Case 08, File 03: Patience

AKA: I Wouldn't Say The Man-Bat's Most Notable Trait Is Patience

Let's be honest, the real test of the Doggett/Scully team up wasn't going to be a Myth Arc episode. As important as they are to the fabric of the show, they aren't a big percentage of any given season and they aren't what kept people coming back. No, for Doggett and Scully to work as the lead pair of the show, they'd have to be able to navigate a Monster of the Week episode. And sure, that's easy to do when the episode is good, but they might also have to navigate some pretty mediocre episodes.

Case 08, File 02: Without

AKA: Is This Episode Naming Convention Better Or Worse Than Part 1/Part 2 Style?

When a major part of the show departs, there is a temptation to, when discussing it, get Meta in your discussion. And why not, it's clear to anyone who watches that reality has intruded upon the show and that decisions are not being made with "What's good for the story" in mind, they're being made within the real life constraints being forced on them. But at some point you have to stop away from that and start considering the story for what's actually happening in it.

Case 08, File 01: Within

AKA: What An Oddly Disconcerting Title

We're beginning to swim into some uncharted waters here. Not completely uncharted mind you, I have seen all these episodes, but while the earlier seasons of The X-Files (especially Seasons 1-5) are borderline tattooed on my brain, for some reasons my rewatches often trailed off around this point in the series. So while I know how this all shakes out, the details will often be surprising to me. I dunno if this is gonna make my reviews better or worse, but it'll probably make them different.