Case 08, File 18: Vienen

AKA: Maybe Don't Name An Episode "Coming"

The series has been so busy bringing Mulder back into the show, and so giddy that he's back that they've by and large forgotten that he's not going to be around for that long. Duchovny was only signed on to be in a handful of episodes in Season 8 and while Season 9 was basically assumed at this point, it wasn't certain if Duchovny was going to be willing to pop in for that season. So with limited time with him in the show left, they needed to do something they hadn't actually managed to do yet; Pass the torch.

Our story kicks off in the Gulf of Mexico on an oil rig named the Orpheus (apparently from Symbolic Names Oil Corp). Everything seems to be going okay until one of the workers decides to attack the radio guy, only for the radio guy to start bleeding Black Oil and then the foreman shows up to stop him and flash fries the worker with that thing Black Oil infected people can do. Anyway, back at the FBI, Mulder has broken into Doggett's office and wants him to investigate said Oil Rig, but Doggett doesn't want to.

But it turns out Mulder has already been digging into the death already which has pissed off both the oil company (who is in the middle of a turf war with Mexico over some big oil field in the gulf they found) so they need this handled quickly and quietly. So of course, they send Doggett and also of course, when he arrives, Mulder is already on the oil rig, getting lied to by the Black Oil infected foreman.

Back in DC, Scully does an autopsy on the oil rig worker only to find Black Oil in his brain that's dead, and she and Skinner realize that some people on board the oil rig might be infected. On the rig, the new radio guy tries to fix the radio by resetting it, but the foreman infects him with the Black Oil. But he does still fix the radio and after some back and forth calls between Scully on the shore and Mulder and Doggett on the rig they decide they need to quarantine it to keep the Black Oil from spreading. They pitch it to Doggett as a normal outbreak though.

"Don't mind me, I'm just here to steal back my pornography."

But all is not well on the Orpheus Oil Rig (well it's even worse than they thought) because another member of the crew named Garza is missing. After some more discussions, Scully decides that he went into hiding because he's uninfected and that since he and the dead crew member were both Native Mexicans, they must have some genetic resistance. And Garza immediately shows up and kidnaps Doggett. Oh and Kersh orders that the quarantine on the oil rig be lifted. So things aren't going well. But Scully finds out that the reason Garza and the dead worker were immune to the Black Oil is because they're both Native Mexicans. So that's something.

Hokay, home stretch: Doggett convinces Garza to let him go, but the crew immediately begins attacking him and Mulder and they have to barricade themselves in the radio room. This seems like it's going to be an issue until they find out that a helicopter is on the way to save them and lift the quarantine, but the crew has decided to blow up the rig because...I didn't actually follow why, but the rig sure does blow up. Mulder and Doggett escape though and the next day it turns out Mulder took the fall for shit going sideways and he tells Doggett that he's the main character...I mean, he's in charge of the X-Files now.

We're pretty deep into the point of The X-Files' Myth Arc where it's become so convoluted and lost so much of what made it compelling that I'm always kind of reticent going into a Myth Arc episode. What a treat then that this episode actually rocks pretty hard. It's not the best Myth Arc episode, but it works because it feels like a proper way of letting Doggett take over Mulder's position, rather than the way he originally got introduced.

With that in mind, the bulk of the plot is devoted to Mulder and Doggett hanging around the oil rig and sniping at each. They don't move the events too much being there (given that the crew are the ones who decide to blow up the rig for reasons I never figured out, it seems like everything would have played out the same way if they'd stayed home) but that's not the point. The point is to give Doggett and Mulder some time to interact, both to give them some time to build a rapport and to give them enough of a relationship that Mulder passing the torch at the end feels earned, despite their earlier antagonism.

"What? A white lab coat but-No, I'm not doing this with you right now Mulder."

And that part works like gangbusters. Their antagonism feels more natural on a case, given that they have VERY different investigative methods, but they also bounce off each other well. They don't have the easy natural chemistry of Duchovny and Anderson, but their dynamic works a lot better than Scully and Doggett (I guess cause Mulder isn't a second straight man to Doggett's straight man) and they give them enough stuff to do and enough opportunities to work together that we buy that Mulder respects him in the end.

The episode also features the last (or maybe 2nd to last, I forget if it pops up in the finale) appearance of a classic X-Files element, the Black Oil. The Black Oil was such an iconic element of the series that it feels weird how long it's basically been out of the plot. That's not necessarily a complaint, I'd rather the plot move on naturally, but this feels like a pretty decent sendoff, and it's nice that Doggett gets to experience it firsthand, so he can at least be on the same page. And I'll admit, not remembering that it was in this episode meant that it hit a little bit harder. The Black Oil was always one of the more unreasonably freaky aspects of the show.

The on the land plotline leaves a bit more to be desired, partly cause neither Scully nor Skinner have much to do, but mostly cause it so prominently features Kersh. I can't remember how Kersh's plotline resolves, and my desire to go into the next few seasons as cold as possible means I can't go look it up, but I hope it turns out he has some ulterior motive, as he is cartoonishly villainous at this point. Him deciding to lift the quarantine when even Skinner is telling him not to is just bizarre, and he's not engaging enough as a character to get away with being that evil and still be fun to watch.

"Jump! We need to escape the really dated greenscreen!"

And what makes that kind irritating is that we don't NEED Kersh to be a mustache twirling villain because we've got one in the oil company. I wish that they were a bigger presence, but after the opening they kind of just disappear, and their dearth of presence is evidence of the script's general lack of tightness. It's not a dealbreaker, the episode is much devoted to Mulder and Doggett building a rapport than it is to the actual plot, but there's lots of stuff that feels like it could do with another pass. Like the workers blowing up the oil rig, I'm STILL not clear on why they did that.

It's easy to be a mean to Doggett; He arrived at a very rough time in The X-Files' history, he is a stick in the mud (seriously, that's his character), he never has the easy chemistry with anyone that Mulder and Scully had and his presence means that the most popular pairing isn't hanging out together. And while all that is true, I don't want to be mean to him. Robert Patrick is a good actor and he's doing what he can in a tough situation, he just got thrown into the deep end of this show at a bad moment. This episode does a lot to make him feel like a more natural member of the cast. We'll see if they manage to keep that up going forward.

Case Notes:

• The oil rig set is pretty good, and I like the foreman hitting the tv to make it work and then posing like Fonz, it's good lived in relationship stuff.
• The radio guy speaking really bad Spanish feels authentic too, someone who works in the Gulf of Mexico would probably pick up some bad Spanish.
• The radio operator getting stabbed is nice and mysterious and I like that the episode saves the reveal that he's infected with black oil until after he's dead. The foreman starting to glow is a nice lead in to the opening theme.
• I like that Doggett already knows about the Black Oil, he seems like the type to do his homework
• "And you'd love to help but you left your lightsaber at home" is a great Mulder line. I said before and I'll say it again: I like it when he's aware how he's seen.
• The little bit with Mulder and Doggett sparring over the phone is nice character beat.
• Mulder having contacted the oil company claiming to be with the X-Files is a very Mulder thing to do.
• The meeting scene is mostly just exposition, but I do like how Mulder and Kersh's sparring basically boxes anyone else out from being involved. Kersh is a jackass, but he does command a room and keep everyone but Mulder in line.
• Of course Mulder is already on the oil rig when Doggett arrives, there was never any doubt.
• Doggett's "By the book" nature clashing with Mulder's "Fuck the rules" nature is a way better character conflict than Mulder thinking Doggett is a traitor.
• The foreman does a decent job making up a story to fit what happened, and the scene has a nice sense of menace, since we know he's infected.
• I like that Doggett also knows that the Foreman is lying to them.
• Scully doing an autopsy while pregnant is very Scully.
• Scully and Skinner are pretty blase about finding out that there's something out there that can kill the black oil.
• The scene where the foreman infects the new communications officer is genuinely horrifying.
• You know, it just now occurred to me that naming your oil rig "Orpheus" might be asking for trouble.
• The crew responding to having to quarantine by just grumbling feels very relevant right now.
• Speaking of blase, everyone is pretty calm about a dude on the crew just being missing.
• Mulder and Doggett took a long while to reach the conclusion that maybe the oil company is lying and doing something unethical. That would be my starting point.
• I forget if it turned out that Kersh had some ulterior motive, but he damn well better, he's basically acting like a villain this season and this episode in particular.
• Hey, Doggett speaks some Spanish, that actually makes some sense.
• If it turned out that First Nations people were immune to the Black Oil I would laugh forever.
• There's something kinda neat about a character throwing one the X-Files' famous taglines (Trust No One) in Doggett's face, even if it is in Spanish.
• It just occurred to me that the third act of this episode is basically a zombie move, with Doggett and Mulder hiding in a room and calling for help while the mindless enemy tries to smash the door down.
• I don't know if the dude kicking the "Please wipe your shoes off" sign is intended as a joke, but it got a laugh out of me.
• Ride of the Valkyries suddenly kicking in is also really funny to me.
• Mulder just decides that he has to smash the radio without consulting Doggett feels like another very Mulder move.
• Not even considering that the Black Oil guys might be faking letting them go to lure them out huh?
• Mulder taking the fall for Doggett and officially passing the torch feels earned, since they bonded through something traumatic, and the repeat of the little beat of them sparring over the phone, only for Mulder to hand it over to Doggett, is a nice touch.
• As always, these reviews are supported by my Patreon. Check it out so I won't have to go work on an Oil Rig in the Gulf of Mexico. For starters, I am in no way qualified to do that.

Future Celebrity Watch:

Miguel Sandoval, who plays the cold open victim, was at the time not well known, but would soon go on to main roles on stuff like Medium, Station 19 and Sharp Objects. I've not watched any of those, but people tell me I should watch Sharp Objects.

Audio Observations:

Uh...at one point Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner plays? You already know that song, but the main X-Files reviews haven't had one of these in a while, so I'm reaching.