the pace fast, and makes each new revelation interesting and hard to predict.
A puzzle box of an episode, 'Redrum' is another very strong episode in (at this point) the best X-Files season in years.
Directed by Tony Wharmby. Written by Frank Spotnitz.
RATING: **1/2
Two FBI agents are staking out a cult church, but when they go inside, they find all the members dead, with their heads sliced open. And unfortunately, this same fate befalls the two agents. However, the next day when Skinner, Doggett and other agents enter the church, the two murdered agents aren't amongst the deceased; one is in his car outside, and the other at home in his apartment...with the door locked. Scully is unable to work with Doggett on this case as she's forced to check herself in a hospital, but her new partner does the snooping. Soon signs point to the cult's leader (Keith Szarabajka), who was not among his dead followers, and seems to be murdering people inside their dreams, which results in their deaths in the real world. And the further Doggett investigates, the more he becomes effected by the dream killer's power.
A decent episode that, like several other installments before it this season, takes a familiar concept and manages to prop it up with slick and eerie visuals. The dream killer premise is somewhat old and cliche thanks to the Nightmare On Elm Street series (there's no Freddy Kruger reference in the episode either), so there's not really much to build on to it. However, the story works in some American history, religious beliefs and experimental drugs to give it a few extra wrinkles.
There's a number of effectively gruesome moments in here, starting with a seemingly never ending shots of heads that have been sliced open with an axe. The most startling occurs during Doggett's climatic dream sequence in which he looks down to see that he's holding Scully's severed head. It's a jarring, convincing effect, which is more than can be said for the rest of the sequence. Although 'Via Negativa' is essentially a bleak, humorless entry, there is an amusing appearance by The Lone Gunmen, who finally get to meet Doggett. James Pickens, Jr. returns as Kersh, and again takes to the job of being the pain -in-the-ass for our heroes. The subplot of Scully's hospital visit doesn't actually lead anywhere, though it does adds a bit to the uncertain-yet-growing partnership between she and Doggett.
Frank Spotnitz on 'Via Negativa': "It was kind of a storytelling challenge, because early in his tenure, Agent Doggett is handed the reigns of an X-File investigation. And he has to struggle through it, with Scully offering only limited help. It was a bit of a brain teaser to figure out how to tell a story like that, but it ended up being very satisfying, and a great experience for me to write and to watch filmed, because we had a new director to the show, Tony Wharmby, who was wonderful, and totally into the script and totally into the character. And then Robert Patrick, he just showed what he could do. He was just fantastic."
Directed by Terrence O'Hara. Written by Greg Walker.
RATING: *1/2
A terrified man enters a police station, claiming someone his going to kill him. The cops on duty place him in holding cell with no outside windows, and yet he's murdered by one single gun shot. Doggett and Scully work out that it came from the roof, despite the fact that there's no way the shooter could have seen the victim from his location. But their investigation leads them to two brothers, one of whom is almost blind, the other, Scully believes, has the ability to see through walls.
This is probably the weakest all around episode of season eight to date. When I learnt of the premise for it, I feared it would be. A villain who could see through walls...that's not particularly thrilling for a show like The X-Files, which has had such unforgettable bad guys in the past like Eugene Tooms, The Flukeman and Pusher. However, I thought there could have been a cool showdown between the bad guy and our heroes. Wrong. Scully and Doggett don't get into any action in this episode, and the climax, although not really bad (there is a sense of irony and emotional logic in it), exciting it isn't...plus it's predictable. There's a pretty good scene in which the brothers wipe out a trio of startled drug dealers, but for the most part, 'Surekill' barely qualifies as Timekill.
THE TRUTH IS DOWN HERE