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The X-Files Season 8 Episode 19

Alone

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 5/6/01

While Scully takes maternity leave, Doggett is partnered with a young agent who is fascinated with the X-Files and has followed Mulder and Scully's careers. She and Doggett investigate the death of an old man and the disappearance of his son but when they disappear as well, Mulder, despite having left the FBI, heads out to search for them.moreless

Fan Episode Reviews (6)

Alone

9.0

By TrueTvWatcher, Sep 11, 2012

Alone was a superb episode of The X-Files. I really enjoyed watching because the story was interesting, a new agent was introduced as Mulder retired and Scully was on leave, and the ensuing drama and intrigue were fun to watch. The monster was awesome and it was great to watch Doggett and his new partner investigate. I liked how Mulder and Scully got involved and helped Doggett and his partner in the end. The last scene with Mulder and Scully arguing like husband and wife or brother and sister was priceless. I look forward to watching what happens next!!!!!!!moreless
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Parting Shot

8.0

By Anon67683, Mar 06, 2011

Veteran writer Frank Spotnitz throws in everything and the kitchen sink in this, his first directorial effort.

We have unusual camera angles, cool noirish lighting, a CG monster, a new partner (briefly) for Doggett and countless nods/references to previous episodes.

It turns out that this will be the last MOTW episode with both Mulder and Scully, which is the reason behind all the nostalgia. Anderson looks radiant. Duchovny a bit bored. The few brief scenes they have together are electric, as always, which just goes to show that the heart of this series is and always has been the relationship between their two characters.

The biggest flaw with this episode is that the monster is just stupid and not terribly well-thought out. Why does it attack the two men in the teaser? Who the heck are they, anyway? Why does the FBI get involved? How is it that Mulder is allowed to investigate the case when he has supposedly been fired?

Doggett's new partner is a neat reference to a deceased fan of the series. She is also effective as a means by which to comment on past X-Files history and lore as she tags along with Doggett, peppering him with oscure references to past X-Files. Unfortunately, the actress chosen to play Harrison reminds me of a perky TGIF's waitress and I couldn't take her very seriously. I was actually disappointed when she wasn't eaten by salamander-man.

I loved, loved, loved the lighting in this episode. It is simply fantastic and like nothing else in this series.

The final scene between Harrison and Mulder/Scully is cute but the execution is way too casual. Mulder and Scully are portrayed as a nagging married couple and it appears as if the scene was entirely ad-libbed. It's great to see the question raised as to how Scully can continue to deny the existence of extraterrestrials after jumping off the mothership at the end of the feature film. This is exactly what has bothered me about Seasons Six through Eight, as they go on as though the events of the feature film had never happened. A great inside rib at the inconsistent way in which the mythology arc was handled.moreless
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With Mulder fired and Scully starting maternity leave, Doggett gets saddled with a new partner, a perky blonde obsessed with the X-Files and crazy enough to beg for the assignment. Trapped and blinded in a massive wine cellar with a killer reptile-man, thmoreless

9.0

By grifter78, May 24, 2010

Along with "Patience", "Alone" is the only real "creature-feature" episode of Season 8. So it makes for a nice bit of fresh air among a mythology-heavy run. Keeping Mulder and Scully primarily on the side-lines makes sense within the story, and continues the creator's efforts to ease the audience into accepting Doggett as the new star. Doggett's enthusiatic new partner (very temporarily, of course) is a humorous glimpse at what it might be like if an X-Phile geek got to meet Mulder and Scully. The last scene, with the fangirl questioning the pair about a plot-hole in the film is brilliant. Almost makes me think that a season with no comedy episodes could have used an entire episode revolving around this concept. But, hey probably too much of a good thing, huh?

A good episode. Not much exceptional, but very entertaining.moreless
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A quite fun episode and Harrison is an amusing temporary partner.

8.0

By whiteraven2005, Sep 13, 2009

I liked Scully giving Doggett the medallion, after all the poor man has been through because of the X-Files and Mulder, I'm glad to see Scully finally acknowledging Doggett as a partner and a friend. I do feel sorry for Doggett, not only does he get stuck with the X-Files alone but gets stuck with an X-Files groupie who seems to be straight out of the Academy. How do they assign an accountant as a partner to someone as experienced as John?! Kersh really hates him.

A rather fun episode and it was sweet of Doggett to get Mulder and Scully to visit Harrison and she got to witness the legendary bickering.moreless
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Great dialogue, poor monster.

7.0

By bluejayfusion, Sep 12, 2006

This was a very clever episode in terms of character interaction and humor but the 'freak of the week' was a little, well... weak.

The initial concept of a lizard creature living in a maze under the grounds of a mansion is really strong, however, somewhere along the way, something was lost in translation.

Consider this, we learn the mansion is inhabited. Well, obviously the man in the mansion would be threatened by the creature... unless of course there were a connection between him and it. The detail later on that he is a scientist makes that all the more obvious.

Now from here there are two logical ways we can go. Either the man created the lizard or he is the lizard. Both are full of possibilities. If he created the lizard, he could be using it to wreak revenge, it could be in control of him, heck it could even be a former colleague or love interest of his that he experimented on. All of those would set this episode apart.

Him being the monster leads to slightly less possibilities: either he wants to kill, can't control himself, or is unaware he is the lizard. Making him just plain evil is rather bland for the X-Files which usually pulls out all the stops. Finding out he and the lizard are one before the end of the episode tells us a lot as well. The writers have abruptly dropped the mystery of the lizard, in favor of us knowing his identity and fearing/respecting him as the antagonist. Unfortunately, he isn't that frightening compared to past past shapeshifting X-Files foes. Even his ability to blind the agents with his spit is not as powerful as Scully blindly protecting herself in 'Theef'. All in all, X-Files 'freak' episodes are usually more memorable than this one for their antagonists and the suspenseful ways they are presented.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Robert Patrick	Special Agent John Doggett
David Duchovny	Special Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	Special Agent Dana Scully

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Jolie Jenkins	Agent Leyla Harrison	Guest Star
Jay Caputo	Salamander Man	Guest Star
Tony Ketcham	Gary Sacks	Guest Star
Mitch Pileggi	Assistant Director Walter Skinner	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (3)
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- Do you know the height one must fall to be considered possibly life threatening? Twice that of his height. Two times in this episode Doggett falls from a height equal or greater to three times his height. Both times he gets up, uninjured.
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- Once again we find Scully talking into a phone where we hear dial tone (when Mulder chases the creature into Stites house). Mulder and Scully are pretty smart, why don't they ever realize that when you hear dial tone after talking with someone...that means they hung up on you.
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- Leyla Harrison asks Mulder how he got back from Antarctica after saving Scully, when his vehicle was out of fuel. This is a nod to many X-Philes who had been asking this same question.
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QUOTES (12)
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- Mulder: I don't think Gary Sacks committed the crime, Mr. Stites. I think he is a victim himself.
  Stites: I didn't catch your name, Agent.
  Mulder: Kersh. Alvin Kersh.
  Stites: I am a scientist, Mr. Kersh.
  Mulder: What kind of scientist are you?
  Stites: Biologist. So I know something about animals. They don't generally carry men off into the woods like poor Mr. Sacks.
  Mulder: I don't think this was an animal. I think it was a man using some kind of reptile venom to blind them first.
  Stites: That would be quite a trick.
  Mulder: Well, you would really have to know what you were doing. You would have to be, say, a scientist.
  Stites: Are you accusing me of something, Mr. Kersh?
  Mulder: No. I'm just thinking out loud, Mr. Stites.
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- Mulder: It's right above you. It's coming this way.
  Doggett: Where, Mulder? I can't see.
  Mulder: Get down. Aim at the sound of my voice.
  Doggett: No! I'll shoot you.
  Mulder: You're not going to shoot me.
  Doggett: I can't see!
  Mulder: Aim at the sound of my voice.
  Doggett: Where is it!
  Mulder: Aim at me!
  Doggett: No!
  Mulder: I'll tell you when to fire. Fire!
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- Scully: I just got off the phone with Skinner who is furious. This man Stites just called him saying you've been impersonating Deputy Director Kersh and making baseless accusations.
  Mulder: Well, what's he mad about? Me impersonating Kersh or me harassing Stites?
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- Harrison: But who is he?
  Doggett: Some kind of scientist, I think. I saw some books and papers on biology in his library.
  Harrison: It could be some kind of symbiotic relationship between this man and this creature. Mulder and Scully ...
  Doggett: Mulder and Scully aren't here, Agent Harrison, we are. And wild speculation isn't going to help us find the way out.
  Harrison: You think I'm pretty foolish, don't you.
  Doggett: I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you want to take leaps unsupported by the facts. Now what I want you to do is, stay with that guy right there while I look for another way out. And if this thing comes near you I want you to shoot.
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- Harrison: You know what that could be? It could be bile.
  Doggett: Bile?
  Harrison: From a liver-eating mutant. Mulder and Scully chased one into an escalator once. It died but, but, there was just ...
  Doggett: This is not a liver-eating mutant, Agent Harrison.
  Harrison: It could be an alien that shed its skin. According to Agent Mulder's case reports they leave behind a mucus-like residue when they, ah, you don't think it's that either. I'll take a sample of this and have it sent to the lab for comparison.
  Doggett: That's good thinking, Agent Harrison.
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- Doggett: Let me guess - Deputy Director Kersh handed you this job, filling in for Agent Scully.
  Harrison: Yes, yes he did.
  Doggett: I don't know how to tell you this, Agent Harrison. You're being used. Deputy Director Kersh is no friend of the X-Files.
  Harrison: I don't think you understand something, Agent Doggett. I begged for this assignment.
  Doggett: You begged for it.
  Harrison: I was in accounting. I processed Agents Mulder and Scully's travel expenses.
  Doggett: Then you are qualified.
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- (On the phone)
  Scully: Mulder, what are you doing?
  Mulder: Spitting sunflower shells onto Herman Stites' driveway. What are you doing?
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- Mulder: Seems like old times, Scully. Seeing you in scrubs again, slicing, and dicing...
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- Doggett: Agent Harrison... Take the safety off.
  Harrison: So it's not someone, it's something?... God, this really is an X-File, isn't it?
  Doggett: Congratulations.
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- Leyla Harrison: Can I ask you something?
  Mulder: Sure.
  Leyla Harrison: When you went to Antarctica to save Agent Scully from being taken by that spaceship and you ran out of gas in your Sno-cat. How did you get back?
  Scully: Um, well, first of all, it was never actually proven that it was a spaceship...
  Mulder: It wasn't?
  Scully: Well, no, what happened was that we fell off of something that...
  Mulder: Something?
  Scully: ...that rose out of the ice.
  Mulder: Well what do you think that was?
  Scully: Well, I don't know what it was. But we never got, we didn't actually get to see a spaceship.
  Mulder: I can't believe that you're saying it's not a spaceship.
  Scully: Well, it couldn't have been a spaceship.
  Mulder: 'Course it was a spaceship.
  Scully: Well, we don't know it was a spaceship. But you don't have a picture of it or anything.
  Mulder: You know it was a spaceship. You saw it.
  Scully: No, no, no, no, remember, I was unconscious and when I woke up there was no spaceship.
  Mulder: Now, come on, Scully. It was a spaceship.
  Scully: Mulder, n-n-n-no. And you were frozen, and I hugged you until you weren't frozen anymore...
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- Mulder: You re-gifted.
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- Mulder: Oprah, I watch a lot of Oprah.
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NOTES (4)
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- Dr. Stites had been reading The Sixth Extinction: Patterns of Life and the Future of Mankind by Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin. The title of the book provides a reference to the title of the first episode of the seventh season.
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- When Scully is cleaning out her desk, the penny & dime was from "Dreamland I & II", the dog tag was from her dog she got in "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"
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- Much like a real fan of the show, Leyla is full of information about the X-Files and makes references to several cases including Squeeze/Tooms (the liver eating mutant), The Beginning (an alien who sheds its skin), and Detour (the subterranean men). In the end she asks Mulder about how he saved Scully from the spaceship, referring to the feature movie.
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- Agent Leyla Harrison was named for X-Files fan Leyla Harrison, whose life was tragically cut short in February 2001 when she lost her battle with skin cancer.
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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