“Daemonicus,” which is Latin for Satan, is the first official X-File to be investigated by Doggett and Reyes. The dynamic between the two is firmly set, and it certainly is not Mulder and Scully. Doggett plays the by the book Skeptic as he has done since his days paired up with Scully. Reyes is the True Believer who tosses out all sorts of wild theories with absolutely no rhyme or reason to them. While Scully, who is now in the back up role, adamantly supports her, Doggett goes about the case solving it with actual detective work. One wonders what to make of that.
An escaped mental patient is on a rampage committing ritualistic murders. He has some sort of connection to Kobold, his neighbor in the asylum, who is a former history professor and perhaps vessel of Satan. I met a few law professors I thought might have communed with Old Scratch, but never any history professors. Weird. Reyes readily accepts Kobold is possessed, but Doggett holds his is the guy pulling the escapee’s strings, even when Kobold appears familiar with the murder of Doggett’s son, luke, with no explanation how he could beyond the supernatural.
By most accounts, Kobold is possessed, but Doggett winds up scoring more points than Reyes or Scully. He did plan the murders because he wanted to ’assist” the Fbi in solving them in order to show off his brilliance. That is why he did not escape along with the other guy. He wanted to make an elaborate escape in which he conned the FBI. Kobold allegedly chose the murder victims based on the word “Daemoinicus,” then chosen from the phone book. In spite of all this, the three agents still swear they felt an evil presence.
For old time’s sake, we are teased in the fourth act with Scully perhaps being kidnapped by the escaped killer. An homage to the old days, though it felt so cliché, there was no suspense in it. I did not feel much of anything when she perpetually brought up Mulder throughout the episode, either. Nevertheless, it is clear scully has bonded with Reyes very quickly. I am certain it is because she was there for the birth of William, and probably a bit because she reminds scully of her New Agey sister, but much of it has to be because she acts a lot like Mulder.
“Daemonicus” has as much of a classic feel as the Doggett/reyes era can muster. It is genuinely scary with all sorts of strange directoral angles and quick cuts during the murder scenes so that you feel as though you are seeing events through the eyes of an insane person. Kudoes to that. But there is not much chemistry between Doggett and Reyes. At times, he is forcefully angry with her for opposing his notion to investigate the case as a straightforward crime rather than an X-File. Mulder and Scully had a friendly back and forth in the their disagreements that was masterfully done. Not so these days with Doggett and Reyes.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
“Daemonicus,” which is Latin for Satan, is the first official X-File to be investigated by Doggett and Reyes. The dynamic between the two is firmly set, and it certainly is not Mulder and Scully. Doggett plays the by the book Skeptic as he has done since his days paired up with Scully. Reyes is the True Believer who tosses out all sorts of wild theories with absolutely no rhyme or reason to them. While Scully, who is now in the back up role, adamantly supports her, Doggett goes about the case solving it with actual detective work. One wonders what to make of that.
