"The X Files" Dæmonicus (2001)

Director:

Frank Spotnitz

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
Frank Spotnitz (written by)

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

2 December 2001 (Season 9, Episode 3)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A professor/inmate in a psychiatric ward may be influencing other men to kill ritualistically. Though Doggett sees it as pure manipulation, Reyes can't help but suspect none else but the devil himself possessing the professor's body. |

Plot Keywords:

Title Spoken By Character | FBI | FBI Agent | Alien | X Files

Cast

Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Robert Patrick	...	John Doggett
Annabeth Gish	...	Monica Reyes
James Remar	...	Josef Kobold
Andi Chapman	...	Dr. Monique Sampson
Sarah Benoit	...	Evelyn Mountjoy
Tim Halligan	...	Darren Mountjoy
James Rekart	...	Paul Gerlach
Troy Mittleider	...	Dr. Kenneth Richman
Lou Richards	...	Officer Custer
Robert Beckwith	...	FBI Cadet
Rueben Grundy	...	Forensic Tech
Elijah Mahar	...	Guard
Shane Nickerson	...	Police Photographer

Runtime:

Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Argentina:13

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Doggett suggests to Reyes the killer might use human flesh to fertilise his garden - an in-joke referencing the movie The Last Supper (1995), which starred Annabeth Gish.

Quotes:

Scully: The syringes contained Roperidol, that's the same anti-psychotic medication that she was giving to Dr Richmond.
John Doggett: He's not the one calling the shots.
Scully: You still think that it was Kobold?
John Doggett: This is not about demons, it's not about demonic possession, it's about men.
Scully: Agent Doggett, have you considered that something else might be going on here?
John Doggett: I heard you say it, Agent Scully, I heard you tell a classroom full of FBI cadets - most evil in the world comes from men.
Scully: Yeah, but I also said that when science fails, we have to consider extreme possibilities. I know what you're feeling. I know your frustration. But you can't let it cloud your objectivity.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References The Last Supper (1995)

Do you believe in the power of the devil?

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Dæmonicus is one of the few season 9 episodes that I like. I like it a lot actually. Rarely am I faced with an episode in which I can tolerate Reyes' random ramblings and crazy ideas. It is interesting in this episode that Scully seems to join sides with Reyes even if its just because they are both worried about Doggett. Two things make this episode great for me; first is the creepiness factor, and second is Agent Doggett.

I really enjoy the teaser. It is probably one of the scariest teasers I can think of from the entire series. Just to mention a few of the other creepy elements/scenes: the great masks that the possessed men wear, the way the fan stops moving when Reyes touches the wobbling scrabble piece but then starts right back up again when she is snapped out of it, the way the clouds move way too fast while we hear some kind of backwards evil chanting, the forest in general and when they find the guy hanging upside down out there, and finally the puking scene. I love the puking scene. I can't help but be both terrified and amused at the way this scene goes down. First its totally random when the doctor starts puking on Doggett but then he continues and grabs his head and collapses in it as he continues to let forth a continuous stream of green psychic plasma puke.

Leading me to Doggett. I enjoy Doggett's struggle in this episode. He is asked the question, "do you believe in the power of the devil?" Doggett responds by saying that in effect he doesn't actually believe in the devil at all and that it is all a story made up to scare people; however, as we continue to watch Doggett sees more and more evidence of evil. He is coming to the point where he can't really deny the presence of evil and because of this he becomes extremely defensive and zealous about making sure that he disbelieve anything anyone suggests about the matter. Scully and Reyes even confront him on it. At the end it appears that Doggett has found a solution that disproves any presence of evil throughout the case but as Reyes says in response to Scully's question about what one thing Doggett was afraid to explain is not that Reyes felt the presence of evil but that he did.

The ending of the episode is perhaps the only thing that doesn't sit well. The explanation that Doggett comes up with in the word Dæmonicus may make sense to Reyes but when did anything that made sense to Reyes ever make sense to anyone else? I thought it was an extremely far fetched explanation and had too many holes. Then again this may just be a way of saying that Doggett was so afraid to explain the presence of evil that he was willing to accept any other explanation at all no matter how far fetched as long as it didn't involve the devil. The true answer to "do you believe in the power of the devil?" should be only in as much power as we give him. I give the episode a 10 out of 10.