The X-Files
"Via Negativa"

Airdate: December 17, 2000

Livin' la via negativa: Skinner battles season eight.

At one point in "Via Negativa," FBI Agent John Doggett, unsure of whether or not he is in the clutches of a villain who strikes at people through their dreams, says dolefully, "He knows me now; he can enter my dreams." I'm almost positive that this very same line occurs in at least two of the Nightmare on Elm Street films, both of which were far more entertaining and original than this tedious episode of The X-Files.

For the record, the plot kicks off with a duo of FBI agents staking out the home of a group of apocalypse cultists in Pittsburgh. Almost immediately, agents and cultists alike fall victim to a mystery man whose sole purpose on Earth seems to lie in splitting open people's heads with an axe -- whew, good thing Fox flashed that graphic violence disclaimer a few minutes ago. Cue Doggett, who is awakened by a 3 am phone call from Scully alerting him that Assistant Director Skinner wants him on the case. But Doggett will have to go it alone this time, as Scully needs some personal time to, well, we never learn just exactly what she needs it for (and I'm guessing we never will) except that it probably has something to do with her pregnancy, which is coming to be known as "Lame X-Files Plot Device 2001."

"I take it this has also been the longest hour of your life, sir?"

Doggett is rightfully flummoxed, since the dead Feds show signs of having been killed in their sleep, and due to the fact that their bodies were found in cars and apartments that were locked from the inside, how did the killer manage the deeds? And who is this shadowy guy with the third eye in the middle of his forehead who keeps showing up and intoning things like "YOU did this. You did this to me. God help you!" I think he might be the son of the guy in Friday the 13th who constantly showed up to yell "You're doomed, doomed, I tell you, DOOMED!" You know, the same guy who's been camped out in front of Chris Carter's Bel Air Mansion ever since Glen Morgan and James Wong packed it in.

So... no points for you if you guessed that the villain is a guy who kills people in their dreams. But major props if you wagered that there's not a single Freddy Krueger joke to be found in this turgid mess. Writer Frank Spotnitz is pulling out all the stops on dream-horror clichés here, what with axe mutilations that appear on unwary dreamers, the ground-turning-to-quicksand schtick, the constant strobe-light effect -- hell, he even plays the old severed head gag. It'd be absolutely horrifying... if I hadn't seen it before, or if I actually cared the teensiest bit about any of the characters. Scully's absence thrusts Doggett into the fore, and, since we've had no real characterization on him for the rest of the season, I find it rather difficult to empathize with a guy. And that's a shame, really, seeing that Patrick's acting is normally so rock solid -- witness the tremendous performance he gave as a gambling junkie on the last season of The Sopranos. None of that talent is on display here, but I suppose I can't blame him when he's saddled with this cardboard caricature. Even at the episode's climax, when I assume I was supposed to be shocked at the fact that Doggett's final nightmare may, in fact, simply be a reflection of his own dark side, I instead found myself wondering if this guy had a light side, or even if he had any sides at all.

But mostly I was just wondering what became of Scully, who vanished into the confines of a hospital earlier on in the episode, perhaps to hide her head in shame as she fondly recalled the days when The X-Files possessed even the most limited modicum of dramatic storytelling.

-- David Rosiak

The X-Files airs at 9pm EST/8pm MNT, Sundays on FOX.

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