The X-Files (TV Series) Without (2000) User Reviews

"If they know our secrets, why can't we know theirs?"

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 14 August 2017]

So now it's Agent Doggett's (Robert Patrick) turn to acknowledge the things he's seen, things he can't explain but also cannot deny. However a few things that occur in the story don't seem to make sense, a major one to my mind being why the Alien Bounty Hunter impersonating Mulder decided to jump off the cliff. It's not like Doggett would have been able to subdue or capture him. Since Doggett at this point didn't have any idea that such a shape-shifting alien existed, ABH could simply have blown him off with some of his regular razzle dazzle.

Another thing that seemed odd was Scully following Gibson Praise's friend Thea (Christine Firkins) out into the desert. As the viewer, one had an inkling that there was some connection between herself and Gibson, but Scully wouldn't have known that. For all intents and purposes, Thea could simply have been taking a ride on her bike as if it was a part of her daily routine.

The best part of the story for me, and the thing that got Doggett to seriously pay attention to what was going on with Mulder, was the way Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) gave him the straight dope on how he'd been set up to fail. Failing or succeeding to find Mulder would both turn out to compromise Doggett's integrity with Deputy Director Kersh (James Pickens Jr.), if in fact he were to include in his report some of the paranormal aspects of the case. Which it ultimately did, landing Doggett on his new assignment as Scully's partner on the X-Files.

As for Scully's take down of the Alien Bounty Hunter (Brian Thompson), once again it's an open question, as Mulder's presence aboard the alien spaceship undergoing a series of experiments reveals a whole host of ABH clones. I have to admit, the sinister looking instruments attached to Mulder's face are about the most gruesome looking appliances this side of the ones administered to Malcolm McDowell in "A Clockwork Orange".

Hey, if something tries to rip your throat out, I got you covered.

[Muldernscully · 8/10 · 3 August 2007]

Without continues strongly where Within left off. Mulder apparently falls of a very high cliff and runs away, leaving Doggett baffled. And just like Scully in the earlier seasons, Doggett refuses to believe his eyes.

The drama and suspense are high throughout this episode, especially knowing that the Alien Bounty Hunter(ABH) is in their midst but disguised. I love seeing scenes involving the ABH, but the character itself is confusing. I have the same gripe in this episode that I had in Requiem regarding the ABH's impersonations. Sometimes he impersonates the person's voice and sometimes he doesn't. He just stares expressionless at others. He doesn't speak as the principal or Scully when it would behoove him, but later he speaks as Agent Crane when he's being chased around the dormitory. If he needs time to learn their voices, that needs to be explained somehow. Otherwise, it's conflicting and confusing.

A couple of other nitpicks I have with the episode is how Scully follows Gibson's friend Thea out in the desert that leads her to Gibson. After talking to Gibson, Scully returns to the school and arrives alone in the dark, and then it appears that Thea is already there. She must be able run fast to beat Scully. Also, Doggett reveals at the end of the episode that Gibson has become a ward of the state. But in "The End" from season 5, Gibson had parents that we're going to pick him up. I think this is a continuity error. Chris Carter forgot that Gibson had parents.

Top-notch performances are once again given in this episode by Robert Patrick, Mitch Pileggi and Gillian Anderson. It's great to see Skinner so passionate about finding Mulder and protecting the pregnant Scully. I love Doggett's facial expression when he tells Scully that he's been assigned to the x-files. He looks as though he can't believe it himself, and that he's actually saying it. Great acting.

The season eight search for Mulder puts some life back into the mythology that had been lacking since season six and the destruction of the Syndicate. Within and Without starts season eight out on the right foot in what will become a very unique season.

The first review???

[hurlock · 9/10 · 13 June 2019]

This is a reboot. Back to basics and done well. Regardless of the rumors that existed regarding DD's departure...it works! Patrick works as the skeptic and Scully has taken up the cause. Be open to good stories...

The Last Days of the Shape Changing Alien Bounty Hunter...

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 26 March 2022]

...Or are they?

The first time that we meet Brian Thompson's shape changing alien bounty hunter in S2E17 "Colony", he cuts a rather imposing and almost immortal figure. You can't shoot him, otherwise your blood curdles and clots into the consistency of cottage cheese, which does not flow through veins very well. But we actually saw this happen when humans were exposed to Dr William Secare In S01E24 "The Erlenmeyer Flask". So there is a relationship between the shape changing alien bounty hunters' physiology and the contents of The Erlenmeyer Flask, which has been referred to throughout the series as "Purity"... which we know is represented by the ever present "Black Oil", as a transfer medium for the alien life force, or its Virus.

The "shape changing alien bounty hunter", or "SCAB", if you want to reduce the character to an acronym (we could also use "ABH") appears to be just one of the representation of aliens in the X-Files. But we forget, that the aliens with which the syndicate were in cahoots were not different aliens, but all the same alien. Let's have a small recap of the forms in which "Purity" has appeared in The X-Files, shall we?

First we have the little gray aliens, The "Roswell Greys" of which we also see a baby version in "The Erlenmeyer Flask", which provided the Syndicates' source of "Purity Control", aka the Alien DNA. We have also seen the "Long Clawed Spacelings", which are born in a disgusting manner, as seen in the 1st X-Film, "Fight the Future" and also in S06E01 "The Beginning", where we see a Spaceling shed its skin to reveal the final stage of the alien lifecycle, which brings us back to the alien fetus. In the middle of all of this is a couple of different versions of "the black oil", one of them used by a Purity alien as a means to get around on earth and accomplish various parts of its agenda (inside of Alex Krycek). The other version of the oil is non-sentient and this is what carries The infectious Purity. So ends our history of the various forms of the X-Files Purity Alien.

We have to remember, this alien is a virus, according to the well manicured man. Which walked on the face of the earth long before there were ever men, or even Ebola or Covid viruses. So their goal during the syndicate portion of the X-Files story may have been simply to reclaim a planet that they considered theirs. But according to Cassandra Spender, their goal was not simply planetary, she claimed that they were "infecting the galaxy".

Enter rebel aliens that are fighting Purity. Even though they appear to have the same kind of physiology and chemical make up. And what do they also use? They also use "the shape changing alien bounty hunter". Brian Thompson also played one of these rebel aliens who had sewn up his face to prevent himself from being infected by purity, Mulder helped him escape.

The "SCAB", or "ABH" if you prefer, was used by both purity the rebels. "Jeremiah Smith" also had the same capabilities, or powers, that ABH had. Even though their physiology would kill a human being, there was also something in their physiology that could heal a human being.

So, whatever was left behind after the shattering of the syndicate, whatever experiments, whatever humans who were part of experiments still left on-planet, Purity wanted to clean it all up, maybe go back to Reticula, order liver and onions in peace. Except for Mulder.

What Mulder had stumbled into before he decided to take a trip on a mothership was simply the cleanup operation, and who best to administrate this cleanup than the "ABH"?

Agent Doggett knows nothing about any of this. He is talking about catching Mulder, who he believes is trying to kidnap Gibson Praise, with "eyes in the sky" and other forms of manhunting which work great with humans but not so great with an entity that can be anybody. As another Reviewer has said, the central piece of this episode is a small discussion where A. D. Skinner basically tells Doggett that he is being used. And that his technique for locating a fugitive will fail, because it is simply "the wrong approach". And that Now-Director Kirsch has some kind of unspoken agenda. Which we don't hear about in this season but we can guess that it has something to do with what will eventually be called "super soldiers"- Director Kirsch appears to be extremely hostile to the X-Files. The reason for this is explained later in the series, especially in season nine.

So while Dogget is directing a group of agents which he believes are "his men" but might not be, the ABH uses the confusion to get into the hospital.

This particular ABH has been different than the ones that we have seen previously, this one does not speak. When asked a question, he would nod. But he did not speak until the very end.

It also occurs to us that we have never successfully seen a human take out one of these ABH's, which would normally require the "ice pick" weapon- Mulder used it on ABH once, but he must have missed because the green Purity slime-goop got sucked back into Brian Thompson's neck... just another reason why the character exuded a kind of indestructible-ness. It was in "Colony" where a certain kind of kill shot was suggested. We finally get to see that here. Of course, In a reversal of the roles of Mulder and Skully from the first season, Doggett, The new skeptic, does not see this kill-shot happen.

But the very end of this episode should explain once and for all, why this ABH was different. Because this ABH was conducting its own "manhunt". And what do extra-terrestrial manhunts have in common with FBI manhunts?

Multiple agents in the field, of course. "There is more than one of everything". As usual I tried to avoid blurting out certain information.

Very, very satisfying.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 26 September 2022]

Scully has calculated that Gibson Praise is the subject for recent events, her mission is to try to protect him from The Bounty Hunter.

For me, this was much much better than the opening story of Series 7, I didn't care for that a great deal, this opening story, I'm not sure why, but it feels as though the show has gone back to basics, with the reset button hit.

Very satisfying in every aspect, I loved the pacing, the confusion, and take this in the right way, the familiarity of it. Mulder's presence, I understand it, but I'm not sure it benefited the episode a great deal.

When I read that Duchovny's presence was going to be minimal in this series, I was very worried, and unsure how it could possibly have continued without him, this one has given me real hope.

I hope it's not the end of Brian Thompson, he cuts a hugely imposing figure on screen, he has some real presence, and adds a degree of menace.

Another excellent episode, the ending, that was interesting, I wonder where it'll go from here.

9/10.

There's always a UFO hiding right next to where you are.

[Sanpaco13 · 9/10 · 28 July 2008]

The continuation of the season 8 opener is much better than the previous episode. The entire episode takes place entirely in Arizona. The search for Gibson Praise continues as Alien Mulder has now disappeared and Gibson has fled to a hiding place in the desert. Scully finds him but due to lack of trust for Agent Doggett and a bounty hunter impersonating FBI agents she does not share his location with the others. Waiting for the ideal moment, she escapes into desert with Skinner and sends Skinner to the hospital with Gibson while she looks for Mulder in the desert. Doggett soon shows up and reveals that he knows where Gibson is and that his men are watching. Scully scolds him for having so much trust in his men and rushes back to the hospital only to find that Skinner has been gassed and stuffed into the ceiling while the bounty hunter is attempting to escape with Gibson. Scully is able to sharp shoot the alien through the back of the neck (what a shot!) all after being thrown across the room. In all the wrap up we gain a little more trust for Agent Doggett and find out that he has been as much a pawn in the whole charade as Scully and Skinner have. In the end he is assigned to work on the X-Files with Agent Scully and season 8 truly begins. I give this episode a 9 out of 10.