I was not happy when Mulder left the show and I refused for a long time to watch any of the episodes with Agent Doggett. I finally decided to give him a chance. This is the first episode where I really appreciated him in his role, even though he is no Agent Mulder and could never take his place. He does not try to fill Mulder's shoes though, and he is a different and admittedly interesting character; I liked that the underlying thesis of this episode was more about Doggett winning Scully's trust than about the thing crawling around in her back. Nonetheless, I was absolutely horrified at her plight, and was on the edge of my seat in suspense. And I realize that the agents have often found themselves in a predicament where he or she needed to be rescued by his/her partner, but that is the nature of the show; they put themselves in harm's way and will inevitably become endangered. There are only so many new ideas out there and I always try to keep that in mind when I watch reruns of the X-Files and try not to dwell on the whole "they've already done this" routine. But overall this was an exciting and suspenseful episode and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
15 Reviews
Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
Muldernscully30 August 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Scully has a short memory. Right after 'Patience', when she thanks Doggett for watching her back, she takes off by herself to investigate a murder across the country. As we soon find out in this episode, Scully gets into a heap of trouble with no one around to help her.
The first lesson I learned from this episode is: Don't tell off bus drivers. They just might put a giant slug-like god in you. How typical to see an episode placed in Utah be about religious fanatics. How typical. But I don't hold that fact against the episode. It's still enjoyable.
It was cool to see Scully by herself, with Doggett helping from D.C. It's reminiscent of the episodes 'War of the Coprophages', 'Chinga' and 'Never Again'.
Scully knows when people are lying. She doesn't believe any of the crap from the gas attendant. Unfortunately, she took "gas" from him. Scully is shown looking at a map of Utah to show her isolation from civilization. I don't recall them using that technique before even though Mulder & Scully have been in some pretty isolated regions before.
I like the effect of the tail wiggling after Scully rips off a piece from the guy. Very gross. I find it interesting how the cult just gives up after Doggett shoots the slug, instead of going into a rage and attacking Doggett and Scully.
I would have like to have seen more of a back-story for the slug. How did these people happen upon it? Are there more of them? I know the X-Files doesn't explain all the answers, but a few more would have been nice.
I also wonder how Roadrunners might have worked as a Gender Bender sequel, with Scully happening upon the relocated Kindred.
At the end, Scully apologizes to Doggett for going solo and it being a mistake. Instead of just brushing it aside Doggett says, "It was. You screwed up." He is no softy. He is tough and direct. I like that about him. Roadrunners is a good, solid episode where Scully realizes she still needs a partner, even without Mulder.
The first lesson I learned from this episode is: Don't tell off bus drivers. They just might put a giant slug-like god in you. How typical to see an episode placed in Utah be about religious fanatics. How typical. But I don't hold that fact against the episode. It's still enjoyable.
It was cool to see Scully by herself, with Doggett helping from D.C. It's reminiscent of the episodes 'War of the Coprophages', 'Chinga' and 'Never Again'.
Scully knows when people are lying. She doesn't believe any of the crap from the gas attendant. Unfortunately, she took "gas" from him. Scully is shown looking at a map of Utah to show her isolation from civilization. I don't recall them using that technique before even though Mulder & Scully have been in some pretty isolated regions before.
I like the effect of the tail wiggling after Scully rips off a piece from the guy. Very gross. I find it interesting how the cult just gives up after Doggett shoots the slug, instead of going into a rage and attacking Doggett and Scully.
I would have like to have seen more of a back-story for the slug. How did these people happen upon it? Are there more of them? I know the X-Files doesn't explain all the answers, but a few more would have been nice.
I also wonder how Roadrunners might have worked as a Gender Bender sequel, with Scully happening upon the relocated Kindred.
At the end, Scully apologizes to Doggett for going solo and it being a mistake. Instead of just brushing it aside Doggett says, "It was. You screwed up." He is no softy. He is tough and direct. I like that about him. Roadrunners is a good, solid episode where Scully realizes she still needs a partner, even without Mulder.
Evil slug!
Sanpaco1324 August 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Man oh man is this a disgusting episode. I love it! The teaser is really really good and creepy. Basically, the story goes Scully is stranded in a creepy town in the middle of a desert in midwestern Utah. The town is a bunch of cult members who believe some giant parasitic slug is the Second coming of Christ and that they need to find a fitting host for it. The slug lives off the spinal cord of its human victims. Ugh! The entry wound is terrible. Especially on that guy when Scully pushes it and ooze comes out and then he passes out and she starts digging into it with her pliers to pull the slug out and rips out the tail. Man I would not be a very good FBI agent if I had to deal with this kind of stuff. I love this episode for many reasons. First of all I should mention that this is the very first episode with Agent Doggett that I ever saw. The reason I hated him so long was because this was such a good episode and the only thing that could have made it better for me when I first saw it was having Mulder save Scully and instead some dude I've never seen before shows up and no one even says anything about Mulder. Well I have since grown to really like Agent Doggett and that makes the episode more enjoyable. This episode is also another of those Danny references. And apparently he's not just Mulder's friend he is Doggett's friend too. Makes me think he's probably just a sectional contact at the forensics office or something. Kind of an Agent Pendrell over the phone. Another reason I love this episode is that you get to see the town where I live! Well on the map anyway. That's right when Scully looks at the map and it shows Salt Lake City and the surrounding cities and highways that is my home. I could be wrong but I think this is the only episode based in Utah. Shame. Anyway I could probably go on and on about how wonderfully creepy and gross this episode is but I won't. I give it a 9/10.
Disturbing
alex-ross7710 April 2006
After two years of light-hearted X-Files, season eight comes up with a very gory Monster-of-the-Week episode that reminds viewers of season four's controversial Home. The storyline circles around a religious cult, who've trapped Scully in their isolated town and are preparing something nasty for her... and her unborn child. Not exactly an original idea, but another addition to the classic plot and Doggett doing anything he can to protect Scully really does make this episode worthwhile.
9/10 The X Files is on top form again, even if that does mean a new leading character, more gore and the overused Scully-in-great-danger plot, but in the end it works out okay.
9/10 The X Files is on top form again, even if that does mean a new leading character, more gore and the overused Scully-in-great-danger plot, but in the end it works out okay.
Just happy to see you!
RuthAkien31 March 2010
Warning: Spoilers
The good: - clear focused story. - cool teaser. - like other early season eight episodes the writers don't foist Doggett onto us, esp as this episode is mostly from Scully's POV. - Like that Scully begs for her child: shows she puts it before herself. - idea of Scully trying to go off on her own is believable in the context (Mulder missing, previously repeatedly betrayed by players in the conspiracy, etc). Afterall she thought she was only going to look at a body. - Slug actually going into the body, as opposed to being stopped at the eleventh hour. - Doggett doesn't see the lamp fire but still knows where Scully is because he's an experienced cop (and has awesome gun-in-trousers noticing skills). - Scully not being deceived by the townsfolks' innocent attitude. This would have been too easy. - Doggett not letting Scully off with her apology. - Scully's reaction to this: good partner role reversal for her.
The not great: - religious Utah thing: there are other isolated areas this could be set. - Giving away the gun. This could have been made believable but wasn't.
Another effective episode on the road to humanising Doggett.
The not great: - religious Utah thing: there are other isolated areas this could be set. - Giving away the gun. This could have been made believable but wasn't.
Another effective episode on the road to humanising Doggett.
"Your life is about to take a wonderful turn."
classicsoncall15 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
In the prior Season Eight episode 'Patience', Special Agent Doggett told Scully that he knew when people were lying to him, and we got to see him make good on that claim when the Bible Study Leader and the bus driver clammed up on having seen Scully. Whether the writers made that intentional or not is anyone's guess, but it's the first thing I thought about.
This was a pretty creepy episode with that gross looking slug creature. Even creepier was the idea that the cult members would subject anyone, much less Scully, to a deliberate injection of the thing in the name of their religion. The Bible thumper called Scully a 'suitable tabernacle' to receive the slug; gee, I wonder what they would have done to someone they thought was a sinner.
A couple of things in the story didn't make sense to me. I had to wonder why Scully didn't offer to pay the gas station attendant when he gave her some fuel to continue on her way. That it turned out to be water was an after the fact situation, and the weird stuff hadn't started happening yet, so I thought that was somewhat out of character. The other thing was how the entire cult immediately stood down when Doggett made the save on Scully by shooting their precious Second Coming. It was almost as if there was some telepathic connection to the creature that was broken, but that was never part of the bug's makeup before, so that was a little baffling.
In any event, Scully comes out of this story with a bit more respect for Doggett, apologizing to him for not bringing him in on the case to begin with. The cue would have been for Doggett to relent somewhat but he came right back with a 'don't let it happen again' rejoinder. Which seemed to serve Scully well enough, realizing that for all intents and purposes, she and her baby would have been goners if Doggett hadn't shown up.
This was a pretty creepy episode with that gross looking slug creature. Even creepier was the idea that the cult members would subject anyone, much less Scully, to a deliberate injection of the thing in the name of their religion. The Bible thumper called Scully a 'suitable tabernacle' to receive the slug; gee, I wonder what they would have done to someone they thought was a sinner.
A couple of things in the story didn't make sense to me. I had to wonder why Scully didn't offer to pay the gas station attendant when he gave her some fuel to continue on her way. That it turned out to be water was an after the fact situation, and the weird stuff hadn't started happening yet, so I thought that was somewhat out of character. The other thing was how the entire cult immediately stood down when Doggett made the save on Scully by shooting their precious Second Coming. It was almost as if there was some telepathic connection to the creature that was broken, but that was never part of the bug's makeup before, so that was a little baffling.
In any event, Scully comes out of this story with a bit more respect for Doggett, apologizing to him for not bringing him in on the case to begin with. The cue would have been for Doggett to relent somewhat but he came right back with a 'don't let it happen again' rejoinder. Which seemed to serve Scully well enough, realizing that for all intents and purposes, she and her baby would have been goners if Doggett hadn't shown up.
This made me squirm, loved it.
Sleepin_Dragon27 September 2022
Scully gets stuck in a small town village, where the locals are behaving a little strangely, she tries to help a man who found himself there, and badly hurt.
More of this please, this took me straight back to the glory days of The X Files, I thought this was a terrific episode, an absolute classic, I'm not sure about you, but I got The Avengers vibes here, the kind of story where you could imagine Peel coming in search of a stranded Mrs Peel, of course there's The X Files twist.
I loved the creepy blackwater vibe, this had sinister undertones from the off, it built and built, climaxing in great fashion.
I like the exploration of Scully and Doggett's new and uncomfortable relationship, for now it seems that things are good, I just wonder how long until the inevitable twist.
First class visuals, they didn't hold back here on anything, great special effects, and again for makeup team got it spot on.
Scary, excellent, Roadrunners is a horror classic, 9/10.
More of this please, this took me straight back to the glory days of The X Files, I thought this was a terrific episode, an absolute classic, I'm not sure about you, but I got The Avengers vibes here, the kind of story where you could imagine Peel coming in search of a stranded Mrs Peel, of course there's The X Files twist.
I loved the creepy blackwater vibe, this had sinister undertones from the off, it built and built, climaxing in great fashion.
I like the exploration of Scully and Doggett's new and uncomfortable relationship, for now it seems that things are good, I just wonder how long until the inevitable twist.
First class visuals, they didn't hold back here on anything, great special effects, and again for makeup team got it spot on.
Scary, excellent, Roadrunners is a horror classic, 9/10.
My Favorite
autumnhendersonbrazie1 October 2015
This is my favorite episode of the series. It represents the best of what the X-Files brought to TV: reasonably graphic science fiction activity. The X-Files can be separated into a few different categories: Aliens, Supernatural Monsters, Products of Bizarre Mutation Monsters (including parasites, insects, and plants), Ghosts, and God. My favorite being the Bizarre Mutations. This episode, I feel, is the cover girl for that category. Although I did miss Mulder's presence in the 8th and 9th season, I think that his absence really allowed Scully (who in my opinion was far less developed than he was) to flourish. This episode is dark, it's twisted, but most of all, it's BAD ASS! A more modern and personal play on "The Host"(S2E2), I would describe it as "Deliverance meets Prometheus Ft. Gillian Anderson." Truly the best the X-Files had to offer. #ScullyForTheWin
Watch Your Back
andyetris1 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Scully travels alone into the Arizona desert to investigate the brutal murder of a hitchhiker whose death appears to have involved several people. When both her cell phone and her car go dead she is stuck in a small town where the worship of a slug-like parasite really gets under her skin!
This was a solid if unoriginal plot for a horror story but I have a lot of problems with it as an X-File. The complete absence of any explanations for anything seems like pure writing laziness, and therefore several things, particularly the zombification of previous victims vs Scully's self-control, is galling. It's also INFURIATING to have Scully handing some recently-met guy her gun, particularly when he is supposed to be an incapacitated invalid!!! It's the WORST form of horror writing, and isn't made any better by her "Why yes I know this is a trap" attitude. And why the heck is a pregnant Scully running around Arizona alone anyway? We're sure not worrying about vengeful bat-things anymore! By the way, did anybody bother to bag the slug for examination, or was it just hosed out of the bus?
Although I liked the previous episode, "Patience," I thought this was a bad sign quality-wise for the obvious attempt to reinvent the X-Files as a thriller series in season 8. Fond as I was of Mulder I had found the comedy routines increasingly grating from season 6 on, and I had high hopes particularly for Robert Patrick, who has knocked me out since "Terminator II." Season 8 had some good things, but this kind of lazy writing was ultimately to undermine the show.
This was a solid if unoriginal plot for a horror story but I have a lot of problems with it as an X-File. The complete absence of any explanations for anything seems like pure writing laziness, and therefore several things, particularly the zombification of previous victims vs Scully's self-control, is galling. It's also INFURIATING to have Scully handing some recently-met guy her gun, particularly when he is supposed to be an incapacitated invalid!!! It's the WORST form of horror writing, and isn't made any better by her "Why yes I know this is a trap" attitude. And why the heck is a pregnant Scully running around Arizona alone anyway? We're sure not worrying about vengeful bat-things anymore! By the way, did anybody bother to bag the slug for examination, or was it just hosed out of the bus?
Although I liked the previous episode, "Patience," I thought this was a bad sign quality-wise for the obvious attempt to reinvent the X-Files as a thriller series in season 8. Fond as I was of Mulder I had found the comedy routines increasingly grating from season 6 on, and I had high hopes particularly for Robert Patrick, who has knocked me out since "Terminator II." Season 8 had some good things, but this kind of lazy writing was ultimately to undermine the show.
Totally Creepy
padresteve15 December 2023
I like the really creepy stories in some of the X-Files. This is one of the creepiest and the people in the religious cult, all of them creeped me out. The very first murder kind of reminded me of the old short story, "The Lottery" where all the members of a community stone one of the community members to death, but that was just the start. From the first time Scully encountered the people in the town, the gas station attendant, the old man, and the lady who kept saying "amen and praise the Lord" who later played in the Blacklist, I couldn't stop watching. My skin about crawls every time I see the thing that is their "God" in the back of their victims. Doggett really begins to come into his own in this episode, and it is fascinating to watch. He adds something to the series that I think actually strengthens Scully's character. It has been so long since I watched seasons eight and nine that I forgot what a believable character he is. This is a very strong episode and done without Mulder.
Jumping the shark?
n-town-smash17 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Way back when, the X-Files was an intelligent, thought-provoking show. A big part of its appeal was that the writers looked to folklore and science for their ideas, tying the plot to the spooky side of real life.
I was incredibly wary of the 8th season when it aired. The show had already provided two perfectly good episodes to bow out on ("One Son" and "Requiem"), and the 7th season had seen a sharp rise in episodes that scraped the barrel for ideas that were far-fetched, implausible, or downright silly. But I figured, hey, give it the benefit of a doubt, maybe they're bringing it back because they've got some great ideas lined up.
"Roadrunners" really was upsetting. Following "Patience", which at least offered an interesting angle on the vampire folklore that the show had done well to avoid, the episode sees a strange (alien?) parasitic slug with the power of mind control worshipped by a cult of backwoods Christians. Oh, and they think it's the second coming of Christ, but you only find that out in the last couple of minutes. Seriously. There's never *any* attempt to make sense of this, to explain what the slug is, why anything that's happening is happening, or anything. Even in the show's early years - in fact, *especially* then - you could expect a little bit more depth, a bit of background, or if not that then the opposite - a bit of mystery, some uncertainty about what this was all about.
It's Scully that really kills it though. You could put up with the silliness of the premise, but to have a character who has been developed over a good 7 years as a rational skeptic transformed into a gullible maverick purely for the sake of advancing the plot is bizarre to watch. You feel like you're watching some godawful teen horror, except that it's a woman well into her thirties throwing herself into the kind of creepy isolated community that she's spent the best part of a decade uncovering the sinister underbelly of, being either outwitted by very stereotypical hicks or utterly indifferent to her own safety. Oh, and by the way, Doggett, the new Mudler, isn't around. Scully just wandered off into the desert to look into a brutal murder on her own without him. He shows up at the end to save the day - I can't even remember why - but apart from that, he's not really in it. Again: seriously.
In short, it feels like either a generic script written for another show, or someone's pet movie project which they've been allowed to shove like a mutant leech into the spine of an existing, long-running show at a time when it was at its most vulnerable. It might've worked on a lesser show, where the characters are more archetypal and the audience expects less. But The X-Files had a good thing going, and Scully was one of the strongest and most idiosyncratic TV characters of the 90s. Deciding that you're going to change her personality for the sake of a story that they must've done on Star Trek a good fifty or so times is pointless.
I was incredibly wary of the 8th season when it aired. The show had already provided two perfectly good episodes to bow out on ("One Son" and "Requiem"), and the 7th season had seen a sharp rise in episodes that scraped the barrel for ideas that were far-fetched, implausible, or downright silly. But I figured, hey, give it the benefit of a doubt, maybe they're bringing it back because they've got some great ideas lined up.
"Roadrunners" really was upsetting. Following "Patience", which at least offered an interesting angle on the vampire folklore that the show had done well to avoid, the episode sees a strange (alien?) parasitic slug with the power of mind control worshipped by a cult of backwoods Christians. Oh, and they think it's the second coming of Christ, but you only find that out in the last couple of minutes. Seriously. There's never *any* attempt to make sense of this, to explain what the slug is, why anything that's happening is happening, or anything. Even in the show's early years - in fact, *especially* then - you could expect a little bit more depth, a bit of background, or if not that then the opposite - a bit of mystery, some uncertainty about what this was all about.
It's Scully that really kills it though. You could put up with the silliness of the premise, but to have a character who has been developed over a good 7 years as a rational skeptic transformed into a gullible maverick purely for the sake of advancing the plot is bizarre to watch. You feel like you're watching some godawful teen horror, except that it's a woman well into her thirties throwing herself into the kind of creepy isolated community that she's spent the best part of a decade uncovering the sinister underbelly of, being either outwitted by very stereotypical hicks or utterly indifferent to her own safety. Oh, and by the way, Doggett, the new Mudler, isn't around. Scully just wandered off into the desert to look into a brutal murder on her own without him. He shows up at the end to save the day - I can't even remember why - but apart from that, he's not really in it. Again: seriously.
In short, it feels like either a generic script written for another show, or someone's pet movie project which they've been allowed to shove like a mutant leech into the spine of an existing, long-running show at a time when it was at its most vulnerable. It might've worked on a lesser show, where the characters are more archetypal and the audience expects less. But The X-Files had a good thing going, and Scully was one of the strongest and most idiosyncratic TV characters of the 90s. Deciding that you're going to change her personality for the sake of a story that they must've done on Star Trek a good fifty or so times is pointless.
Shouldn't be as good as it is
Albertgarrettmiller16 December 2021
This episode focuses on Scully. When in Utah investigating a murder she encounters a cult like town that does not want her to leave.
The episode is more unbelievable than most and is basically Misery if Annie was a cult with a parasite.
Scully excludes Doggett and makes dumb decisions (a common theme since Mulder left).
That being said, it is my favorite episode in seasons 8 and 9 and is one of my favorite episodes in the entire show.
The episode is more unbelievable than most and is basically Misery if Annie was a cult with a parasite.
Scully excludes Doggett and makes dumb decisions (a common theme since Mulder left).
That being said, it is my favorite episode in seasons 8 and 9 and is one of my favorite episodes in the entire show.
Typical
billeyjoecobra2 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I don't understand WTF with scully in this ep.She know she already pregnant and also she feel like that town not want to her leave but she instead try to run away from them but hell no she try to investigate where is the vehicle and give the sick one a gun while sick af ?,Dumb decision like murder in some case that danger af
Disgusting, Pointless, Weak Entry
karcreat215 May 2015
This episode was an absolute pile of garbage.
No explanations RE where this stupid, pointless 'slug' came from, why the towns people think it's 'Jesus' returned, etc...it's slow, it's overly disgusting and utterly pointless.
All the more annoying is the fact that decent performances were turned in by the majority of the cast (granted, the townspeople simply had to adopt the overly clichéd 'weirdo/friendly' mode), all of which is wasted on a bland, nauseating 'story' that meanders to nowhere.
Absolutely one of the worst X Files episodes ever aired. A total waste of time, it makes zero sense and should be skipped, entirely.
No explanations RE where this stupid, pointless 'slug' came from, why the towns people think it's 'Jesus' returned, etc...it's slow, it's overly disgusting and utterly pointless.
All the more annoying is the fact that decent performances were turned in by the majority of the cast (granted, the townspeople simply had to adopt the overly clichéd 'weirdo/friendly' mode), all of which is wasted on a bland, nauseating 'story' that meanders to nowhere.
Absolutely one of the worst X Files episodes ever aired. A total waste of time, it makes zero sense and should be skipped, entirely.
What happened to the show?
zmos9919 June 2021
Meaningless, overly bloody, a teen horror movie. I agree with these comments from other posters.
And of course the bad guys are Christians. The show makes sure we know this because we look through a window at them meeting in a house and somebody holds the Bible up to make sure we see it. Because Christians brainlessly worship slugs that live in peoples spines? Embarrassing.
And of course the bad guys are Christians. The show makes sure we know this because we look through a window at them meeting in a house and somebody holds the Bible up to make sure we see it. Because Christians brainlessly worship slugs that live in peoples spines? Embarrassing.
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