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(More customer reviews)Season 8 (21 episodes airing 2000-2001) was the most atypical of all nine years of THE X FILES for several reasons:
1. Much of the season makes due without the services of David Duchovny.
2. New characters, assuming key roles, are introduced.
3. An unprecedented percentage (nearly half) of the episodes are devoted to the mythology arc.
There is a noticeable, almost "symphonic", symmetry to the season (composer Mark Snow's haunting "Scully theme" functioning as "idee fixe") with the mythology arc divided into several well-defined sections: an opening 2-part prelude, massive 5-part mid season "adagio" and grand 2-part finale.
The loss of David Duchovny's full participation actually had the effect of re-focusing THE X FILES. Chris Carter and company were put to the test in coming up with an interesting and (somewhat) cohesive storyline that would work around the practical ( business related ) realities they faced behind the scenes. Though not without missteps, Season 8 succeeded both in revitalizing the dramatic intensity of the myth arc and maintaining the shows inexorable momentum toward a conclusion revealing much of Chris Carter's longstanding underground project.
In Season 8 Gillian Anderson became the lynchpin of THE X FILES, continuing to summon up her considerable skills in service to the show. The casting of Robert Patrick as Agent John Doggett was a stroke of genius; Doggett was written and acted in complete distinction to Mulder. This well-planned strategy allowed the imaginative landscape of THE X FILES to be viewed through the fresh eyes of a new character; in the process, some of the excitement of the show's early years was regained for longtime aficionados. Additionally, a measure of stability and strength is found in the season-long emphasis of producing truly serious scripts. The result is a consistently "dark" mood, similar to the melancholia found throughout Season 4. In fact, only in a short midseason slump did the show exhibit signs of true weakness.
The "stand alone" scripts, while certainly not the main emphasis of Season 8, were noticeable improvements over the previous season:
Vince Gilligan's ultra-violent "Roadrunners" (his only contribution in Season 8) is the single finest "stand alone" of the year, a savage parody of a religious sect ( barely disguised ) combined with an homage to the sci-fi classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". This is the first episode (aired early in the season) in which it is apparent that Gillian Anderson and Robert Patrick really "click" as a team; a most fortunate happenstance as the fate of the remaining two years depend in large part on their convincing onscreen chemistry. THE X FILES would never have maintained its integrity had the (platonic) Scully/Doggett partnership failed onscreen.
David Amann's moving "Invocation" is the first of several episodes over the course of the final 2 seasons that deal with the past event that most shaped Agent Doggett: the kidnapping and murder of his son ("Empedocles" was the other script so featured in Season 8).
Longtime staff writer Frank Spotnitz has a very prominent role in shaping Season 8; in addition to co-writing several episodes with Chris Carter, Spotnitz penned several solo scripts:
The excellent "Via Negativa", in addition to being superior on its own terms, has the additional virtue (shared with "Invocation") of allowing Robert Patrick to flesh out his character (David Lynch style cinematography adds a visually disturbing element to the storyline).
"The Gift" is one of the strangest X FILES episodes ever produced, a hallucinatory combination of "stand alone" and "mythology", all the more bizarre for the flashbacks which (purportedly) explain Mulder's pre-abduction illness.
"Alone" (aired late in the season) is essentially written for the elegiac touches of its final minutes, with Scully and Mulder humorously yet touchingly "passing the torch" on to a young and admiring FBI agent, the latter character symbolic of the legions of loyal (and often demanding) "X-Philes".
Regarding the failures in Season 8:
"Salvage", "Sure kill" and especially the execrable "Baddlea" should never have been aired. One of the most valuable aspects of this complete DVD set will be to allow the viewer to bypass inferior episodes and concentrate on the otherwise laudable unity demonstrated throughout Season 8.
Regarding the mythology arc:
The aforementioned symphonic structure of the season begins with Chris Carter's two-parter ("Within"/"Without"), which has the pregnant Scully searching for an abducted Mulder.
Carter and Spotnitz collaborate on the pivotal mid season block of mythology episodes dealing with the death and resurrection of Fox Mulder. One cannot help but notice the debt owed to the 2nd/3rd season trilogy ("Anasazi" / "The Blessing Way" / "Paper Clip" ).
Chris Carter wrote the season finale ("Essence"/"Existence"), which is the mirror image (in terms of title and plot) of the season opener. The series' philosophical (indeed, theological) underpinnings, while by no means hidden in previous seasons, are laid bare with allusions and typological references to the New Testament (as well as the metaphysics of Aquinas reflected in the episode titles).
While "Essence"/"Existence" was fashioned in such a way as to provide a satisfactory conclusion to both the 8th season and the series as a whole (should it have ended in 2001), it turned out that many of its themes would be carried over into what would in actuality become the final year. THE X FILES would eventually complete its long (9 year) run in artistic and spiritual unity; a testimony to the integrity of cast, writers, crew and (above all) creative vision of Chris Carter.
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