X-Files S8E18: Will you ever win? Vieeenen ... Vieeenen

Sestra Amateur: 

This episode begins in the Gulf of Mexico, 158 miles off the Texas coast. The off-duty crew of the Galpex-Orpheus oil rig is eating dinner and watching hockey, same thing I do several nights a month during hockey season. (But this episode aired April 29, 2001, so they may be watching the Stanley Cup playoffs, which can be way more exciting.) Then one worker kills another and destroys the communications equipment. It’s easy to blame the killer until you see the familiar black oil in the dead guy’s eyes. Aw, man, we’re back to Mulder-centric storylines.

I guess the return of the black oil explains the episode title "Vienen," which means “they come” in Spanish. (I can still properly conjugate the verb "venir." I’m so proud of myself.) The foreman, a Stacy Keach lookalike, reacts differently -- he starts glowing white, causing the killer to panic. 

The oil rig company claims an explosion occurred and the X-files division gets the case. Special Agent John Doggett passed because he didn’t think it was an X-file, but Special Agent Fox Mulder, who has not yet been reassigned back to his own division, disagrees. The mostly burned body of Simon de la Cruz – the man who stabbed the communications officer – has been recovered, but the communications officer is missing. Mulder thinks the burns were caused by radiation, not fire. He also thinks the black oil the X-files department has encountered since Season 3 (“six seasons and a movie!”) played a factor. 

Doggett should have impressed Fox with his knowledge of previous black oil cases, but Mulder just taunts John about his dead-ended career path. People in glass offices shouldn’t throw stones, Fox. Their tense meeting is interrupted by an even tenser one with Special Agent Dana Scully, Deputy Director Alvin Kersh, Assistant Director Walter Skinner and Martin Ortega, an executive from Galpex Petroleum, the oil rig owner. Ortega claims Mulder's unsanctioned investigation is causing complications with Mexico because of potential oil drilling rights between the two countries. Kersh sends Doggett to the rig. 

John arrives with the new communications specialist the next day. Too bad Fox is already there interviewing Bo Taylor, the foreman who killed Simon. Taylor blames cabin fever. Team Mulett are too busy bickering to see Taylor’s eyes go black.

Back in D.C., Scully performs an unauthorized autopsy on Simon de la Cruz, finds dead black oil and assumes there is more aboard the rig. She notifies Skinner so he can have Kersh authorize an evacuation. Walter balks because he thinks there’s no evidence of current infections. You’d think two dead bodies would be a clue that something is wrong. Back on the rig, Taylor infects the new communications officer with black oil. 

Dana calls Doggett via ship-to-shore radio, but gets Mulder instead and updates him of her findings. I have to side with Fox on this one, evacuation is the wrong call. The crew gets quarantined and they’re livid. Team Mulett try to find Diego Garza, Simon’s friend hiding on the rig. Scully and Skinner (I still can’t decide between Team Sculner or Team Skinly) try to talk sense into Martin Ortega, but dollar signs are blocking his view. Mulder thinks everyone but Garza is infected. Then the radio room becomes engulfed in flames and Diego knocks John unconscious.

The deputy director is irate to learn just how far out of the loop he is. Skinner takes the fall, but Kersh demands the quarantine be lifted and Simon’s body sent home to Mexico. When Doggett regains consciousness, Diego realizes he’s not infected and tells him in Spanish that flying ships are coming. Dana learns de la Cruz and Garza are genetically immune to the black oil. A black-eyed Taylor attacks John, who finally sees the light (well, the black), and Fox comes to his rescue. 

Doggett tries to fix the radio while the clearly infected workers try to break in. Scully calls Team Mulett on the radio. John tries to update her on the case, but Mulder goes the Simon/Diego route and destroys the radio. On the upside (sort of), choppers are en route and the infected men have stopped attacking. Doggett tries to save Garza but the poor, immune man has been irradiated like de la Cruz. Fox and John try to escape because the crew has sabotaged the rig. The chopper arrives and Team Mulett jump off the rig just as it explodes. (Why would the infected crew sabotage the rig if the goal was to get picked up by a flying ship or to infect others? They can’t do either if they’re dead.)

Back at FBI Headquarters, Doggett learns Galpex lost their rights to drill for oil. Mulder appropriately falls on this sword and takes the brunt of Kersh’s wrath -- Fox's FBI days are over ... again.

Sestra Professional: 

I've gotta appreciate a little male bonding by jumping off an oil rig. Doggett probably would have preferred a mere cordial greeting from Mulder when they met a couple of weeks ago in "Three Words" (Season 8, Episode 16), but this certainly is more lively.

Kersh catch you peeing in his corn flakes? For dramatic purposes, Fox and John are in much the same place they were upon Mulder's return from the dead. So what's the solution to that stalemate between two very strong and distinct personalities? Transport them to a different place entirely! It works for me, plus David Duchovny and Robert Patrick look great in work clothes.

In order to get the duo out onto the rig, we sit through a tense meeting with Martin Ortega from Galpex. Miguel Sandoval (Manny Devalos from Medium to me) plays the oil company's version of Deputy Director Kersh. And Ortega seems to be dealing with the same kind of machinations that guide Alvin in his decision-making process. Ortega's concerned with an alleged massive new oil province below Gulf of Mexico, and more specifically its financial and political implications. 

So Fox, who Doggett rightfully states could find a conspiracy at a church picnic, is forced to work with John. We get some quality Scully and Skinner time as well, even though the bulk of that is rather dry scientific stuff, and the return of a familiar foe. One thing we know for sure about the black oil is it will mutate every time it makes a return to the mythology, and its presence in "Vienen" is no different.

You're running out of mistakes: The location shoot adds much to the atmosphere. There's not much actual substance to the story, but it's good fun to have our male leads doing The X-Files' variation on Aaron Sorkin walk-and-talks on the rig. And they're literally putting out fires.

One thing that hasn't changed is Kersh's attitude. It's increasingly frustrating. He often comes off as ridiculous, it would be nice to have some measure of respect for the deputy director of the FBI. At least he's smart enough to know a Mulder stunt when he hears about one. That's about the only thing for which we can give him credit. 

Molotov cocktail, anyone? It's a good thing that Dana quickly figures out the virus is dead, otherwise I'd be pretty concerned about the pregnant woman working on de la Cruz's corpse. This episode reminds me a lot of "Medusa" (S8E12). That script gets overlooked by many, including its author, executive producer Frank Spotnitz, but Steven Maeda's "Vienen" gets more of a pass from the ban base at large. Must be the presence of Fox that makes the difference there. I consider both very similar episodes and somewhat complementary, providing interesting visuals and some slight character development while ultimately unraveling at the end.

It's waaaaay on the nose to use Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries," with its connotations of Apocalypse Now. I guess it was an easy way to pump up the volume for the ultimate explosion and leaps to safety. Like Sestra Am, I'm not quite sure why the rig gets sabotaged by the infected crew, but then again I didn't understand why Cigarette Smoking Man shut down the Arctic operation in Fight the Future when it should have been a lot easier to minimize Mulder's damage. Maybe it was some kind of self-destruction mechanism.

How about a 20 count? So it's best just to enjoy the ride, as with the movie. "Vienen" doesn't make complete sense, but man, it looked good. Doggett finally earns a bit of Mulder's respect for going back to Diego Garza. I'm not sure why Fox doesn't do that himself -- that would be his traditional move -- other than to provide the opening for a begrudging friendship.

Mulder saying John's all the credibility the office has left is about as big a jump as the one the duo takes off the rig. And the handshake Doggett tried to give in "Three Words" is finally accomplished. Robert Patrick put a bow on the leads' progress in The Complete X-Files. "In this episode, Mulder might have been a Greek chorus of sorts, designed to help the audience feel at ease with Doggett," he said.

Guest star of the week: Gregory Cruz, whom I know best from Saving Grace, does a fine job as the tripped-out Diego Garza. It has to be a solitary performance, having to be so crazy-eyed and not knowing who to trust. Cruz is able to simultaneously be a threat and a scared man deserving of sympathy.