08x07, "Via Negativa"
Atropos
The plot of this one (dude kills people in their dreams Freddie Kruger-style) didn’t do a whole lot for me, and that’s about all the mention I’m going to give it. :P.
I thought at first that this was going to be an Absent Agent episode, but Scully’s in it enough to actually be in it. Though I wonder if this is some kind of warmup for later. I’d think that if Gillian was starting to need time off they could work shooting schedules around it. Anyway, the whole pregnancy thing apparently didn’t make it into the case report on the “Roadrunners” thing, so Doggett doesn’t know. Not a surprise that we coincidentally run into Scully in the hospital (...awkward), but at least she’s not being all poorly-shady (“They’re… testing some… things. Yeah, that’s it.”), and “acute abdominal pain” is potentially bad news for just about anybody.
And despite the fact that Doggett is my bitch eating crackers (who lives in Falls Church, Virginia and has goddamn creepy eyes), I rather enjoyed the Skinner & Doggett Show. They need to work together more often. I also was highly entertained by Doggett losing his mind toward the end of the episode.
And as always I love the Gunmen: arguing over the ethics of rifling through the files, running the slide show, and declaring of Doggett, “That’s not bad for a beginner.” (...and Frohike was a Merry Prankster? o.O)
Tipet, Andre, and the first Random Agent (the one who comes up behind Skinner after the opening killing) all look familiar for some reason. I feel like Random Agent was in “Clyde Bruckman’s Last Repose” but I haven’t actually gone to look it up. Tipet SOUNDS familiar, like he might have been in “Humbug.” I don’t know about Andre. (Regarding his death, being swarmed by trained rats looks like it might be kind of fun. Little rat feets! Whiskery little noses! ...Dragging rat balls! Okay, maybe only if they were female rats.)
A detail that I’m fuzzy on is why the doors of the cult house and of Doggett’s place were open for our psychic dream killer (no really, isn’t that lifted straight from Nightmare on Elm Street?) to get them. Why would physical-world barriers be a problem? Surely there were other doors between him and his targets? And if we think the killing is done in some psychic way, why do we think that Tipet being in a coma would stop it? We still don’t understand half of what the brain is doing, whether in a coma or out of it.
Quote of the episode: “This is damn weird.” Well, bless your little heart, Doggett. Though Kersch comes in a close second: “The X-Files explanation. I take it this conclusion comes from Agent Scully?” REALLY? You think she’s the one who always came up with the crazy shit? Or that now that Mulder’s gone she’s required to come up with crazy shit?
Jebus, Arlene as Kimberly is creepy. I squinted at the screen and said “Why is Scully… oh.”
One of Doggett’s lines in a dream sequence was recorded backwards, which is always interesting to hear.
And then the required contradictory Deep Thought at the end. “These things are a part of me… maybe they didn’t come from me.”
Nasubionna
I admit, I was kind of super-bored by this one. I feel like I’ve been super-bored with a lot of these lately, like concepts are getting recycled, and without the Mulder and Scully dynamic, I just can’t be arsed to give a crap. Ugh.
Glad to see that Scully still has "I'm fine" in her vocabulary.
Doggett and Skinner team-up, there might be too much macho posturing for me to handle.
That was some pretty fucked up dream imagery Doggett had, with the severed Scully head and all, but I admit I LOL'd at his over-the-top expression of horror.
Ah, the first season 8 appearances of the Lone Gunmen! Not the greatest appearance, not sure how helpful they were…. but they are always fun to see, and the way they were introduced to Doggett was pretty much perfect.
OMG, Doggett creepin' on an admitted Scully. SO not ethical. I know that some people ship Doggett and Scully, I wonder at what point that happened? (LOL, who am I kidding, it probably started immediately) I seem to recall from the first time I watched this that I sort of got the feeling there was a little bit of an unrequited thing on Doggett's part. Interesting that he's already feeling some doubt about the case and possible supernatural stuff, and it's interesting that he had a vision of the cult guy in his mirror so soon into the series. I feel like it at least took a little while before Scully started having weird visions/hallucinations. They're trying to fast-track Doggett into a believer it seems! But he's not handling it well, seems like he’s cracking up. Gotta love the cliche backwards-talking-played-forwards dream voice.
Poor Doggett having his little world shattered by Kirsch totally blowing off Doggett's questions about the case. I think I might be starting to like him pretty well at this point, despite his blustery machoness. They're finally showing a little bit of emotional depth to him. I also love the 15-year-old third eye effects, not bad!
Final thoughts: Did you know that Skinner’s secretary is actually Mitch Pileggi’s wife? And I was really pissed about what happened to the homeless dude. He didn’t deserve to be sucked up by the concrete and axed in the head. :(
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