X-Files 8.19 The Dogg stands "Alone"

There were some cute touches to this episode, that were kind of nice, but I
kinda resented them too. Essentially, Dogg is teamed with a partner who is
a fan of the X-files. One of us.

I'm stunned she survived the episode.

The show begins with an old man in a wheelchair fretting about whether his
son has locked all the doors and windows. His son is kinda pissed about
having to look after his dad. He says, "yeah, yeah, checked the locks" and
goes in the other room to heat up some dinner. Dad is attacked by a venom
spewing monster, son investigates the noise and is also attacked. Eeek.
If they think the jump-cut into close-up is still working, they are
deluding themselves. The old man's fear SEEMED to me to indicate he knew
about the monster, but...that never pans out does it?

Back at the Bureau, Scully is cleaning out her desk, where she finds all
sorts of talismans to the good ol' days: poor, departed QueeQueg's dog tag
(Season Three:Clyde Bruckman, War of the Coprophages, Quagmire), the fused
coins from Season 6's "they don't remember but we do" Dreamland
two-parter. She also finds the Apollo 11 keychain that Mulder gave her for
her birthday in Season 4's "Tempus Fugit" and explained in "Max" as a
symbol of teamwork, partnership, etc. She passes it on to Dogg in another
"the torch has been passed to a new generation of X-Files. Created in this
Millennium" moment. She gets all mushy about "all they've been through and
hugs him goodbye, as she has to go on what I swear she called "maternily"
leave. I played it over and over and it kept sounding wrong.

It would have been nice if, like "Somewhere in Time" when she touched these
items from better seasons she would be suddenly better written.

Scully keeps "saying" she and Dogg are close, but they never actually gave
us scenes of them just being human together. Yeah, he saved his life,
yeah, she saved his. But Mulder and Scully's relationship was built on
humor, vulnerability and friendship established in rental cars, airplane
terminals, motel rooms. They never let us learn about Dogg THROUGH Scully,
and he still doesn't really know her. I'm done no-prizing for these guys,
if it didn't happen on-camera, it didn't happen!!

Dogg asks Scully if she's coming back, and she gives her standard season 8
answer: she smiles enigmatically and walks away without a word. Are we
sure the writers didn't go on strike, Scully's sure have.

Let's not even talk about Dogg starting a conversation, thinking he's
talking to Scully because he hasn't bothered to turn around and see who's
walked in the door, only to be embarrassed when it's his new partner.
Lame. Also lame, Dogg is so stunned and bummed to have a new partner. His
partner is going on maternity leave...duh, of course he'd get a new
partner. DUH!!

The partner, Layla Harrison is very eager to please, very enthusiastic,
very green (yes, it DOES sound like Mulder's temp partner Alex "ratboy"
Krycek, but the similarities end there). She has no field experience.
They go up to where the old guy and his son were slimed. Dad's body has
been found and taken to DC for autopsy. The son is missing and considered
a suspect, but Dogg doesn't buy it, what with all the slime lying around.
Layla is totally psyched that this is a real-life X-File. Dogg tells her
Kersh hates the X-Files and is probably using her.

Layla reveals that she used to be in accounting and she used to process
Mulder and Scully's travel reports (I know the FBI hires accountants as
agents, but do FBI agents work as accountants within the FBI?). She knows
all their cases by heart and is something of a groupie, it turns out. She
brings up the liver-eating mutant from season one's "Tooms" and
skin-shedding aliens from...uh, believe it or not, she got me there. If
anyone remembers, let me know, I'll pass it along.

Meanwhile, on the more interesting show we only get to glimpse for ten
minuets an episode, Mulder and Scully, the people we actually care about
are on their way to...somewhere, maybe an OBGYN appt. Mulder is so cute in
a gray sweater over white T-shirt. When she inquires about his knowledge
about baby matters, he tells her that since he is now unemployed, he
watches a lot of Oprah. Then she tells him she feels strange, and he says
something along the lines of "about having a baby even though it's
medically impossible and you're a doctor, and a skeptic, and you've
already HAD an alien-hybrid baby who you didn't raise but you had to watch
her die?? THAT??" And she says, "Oh, pshaw, don't be silly, I'm worried
about leaving poor puppydogg alone in the big bad X-Files." ZUH?

And what exactly IS the dynamic between Mulder and Scully these days
anyway? Carter is giving us all these scenes of them as a defacto family,
with none of the emotional payoff. And why aren't we seeing Scully's FEARS
raised about what/who is in her body? Why can't we have that
conversation?? All year, Carter has been skirting around the issue like a
talentless coward hack.

This show never was that good at answers,, but at least they were brilliant
and brave about asking all the damn questions.

The show is, naturally, overscored. I think Mark Snow gets paid by the
note these days. Dogg is creeping around someone's office. It's the
office of a scientist, who has all these articles and books about evolution
and reptiles (hint hint). In retrospect, I'm really curious as to how Dogg
got in what we later learn is the bad guy's house. Who let him in? Dogg
followed the slime/drag trail to the house--is that just cause to enter
without a warrant? Maybe. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Dogg senses the mutant staring at him, but almost shoots Harrison who
sneaks up on him. She reveals that she did the same thing he did--followed
the trail (Dogg proves himself worthy of heading the X-Files in one
regard--he's ditched his partner). Harrison is spooked and he tells her to
wait outside the door so she can shoot the creature if it comes outside.
He has to instruct the shaky Layla to remove the safety from her gun--did
she graduate from the FBI Academy or not? Green is one thing, but if she's
an FBI agent, she would be good with er weapon and qualified to use it.
She'd have to prove that qualification regularly. Scared, I'll buy, but
incompetent...that ticks me off. Anyway, Dogg is either a complete idiot
for intentionally flushing the beast towards an agent who he's not
confident in, or a complete idiot for, in trying to protect Layla, putting
her in the path of the beast. The creature runs out the front door and
slimes poor Layla. When Dogg responds to her gun shots, Layla is gone. He
follows the slime trail and falls through a trap door.

Two agents are now missing and Skinner is leading the search as sops and
FBI agents comb the woods looking for the pair. Scully is on the phone,
frantic about Dogg. When Skinner tells her he's got it under control,
Scully practically scoffs at his ability to do anything right. Again, why
have they ruined Skinner? Why does he have to be this pathetic jerk? Why
cant he at least help save the day here?

Dogg wakes up in a tunnel.

Scully does the autopsy on the old man. Mulder appears. He claims to have
slipped away from his tour. Considering the bang-up job the FBI's done in
the last few years:false accusations, Soviet spies, missing files, I find
the idea that a FIRED and potentially disgruntled former employee can just
leave a tour group and wander in restricted areas. Okay, not really.
Scully tells him she's found a combination of venom and bacteria in the
man's system. When Mulder raises concern about Scully exposing her unborn
baby to this mystery contaminant (as she did the week before) Scully shrugs
it off.

Gillian does her little facial tick thing, where she blinks with only one
eye. It's not winking, it's a one eyed blink. Maybe Scully's been an
alien all this time. Anyway, Scully insists that she and Mulder are the
only people in the universe qualified to help Dogg solve the X-File and
find the truth.

Dogg finds some gross animal remains and hears freaky noises. He gets
slimed and his vision gets blurry, but the creatures doesn't attack him any
further. Layla and Gary (the missing son of the dead man) are also in the
tunnel. Gary is paralyzed and in bad shape--not even seemingly conscious.
Layla can barely see at all. Dogg speculates that the trap door is part of
a scheme to give the mutant food. So the mutant has human help. He thinks
there must be a way out: "Bootlegguh's built dese tunnels."

Mulder shows up at the scene and Skinner tells him to get lost as he's a
civilian. Mulder laughs at Skinner's authority and walks into the woods.
Couldn't Skinner arrest him for interfering with an FBI investigation?
Mulder is wearing a dark blue shirt and a black...windbreaker/canvas
jacket. Either way, nice.

Dogg climbs up a tunnel up to a grate.

Mulder pokes around the grounds where Dogg and Layla were last and is
confronted by a very arrogant man named Herman Stites, a biologist who has
I AM A MAD SCIENTIST WHO CREATED THIS KILLING MACHINE tattooed on his
forehead. Mulder tells Stites he thinks a giant reptile is responsible for
the killings, which Stites maintains is impossible. He wants Mulder (who
has identified himself as Agt. Kersh) off his property. Mulder leaves,
carrying the Apollo 11 keychain he found near the tarp door (very poorly
hidden, I thought, though Mulder didn't notice it.)

Dogg manages to remove the grate and calls for help. Stites walks over,
steps on Dogg's hand and puts the grate back on. Dogg falls a good...30-5-
feet and lands on his back, but is not harmed at all. Dogg tells Layla
about all the papuhs he was looking at in the office before he saw the
reptile mutant. He assumes the guy who stepped on hi hand is Stites, a
scientist who probably created this monster. Scully invokes the names of
Mulder and Scully and their previous cases and Dogg snaps "Mulder and
Scully aren't here!!"

Yeah, don't we know it.

Gary is gone. his clothes are all that's left. Dogg and Layla are
concerned.

Scully calls Mulder, who s staking out Stites house eating sunflower
seeds--another talisman of X-Files past. They keep throwing us the props,
the symbols, when what we miss and need are the emotions, the issues, the
characters. Scully tells him that Skinner is furious at Mulder for
impersonating Kersh. this is odd because she practically ordered Mulder to
do exactly what he is doing--investigating the X-File and trying to find
Dept. Dogg. Scully insists that they are dealing with a reptilian
creature, Mulder insists it's man using venom to disable his prey. This
pointless "argument" shows how little Spotnitz (who wrote this one) and
Carter understand their own characters. They feel the two HAVE to
disagree, even though they are essentially the B story and it's been
established that Scully believes SOME things and Mulder believes MOST
things. They never establish AT ALL why Mulder thinks there's NO creature
involvement here. It's a sad attempt to recapture the old days.

Scully finds out from an FBI scientist that the venom breaks down tissue.
The creature spits its venom, the victim goes blind, then all its tissues
go to mush. The creature then drinks all the insides and tosses the
hardened shell like an aluminum can.

Layla apologizes to Dogg for sucking as a partner, then she goes totally
blind. They find Sach's shell. Ewww.

Scully tells Mulder her findings, and that Stites was published in a
Science journal. He claimed he could and would create a new reptile
creature. Then Mulder see it crawling around and gives chase EVEN THOUGH
HE IS UNARMED. He pounds on the door, and we learn that Stites isn't just
the creator of the reptile creature, he's also a client. I didn't see it
coming, that Stites IS the mutant, but it wasn't a huge shock. EIGHT YEARS
of monsters, how do they really expect to surprise us ever again?

Mulder tells Stites the creature is outside and he need him to help which
makes NO SENSE. He actually says, "I know you never intended for this
thing to hurt anybody." Why would he assume that or say that?? He
suspected Stites the second he laid eyes on him.

Dogg and Layla are at the tunnel entrance door, but it won't budge. they
are confused by the how the creature is coming and going, as this is "the
only entrance" besides the trapdoor and the grate. How two BLIND people
could say this with any certainly is beyond me.

Stites leads Mulder to the tunnel entrance, where they find the Dogg and
Layla. Dogg thinks Stites is in on it (DUH) and Layla makes the leap that
Stites IS the mutant. Stites becomes the mutant and is going to spray
Mulder. Mulder tells Dogg he has no weapon and tells Dogg to shoot it.
Dogg is blind, so Mulder tells him to shoot at the sound of his voice,
which makes Dogg very nervous, but he does. There's a moment where Dogg
frets that he's killed Mulder but he's only shot the mutant. The now
shot-dead mutant turns into the very human Stites, but only Mulder can see
it. Since Layla made the discovery before Mulder did, that's hardly
significant, though Mulder looks at them like "Of course, I'm the only one
who see this for my own eyes." If Layla HAD been able to see it, she
probably would have said, "This EXACT same thing happened back in 1994 when
you and agent Scully investigated that werewolf on the Indian Reservation!"
(Season 1 "Shapes")

Dogg encounters Mulder and Scully at the hospital and wrongly assumes it's
time for the baby, "Oh, no, Dogg. this is the coda for the monster story.
The delivery is for the finale." They're hear to see Harrison, who's
making a nice recovery, though she's off the X-Files. Her choice, Dogg
insists. I actually liked Harrison A LOT better than Smiley Moonbeam, but
what do I know? I think she'd make a cute sidekick for Dogg. Dogg credits
her recovery to the same "anti-venon" treatment he got. Not Venom, Venon.
What they couldn't even fix it in looping? He says he's gonna be
partnerless for awhile, which I don't buy. Cops have partners for safety
reasons. But Carter and Spotnitz are so enamored with tough guy Dogg,
going it alone, they say to hell with realism. This is a scifi show, but
the beauty of it WAS how realistic the investigation, the process, the
system was.

Mulder, in yet another passing the torch/blessing scene, gives Dogg the
Apollo keychain, and he's touched but wants to give it to Harrison, who's
all, "No WAY, this is, like, so awesome!" She's hella stoked to be meeting
her heroes, Mulder and Scully and asks a question--actually a funny one.
One of the big nitpicks of the X-Files feature film is the fact that, at
the end, Mulder is in Antarctica. His snowcat runs out of gas and he gets
to the installation anyway, finds Scully, they escape, the spaceship takes
off and they are left in the snow with nothing. No vehicle, and his
snowcat is a out of gas. How did they get rescued? It was funny having
Layla ask this, as was the very cute dispute Mulder and Scully have when
Scully tells Layla that they aren't sure it was a spaceship, she was
Unconscious "something" took off, etc. and Mulder is incredulous at
Scully's Sculliness. It was a sweet scene, and funny that they didn't
actually bother to answer it ( I assumed Mulder had a radio or something in
the snowcat and called for help, I dunno.)

And Dogg watches this, the outsider, and then he stalks down the hall
ALONE. I was surprised they didn't have him hop on a motorcycle and ride
off as the end credits ran to Bob Segar's "Roll Me Away" or Neil Diamond's
"Solitary Man." Geezo.

This episode was weak. Do they really think they have another year of
monster stories in them? Even if the case are new to Dogg and Moonbeam,
they won't be new to us.

Have a good week. I will watch and review part one of the finale
shortly--but I refuse to pray for Scully's baby, Fox Promo department.
You're just a television show! Christine :)