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[daemonicus 9x3]
Daemonicus: 1) the Latin word for Satan; 2) demonic; pertaining to demons, demonical. This was a good episode, better than I thought when I saw it the first time. For me, a good episode is one that stands up to a second viewing, occasionally even improving once viewed again. Sure, the episode covered some familiar territory, both inside and out of The X-Files, and there were one or two plot gaffes, but the territory was covered well and the performances were good, especially Robert Patrick's. Frank Spotnitz wrote this episode, and once again he takes up the mantle of fleshing out the Doggett character and his motivations. Spotnitz has done this very well before, in Via Negativa, The Gift, Medusa and Alone, but this time we get insight into Doggett not from his own words and actions exclusively but from a secondary source as well, the criminally insane Josef Kobold. The best scene of the episode takes place in Kobold's newer, bigger cell; he taunts Doggett by telling him he knows why someone like Doggett, so unsuited to the job, would stay on with the X-Files: "Clearly, you have feelings for her." Robert Patrick was wonderful in this scene, the pain registering incrementally higher on his face as Kobold continues with his taunts. Doggett clearly doesn't want to hear this and you have to wonder why. Is it because he wants to keep the focus on the case and not himself? Or does Kobold hit a little too close to home? I think it's the latter. It's always been pretty apparent to me that Doggett cares a great deal about Scully, in fact, I think he probably loves her. The fact that he cares about Scully explains a great deal about his reasons for staying on in the X-Files division, as well as the risk to life and limb he is willing to endure for the cause of another. Kobold doesn't just lay bare Doggett's feelings; he also plays on his insecurities, telling him, "You can't compete with long lost Agent Mulder, his easy good looks, his Oxford education...You want her, but she feels sorry for you. They both do." Oh, poor Doggett! Talk about pouring salt on the wound. It is at this point that Doggett loses his cool and RP explodes on the screen. Of course, and unfortunately, Kobold also explodes, spewing a geyser of ectoplasmic vomit all over Doggett. That was seriously disgusting. As the first real post-Mulder episode, Daemonicus takes on the task of establishing some character dynamics. It looks as though, at least for this episode, our main characters run along the believer spectrum. Reyes is at one end, embracing the idea of demonic possession, while Doggett is at the other, completely denying it. Scully can be found somewhere in the middle, acting as a mentor for both. I like her in that role. She has a lot to offer in that capacity. When Reyes asked Scully whether she ever felt the presence of evil, Donnie Pfaster immediately came to mind. It's a bit frustrating that when asked early on what she thought of the case she responds, "I haven't formed an opinion about it yet, actually." Is this more of the wishy-washy Scully? Maybe. But it also shows how far she has come. There was a time that she would have dismissed the possibility of demonic possession outright, a la Doggett. The fact the she doesn't here shows how far she has come after seeing the things she has seen. There is another thing I wanted to note on this topic, and I missed it the first time around. It takes place in Scully's opening speech to her academy class. There was a nice nod to Mulder and a pivotal exchange she shared with him in the Pilot:MULDER: Coventional wisdom. You know this Oregon female? She's the fourth person in her graduating class to die under mysterious circumstances. Now, when convention and science offer us no answers, might we not finally turn to the fantastic as a plausibility?What does Scully say now about "answers beyond the realm of science"? She explains to her forensic pathology class that her experience working on the X-files has taught her that when you have exhausted all scientific explanations on a case, extreme possibilities should be considered. Although she may not embrace it as quickly (or as thoroughly) as Mulder, the fantastic is now a plausability. As I said, the episode didn't really cover new territory. I was reminded a few times of Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal Lecter's manipulation of FBI Agent Starling, his request for a room with a view; Spotnitz even gives a nod to a previous X-File episode that involved mind-game manipulation, Pusher, by having the guard read "American Ronin" magazine. Kobold speaks of a snake eating its own tail, which of course is not only the symbol for Carter's Millennium, but is also Scully's tattoo. Kobold's mindgame was emphasized thematically with references to chess - Chessman State Mental Hospital, the chessboard pattern of the hospital floor and Doggett's "Checkmate" in the final scene. There were also a couple of game references sprinkled throughout - the Mountjoys were playing Scrabble in the teaser, and Kobold says to Doggett at the end, "Game's over. You lost." I enjoyed Doggett's blackboard explanation at the end. Like the snake eating its own tail, the end of the episode turned towards its beginning and the display of the word "daemonicus" on the Scrabble board. There were some neat camera tricks and cinematography. The fast moving, ominous clouds lent a nice, foreboding feeling. Particularly good were the fades from scene-to-scene; the shot of the chessboard floor was a good one, and I also like the one where Kobold's face melded with the clouds. The shot of the hanging Gerlach was very stark, adding to the creepiness. The only real problem I had with the episode were a couple of poorly written moments that put people in places or had them do things they wouldn't normally do, only to move the story along. I still don't know why Kobold was on the scene at Dr. Sampson's house or at the pier. He didn't really need to be there. And having Scully get out of that car all by herself on that dark pier, when she's been told that an escaped psychotic killer was going to be there was just silly. So, was Kobold really possessed by the devil, or was this just an elaborate mind-f*uck? Like Scully says to her class at the end, uncertainty will always be a looming factor in any case. And like any good x-file, this one ended on a reasonably ambiguous note. Doggett was indeed correct all along - Kobold was a master manipulator and he was playing them. He lured them into the case, chose them because they were the supposed experts on such cases and he wanted to show them that he could best them at their own game. I think, though, that there were too many unexplained happenings to completely write-off the possibility of demonic possession. But we'll never know, and that was one of the points of the episode, wasn't it? Another good one from Spotnitz. |
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