**Warning: spoilers ahead**
WITHIN (8ABx01)
With Mulder's abduction (and Duchovny's semi-departure) comes the need for a new character. Enter Special Agent John Doggett, played by the excellent Robert Patrick, who is charged with leading the search for Mulder. His first scene with Scully is an excellent introduction to his character, and one of my favourite moments in the eighth season. Initially, I think you're meant to resent him, but as the series wears on, you discover he's fiercely determined and quite a good egg. His refusal to accept anything remotely supernatural almost turns Scully from the skeptic into the believer. It's quite exciting when Duchovny is on screen in this episode, although he doesn't do much. He's either being tortured by aliens in Scully's visions/dreams or being a guise of the Alien Bounty Hunter. I like the reappearance of Gibson Praise in this episode too, as the search for him becomes pivotal in possibly locating Mulder.
WITHOUT (8ABx02)
Yes, for once, the first two continuous episodes of a season are both excellent. The tension ramps up as the ABH infiltrates the FBI search party to find Gibson Praise. Watching "Scully" attack and nearly kill an agent makes for some pretty riveting TV, especially when the real Scully realises what's going on and attempts to apprehend the ABH. Ultimately, the two-part offerings end with Mulder still missing, but the hope of possibly locating him and the introduction of Doggett make for a promising start to the season.
REDRUM (8ABx03)This is a great twist on the man-lost-in-time premise that has popped up all too often in various mediums. What sets this one apart is that the central character is living each day in reverse order. When he wakes up it's yesterday, and he has no knowledge of the day of his wife's murder. This X-Files episode is quite unique in that this man, prosecutor Martin Wells, is in the spotlight with Doggett and Scully becoming supporting players. Joe Morton's performance as Wells is exemplary as he pieces the puzzle together. The sudden ending - complete with inner monologue - is a bit of a letdown, but up until that point, this is one of the best!
ESSENCE (8ABx20)
There are some great moments throughout the eighth season, but none of the episodes tend to really soar. For instance, the dream sequence in Via Negativa where Doggett tries to fight from chopping into Scully's head with an axe is wonderfully David Lynch-esque. Right down to the strobe effect. But it's not an easy episode to watch. Doggett and Mulder (finally) working together to solve the murders on an oil rig in Vienen is a great conceit, but it doesn't quite land. The first appearance of Special Agent Monica Reyes in This Is Not Happening (confidently portrayed by Annabeth Gish) is excellent too, as is Mulder's 'resurrection'. I could go on, but I'm supposed to be talking about the season's penultimate episode. This is basically a big chase sequence, but it's quite well done, and the tension is dialed up to 11. We get an unemployed Mulder firing up Doggett to look into what is happening with Scully's unborn baby while being pursued by the new 'Super-Soldier'd Billy Miles. Oh, and Krycek's back as his usual smarmy "do we/don't we trust him" self. One of the more exciting conclusions of a cliffhanger too. What's not to like?
EXISTENCE (8ABx21)
The season finale continues straight after the previous episode and reveals that the alien Super Soldiers cannot be killed. Billy Miles' crushed remains include a metal vertebrae which seems to regenerate a whole new Billy. Pretty cool, huh? There are also more reveals that other minor characters are also Super Soldiers, so the challenge is to find a safe place for Scully to have her baby, which may or may not be the first organic Super Soldier. The scenes with Reyes and Scully in Doggett's old hometown are quite interesting. Reyes has no trouble complimenting Scully on her beauty while she goes through these turns of events, and can transform an old abandoned building into a calm sanctuary with ease. There are two big pay-offs in this episode: the first is Skinner firing a bullet into Krycek's head. The second is Mulder and Scully sharing a tender kiss while embracing their child. As Duchovny was not going to be in the ninth season, this scene is a little bittersweet, but a fine way to see him off.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: The Gift, Invocation, Via Negativa and Vienen.
STINKERS: Salvage, Badlaa and Surekill.
