The X-Files (TV Series) Three Words (2001) User Reviews

Who says you can't go home again?

[Muldernscully · 9/10 · 9 October 2007]

Mulder is back on the job. In Three Words, Mulder jumps right back into the thick of things without missing a beat. Only this time, there is a slight obstacle: Agent Doggett. Mulder doesn't approve of this addition to the X-Files team and shows his disapproval immediately.

I think Mulder sends the first text message seen in the X-Files in this episode. Just an interesting tidbit.

Mulder is very sarcastic in this episode, even towards Scully. I think it stems from his disapproval of Doggett and how we feels things will be once Scully goes on maternity leave. The entire episode is filled with awkwardness as no one quite knows how to act with each other now that Mulder's back.

The Lone Gunmen make a fine appearance in this episode. Instead of just offering some exposition in their headquarters, they get to go black ops with Mulder to get the census data.

I love the awkward feel of the episode as everyone tries to adjust to each other. Also, the friction between Mulder and Doggett is real and palpable. We see for the first time that Knowle Rohrer is not who he appears to be, leading to the super soldier mythology in season 9.

Three Words is a good old-fashioned action-oriented myth/arc and maintains an exciting pace. I have three words for this episode: I love it.

Doggett is quickly winning me over this time around.

[NoisySnails · 8/10 · 8 December 2015]

Revisiting the X-FIles has been a strange journey with Season 8 being perhaps the strangest leg of the trip. We're in the death throes of the series and the writers are doing their best to hold together what feels like a story that began unraveling long ago. Saddled with the woefully limited availability of their stars while attempting to help us tolerate their replacements. No small task and I have to say an admirable job was done.

Case in point is Season 8 Episode 16 - Three Words. With Mulder and Doggett sharing the screen we're presented with some large personalities sharing the screen. I must say I'm pleased with how they've handled the relationship between the two. The tug of war between both men ostensibly trying to do the right thing is compelling where it could be simply irritating.

This time around I'm much less hostile towards Doggett and can actually enjoy his presence on the show. He has his problems as a character, but for the most part he's almost a welcome relief from the malaise of Season 7.

I'd give this episode a thumbs up. Not the very best of X-Files, but definitely the best in a while. Mulder is here (for now) and I'm happy to have him back.

Highlights:

Doggett has Mulder's back even though Mulder outright refuses to trust the help. The trap set by Doggett's liaison Knowle was perfectly set and sprung on a once again overzealous Mulder. The Lone Gunmen engaged in Mission Impossible styled stunts. On- premise and hard-wired hacking always works for me.

Lowlights:

Absalom is unceremoniously wiped out in what was obviously a very misguided attempt to discover the truth. I would have liked to have unwrapped his involvement a bit more at this point. Kersh, Kersh, Kersh. How I hate Kersh.

Mulder's A Jerk

[ddeboer · 8/10 · 4 June 2010]

The mythology arc lost steam for me a long time ago. I've grown weary of Scully's melancholia and Mulder's repeated resurrections. Nevertheless, this episode held my interest despite all of that. I am intrigued once more by the "aliens among us" theme and Mulder's medical condition fits into this somehow but apparently we don't know all the answers yet. My biggest disappointment is Mulder himself. After Scully's frequent longing and nightmares about his condition he can only respond to her with smug quips and acts like nothing happened to him at all. And after all the work Doggett did to find Mulder he greets with him with a degree of aggression that seems excessive. I never thought I would see the day where I would grow weary of Mulder and his smug attitude.

Whoa, you must've got your wires crossed somewhere, Agent Mulder.

[Sanpaco13 · 8/10 · 2 July 2009]

Three Words. No not please and thank you. Fight The Future. Three words that will give Agent Mulder access to a database at the census bureau which contains proof that the alien colonization is taking place right under everyone's noses. That alien look a-likes are already among us in disguise. This episode to me is two things. First it feels almost like the third segment of the previous two parter series. Second, it is very awkward. I say it is awkward because of Mulder. Mulder himself feels awkward and doesn't know where he fits in anymore. His application to be reinstated on the X-Files is denied due to a loophole that Kersh finds in the statistics, and instead he is offered another jagoff shoeshine tip background checking job. It seems interesting to me that they would take someone like Mulder who is highly known for his unique criminal profiling talents and instead of giving him a job in violent crimes or something when they want him off the X-Files, he is put on background checks. Let's take a huge asset and ignore it. Dumb. Anyway, it bugs me how hostile Mulder is towards pretty much everyone in the episode. He is understandably eager to get back to work, and I like how he is right on top of his game as he shows with identifying the man in the photo, but he also seems to take on an attitude of everyone being against him. Especially towards Agent Doggett. The entire episode he assumes nothing but the worst of him and is constantly accusing him of setting him up and trying to cover up the truth. Before he even meets him he is already judging him like a jealous boyfriend or overprotective older brother. It seems like that might be a natural reaction but it still kind of bugs me. Anyway, the episode is decent enough. We find out that Knowle Rohrer is a super soldier and Absalom gives us the key of checking the back of the neck for the stegosaurus spines. I give the episode an 8 out of 10.

Brilliant episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 30 September 2022]

A man is gunned down at The White House, having broken into the grounds, trying to hand over a disc, with a three word message, Fight the future.

I know it's The X Files, and it's sci fi, far out etc, but even for The X Files, this one was extremely far reaching, a recently deceased Mulder is now chomping on the bit to get back to work, and back where he belongs, it's crazy, but it doesn't matter at all, this was absolutely brilliant.

I got what I wanted to see, which was the meeting of Mulder and Doggett, and as expected they were like cats in a bag. I don't know about you, but I've almost felt sorry for Doggett, and it seemed as though he was close to being discarded, but credit to the way he was written, he was as vital a cog here as Mulder or Scully.

I thought it was exciting, intriguing, fast paced, and of all the episodes in this story arc, this was definitely my favourite of them.

The scene between Mulder and The Lone Gunmen was really touching, great scene.

I thought Alex Baldwin was great as Knowle Rohrer, and I'm keen to see more of him, and learn how he's connected to Doggett, and just what it is he's up to.

Class 10/10.

"When I was dead I was hoping maybe they changed the rules."

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 21 August 2017]

Say, how is it that six months after Mulder 'died', his apartment is still available? Who's been paying the rent? Who's been feeding the fish (besides Doggett when he got nosy)? These and other issues are significantly glossed over to spend more time on the coming alien takeover of the planet. It's getting a little weary by now.

Like most other reviewers on this board, I too was taken aback by Mulder's antagonistic treatment of Agent Doggett. That seemed totally out of character, even if he was severely peeved over being dead for a length of time. However it did give us a glimpse at Doggett's middle name when Mulder called up his bio on the computer - it was 'Jay'. An interesting bit of trivia there.

You know, it always amazes me how The Lone Gunmen can operate so effectively without a hitch. Their split second timing this time gets Mulder and Doggett out of a jam during that black-ops mission, but just like the way I question the rent business for Mulder's apartment, how did the two FBI agents make their escape through a ceiling tile? Those ceiling tile grids can't handle any more weight than the tiles themselves. But then Mulder and Doggett would have been goners, wouldn't they? For this viewer, the three words that apply to most of the stuff that happened here - 'not buying it'.

My Bodyguard...welcome to the X-Files!

[hurlock · 10/10 · 18 June 2019]

The series has truly been turned up several notches to what we fell in love with in this series. A new, bigger story arc is finally in the offing and it's fun! And adding Adam Baldwin to the mix in such a mysterious way? Good times!

The show didn't need mulder back

[skatez-19801 · 4/10 · 8 February 2024]

I know that feeling is contreversial, but I truly believe that it would've been better to leave mulder dead than bring him back like this. I found the first half of this season to be much better in quality and storytelling than much of season 7. Largely because I believe Dogget and Scully's dynamic brought new life into a series that was wearing thin on "but what if scully... what if there WAS a person who could do (thing)". Now, i'm not saying that bringing mulder back was a bad idea on the face of it, in fact it felt almost inevitable, but the characterization of mulder feels so off and out of place. He seems to have stripped off his more contemplative side, in defiance of his return to the grave, and is instead a wisecracking jerk. In the few episodes i have viewed after this one, that has not changed. I hope this gets better in future episodes, but i will just have to wait and see.