VIA NEGATIVA

AIR DATE: December 17, 2000
Written by Frank Spotnitz
Directed by Tony Wharmby

        As I kept watching "Via Negativa" I kept wanting to know why is Tipet killing all these people. I understood how he was able to kill people by getting into their dreams and making them believe what they were seeing was real. But what I wanted to know was why. I guess I was asking too much of writer Frank Spotnitz to have Tipet be more than a mindless killer which is all he was since we never get to know him or find out if he regretted what he had done. Are we supposed to believe Tipet has released his subconscious dark side which he has no control over and it starts to kill everyone he meets. The best villains are the ones who are more than mindless killing machines which Tipet is in this story. Why did he go after Doggett? He never saw him or met him, but he suddenly starts getting into his dreams. Both Doggett and Skinner arrested Andre Bormanis who made the drugs that made it possible for Tipet to develop his third eye. Talk about a tenuous connection just to have Doggett touch his dark side and why was it different for Doggett than everyone else Tipet killed. This is an episode that could use a bit of Scully to jazz it up, but I don’t think even her presence could save it in the end. "Via Negativa" is another case of an episode that could have been good, but gets bogged down by a lackluster villain with no clear motives of what he was doing other than killing for killing’s sake, having Skinner playing Scully (last year it would have been Mulder), having the audience keep asking why things are happening because they don’t make sense and no Scully which left a big hole during the episode.

        Now a few comments on "Via Negativa":

• Aren’t there supposed to be two cops on a stakeout? No wonder it was easy for Tipet to get to these two agents since they both were sleeping on the job. Wasn’t it convenient one of the agents kept a condo in Pittsburgh so Doggett and Skinner could find him dead in his locked apartment though how one is able to own a condo in Pittsburgh when they live in another part of the country on F.B.I. wages is another question.

• The beginning of "Via Negativa" started off interesting with all 20 cult members dead in their beds and the F.B.I. agents dead where they slept. It was creepy in a way, but it was like they had this idea of finding these people dead and never figuring out how to make it all connect up in an exciting way.

• Is this bad of me when we find out Scully is calling from the hospital and I’m secretly hoping the baby will become history? Oh well, I didn’t get my Christmas present from the X-Files this year, she still is pregnant.

• Stating the obvious goes to everyone at that F.B.I. meeting where they all agree they will find their answers once they have Tipet. No kidding, since he is your prime suspect!

• It must not cost a lot to use a pay phone in Pittsburgh because Tipet only put one coin in the phone.

• So Tipet killed the Homeless Man because …. It makes no sense other than to have the F.B.I. find out Tipet used that phone to call Bormanis so Doggett and Skinner can arrest Bormanis and Doggett will have a lame connection to Tipet through Bormanis so we can see his dark side.

• And what charges did Skinner and Doggett bring up on Bormanis other than he had a laboratory and might have produced the drug Tipet used though it almost seems as if Bormanis was a follower too, but the Bormanis and Tipet relationship was never fully explored.

• At least this time they bother to explain how Doggett came up with some important information when he shows Skinner a picture of the weapon Tipet used was some ancient weapon he had written about in his cult’s literature.

• I did like Doggett’s dream sequence that had to deal with chopping off Scully’s head. Hmm, what does that say about his subconscious and his attitude towards Scully. Maybe he doesn’t like secrets being kept from him.

• If Bormanis didn’t want to fall asleep why did he lie down on his cot in jail? You would think he would do almost anything to stay awake. Of course, he could have, but we didn’t see it. I guess Bormanis had a thing about rats since he was killed by dreaming of rats eating at this throat and his comment to Skinner and Doggett about them.

• I gather once Tipet sees Doggett and Skinner approaching Bormanis’ lab he decides it is time to kill himself. If he truly wanted it to stop he could have done it earlier, but as I wrote before we never get any sense of remorse on his part or who he really is other than a mindless killing machine. If Doggett and Skinner didn’t come he likely never would have killed himself.

• If Tipet didn’t try to kill himself then we wouldn’t have the scene where Doggett sign Tipet into the hospital and he sees Scully’s name signed in a few pages earlier. Let’s not even get into how this allows anyone to see who has been admitted into the hospital and why they were admitted, but let’s talk about how this was done for pure plot convenience for Doggett to find her in the hospital. Gee, no privacy at this hospital.

• Boy, what H.M.O. does the F.B.I. offer that Scully can stay at the hospital for quite a few days for abdominal pains.

• How much money does Doggett make that he can live in such a big apartment? He has a big living room, fireplace, dining room, an upstairs and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had at least a bath and an half. We always thought Scully had a big apartment for the money she earned. Little did we know Doggett is in the money too.

• I loved the bureaucrat Deputy Director Kersh saying the case was closed even after Doggett pointed out all their evidence was based on a wild theory of Tipet’s ability to get into one’s head. Doggett couldn’t see that all Kersh saw was the suspect is in a coma and unlikely to recover so they will not have to go to trial and produce their evidence. Hence, the case was closed and the families and the media are happy the person who did it has been caught.

• Wow, Scully is already breaking into Doggett’s apartment and waking him up. Doggett might as well give her a key since this will become a regular occurrence.

Claudia

E-Mail: Claudia.Cauchon@unh.edu

12/18/00

Back to Top of Page