"Passion is inversely proportional to the
amount of real information available."
-- Gregory Benford
"It's deja vu all over again."
-- Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra
The penultimate episode of Season 4 features a (first time?) script by Executive Producer R. W. (Bob) Goodwin and direction by Kim Manners. It also features one of the lamest plots of the season. Considering some of the episodes that have been foisted on us this season, that's saying something.
"Demons" begins with Mulder awaking in a motel room with no idea where he is or how he got there. He discovers blood on his shirt as he's talking to Scully, trying to piece together what happened over the previous thirty-six hours. After the partners are re-united, Scully helps Mulder retrace his steps. They go to a house which seems familiar to Mulder, where he suffers a seizure-like flashback about Samantha's abduction. Or rather, he flashes back to the prelude to Samantha's abduction just before they enter the house. When two bodies are found in the house, Mulder is arrested on suspicion of murder. Scully's diligence at attacking the forensic evidence eventually leads to the exoneration of Mulder and the arrest of the person responsible.
One of the most striking things about "Demons" was its blatant construction from episodes past. Mulder awakening with blood on his shirt with no idea where he is or how he got there was straight out of "Avatar." Simply replace Skinner with Mulder, relocate and double the number of bodies and the rest is a paint-by-the-numbers exercise. But that wasn't all that was part of the Rewind/Replay schematic of "Demons." We also have "normal" people who suddenly display a proclivity for violence. Except that this time, the violence is self-directed instead of other-directed and the Conspiracy isn't involved. These acts of violence stem from the victims being under the influence of a hallucinogen, and in a moment of supposed high tension, one partner has a loaded gun pointed at the other. What's that, you say? That's the plot for "Wetwired," isn't it? Right again, Grasshopper. "Demons" turns out to be a compilation of these two episodes, one of which was pretty unsatisfying and one I feel is greatly under-appreciated. "Demons" was simply "Avatar" meets "Wetwired" with a lot of flashback sequences thrown in for filler. One of its few redeeming features was that it was the story of a dedicated Agent trying to clear her partner using the discipline she knows the best: forensic pathology.
David Duchovny did do yeoman-like work in "Demons." He had to--his character's personal demons were at the core of the story. Duchovny did a nice job of conveying the lengths to which Mulder will go to get at the truth behind his sister's abduction. His flashback/seizure scenes were remarkably effective. Considering the amount of ludicrous and repetitious dialogue he was asked to speak and emote early on in the episode, I'm surprised that DD managed to get up for this episode at all. The mumblings about how he had to know if his gun were involved in a shooting were almost pathetic. Forget if my gun were involved; I'd want to know if I were involved. It must have been hard to get inspired when an actor is handed dialogue like that.
Gillian Anderson once again displays her considerable talents as the scientist who believes in her partner and little else. She faces up to Detective Curtis (was this a tip of the hat to Law & Order?) and pursues the truth, no matter how much evidence supports Mulder as the murderer. Anderson demonstrates that she can emote while facing a loaded gun as well as while holding one in her confrontational scene with Mulder, and her collapse on his back was symbolic as well as emotionally correct. Professionally, Gillian Anderson seems to have reached a point that few actors ever do: she transcends the material and rises above it. I'm starting to think she could read "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and make it sound exciting.
Jay Acavone's Detective Curtis was a nice, understated performance in what's becoming a standard role on the series. Nearly every episode has the perfunctory local police officer, and it would be easy for the writing staff to create one character and simply reuse him/her in every episode as the occasion warrants. But I very much enjoyed Ancavone's portrayal, specifically his character's professionalism and dedication. He avoided being the stereotypical local PD officer by being willing to listen to the forensic evidence that Scully found.
Mark Snow's music was effective at setting the mood in most instances. The background score stayed there: in the background, where it belongs. Heather MacDougall did a superior effort in the editing room. The dissolve shot of the painting of the Cassandra house to the real thing was quite visually a ppealing. And she did a masterful job piecing together the various flashback scenes so that each time we saw them, they were just a little different and we saw or heard just a little more. Ms. MacDougall also edited "Wetwired," which was one of my favorite episodes from last season and which also featured some intricate editing. She deserves some extra recognition for her consistently excellent work.
Kim Manners actually did a decent job of moving the story forward when there wasn't much of a story. I never felt rushed, and I never felt like I wished there was a Fast Forward button for real-time viewing. There were some nice camera shots, particularly during Mulder's confrontation with his mother. It's too bad the scene was so strained.
And this brings me to the screenwriter. I can't swear to it, but I believe that this was the first episode Bob Goodwin has written. I wasn't very impressed with the final product. There was a subtle reference to Greek Mythology (get it? the mythology) using the name Cassandra. Cassandra was a prophet, but she was cursed. Her curse was that while she was right, no one would believe her. The implication here is that Mrs. Cassandra was right about the alien abductions, but no one would believe her, either. Sadly, this was about the high point of the script.
There was little originality in "Demons," and there was no development of the relationship between Mulder & Scully. There wasn't really an X-File, either. It was simply a doctor who tried to play God (another idea whose time has passed) and who ended up killing people as a result. The only things lacking were that Dr. Goldstein wasn't a part of the conspiracy, and he wasn't killed at the end. The dialogue between Mrs. Mulder and her son was more strained than a tea bag on its third go-round. Nobody talks like that, and certainly nobody talks like that when they actually want to get an answer. You just don't try to strong-arm your mom on Mother's Day.
The time sequences in "Demons" were downright laughable. Beam me up, Scotty! It's 360 miles by air and 420 miles by car from DC to Providence. So how did Scully get there by 6:30 AM after being awakened from a sound sleep at 4:50 AM? She must have made a deal with Jason from "Synchrony." And there was absolutely nothing that resembled an explanation as to why Mulder was with Mrs. and Mr. Cassandra, how the three of them got to the house, why Mulder's car wasn't at the house or, most incredibly, why Mulder would have been willing to have his head drilled by someone he'd never seen before. I know he's been chasing his holy grail for some time now, but I'd have to be pretty desperate before I let someone drill for oil in my frontal lobe. And how did Mulder get a shot of the hallucinogen on his hip without feeling it or knowing it was there?
There were just too many things wrong with "Demons" and too few things right to offset them. A derivative story with lackluster dialogue and the lack of a real X-File made for a very inauspicious writing debut for Bob Goodwin. As a writer, he's a very good production coordinator.
My Score: 3 out of 10