Spoilers

“Within”

“Without”

I started season eight of the X-Files today, with its first two episodes, “Within” and “Without.” I have been dreading the start of this season because I knew that this was the season with David Duchovny departure…sort of.

Mulder was abducted by aliens at the end of season seven. This season, I remember Mulder was gone, but he was still in many episodes, being tortured by the aliens. I think this was the show wanting to move on, but yet keep Mulder in the mind’s eye.

This is one reason I remember hating the character of John Doggett, played by Robert Patrick, because he was the replacement for Fox Mulder and I wanted Fox Mulder back. And with the character still being shown every once in awhile, I could not get over it. John Doggett suffered for it.

Watching these two episodes, I had a much different reaction to John Doggett than I did when I first watched the show, back in the early 2000s. Here, I found him to be an interesting new character with a new dynamic with Scully. Scully as the believer (with Skinner in tow) and Doggett as the skeptic is a new feeling for the show.

The show bought in with the Alien Bounty Hunter once again, as the Alien Bounty Hunter was revealed to be on the ship that had Mulder.

These two episodes were really pretty good. It felt as if it took the story in a new direction while still circling back to the mythology behind the show’s first seven seasons. I know I liked them more today than I did in the past.