“4-D” is the first episode of The X-Files to truly center on Reyes. Instead of sleepwalking through the story like Annabeth Gish has generally done thus far, she injects Reyes with real emotion. Not only is this episode the first time I liked the character, it is also the first time she and Doggett felt like true partners who cared for one another beyond a professional relationship. It would have been nice to see that a little bit sooner.
The premise is that a man named Lukesh has discovered he has the ability to travel between our world and a parallel Earths. He uses this ability to act out his serial killer fantasies on the parallel earth, then travel safely back to ours so he cannot get caught. Unfortunately for him, the parallel versions of Doggett and reyes are onto him. As they are about to arrest him, lukesh kills Reyes and steals her gun. Enraged, Doggett pursues him into an alley where lukesh shoots him. Somehow, both men travel back to the real world.
Our Doggett is celebrating Reyes’ housewarming when he disappears. Within a moment, she is called to the hospital where the parallel version lay paralyzed and on life support from his gunshot wound. All signs point to reyes as the shooter since it was her gun and her alibi that Doggett was in her new apartment while he was actually in surgery is a wee bit flimsy.
The bond between the two, which has been thin to non-existent thus far to the point we have just had to take their word for it Doggett and Reyes even like each other, is sweetly evident as she quietly cares for her now paralyzed partner and he is relieved, though confused, she is not dead. Their scenes together are very similar to some of the old Mulder/Scully moments in which they clearly shared a bond in spite of their conflicting roles with each other professionally. As much as I like to find fault with the final couple seasons, I cannot say that Doggett and Reyes’ relationship feels like a cheap imitation of Mulder and scully. At least not here, at any rate. It is well done.
Reyes jumps to the parallel Earth theory way too quickly, but Doggett readily accepts the explanation. He does so because he wants reyes to pull the plug. His argument is to play on her theory that the real Doggett is on the other earth. He will come back if the parallel Doggett dies. I do not really buy that Doggett believes that. I think he just does not want to live life as a quadriplegic If true, it does seem cruel to manipulate her. The inevitable reset button takes care of any of that debate, naturally.
In the interim, Lukesh taunts reyes because he really enjoyed slitting her throart on the parallel Earth. After his mother discovers his gun and calls the authorities, he has to murder her. Since he is now wanted for murder, he decides killing reyes again would be a an irresistible thrill. He makes an attempt, but she kills him in self-defense. Later, she goes back to the hospital to pull Doggett’s life support. The act sends her back in time to when she and Doggett were celebrating her new apartment.
At this point, you should be scratching your head over the bad science. Even for a television series, this stuff is a dud. “4-D” refers to time, not a parallel universe. Regardless, how can Lukesh travel between worlds? There is no theory put forth. If the parallel Doggett arriving on our world pushed our Doggett into the parallel Earth, why did Reyes’ gun not disappear when Lukesh brought it with him, too? That would have made for an intriguing plot point, if you really think about it. Doggett has been shot with her gun, but she cannot find where hers got off to. What was our Doggett up to on the parallel Earth? Why is it when the parallel Doggett dies after the plug is pulled, reyes goes back in time?There was no time travel involved at any point other than in the misnomer of an episode title.
No matter, though. It is Doggett and Reyes that make the episode. I cannot fault technical issues when they are not the main point. “4-D” was supposed to bond the two main charaqcters and make them likable. It succeeded. I would even go so far as to betray my Team Scully member in good standing status and say her incidental involvement could have been written out with no detriment to the story. The episode is definitely a highlight of the ninth season.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
“4-D” is the first episode of The X-Files to truly center on Reyes. Instead of sleepwalking through the story like Annabeth Gish has generally done thus far, she injects Reyes with real emotion. Not only is this episode the first time I liked the character, it is also the first time she and Doggett felt like true partners who cared for one another beyond a professional relationship. It would have been nice to see that a little bit sooner.
