2023/09/02

The last season of its original run where David Duchovny’s Mulder, was no longer a leading character. But even though he is not there most of the season, he is mentioned a lot! Because Mulder apparently has gone into hiding to protect Dana Scully and their son William. Season 9 is, in my opinion, not as strong as season 8, still it is a very entertaining season. Robert Patrick as John Doggett and Annabeth Gish as Monica Reyes, together with Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), can carry the initial final season easily. I would have been happy to have seen a 10^th season back then with Doggett & Reyes, who would carry the show together without Gillian Anderson, who most likely would have left the show after her contract ended.

I was under the impression, before I started the rewatch of this season, that there was less screentime for Gillian Anderson’s character, that she would be more in the background. But that was not entirely true, she does however have a different role on the team where Reyes and Doggett are the ones who team up more to investigate and Dana Scully helping them from the second line. I really would have loved to see a few more seasons with Doggett and Reyes running The X-Files. I liked both characters a lot, always been impressed with Robert Patrick’s performance of Special Agent John Doggett. Monica Reyes was introduced mid-season 8 and she immediately felt right for the job, she did not need a lot of episodes to convince me, actually it happened during her first episode last season when John Doggett brought her in for a case in the two-parter “This Is Not Happening” / “Deadalive”.

It is actually a decent season, only a few episodes which were a bit boring. First one, “Dæmonicus“, where A professor/inmate in a psychiatric ward may be influencing other men to kill ritualistically. Not my kind of episode. Next one, episode 8 “Hellbound”, where Reyes finds herself inexplicably connected to a case involving ex-cons who are being skinned. Somehow, she experienced this in a previous life. Although I wasn’t really fond of the episode itself, I made a note that I thought Annebeth Gish did a strong performance here. Also, the Burt Reynolds episode “Improbable”, episode 13, was a bit silly if you ask me, very strange episode where Reynolds turns out to be …. God or something! Silly, but still, I don’t hate it. I wasn’t that fond of episode 14 “Scary Monsters” either, where I kid is able to imagine terrible things that actually happen to you as long as you believe it.

The season opens with a two-parter “Nothing Important Happened Today”, where we meet a super soldier (Lucy Lawless), where Doggett is investigating Deputy Director Kersh and we meet an Assistant Director Brad Folmer (Cary Elwes) who is an old lover apparently, of Monica Reyes. He immediately seems to be a real ass-kisser. Also, we learn that Dana’s son William appears to have some special abilities and might be connected to this super soldier thing. Although Doggett is investigating Kersh, it seems that it is Kersh who is helping Doggett! Episode “4D”, which is also the 4^th episode this season, is a very entertaining episode. Agent Dogget has been shot and hospitalized. The only suspect is his partner, Reyes. However, she was 14 miles away when the shooting occurred. The team sticks together to solve the case of being in two places at one time. Lukesh is able to step over to an alternate/parallel universe, this is what Reyes believes is the only possible explanation. “Lord of the Flies” is also kinda of a fun episode where Doggett and Reyes investigate a teenage boy who may have the ability to control insects and uses it to kill. Scully and a pushy, pompous, flirtatious entomologist assist them. Mum is the one we should look out for! Note - Bit of a weird episode like The X-Files knows how to do.

Episode 6 “Trust No 1” is another exceptional Scully episode. Mulder contacts Scully which sets off a chain of events involving an NSA man obsessed with speaking and giving information to Mulder. A man and a woman supposedly have a child who has the same powers as Scully’s kid. They bore themselves into her life! The man actually is out to kill Mulder and /or William. Note - Gillian Anderson does a terrific job here, the emotional scenes with Scully are so satisfying to me as a viewer. I don’t think that we would have witnessed this if David Duchovny hadn’t left the show. “John Doe” is also a favorite of mine, where Doggett wakes up in a small town in Mexico without remembering anything. He only has one memory, about his kid. Note – A very good John Doggett episode! In midseason there was another two-parter which really belongs to the best of this season! Episodes “Provenance” and “Providence”. Another spaceship is found, like the one from season 6. FBI wants to keep this quiet, Doggett and Reyes aren’t involved, apparently to spare Scully because these men think Mulder is dead. Scully's baby becomes a bargaining chip for a psychotic UFO cult that feels the baby is ultimately connected to a UFO they have uncovered. Scully doesn’t trust the FBI even less than normal and Skinner is included. When William is kidnapped, Scully and Reyes go after the woman responsible and are witness to a spaceship flying off, William is left behind for Scully and Reyes to find.

“Audrey Pauly” is really great Monice Reyes episode. Monica Reyes is seriously injured in a car accident and finds herself in a hospital similar to purgatory with other hospital patients suffering from serious traumas. Slowly they all begin to disappear. Meanwhile, in the real world, Doggett refuses to accept his friend's 'mortal' wounds and uses a bizarre hospital employee to both connect with Reyes in the otherworld and capture a 'Dr. Death'. Note – both exceptional performances from Annabeth Gish and Robert Patrick in this episode as also guest star Tracey Ellis who plays Audrey Pauley. “Underneath” was an okay episode where a man named Fassl is released and cleared of murder charges when DNA evidence proves he had nothing to do with the murder of an entire family though he was present on the scene. Doggett, who made the arrest, refuses to accept Fassi’s innocence, and pursues the case again. Reyes figures out that Fassi actually has two identities, he becomes a different guy for the killings.

“Jump The Shark” gives our favorite recurring characters The Lone Gunmen their final send-off. I don’t understand why they had to die, for me a bit of an anti-climax. Yes, cool that they become heroes, but they already were to me. I thought it was not necessary to kill them off, not sure why Chris Carter thought this was necessary. “William” is another top-notch episode where Scully is no longer able to protect her son because he is part alien. Aliens and other forces want him. We meet a heavily deformed man who turns out to be Mulder’s half-brother Jeffrey Spender. For a while it seems like he is Mulder, but this is thought because they have the same father, matching DNA. Dana Scully gives up her child William for adoption because she wants to give him a normal life. Spender has injected William with a substance that should remove the alien part. In “Release” John Doggett finally gets closure about the death of his son. Assistant Director Brad Folmer has had a questionable role in the past. Apparently, he was on the take and is still being bribed! Note – Great performance, again, from Robert Patrick.

A bit of a silly episode just before the end, “Sunshine Days”, silly but good, guest starring David Faustino (Married with Children) and Michael Emerson (Lost, Person of Interest) A guy (Emerson) is living in a Brady Bunch house and two guys, one of them Faustino’s character, die because they want to check this out. John Doggett is the believer in this episode. Turns out this guy could imagine things and they would happen.

The two-parter “The Truth” ends the shows initial run. David Duchovny’s Mulder returns for this episode where he stands trial for murdering a man, a man named Knowle Rohrer! But this man cannot die, he is a super soldier. After a lengthy trial Mulder is charged with murder and will get a lethal injection. Doggett and Skinner help him escape and even Kersh suddenly helps him escape. Mulder and Scully go to the cigarette smoking man for answers, and he tells Scully what Mulder already knows, that there will be an invasion in December 2012. The government comes after them and apparently seem to kill CSM, Mulder and Scully escape. Mulder and Scully are together now, still believing that they still can change things! Note - Entertaining episode, some loose ends. Like what happens with Doggett and Skinner since they helped Mulder escape. What happened to Doggett & Reyes now that the X-files are done. I was not entirely satisfied with the initial series finale, thought that the trial took up way too much time and still there was so much unclear. But there are finales which are way worse, so I won’t complain about this one too much.

Final Word:

Nine seasons and for most of you, I think, find the last two seasons are the worst, for me they can easily compete with seasons 1-7. I especially was fond of season 8 but I also thought Annebeth Gish as Monica Reyes was a good addition to the cast. So, for me, these last two seasons sure as hell aren’t a burden, really enjoyed them. It was a real treat rewatching it again on Blu-ray, it looks so good. Only left is the 2008 movie and the last two seasons 10 & 11, which leaves a total of 16 episodes to go before the X-Files book closes again for a few years.

Screencaps: The X-Files Archive