X-Files S9E11: We are in the 'Zone'

Sestra Amateur: 

In Falls Church, Virginia, Agents Monica Reyes and John Doggett have ended their workday, but the scene has more of an “end of date” vibe. Too bad John doesn’t take the hint, Monica unbuckled her seat belt while dropping him at his place. Also too bad, she doesn’t get to muse about it for long. While heading home, her car gets T-boned by a speeding driver who blew the stop sign. (That’s not the kind of impact she was hoping to make.)

When Reyes wakes up in the hospital, it’s not a normal one. Heck, it’s not even normal for an X-Files hospital. Monica is trapped in limbo but she’s not alone, a man named Stephen Murdoch is with her. He says he had a heart attack before arriving there. Stephen then introduces Monica to Val Barreiro, another trapped soul who suffered a head injury at a construction site.

Doggett is at Reyes' bedside when Special Agent/Dr. Dana Scully breaks the news that Monica is brain dead. ER doctor Jack Preijers confirms Reyes had a living will and wanted to be an organ donor. Monica goes into investigative mode to figure out where she is. She chases a woman through Limbo Memorial but loses her at a dead end. Meanwhile, Mr. Barreiro dies and disappears in front of Monica. 

In the real world, the woman Reyes chased is a patient aide. We see her outside the deceased Mr. Barreiro’s hospital room. John is trying to find answers before the doctors send Monica’s organs across the country. Scully isn’t being supportive on the “anything can happen” X-files level and is once again referring to John as Agent Doggett. Doggett finds the patient aide sitting with Reyes. She can see John cares for Monica and says her soul is not gone. Doggett wishes he could talk to her again and tell her things. The woman heads toward the basement where there is a model of the hospital. Inside the model, the aide, Audrey, talks to Reyes and Murdoch. She passes along the message that John loves her very much. Monica asks Audrey to tell Doggett he’s a dog person to remind him of the last conversation the two of them had.

In the real hospital, a nurse calls out Dr. Preijers for not including an injection in his notes on Reyes’ treatment. He responds by injecting her with the same drug. Jeez, is he killing people for the organs or the thrill of it? Meanwhile, John thinks back to his last chat with Monica, but when he remembers it, it ends with an almost-kiss. The nurse’s death pulls Doggett out of his memory/fantasy. John is thinking conspiracy and Dana agrees to do an autopsy. Afterward, Audrey passes along Reyes' message to Doggett and it grabs his attention. 

Inside Limbo Hospital, poor Stephen becomes Dr. Death’s next victim. Audrey takes John downstairs and shows him the model. She said she used to relax in there but people started to show up, like Murdoch and Barreiro. Doggett learns about the two recently deceased men from Audrey and does his research. He gives their medical files to Scully so they can find a way to revive Monica. Team Sculett are present when Murdoch officially flatlines. His “soul” disappears from Reyes' arms.

John begs Audrey to convince Monica to show them a sign she’s still in there. For a moment, he truly lets it be known how he feels about Reyes. Then stoic Agent Doggett is back in control. Audrey passes along the message but Monica thinks she can do more. Audrey breaks down and reveals she’s illiterate. That’s the clue Reyes needs to convince Audrey she created the world inside the model so she has control over it. Too bad Dr. Death knows where Audrey is and threatens her with an injection. 

Audrey convinces Monica to jump into the abyss. She does … and Reyes wakes up. Her first word is, “Audrey.” John detains Dr. Death and finds Audrey’s dead body. Considering how many people he killed while feds were in the hospital actively investigating Monica’s case, Dr. Preijers must have wanted to get caught. Three days later, it’s Doggett’s turn to drive Reyes home. They say good night. The feelings are there but no one acts on them. I wonder how John’s memory/fantasy will play it out later.

Sestra Professional: 

I've been making references all this season to how The X-Files found a way to reinvent itself in Season 9 by meshing its style with The Twilight Zone. I think "Audrey Pauley" gives us the best of both of these worlds. This is what the show could have been going forward, if it had gone right into a 10th season. The collective fan base had different opinions, though, and those didn't stretch much further than the Mulder and Scully dimension. 

You are a dog person, John: But I am glad that there still are episodes like this one that give us a taste of what could have been. For my money, it's got a lot more juice than a lot of what we saw in the previous two seasons. The biggest selling point in the advancing Reyes-Doggett relationship has been not trying to recapture lightning in a bottle (yep, talking about Fox and Dana again.) The only thing these couples have in common is the fact they're not high on talking about their feelings, but we get a pretty good sense of what they are in moments of stress.

So Monica is floating off in the strange hospital void while John bemoans her fate. And true to form, that's when we get our best look at how tight that bond has become. After the credit sequence, we find out Reyes isn't so alone there, but man, that place is still pretty eerie. There aren't a lot of times when Doggett goes against the grain with supernatural facts right there before him, but thank goodness this is one of them.

This seem like heaven to you -- a big, deserted Catholic hospital? The episode was penned by Steven Maeda, who also wrote the season's other strong Monica-John show, "4-D" (the fourth ep). I would have liked to have had even more from him, he showed some nice insight into these characters as more than just backups for our original leads. And I'm guessing he would have been able to marry the X-Files/Twilight Zone concept even further, and not in a traditional "marry" wedding scenario. I think his stylistic vision for "Audrey Pauley" could only have been brought to full effect by one of the show's directors, Kim Manners, so thankfully he was tabbed to do this one.

The setup doesn't do much for Scully, though, and she's sort of shifted into the Doggett role for this episode. Dana just looks at the diagnosis and accepts that as the reality. Although having seen all she has over the years, and particularly this season, maybe she should be a bit hesitant since the absence of other medical factors doesn't completely back up the brain-dead conclusion.

This place is all you: "Audrey Pauley" gives us stronger guest work than we've had in a few episodes. We have some one-note performances resulting from one-note scripting. But here there's nice work across the supporting platform. Tracey Ellis, our Guest Star of the Week in "Oubliette" way back in Season 2's Episode 8, gives us the troubled and very sympathetic title character, and she loosens up both Robert Patrick and his character. Familiar TV and movie face Stan Shaw is completely fabulous as Stephen Murdoch, in a way he kind of serves as John's voice in Monica's alternate universe. His opinions give Reyes something to work off of. And Jack Blessing stands out too in the thankless role of the villain of the piece, the veteran TV actor's reactions say as much or more about what the bad doctor is up to than his actual words.

 

So how does one go about seamlessly meshing The X-Files with The Twilight Zone? By giving our heroes the opportunity to suss out the situation. The fantastical happens at the start to get them into the story, but how they resolve it hinges more on our characters being the people we've come to know them to be. (Cue revival warning lights starting to flash in my head.) Monica figures out what Stephen can't, that the confusing paperwork documents aren't just jibberish, they mean something in Audrey's world. Meanwhile, Doggett takes his glimmer of hope and runs with it the same way he would in a "normal" FBI investigation.

 

Guest star of the week: I mentioned the glut of strong supporting roles this week, but it's Tracey Ellis' moment again, for sure. This was the last credit in IMDb for Ellis, which is such a shame. She created two of the most indelible -- and underrated -- guest characters in The X-Files universe. Over the course of single episodes, she fully fleshed out both Audrey and Lucy, making us care for both of these characters by tapping into our leads' emotions at their respective cores.

To be Con-tinued

It was the revenge of ... no, the return of New York Comic Con, after obviously going a year without due to the pandemic. The return meant a few things were done a little differently (wearing masks and showing proof of vaccination now de rigeur across most of the land), but it was sure good to have it back any which way but loose. 

When tickets went on sale, there were individual day passes instead of the four-day variants. We were told overall crowd numbers would be down and availability thusly lower, but we scored the two days we wanted -- Friday and Saturday. It did seem like there were fewer people in attendance when we jumped through the hoops and entered the event Friday. On Saturday, the numbers seemed to pick up, but that could just have been a result of us being in certain areas of the Javits Center at certain times. We got many chances to marvel at the new building during the weekend.

As always, buying tickets in advance of the lion's share of guest announcements winds up being something of a gamble, but year after year, we've found it's more about the experience for the Sestras. Something we were reallly interested in did pop up in the panels -- Ghostbusters: Afterlife -- with director Jason Reitman and cast members in attendance.

I was excited about the chance for a photo op with Adam Savage, so I signed on for that before there were designated times. With the release of the panels list came a new system for getting those reservations on a first-come, first-served basis. The thing that was a bit of a struggle was that each adult had to log onto the system -- a really buggy one that did not work the way it was supposed to -- with a code sent to that person's email. So I couldn't get two for me and Sestra at the same time, I had to get one and then she had to get one.

But we did score the Ghostbusters reservations, and I added the Adam Savage panel and a couple of others for future consideration. There were two other panels I was interested in -- NASA's space technology and MTV's 40th anniversary -- but those were in smaller rooms and didn't require using the needlessly complex system.

For the first time ever, the signings and other photo ops didn't call much to either of us, this was the first NYCC in which I only did one celeb photo and no signings. We might have done more if there wasn't a plexiglass separation between the stars and the fans that made it seem like we were in different zip codes. (The Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell combo op springs immediately to mind.)

But that's not really a complaint, because there was still much fun to be had. My con began with the Savage panel, which started with a slide show of how he spent his quarantine time in San Francisco. He declared himself to be not a good enough machinist to do some of the building he did, although he was good enough to get his projects across the finish line. His favorite (and mine) was a spacesuit, complete with cooling systems.

In the slide show was a photo of Adam at a different convention with Robert Patrick. He recounted the experience of our favorite replacement X-Files agent yelling to him, "Come over here! What's that hat?" In their slide show photo, Robert's wearing the hat. Savage has an affinity for quick stories. When asked about his death scene in The Expanse, he said, "I want this whole career in television where I die on people's TV sets."

So many young people who have been influenced by Adam and his work went to the microphones during the Q&A period. He made sure to ask of them, "Your childhood home is still standing?" All the answers came in the affirmative. And Savage got understandably emotional when asked how people could best pay tribute to his late Mythbusters co-host Grant Imahara. Adam recommended parents giving teachers $20 or whatever they could afford since teachers are buying school supplies with their own money, and also just to put the tools of interest in front of children.

That was a recurring theme in my second panel of the day too, NASA's Explore Space Tech with astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, roboticist Zaykia Tomlinson, space technologist Lindsay Aitchison and moderator Aubree Hill. It may have seemed like it was a "women in space" panel, but Moghbeli hit the proverbial nail on the head when she said they were there because they were four experts in their fields and not because they were four women.

All of them recalled dreaming of working for NASA from very early ages. Jasmin did a book report on Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, in the sixth grade. Zaykia wanted to be an aerospace engineer even though she didn't know what that meant, and having toured Johnson Space Center at age 4, Lindsay was fascinated by the prospect of catching up to the M&M's she saw floating in space in an exhibit.

What came next was figuring out where each of them fit into the puzzle. Aitchison's work focuses on designing spacesuits to work better. "It really is a personal spacecraft," she said. I truly had never thought of it that way. Moghbeli, considered the potential future face of space exploration, appreciates how every day in the life of an astronaut is different. Her future moon mission will help set the stage for the eventual trek to Mars. And Tomlinson eventually did realize the perfect field for her was robotics.

The panel was asked what representations of space in movies or TV make them shake their heads. Lindsay offered up spacewalks, when people return without even breaking a sweat. Jasmin pointed out something similar when people push off of a ship and heroically grab onto something. (The Martian and Gravity sprung immediately to mind for me.) And Zaykia made the packed house laugh by simply saying, "I usually just tell myself orbital mechanics is a tough subject. I just let it go."

So conversely, what movies or TV series have gotten it right? Moghbeli immediately thought of Apollo 13 and related it to life at the International Space Station. She thought the movie drives home the point of dealing with challenges constantly in space, and how the team on the ground is every bit as involved in the process and the problem solving. Tomlinson picked From the Earth to the Moon for its attention to detail, and Aitchison specifically noted that mini-series' episode "Spider" about the development of the lunar module.

As I previously mentioned, the panelists were asked about engaging young minds -- and the discussion was capped specifically with a 4-year-old dressed as a fairy whose dream is to ride a rocket to the moon. Zaykia recommended Legos, Jasmin pointed out that anything hands-on helps children learn math and physics because they see it in action, and Lindsay added parents can play a big part by trying things out, taking things apart and putting them back together. In that situation, failure is an option because it's about discovering what makes things tick.

Not all panels got me as fired up. MTV's 40th anniversary panel joined my collection of yawners (MegaCon's Smallville and NYCC's Elementary have been the other two most notable entries to date.) As someone who watched the channel day and night the moment I found out we had it, I was looking forward to that discussion with co-creator John Sykes, director Tim Newman (Randy's cousin whose projects included the famed ZZ Top videos), former veejay Karen Duffy and Naughty by Nature's Vin Rock. The sparsely attended panel didn't provide nearly as much insight as the average episode of Pop-Up Video (also created by Sykes).

While I was in one of the panels, Sestra ran across the Shark Angels' table in the vendor room. The conservationist group came up with a unique idea of donations through stuffed shark adoptions. They had a trivia contest later in the day, although it was less about the things I might have known -- actual sharks and Jaws -- and more about Sharknado-type movies. We finished out of the prizes on Friday. I was incredulous, but not bummed, because I'm kind of glad I don't know how many insert-number-here-shark-headed movies have been made.

After walking the vendor room for a couple hours, it was finally time for the Ghostbusters: Afterlife panel. They had a full house on stage and off. Director Jason Reitman, Ivan Reitman (Jason's father, the director of the original movies and producer of this one), co-writer Gil Kenan, Mckenna Grace (Phoebe), Finn Wolfhard (Trevor), Carrie Coon (Callie), Logan Kim (Podcast) and Celeste O'Connor (Lucky) were on hand to talk about the experience.

Jason Reitman recalled initially having a couple of ideas in mind -- a girl in a field putting on a proton pack and a boy driving the Ecto through those fields. He didn't know who they were until beloved Harold Ramis passed and he knew those characters were the Spenglers. 

Mckenna, who played the girl in the field, laughed that her own grandmother didn't recognize her in the movie trailer. And Finn recounted knowing he was auditioning for a Jason Reitman movie, but without any idea it was Ghostbusters. He marveled at Logan, the newcomer who apparently showed up on the set like it was his 70th movie. 

Life on the set was interesting for the Reitmans. "On the set, you can't say, "Daaaaaad!" Jason said of his more animated discussions with Ivan during production. "It's like having your dad coming to work with you and commenting on everything you do."

The pandemic delayed the release of the long-awaited film and the cast marveled at the changes following in that wake. Grace noted the change in Kim's voice and Coon -- one of our favorites from The Leftovers -- recalled her baby was just learning to talk during filming. Now that child is 3 1/2 years old and she has a new 13-week-old baby.

Even before the release of the movie, people have been curious about whether Jason Reitman will be making another one. He had his answer at the ready. "We wanted to make a movie that opened the universe up to all kinds of stories," Jason said, who added he'd rather see more Ghostbusters films developed by his favorite directors.

And then the big surprise. They were going to show us the new movie about six weeks in advance of its official release. Everyone went wild! When we signed up for the panel, the reservation blocked out a long period of time and we wondered whether we would be getting to see it. But the next day, a time correction was made to an hour-long panel. So the screening obviously had been in the works. We were all sworn to secrecy about details of the film, but sufficeth to say, it lives up to sky-high expectations. The Reitmans and company did right by the originals. I can't wait to see it again.

After releasing reservations on two panels, we didn't have anything on the boards Saturday except visiting the NASA booth again (we found it too late the first day), my Savage photo op and another attempt at the shark trivia. That left us time to people watch, and we ran into my favorite cosplayer of the con -- a sad Jaws shark, although its portrayer was an ebullient young woman somehow maneuvering around on an injured fin. One of the unexpectedly funny moments was watching people pluck lanyards from the bin near the entrance way. Some took great care with picking them up like a game of Pick-Up Sticks. And some ... not so much, there were wayward lanyards on the ground nearby. It might not sound as funny as it looked.

I did a lot better at the NASA booth on Day 2, getting the first edition of the new interactive comic "First Woman," an enamel Artemis pin and various pieces of ephemera. Walking through Artist Alley was a lot of fun, because we can go down an aisle filled with an array of bright and interesting images on both sides, and with laser-like precision, Sestra can focus right in on an object I invariably want (for example, a teeny tiny pin celebrating the defunct Universal Studios' Jaws ride). She also found my new favorite booth, Monkey Minion, featuring an ever-increasing collection of pins and magnets for every astronaut. And it's not NYCC if I don't visit with (and pick up a few things from) famed X-Files comic book artist Joe Harris.

The Adam Savage photo op was set to wrap up our con, and while I was doing that, Sestra was going to give the shark trivia another shot. We bet a lot of the celebs weren't too displeased with the plastic barrier, it pretty much prevented anyone talking to them, asking silly questions, etc. during the taking of the pro photos. Basically my moment with Adam amounted to me tapping to him on the plastic and waving. Meanwhile, Sestra finished third in the contest (we had done some prep on the train) and won me some shark pogs.

And with that, our return to New York Comic Con was complete. It wasn't what we had become accustomed to after eight previous events, but it was still chock full of some surprises, great new items for my collection and the much-treasured quality time with my Sestra.

X-Files S9E10: Adventures in babysitting

Sestra Amateur: 

I was going to start this episode review with the definitions of "Provenance" (the title of the previous episode) and "Providence" (the title of this one). But when it started with the always-tedious voice-over, I lost all interest in definitions and just dove into the show. 

A man is talking about "Come to Jesus" moments, with his own occurring during Operation Desert Storm. At first the voice sounded like Special Agent John Doggett, but the man in the flashback is the one from the Alberta, Canada dig site in the previous episode. Alberta Man recalls seeing soldiers getting shot but be unaffected by the bullets. Super-Soldiers? Way back in 1991? It certainly ain’t the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, despite what he recites. And back in the present (boy, that sounds contradictory), the same man stands on the completely unearthed alien spacecraft in Alberta. Too bad Chris Carter didn’t change the intro’s usual phrase to "The truth is in there."

Assistant Director Brad Follmer is conducting a briefing that sums up the kidnapping of Special Agent Dana Scully’s baby boy from the previous episode. Luckily, the Lone Gunmen (especially Byers) are reasonably healthy. The same can’t be said for poor John, who lies comatose in a hospital. Assistant Director Walter Skinner tries to talk to Dana, but she’s in full Mulder-esque government conspiracy mode. And she’s probably not wrong.

Skinner checks on Doggett and finds Special Agent Monica Reyes by John’s side. Too bad John’s not aware of it. Walter offers her some words of support. Scully asks Monica for help after the Lone Gunmen identify Alberta Woman … but won't tell the feds. Reyes thinks Dana is wrong for trusting the guys again but still helps. Meanwhile, Alberta Woman contacts Alberta Man from a pay phone. During the call, the ship seems to activate. Was that William’s doing? Unfortunately, team Reyly arrive too late to the phone booth to catch up to them.

The next morning, after Reyes is unable to see Doggett in the hospital, she takes a page from Scully’s book and prays in the chapel. Follmer observes and tries to comfort her, then he reveals he knew about the failed attempt to catch Alberta Woman. Brad brings Monica to Special Agent Robert Comer’s hospital room and shows her something Robert wrote on a piece of paper. It’s the word "jacket." Reyes asks Dana what it means. Well, Monica, according to dictionary.com, it’s a “protective outer covering.” (Look at that. Turns out I did have a definition in me after all.) 

Scully reveals what she knows and Team Reyly head back to the hospital where Dana “treats” Comer with the artifact from his jacket pocket. He regains consciousness and explains his mission to infiltrate Josepho (Alberta Man?) and his cult. (Luckily, this isn’t a three-parter. "Providence" Comer is way more forthcoming than "Provenance" Comer.) And apparently, there’s a convoluted prophecy involving Mulder’s “death,” the end of mankind, yada yada yada. Too bad (luckily?) they get interrupted by Alan Dale, the one who currently skulks around at the higher-up FBI meetings. By the way, IMDb.com calls him "Toothpick Man," but I don’t remember seeing him with a toothpick in either episode. They should have just called him "Non-Smoking Man."

Alberta Woman and William arrive at the dig site. Alberta Man thinks the boy will be safe with them. The same can’t be said for the two men who were baked inside the space ship when it was activated during the phone call. Skinner and Follmer arrive at Comer’s hospital room and they want to know where Scully and Reyes are. Dana believes her worst fears have been confirmed, that something has been very wrong with William since the day he was conceived. (Wow, she really has no idea how right she is.) And it gets worse; Comer is dead even though he looks healed and healthy. The artifact which Team Reyly concealed in his hand is missing. Monica confronts the nurse, Toothpick Man and everyone else but Scully, who bails to go sit by John’s bedside. Luckily, Doggett finally wakes up. Yet after everything they’ve been through, Dana and John still address each other as "Agent."

Alberta Man calls for a meeting so Scully finds her way to Calgary, Canada. (Is it ironic how the L.A.-based show found its way back into the Great White North?) He quotes the Bible to Dana, who is clearly familiar with the source material but fed up with people keeping her son from her. Alberta Man denies being the one who killed Mulder and he demands proof of death from Scully. Luckily, Reyes and the Lone Gunmen are nearby. Frohike bugs the wackadoo’s truck and Team Reyly quickly follow. Too bad the boys lose the signal. 

Back at the dig site, William’s crying is annoying everyone and everything, including the spacecraft. Monica and Dana stumble across the dig site’s location. Scully runs toward the tent, screaming William’s name. The ship activates and Alberta Man absorbs a beam of light. The ship flies away and the tent burns to the ground, with all of the worshippers’ bodies burned to respective crisps. In the middle of all that, William is still crying, so Dana is able to find her son and hold him again.

The next day(?) Monica goes to the hospital to take John home. He tells her about a voice he heard during his coma that enabled him to help Scully when she needed it. At FBI headquarters, A.D. Follmer confronts Deputy Director Kersh about the report on Comer’s death. It almost sounds like Follmer is becoming a believer. But Kersh hands off the closed case file to the Toothpick Man, who happens to have an implant in the back of his neck. ... On the bright side, no additional voice-overs!

Sestra Professional: 

My gameplan for this episode was to keep saying to myself, "'Audrey Pauley' is next, 'Audrey Pauley' is next." So we'll be back in X-Files/Twilight Zone mode soon enough, and in the meantime, here's the latest reminder that the mythology is currently running on fumes.

 

I was left as a witness to a vision: This might be the best use of a voiceover we've had in many moons. It starts off with the kind of ecclesiastical bent that's become a part of the show for as long as people have been noticing that Dana Scully wears a cross. But then a little twist brings it into a place and time we can all identify with, no matter what our religious proclivity -- finding God in our universe when things are at their worst. That's not such a bad reintroduction to Alberta Man, as those things go. I'm almost interested in what he's up to now.

 

Gonna have to side with Scully when she calls Skinner on his "protection" seeming like more of a systematic FBI effort to eliminate those involved in the X-files. I don't doubt that's Walter's rationalization, but he really needs to clean off those rose-colored glasses. Someone who has survived the kind of battleground we saw at the beginning of the episode as well as over eight seasons of the FBI's oversolicitous ideologies about what the public and its own employees need to know should do better by Dana.

So now we have Toothpick Man (so named for handling toothpicks as opposed to popping them in his mouth) disposing of employees in his best Cigarette-Smoking Man manner. Yeah, he's doing nothing for me. I'm having my own crisis of faith about whether this kind of behavior was more easily acceptable in earlier seasons just because it was CSM and the Syndicate or whether the groundwork was better laid down in those days. But there is some measure of intrigue when the ship starts moving, I guess it's the spacecraft feeling William vibes through the phone or vice versa.

 

Maybe when you're lost, you knock at the door with the porch light on: This has been a rough season for Agent Doggett. He's hospitalized for the second time in 10 episodes after dying/almost dying/not-sure-what-else-to-call-it in "4-D." And lest we forget, John nearly drowned in the season-opening two-parter and clearly needed medical attention as an amnesiac in "John Doe," events that tend to land mere mortals in the hospital. Hey, maybe Doggett's a Super-Soldier too! Has anyone checked the back of his neck lately?

Speaking of bounceback ability, how about Robert Comer? I almost thought he had the Super-Soldier status I've longed for Alex Krycek to have after two near-fatal sequences in "Provenance," but it was just the piece of metal. (Can we call it an "artifact" or something else instead of "piece of metal," Reyes? I don't think the latter description is quite right.)

Just tell them the truth: By necessity, "Providence" is a powerhouse episode for Gillian Anderson, who has to wade through all Scully's emotions for a second straight show after doing light lifting in the early part of the season. What I appreciate most is Dana trusting Monica even though she knows Reyes is being pressed by Follmer and his pals. The women have a good bond, and for the second straight ep, the most information is figured out when they're bouncing ideas off each other.  

I have to admit I still don't get the concept of this prophecy. Alien race leading the world, these ships are the physical manifestation of God and William is the future savior coveted by the forces of good and evil. How do we get from that to both Mulder and Scully's baby need to be dead? And why are we taking it at face value that everyone on Earth perishes if they don't kick off? At least Monica's able to talk to Dana down, because Scully's head is spinning like the piece of metal -- er, artifact -- over the concept.

And so Scully trusts the Lone Gunmen again, and once again, they let her down after swearing to the contrary. Langly states the transponder could track William even underwater in Brazil, and not two seconds later, the signal is lost. I just can't deal with them anymore. Even though their hearts are in the right place, their abilities seem to be offline for good.

It's OK, though, because when Dana and Monica run out of road, no problem! Scully picked up so much from Mulder, including which way to go when there are no roads left to travel (see: Fight the Future). Before they get to the location, the spaceship goes all Raiders of the Lost Ark on the cult. I guess if I can appreciate the mixing together of The X-Files and The Twilight Zone, I might as well enjoy the Raiders-Fight the Future combo platter.

 

Guest star of the week: As much as my gut wants to go with McDonough again, gonna give it to Denis Forest as Alberta Man/Josepho. It was strange to have a non-regular handling the traditional voice-over chores, but Forest makes it work for this two-parter. Sorry/not sorry he didn't get to close it out.

X-Files S9E9: Crime and Provenance

Sestra Amateur: 

It’s a good thing this is not a Monster-of-the-Week episode. I desperately needed the recap to remember everything I’d forgotten about The X-Files over the past couple of months. Alien ship? Check. Clones? Check. Baby with potentially supernatural abilities? Check.

In Burke County, North Dakota, local cops pursue a dirt biker suspected of illegally crossing the U.S.-Canadian border and they manage to chase the guy to his death. Seems like the punishment does not fit the crime in this case. And it looks like he was carrying something with markings similar to the alien ship from previous episodes "Biogenesis" (Season 6, Episode 22) and "The Sixth Extinction" (S7E1). (Without the recap, I probably wouldn’t have put that together.)

Back in Washington, D.C., Special Agent Dana Scully gets called into a meeting with several FBI bigwigs: Deputy Director Alvin Kersh, Assistant Director Walter Skinner, Assistant Director Brad Follmer and several unnamed extras. If this was an earlier ep, Cigarette-Smoking Man definitely would have been present. They blindside Scully with the evidence recovered from the dead biker, but Dana remains cagey until she gets downstairs to the X-files office. She pulls the case file with her copy of the rubbings of the alien markings from the ship found off the African coast two years earlier and shows them to Special Agents John Doggett and Monica Reyes.

Doggett drives to sunny, cool North Dakota and meets with the Special Agent in Charge – Brad Follmer -- who admits the border-crosser’s body has not been located yet. Turns out he’s been hiding in plain sight, camouflaged by the shrubbery and grass. The clearly injured biker is played by Neal McDonough, who has spent the past 20 years appearing on every television show known to man. He’s carrying an artifact which contains alien markings.

Scully meets with Reyes in the latter's apartment to talk about the translation of the alien language. Both women agree that if it’s the word of God, that could put all of mankind’s beliefs in question. Dana thinks the answers she’s looking for involve her son, William. John meets with Skinner and holds Walter’s feet to the fire. Doggett knows something is going on and wants answers. Of course, Skinner isn’t giving them so John searches Walter’s office and finds the rubbings in an unlocked drawer. Meanwhile in Alberta, Canada, an overnight dig reveals another buried ship.

Doggett wakes up Reyes in the middle of the night to show her the case file he obtained on Special Agent Robert Comer – the illegal border-crosser. Yep, he’s one of theirs. (John gets some interesting results without the convenience of a Deep Throat or Mr. X.) Meanwhile, Comer is looking a lot healthier as he hotwires a truck in Maryland. And Scully is trying to leave her apartment at night to meet with Team Johnica, but her mother, Margaret, is not happy about it. This may be the end of the free babysitting train, Dana. 

When she meets with Doggett and Reyes, Scully drops a bombshell -- the new rubbings don’t match the old ones. Too bad Agent Comer has found his way into Dana’s apartment. Scully finds her injured mother and makes a rookie mistake when going to check on William. Robert easily disarms her and locks her out of the baby’s room. Margaret throws a gun to her daughter, who shoots Comer before he can smother William. (Actually, I’m assuming that was Robert's intent. He might have just wanted William to have a more comfy pillow for better neck support.) 

Team Johnica arrive during the aftermath. Reyes takes Margaret and William to a safe location while Dana and John deal with Comer. Agent Scully wins out over Dr. Scully because she wants answers. Dogged Doggett calls 911 as Comer tells Scully her son has to die. After the paramedics take away Robert, Dana finds the artifact with alien markings in his jacket pocket.

For some reason, Agent Comer’s shooting is front-page news in Calgary, Alberta. A woman involved with the Alberta dig is especially interested in that story and she shows it to another man at the dig site. Back at FBI headquarters, Team Sculett appears before Kersh, Skinner and Follmer. This meeting has a different tone from the earlier one. Alvin discloses that Agent Comer was undercover to infiltrate a cult threatening Agent Fox Mulder. Follmer also claims Mulder may already be dead and they were trying to confirm that information. Scully leaves the meeting and goes home. Monica brings William home to Dana. The alien artifact wants to be with the baby too; it flies across the room and hovers over William. Is he controlling it?

John races over to Scully’s apartment. Reyes tries to explain William’s connection to the alien artifact but Doggett has some doubts. (Shocking, I know.) Team Scules (Reyly?) drive away with William while John confronts Alberta Woman, who has been staking out Dana’s apartment. In the battle of gun vs. car, the vehicle wins and Doggett is left for dead. Scully and Monica go to the Lone Gunmen, knowing William will be safe with them. (Yep, it’s Three Men and a Baby.) By the time Team Reyly return to Dana’s apartment, Skinner is on the scene and Doggett is hospital-bound. Scully immediately heads back to the Lone Gunmen, but they get ambushed by Alberta Woman who is about to take out Byers, permanently…

Sestra Professional: 

We've been away for a while, so it's kind of nice to see something hasn't changed in this topsy-turvy world. That's about the most complimentary I can be about the opening of this two-parter. Mythology episodes used to be compelling chapters in the ongoing story. Now they're these eye-rolling, been-there-done-that pieces that must be slogged through. And they're two-parters to boot, which means the already well-worn plot gets stretched out to the point at which random threads stick out. I don't think it's just cause Mulder and/or Cigarette-Smoking Man aren't currently on the canvas either.

 

Season 9 had sort of transformed into a mashup of The X-Files and The Twilight Zone. And it was working for the show, for the most part. Now we're back in FBI-vs.-those-attached-to-the-X-files mode again. It would be refreshing for everyone to be on the same page for a change.

 

They're not just words: Poor Scully. "They're all waiting for you" used to pertain to Mulder and his activities. Now it's become Dana's proverbial cross to bear. She'd like to know who or what is being investigated and won't say everything she knows because of it.  The FBI administrators are said to have a sense of their power. Oh well, maybe they should, considering what their overall mission is supposed to be.

Doggett gets to utter the best line in the episode when an allegedly dead man can not be found. "It happens every day, at least it does on the X-files." Brad Follmer threatens John, while Walter Skinner is falling mute once again. What might have been a better way to deal with the situation -- especially with the need for stretching the story out for two episodes -- would have been for Skinner to talk with Doggett about the supposition that Fox Mulder might have been rubbed out. OK, maybe they're not sure yet about telling Scully, but keeping John in the dark seems unnecessary. The extra script time building up to Dana finding out that news could have been better spent with some discussion about if and how they were going to tell her.

 

Reyes should have been clued in too, because Season 9 Monica's just smart as a tack. She understands that the markings are from scripture around the world. Scully also points out that science also plays an important part in the rubbings. And just to drive the point home, there's the overarching suggestion that "everything mankind believes in would come into question." OK, aliens know more than we do about religion and science. I consider that just a given at this point in the story. (But by the way, the aliens may be more knowledgable, but they sure crash a lot of ships.)

 

The question of what's going on with William is definitely legit, though. As little as we wanted Scully's child to be the center of the show's universe going forward, right now it's the only interesting thread left to pull from that unraveling fabric.

 

Your son ... has to die: Comer might have been an acceptable temporary stand-in for Mulder if the show hadn't shot his wad far too quickly. The agent had been undercover for six months, obviously dealing with a lot of stuff Scully, Doggett and Reyes wouldn't be privy to -- if they weren't stealing information from the organization they work for. That gives me a seed to plant for fan-fiction writers. What if Comer eventually becomes the character Neal McDonough played in Project Blue Book -- schemer General James Harding.

 

Anyway, why did Comer go that far? Was it because he was gulping the Kool-Aid after so many months with the cult? Or because he's part of the more nebulous, more skilled and thusly more dangerous faction of liars the FBI has become? They're now keeping things from people just because they don't think they can handle them. And the ongoing theory that Mulder's situation has been any more dangerous than that of Dana and William is ridiculous. The baby is constantly facing threat of elimination, and so is anyone around him.

Whatever you do, don't worry: The Lone Gunmen are also shadows of their former selves. They fail far more than they succeed. What did it take, a good two minutes for the trio to fail at protecting the precious cargo they had been entrusted with? Jeez, at least give them a misguided attempt at getting the job done before they fail so completely and miserably. 

 

So when I feel I'm being too hard on "Provenance," I think back at what these mythology episodes used to be able to accomplish, with our heroes not always winning but not losing to the point at which it's just embarrassing. And as a result, the dressing-down of the storyline seems like not nearly enough.

Guest star of the week: McDonough. Sestra Am is right. No matter how much TV you watch, you're probably familiar with his work. And you probably like him. In fact, I like him so much I'm giving him the kudos just because he's on the canvas. I mentioned Comer's journey might make for one particular great fan-fiction idea, but considering McDonough's number of credits, it's easy to draw parallels to a lot of his other roles too.

X-Files S9E8: Repeatedly getting under their skin

Sestra Amateur: 

In Novi, Virginia, it’s Terry Pruit’s turn to share in group. Which group, you ask? AA? NA? Based on stereotypes, I’m leaning toward court-ordered anger management. Except for Terry, these men are a pessimistic bunch. Victor Dale Potts suffers from nightmares and sees visions, like the one of buddy Ed Kelso standing in front of him, skinned alive.

Five days later, FBI Agent Monica Reyes has the case file for poor dead Victor, who was the one actually skinned alive. She calls Agent Dana Scully and Agent John Doggett to the morgue to help her with this particular investigation. Monica knows more but she’s not being very forthcoming with her partners. They head to Novi and meet with local police detective Van Allen. Reyes wants to hear from Dr. Lisa Holland, who led the group session. She doesn’t have nice things to say about Ed, Victor’s buddy from group. Van Allen thinks he’s seen Monica before but she denies it.

Terry works with Ed at the meat packing plant. Clearly they don’t get along, but Ed actually seems to scare Terry. Scully’s doing her own research and finds a similar murder that occurred in 1960. She interviews the now-84-year-old coroner named Bertram Mueller and learns the then-sheriff committed suicide after the skinned body was found. Dana also learns there was a series of murders committed back then, not just the one John Doe.

Terry thinks Ed is stalking him at work and is ready to defend himself. Too bad Pruit gets knocked unconscious, stripped and strung up by his feet. Of course things get much, much worse for poor Terry, who at least tried to change for the better. Meanwhile, Reyes goes to the church to see Dr. Holland, but runs into a skinless man instead. Turns out, she’s just having a nightmare. John wakes her up (he was in the next room, don’t get any ideas) to tell her about Pruit's murder. Seeing his skinned body freaks out Monica and she bolts from the crime scene. Scully arrives and shows Reyes the 1960 case file. And John almost pees his pants when he realizes skinless Terry is still alive! 

Doggett arrests Ed, who is actually running from something else. During his interview, Monica sees something redeemable in Kelso when he cries over his friend’s death. John doesn’t like Reyes connecting with their suspect. Detective Van Allen cuts Ed loose because he has an alibi. While leaving the police station, Kelso has a vision of a skinned Holland. Meanwhile, Dana’s been very busy. She had two bodies from the 1960 case exhumed and learned Victor Potts and Terry Pruit were born on the same dates that someone was skinned alive in 1960. That’s some speedy super-sleuthing, Agent Scully. Reyes thinks Ed will be Victim No. 3 and she’s right. Doggett finds what’s left of Kelso on the table.

John has a bone to pick with Van Allen, but Monica refocuses Doggett's attention. Reyes thinks the souls of the men are the same. She describes Kelso’s remains even though she hadn’t seen his body at the scene. Monica is also sure there will be a fourth victim. Team Johnica head to a nearby coal mine where they find newspaper articles from 1868 and 1909 along with a sheriff’s skeleton. Looks like that one committed suicide too. Turns out, this all started over a mining claim dispute from 100-plus years ago. Four men scammed and killed a fifth man over it. Monica finds the skins -- some old, some fresh -- and then the culprit: Detective Van Allen. He points out how she always fails when she tries to stop him. Van Allen was the man skinned alive during the original land dispute and he’s destined to keep repeating history.

Reyes thinks Dr. Holland is Victim No. 4 and warns her away from the murderous detective just in time. Lisa makes a run for it and is saved by Monica, who shoots a very surprised Van Allen. Guess she didn’t fail this time. Dana and John still aren’t completely on board with Reyes' reincarnated connection to the case, but she believes in it completely. Too bad Van Allen dies … and the cycle appears to begin again.

Sestra Professional: 

This X-file should be sub-categorized "Not-for-the-Squeamish-file." Every once in a while we run across one of these, although this particular script by supervising producer David Amann could be cross-classified in the Twilight Zone file as well as the "Sanguinarium" file. That's the tag I give to competition for yuckiest X-file. Although there are other candidates over almost 8 1/2 seasons, Season 4's sixth episode always stands out to me for most memorable blood and tissue loss.

 

Season 9 may not be doing much for Dana, but we're getting a lot more insight into Monica Reyes and John Doggett -- and they're pretty interesting people. Fortunately they're quite different from our original leads, Mulder and Scully, even though they have similar drive and intelligence. It makes them easy to root for and side with, even when they don't agree with their co-workers.

 

Might want to watch your step, we got some blood on the floor: That doesn't mean we wouldn't like Monica to let John and Dana in on what's going on earlier than she does. They've certainly earned our respect, so perhaps she should have the same confidence in them as well. Maybe she's just flustered by not knowing as much about the case as she usually does at the start -- that gut feeling she's always following. Reyes was either not initially getting that vibe in Novi or was trying her level best to ignore it. I tend to think it was the latter. 

 

Although not scripted as well as last week's "John Doe," it's nice to follow up an episode focused on Doggett that showed those in his orbit trying to help him with one exhibiting a similar pattern for Monica. That, of course, doesn't thrill the legion of viewers still tuning in at this point to see Scully. But if their minds were as open as Reyes', maybe they would come around by this time. Ah, who am I kidding? Oh well, there's enough of Dana pinpointing exactly what's going on scientifically to keep Gillian Anderson's fan base engaged as well.

You can't stop it, you never do: At some point, we were hellbound to get to the point at which Reyes and Doggett's differing viewpoints came to a head. Even finding out all the victims were born on the dates of the previous victims' deaths didn't sway John beyond pointing out they're hunting for a crafty killer. We do kind of expect the concept of karmic revenge to be Monica's terrain, but maybe I've got that backwards. Maybe this is Reyes' origin story. Her facility for such reasoning could come from the fact that she's been through the pattern over and over again.

The makeup team led by Cheri Montesanto did an excellent job on "Hellbound." I don't get bugged out by a lot of television episodes, but those were the most advanced skin peels I've ever seen and they were horrifying. By the way, the bodies reportedly were made by spraying a mannequin with a layer of latex, then peeling that off and applying the layers to mannequins that resembled the actors. Fake veins were applied over the moist-looking fake skin. In The Complete X-Files, Robert Patrick gave full credit to Montesanto and the special-effects makeup team: "They literally did a 36-hour day to pull some of that off," he said.

Guest star of the week: The only non-recurring character able to keep pace with the makeup and effects squad this week was James McDonnell as Detective Van Allen. A veteran of episodic television for over two decades, he found a truly meaty role on The X-Files.

X-Files S9E7: Meet John Doe

Sestra Amateur: 

Agent John Doggett is having a bad day. He woke up in Mexico (or Hollywood’s version of Mexico) without papers, one of his sneakers and his memory. (Maybe the episode should have been called "Juan Doe.") He very quickly loses his freedom too. 

The next day, John finds someone in jail who speaks English. Doggett only learns he’s in a town named Sangradura. He has flashes of his old life – happy memories of his son, Luke – while he sleeps. Eight days later, his new “friend” Domingo Salmeron pays for John’s freedom. Doggett, who apparently can’t grow more than stubble in “eight” days, doesn’t react well to being a slave. He disarms his captor and walks away. (Too bad he doesn’t have an alien tracking implant.) 

John finds his mugger – the man who stole his shoe – and tries to get back some of his other property. The opportunist gives him a tiny silver skull. Doggett returns to his “owner” and joins the payroll. John acts like he doesn’t know what the skull means, but gives Doggett money for a hotel room. Inside the room, John does a full body inspection. He sees fresh scars on his forehead and a Marine tattoo on his arm. A cigar-smoking man outside the hotel (no, not that CSM) watches and waits … and he's wearing a bracelet of silver skulls.

Four days later, Agent Dana Scully and Assistant Director Walter Skinner show Deputy Director Alvin Kersh proof of life: Doggett crossing a border in Laredo, Texas. Kersh cancels their missing agent task force and leaves John’s fate in the hands of Mexican authorities. Agent Monica Reyes continues her investigation in San Antonio, Texas. She interviews “Pillar of the Community” Mariano Molina in the presence of his attorney. Molina likely knows more than he is admitting, but his attorney ends the interview. 

Back in Mexico, Doggett finally gets to a phone. He reaches out to the U.S. Marines and uses his tattoo and physical description to narrow down his own name. Unfortunately, John has to disconnect because local popo arrive. Doggett goes to Domingo’s garage where Salmeron tries to convince John he’s a wanted man. Domingo’s right-hand man Nestor wants to get rid of Doggett and meets with the cigar-smoking man, who reveals John is a federal agent.

Scully meets with Reyes in Texas and reports that Skinner is on his way to Mexico. Dana also shows Monica a BOLO related to Doggett’s phone call to the Marines. Somehow, they suspect amnesia is a factor. Back in the garage, Nestor tries to kill John, who gets the upper hand – and takes off part of the would-be killer’s foot. Domingo arrives and he’s beyond pissed. He calls Doggett “desaparecido,” one of the Cartel’s disappeared ones. They own the town and took away John’s memory. John suffers another painful memory attack, enabling Domingo to get control and knock Doggett unconscious. Meanwhile, in Mexico, Reyes bribes her way to a dead man with similar scars on his forehead.

It’s Day Thirteen and Domingo goes to see the silver-skull man. With glowing eyes and thumbs pressed into Domingo’s forehead, the cigar smoker “sees” what Salmeron knows. And Monica finally finds John in Domingo’s garage. He doesn’t remember her but at least he believes her. Too bad the corrupt Mexican police have surrounded them. He asks about his son, Luke, at the worst possible time, but the shock helps Doggett regain part of his memory. Mexican police try to smoke them out but Reyes throws the smoke bomb right back at them. 

A shootout begins and it’s very Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid until Team Johnica drives through the wall in a bus. They buy enough time for Skinner and the good Mexican Federales to arrive and save the day. John finds the cigar-smoking man and demands his memories back. Luckily, he starts to remember on his own. (How? By sheer force of will?) Silver-skull man doesn’t understand why Doggett wants to keep so many painful memories. John chooses to focus on the happy one of Luke that recurred during his ordeal and helped restore his memories.

Sestra Professional: 

Before I forget, "John Doe" is my favorite example of what The X-Files could be without Mulder and Scully at the center. I totally understand a lot of viewers weren't interested in that. The show was built upon and flourished under the premise of Fox and Dana vs. the world for over seven seasons. A large number of fans don't want to see it beyond that. 

But while I treasure those episodes and all the trials and tribulations we survived vicariously with them, I consider the basic concept to have a much wider scope. It could be vital without Sculder at the center of the universe, akin to programs like ER and NYPD Blue after their biggest names departed.

 

So here we have a wonderfully atmospheric episode written by Vince Gilligan and visualized with gritty style by co-executive producer Michelle MacLaren in her directorial debut and the show's esteemed cinematographer Bill Roe. It's too bad it was MacLaren's only such credit for The X-Files because I would have appreciated more opportunities to see her particular flair on this canvas.

 

It's a good point on the timeline for John Doggett to be going through this ordeal. The circumstances in which he loses his memory actually give us more insight into the man and his personal history, which we've only touched upon since he entered the fold about 15 months ago. It's an opportunity Robert Patrick jumps on and feasts upon, easily his most relaxed performance to date. I'll add that he looks great too when taken out of his tailored suits and poured into a t-shirt, jeans and only one shoe.

I'm the victim here: We're far afield of even where the ninth season began, and considering we're coming off the flat -- the most kind description I could give -- "Lord of the Flies," that is a most welcome change. After giving Doggett enough time to carve out his place in the canvas, we finally find out more about his back story through the brief memory flashbacks.

We've had forays into a Twilight Zone-like existence this year and this episode certainly fits that mold. You know how they say "you can't change who you are?" It's never more apparent than Doggett in his amnesiac state. He's still a straight shooter, a man of his word, but tough as nails like a good FBI agent/Marine. John might be figuring out who he is bit by bit, but we recognize every move his makes as true to his character.

 

Yo soy ha-ha: It's almost two weeks before we see the ungrainy action back at the Bureau. Forty agents -- including Reyes -- have been on the case of the missing agent in Texas, they really could have used a Doggett apparently, because they came up with less than nothing. Thank goodness John realizes he could call America for information about himself under the guise of the missing Marine. His tattoo reads "We shall not forget." Oh, the irony.

I marvel at Scully utilizing a Mulder tactic from the sixth season by taking trips and investigating without Kersh's knowledge and approval. That leads to a nice scene between Dana and Monica, who must feel a lot better about herself after being able to recognize the name of a Mexican calling card. 

I'll take the bad as long as I can remember the good: The Doggett-Reyes bond has strengthened in subtle ways this season and "John Doe" provides another opportunity for that to happen. Their back story extends from before they were on the show to Luke's initial disappearance, and that gives great tension to the bigger moments in the late scene -- when the still-amnesiac John distrusts and subdues her, and then the keenly felt agony of Doggett having to relive the murder of his son all over again.

Guest star of the week: It's a bit strange to give kudos to someone we don't really see who doesn't have any lines, but Barbara Patrick as John Doggett's wife is inspired casting. So with apologies to the intensely creepy Cigar-Smoking Man (Zitto Kazann), I'm going with her. Her mere presence adds another layer of critical emotion as the show starts to bring the story of John's son to the surface.