This is the season that broke my little heart.

X-Files creator Chris Carter and his production company, Ten-Thirteen, had earned my trust. They had worked their story-telling magic throughout 7 long years, and had propelled their little "alien show" into a pop-culture icon. They had overcome some serious issues and surprises (the most notable being Gillian Anderson's unexpected pregnancy in Season 2), yet they had always come out on top with brilliantly clever plots that kept fans surprised and invested in the show. I trusted that they would do the same in season eight...

...but in season eight my faith was lost, my trust broken...

The Show

The X-Files television show followed the investigations of FBI Agents Fox Mulder (played by David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). The X-Files were cases that could not be solved by conventional means -- cases that the FBI had given up upon. Mulder investigated the cases with a view toward the paranormal, Scully with a view toward the scientific. The writing was clever and intelligent, the characters unique and endearing. The show received mountains of critical acclaim (a first for a show of the "Sci-Fi" genre) and ultimately became part of our pop-culture. The show lasted for 9 seasons (although it should have ended after season 7 -- but I digress).

The Eighth Season:

As you know if you've read my review of Season Seven, the Eighth Season of the X-Files was never meant to happen. The show's creator (Chris Carter) as well as both lead actors (Duchovny and Anderson) wanted the show to end with season seven, but Fox Television was the show's owner, and Fox was not yet willing to give up their cash cow. After very much negotiation, Carter signed on for another season, Anderson's contract already obligated her through season 8, and Duchovny negotiated to return for only part of the season.

Admittedly, Duchovny's new contract put the writers in a tough spot. You cannot really consider The X-Files to be a show with an ensemble cast -- every episode centers around Mulder and Scully, and Mulder is the one whose heart and soul are in the X-Files. It was hard to fathom The X-Files without Mulder. Season Seven's finale, however, put the writers in a good place -- much like what happened to Scully when Gillian Anderson was pregnant, Duchovny's Mulder had been abducted by aliens and was missing, and thus could remain "missing" until Duchovny's returned full-time toward the end of the season.

For some strange reason, however, the creative forces at Ten-Thirteen didn't think Scully could carry the show for half a season by herself. I guess the writing was on the wall -- the story of Mulder and Scully was coming to a close, and the powers-that-be needed a couple of new agents to carry the show on for infinity, if need be. They brought in Robert Patrick of Terminator 2 fame to be the new, hard-nosed Agent Doggett, and Annabeth Gish to be the very Mulder-like Agent Reyes. I think most fans would have preferred Assistant Director Skinner teaming up with Scully to search for Mulder, but apparently the creative team was more interested in focusing on "new" characters, hoping they could make it big with "X-Files version 2.0" and run for a few more years without Mulder and Scully.

Believe it or not, I think most long-time fans were hopeful in the beginning. As I said above, Ten-Thirteen had pulled through some hard times before, and we hoped this would be another challenge they would conquer with finesse. Press releases from Fox assured that Doggett would never "replace" Mulder, who was now the "absent center" of the show, and that Doggett would not be Scully's partner (which was a lie, obviously). Things did start getting suspicious, however, when all press-releases started singing Doggett's praises, often to the detriment of Mulder. I still hadn't lost hope yet though -- thinking that it would be interesting to see Scully, missing her partner, thrust into the role of "reluctant believer" as she attempts to find Mulder and continue his work.

Things quickly took a turn for the worse as the season progressed. Although the opening two-parter was actually quite good (and still had Duchovny cameos), it quickly became apparent that Mulder was being pushed aside with barely a second thought. Scully changed from the bright, independent woman who kept Mulder grounded to an indecisive stereotype who needed to be rescued by her new "manly-man" partner. Instead of someone mentioning the ongoing search for Mulder every once in a while, after the opener the whole "search" was completely dropped until mid-season when some kid looking for his friend broke the case (apparently the kid was spending a lot more time looking than Scully was). Instead of Mulder being the "absent center" of the season, for the most part he was merely "absent".

On top of that, many of the plot points were, well, HORRIBLE! The worst story I've ever seen centered around something we fans had been eagerly awaiting all season -- Mulder's return. It was very poorly handled, to say the least. Mulder is returned, but he's dead. So they bury him and life goes on. THREE MONTHS later they discover that he might have still been just-barely alive, so they dig him up. By the end of the episode he's walking around again. I'm sorry, but these days most people are embalmed when they die. I don't care how not-dead you are, you will be dead after you're embalmed. You don't just bury someone who looks dead, you check first. No one can survive for THREE MONTHS buried in a coffin, no matter how low their vial signs. Dumb, dumb, DUMB! X-Files plots were never this weak, never had such huge scientific blunders, never insulted my intelligence like this.

Another point that fans loved to nitpick -- Scully's pregnancy lasted a full 12 months, rather than your conventional 9 (we liked to rationalize it by saying that "alien babies" take longer to gestate). Although you could tell that the staff was trying to hide any date-references (including the date-stamps they had always used in previous seasons), certain things (like Christmas in "Redrum", among others) allowed us to keep track of time enough to see that they weren't handling it well (at Christmas, Scully should have been at least 7 months pregnant, yet she still wasn't showing at all). On top of that the pregnancy was a very annoying "plot point" -- by the time Mulder came back Scully was too pregnant to investigate with him on cases, and Ten-Thirteen decided to toy with fans by not saying who the Daddy was until the last episode (and even then leaving it ambiguous). After being abducted and tortured and dead Mulder comes back to find his lover who couldn't have kids is now very pregnant. You'd think they might talk about this, but apparently they didn't until the kid was born...

It quickly became apparent how much Duchovny/Mulder added to the show. It was easy to see how much humor Duchovny infuses into each episode, because it was very dry and un-funny when he was gone. Mulder loved the paranormal; he ate it up like a little kid and reveled in the joy of finding something unexplained. His childlike delight was fun to watch. In season eight we're left with Scully, and though I love her to death she's but a reluctant believer. She finds no joy in the paranormal, only angst. Doggett is a hard-headed buffoon. At least when Scully didn't believe, she had scientific data to back her up. Doggett doesn't believe because he's too pig-headed. If he doesn't understand it, he just ignores it. So instead of the Mulder/Scully balance of wonderment/scientific-fact we had a Scully/Doggett combo of reluctant-belief/idiocy. For me, when Duchovny left he took all the "joy" and "wonder" with him.

I probably should outline some of my takes on Doggett's character. Although I had high hopes for him (and still like Robert Patrick as an actor) I have to sum Doggett up as annoying. I tried to like him, I swear! He just grated on me. Touted as a "manly-man" by Ten Thirteen, Doggett is assertive and aggressive, but never "passionate" (Mulder was passionate). He takes pig-headedness to a whole new level. He develops a creepy crush on the pregnant (and obviously pining for Mulder) Scully. He couldn't even pronounce the name "Mulder" correctly (he always said "Mul-dah"), among his other mispronunciations that littered the season. He and Scully should have disliked each other for a little bit longer. It took Mulder and Scully quite a while to form the trust that they shared, yet Scully's buddying up to Doggett in no time -- that was very poorly handled by the writers. That being said, he did have some redeeming qualities. He was earnest and good-hearted, and strongly believed in doing the "right" thing.

Monica Reyes didn't grate on my nerves quite as badly, however her character practically screamed "I'M MULDER'S REPLACEMENT!!!" She was loopy and goofier than Mulder, and was willing to believe just about anything. I will say that she is a much better partner for Doggett than Scully. Doggett and Scully are essentially two non-believers, so when they are paired up something feels off and the dynamic simply isn't as interesting. Doggett and Reyes, as skeptic and believer, have a yin and yang feel much more similar to the Mulder and Scully partnership -- however in a way it is a bit of a cop-out. The writers just decided to swap the genders, remove some of the brain-cells, and go on with the same-as-ever formula as if nothing else changed.

The worst thing about Season Eight was that Mulder and Scully were not allowed to go out with a bang, and that's what they (and we) deserved to see after spending so many long years with them. Instead, in a lot of ways they both became characters I was unfamiliar with, watered-down versions of themselves. After Duchovny came back full-time, Mulder and Scully should have been given the opportunity to go out with style, rather than prop up the "replacement" agents. I'm fine with a passing of the torch, so long as the passers are treated with a bit of respect...

Season Eight sent many long-time fans packing. I might have done the same but had already invested so much time, effort, and love into the show that there was no way I was giving up until the bitter end. And bitter it was. Ten Thirteen was so interested in propping up Doggett and Reyes to "take over" the X-Files that they did not spend enough time focusing on Mulder and Scully. Even when Mulder returned he rarely got to work with Scully (instead they paired him with Reyes or Doggett). Because Mulder's role was so diminished even after Duchovny returned full-time mid-way through the season, Duchovny decided to not appear at all in Season Nine (although he was in the series finale -- more on that when the next DVD set is released). I thought Season Eight was bad, but Nine was even worse.

DVD Technical Specs:

This set includes 6 single-sided, dual-layered discs.

5 discs contain 4 episodes apiece (along with deleted scenes and international clips) in the original airing order. The 6th disc contains 1 episode and the bonus features.

The bonus features can also be accessed while watching the episodes they come from by selecting the "X" that appears at the bottom of the screen (like the "Follow the white rabbit" scenes from the Matrix DVD).

The episodes have 15 chapters per episode.

English and French audio tracks are in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo surround. Subtitles are in English and Spanish. The English is also closed captioned.

The video quality is wonderful! Hurray for widescreen! The episodes look great in 16x9, presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The surround sound quality is very good as well.

The packaging is very clever (when introduced with the first-season set it won an award). A slip-cover holds the gate-fold packaging closed, with X-Files images and quotes decorate every available inch of space required to hold all 6 discs.

A "collector's edition" booklet is also included with the discs, listing episode titles and chapter stops, as well as titles and air-dates for all nine seasons.

The Discs:

~~ Disc One:

Within (8X01) - A darn good season opener. Scully searches for Mulder, even as the rest of the FBI interferes. Methinks the writers were venting some frustration at Duchovny when they show Mulder in the torture-chair. Great introduction to Doggett (Scully throws a cup of water in his face). My biggest plot-issue of this episode -- Mulder ordering a tombstone for himself because he knows he's dying of a rare brain disease! No way -- especially when we later learn that he and Scully had entered into a romantic relationship -- that isn't something he would have kept from her. Overall, it is a roller-coaster ride of an opener, to be continued in the 2nd half (Without). MizGnomer's Grade: B+

Without (8X02) - In the conclusion to "Within", everyone is looking for Mulder. It's nice to see Mulder walking around again, even if it isn't "Mulder". Plot hole in the way Scully manages to kill the bounty-hunter -- that never worked the 2 other times they tried it. Both Pillegi (Skinner) and Scully (Anderson) do a great job with the material -- too bad the season couldn't focus more on Skinner and Scully working together. Very sad ending - with Scully so close and yet so far. My Grade: B+

Patience (8X04) - A somewhat weak episode about a bat-thing. The first episode of the "Dog and Scully show". The scene where Scully drops Mulder's nameplate into the desk drawer angered fans everywhere. When Scully was missing Mulder wore her necklace everywhere, when Mulder is missing she hides his nameplate away in a drawer. Nice. I will give them props because the Scully/Doggett interaction was just as it should be - they were uncomfortable around each other, and didn't trust each other. It was just right for their first case together. My Grade: C-

Roadrunners (8X05) - Very creepy, which is good. Scully apologizing to Doggett for "ditching" him rubbed me the wrong way. Instead of showing us a Doggett who has been dumped onto the X-Files with wildly weird cases that should be blowing his mind and forcing him to question his stance on things, instead they are making Scully show weakness and say that she has been wrong about various things when I really don't think she's wrong at all. My Grade: B for the episode, C- for making me mad about the "ditching"

~~ Disc Two:

Invocation (8X06) - Actually a quite solid episode, and what I had been wanting - Doggett having difficulty dealing with the X-Files. I was also glad to get some Doggett backstory (his son was abducted many years ago), but was bothered that it was too close to Mulder's story (whose sister had been abducted) -- the writers need to try out some new ideas. Scully got her spine back, but unfortunately the X-File was never explained, scientifically or otherwise. My Grade: C+

Redrum (8X03) - A lawyer lives his life backwards as he tries to determine who killed his wife and clear his name. The story itself was quite good and compelling, and the guest star (Joe Morton) did an excellent job. For an episode with surprisingly little Scully and Doggett, it was one of the best stories of the season (although the time-stamps in this one completely throw off the whole Scully-pregnancy thing). My Grade: B

Via Negativa (8X07) - A creepy/weird episode where Doggett has strange dreams. I'm sorry, but it was a bit too early for me to care enough about Doggett to want to watch a whole episode devoted to him. The episode was very Nightmare on Elm Street-esque, and had almost no Scully. My Grade: D

Surekill (8X09) - A story about a bunch of unlikable, unsavory characters that I really couldn't care less about. Again, Scully and Doggett are hardly in the episode at all. My Grade: D

~~ Disc Three:

Salvage (8X10) - An okay episode even though there are some plot issues. Although it was in-homage to Robert Patrick's role on T2, it wasn't too heavy-handed. My Grade: C

Badlaa (8X12) - A really terrible idea (nick-named "the butt-genie") but some very nice references to seasons past and some continuity helped elevate it a bit. My Grade: C

The Gift (8X11) - One we were really looking forward too, but ended up with mixed emotions. Good mystery, bad plot (Eating someone and regurgitating them cures their ailments? Huh?). A bit too far-fetched for me. Nice to see Mulder again. Doggett and Skinner make a better team than Doggett and Scully. My Grade: C+

Medusa (8X13) - This one reminded me of older episodes (which is a good thing), with a "we're stuck down here with something unknown and scary" vibe. Scully-in-charge is fun, and Doggett gets beat up a lot. My grade: B-

~~ Disc Four:

Per Manum (8X08) - As much as I loved seeing Mulder again (via newly filmed "flashbacks"), and as much as I enjoyed the fact that it focused on Scully's mysterious pregnancy, I still don't think this is a very good episode. The doctor-suspense was poorly thought-through, and the timeline was thrown way off. We ended with nothing really answered and Scully's concerns brushed off as over-reacting. My Grade: B-

This Is Not Happening (8X14) - Good suspenseful episode as Scully and Doggett are FINALLY on the trail to finding Mulder again (a first since the season premiere), even though there are plot holes big enough to drive trucks through. Good Scully, Skinner, and Jeremiah Smith. We're introduced to Monica Reyes. Excellent performance from Gillian Anderson. Mulder's back, but he's dead (great way to use Duchovny's time guys, just have him lie there dead... yippee). My Grade: B

DeadAlive (8X15) - The best thing about this episode is that after this Mulder is back full time. The worst thing is that Mulder's "death" was one of the worst things I've seen in this series (see my big list of gripes above). Dead and buried for 3 months, but up and walking again by the end of the episode. Sure, fine, whatever. Doggett is still a boob. Skinner tries to kill Mulder. Yet more plot holes. What's with these people? My Grade: B-

Three Words (8X18) - It was really nice to have Mulder back (even if he was acting a bit out-of-character). This episode finally had some humor again. It was stupid for them to not reveal the father of Scully's baby (just to jerk the viewers around some more). Great Mulder/Lone Gunmen reunion. This episode had a lot of what I had been missing all season (Mulder's logical leaps, Scully's rational explanations, some law-breaking on their parts, etc). Yet another annoying layer was added to the beyond-confusing mythology (alien-replicants replacing humans). My Grade: B

~~ Disc Five:

Empedocles (8X17) - One of my favorite episodes this season. Mulder and Reyes try to uncover the mystery surrounding Doggett's son. The Mulder/Scully stuff (what little there was) was very cute and made me miss prior seasons. Good Mulder/Doggett hostility, but some good Mulder/Doggett bonding too. You can see the torch passing from Mulder and Scully to Doggett and Reyes. There's even a decent explanation of why Doggett so vehemently denies anything paranormal -- this episode made me like everyone a bit more. My Grade: A-

Vienen (8X16) -- Mulder and Doggett investigate a case together. It was nice to see the black oil aliens (oliens) again. The writers took the lazy way out by not having us see the Mulder/Kersh confrontation that led to Mulder's leaving the FBI, or when Mulder told Scully. It was not a fitting end to Mulder's long fight on the X-Files. Plus, we've been dying to see Mulder and Scully together all season, but all of these episodes still have them apart... My Grade: B

Alone (8X19) - I have a hard time saying anything bad about this episode because it contained a WONDERFUL tribute to a long-time X-Files fan who had lost her battle with cancer (Leyla Harrison). In the episode, a young FBI agent (Agent Leyla Harrison) is paired with Doggett while Scully is on maternity leave. Agent Harrison is Mulder and Scully's biggest fan and has read all of their case files, so the episode is full of nostalgic references to cases from their past. After all of the alienation fans were feeling this season, it was an extremely nice gesture to have such a blatantly fan-based episode. My Grade: A (for Leyla)

Essence (8X20) - The final two episodes deal with Scully's unborn baby and how it is special/different. More of the Doggett/Mulder pairing, which is fine (Doggett is like a slightly-more-annoying version of Season One's Scully to counterbalance Mulder). Still massive plot holes that never get answered, although they try to cover everything with religious references. Great to see Krycek again, even if it is rather unbelievable (why would Mulder TRUST him!?!) Plot holes aside, it was fun to watch and quite enjoyable. My Grade: A

~~ Disc Six:

Existence (8X21) - A good season finale (that gets all screwed up as soon as Season Nine starts). A lot more religious references (3 "wise" men brining gifts, a star leading Mulder to the birth). Lots of nice references to prior episodes. Of course, the "mythology" is more screwed up than ever, but I'd long since lost hope in it. The death of a long-time character was interesting too. Finally, Mulder and Scully are together and in love. My Grade: A

~~ Bonus Features ~~

Documentary - The Truth About Season 8:
A 23 minute featurette including discussions about the season in general as well as focusing in on a few of the episodes. Creator Chris Carter and producer Frank Spotnitz are interviewed, as well as Robert Patrick, Annabeth Gish, and several of the writers and crew. It is interesting to hear their takes on the Mulder-lite season, although I am a bit angered at the insinuation that they HAD to turn the show over to Doggett and Reyes because they knew Mulder wouldn't be back for season 9. Duchovny didn't make that decision until the season was finished, and he basically said that he wouldn't come back because Mulder's part had become so diminished in Season 8. If Mulder had been treated a bit better Duchovny might have come back for Season 9, at least part-time again. The featured episodes are Within/Without, Roadrunners, Via Negativa, Badlaa, DeadAlive, and Essence/Existence.

X-Files Profiles:
The three "profiles" are footage that was included with the international releases of "The End/Within/Without", "This is Not Happening/DeadAlive/ThreeWords" and "Essence/Existence" (the episodes were edited together and released as dvd-movies overseas). They are profiles of Gibson, Doggett, and Krycek. My favorite was Gibson's because it contained some nice stuff from Season 7's "The End", an episode I really like.

Deleted Scenes:
with optional commentary by Frank Spotnitz and John Shiban
* Surekill - Doggett and Scully check out Randall's apartment
* Badlaa - Beggar man in janitor's closet
* Per Manum - Scully inquires about her ultrasound
* Empedocles - Reyes makes a request of Mrs. Dukes
* Existence - Pathologist's assistant checks on Billy Miles
* Existence - Mulder and Krycek discuss super-soldiers
* Existence - Reyes asks the Game Warden about a light

Special Effects Clips:
with commentary by producer Paul Rabwin
* Without - looking through the UFO cloak
* Salvage - metalman crash
* This Is Not Happening - Chasing a UFO
* Vienen - "Oil gets in your eyes..."
* Empedocles - lava face
* Alone - Salamander downstairs morph
* Existence - Spinning vertebrae

42 Television Commercials:
There are two commercials (one promo-spot is 10 seconds long, the other is 20 seconds) for all episodes.

DVD ROM features:
Similar to the games on the previous seasons' DVD Boxed Sets, this time called "Existence". The game is part trivia quiz, part puzzle, and part episode guide. Players can investigate Mulder and Scully's multimedia case files. The game requires a DVD-ROM drive and Windows 95 or higher.

"International" Clips (available only on the episodic discs):
These are episode clips with the voices dubbed in Japanese, German, Italian, and Castilian Spanish. The featured episodes are Within, Via Negativa, The Gift, Three Words, Essence, Existence

Optional Commentary Tracks (available only on the episodic discs):
~~ Alone - commentary by Frank Spotnitz.
~~ Existence - commentary by Kim Manners.

Cast/Crew Listings (available only on the episodic discs):
Each disc contains a special listing of the cast and crew for the episodes on that disc.

Final Thoughts:

Season Eight makes me sad (although not quite as sad as Season Nine). Yes, the show could have continued with Doggett and Reyes instead of Mulder and Scully -- I think that's what Season Nine should have been (I would have still watched). Instead, more poor choices were made that continued to further alienate long-time fans throughout Season Nine... but that's a review for another day...

I would recommend this DVD set only to "completist" X-Files fans who feel the need to have every episode at their fingertips, or people who are fans of Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish. While many episodes are good, the previous 7 seasons of work are so superior I would highly recommend all of those before I would recommend this set. Still, for what they are, this DVD set is very nice with lots of extras.

Official Complete Eighth Season DVD Set Site:
http://www.foxhome.com/xfiles8/html/collectors.html

Related X-Files DVD Set Reviews:
X-Files Complete Season One
X-Files Complete Season Two
X-Files Complete Season Three
X-Files Complete Season Four
X-Files Complete Season Five
X-Files Complete Season Six
X-Files Complete Season Seven







Quote from online fan "Stormlantern" after seeing the Mulder/Scully videoclips from Empedocles:
"Sayyy... if Mulder gave Scully courage, maybe he could give Frank Spotnitz a heart and Chris Carter a brain."

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older