The X-Files (TV Series) Vienen (2001) User Reviews

And you'd love to help, but you left your light saber at home.

[Muldernscully · 8/10 · 16 October 2007]

Vienen takes us back to a familiar friend of the x-files, the black oil. But it's the black oil like you've never seen it before. Vienen is the first and only Mulder/Doggett episode and you shouldn't miss it.

For two guys that don't care for each other that much, the two actors have good chemistry and work very well together. Their dialogue is fun to listen to as they constantly take jabs at each other. It's unfortunate that this combination didn't happen more, but Doggett was Mulder's replacement, so that really wasn't possible.

Kersh is just as mean and nasty as ever. I just love to hate his character. James Pickens Jr. plays that part to perfection.

The Spanish sounds good in this episode, at least from the Hispanics. I'm not sure about Doggett's Spanish. It's better than his Spanish in season nine's John Doe though.

The set of the oil rig is fantastic. It feels like Doggett and Mulder are actually on a rig. The special effects of the rig on fire and exploding are also well done.

A couple of things don't sit right for me in this episode, which prevent me from giving it a perfect score. The black oil seems to exhibit out-of-character characteristics. In previous episodes, when it has jumped from person to person, it leaves the previous person completely. In Vienen, it appears to be able to share itself with almost the entire crew. Also, it has to use some kind of radio to communicate? They act like mindless drones instead of sentient beings as in previous episodes. If this new property of the black oil would've been explained better, I could've gone with it. But as it is, they don't, so I was left feeling a little confused.

As Mulder and Scully both said in this episode, it's just like old times; black oil, flaunting authority, etc. Vienen is a good ride with Mulder and Doggett essentially doing a Buddy flick. Be sure to enjoy Vienen before "they come".

Yo no confio en nadie!

[Sanpaco13 · 7/10 · 7 October 2008]

Vienen is one of the final season 8 episodes that serves the passing of the X-Files baton from Mulder to Doggett. Mulder is still extremely possessive of his old position and tries to continue to tell Agent Doggett what cases to pursue. When Doggett rejects the case of two missing oil workers, Mulder comes down to the office and locks Doggett out. After entering with a key Doggett asks Mulder if he can help him with anything. There is definitely a feeling of propriety in this scene. As Mulder continues to question Doggett's abilities he is surprised to find that Doggett has studied the X-Files cases extensively and understands much of the mythology probably better than many avid fans ever will. There is a fun little moment when the phone rings and both go to answer the phone at the same moment. Mulder then picks up the receiver and hands it to Doggett. Kersh is upset over the fact that this case has been stirred up where it could easily have been left alone but now demands an investigation and tells Mulder he is going to send Doggett to investigate. Mulder rolls his eyes, obviously not confident that Doggett can handle the case. So he goes rogue and comes to the oil rig ahead of Doggett anyway. Anyway, without trying to make the details any more complicated that they already are, Doggett and Mulder investigate the oil rig murders and find that the case is linked to the black oil infecting the crew and trying to make contact with the mother ship. There are a few Mexican crew members who are abnormally immune to the oil virus and try to destroy the radio and communication to keep the oil from escaping. These men insist that the aliens "vienen" (they're coming) hence the title of the episode. In the end the crew is abducted, the mexicans die, the oil rig explodes and Doggett and Mulder have a little bonding moment of leaping from a 40 foot oil rig platform into the ocean.

This is I believe the final oil virus episode and in that sense it is somewhat disappointing. Nothing is really resolved. Mulder is kicked out of the FBI but graciously hands over the X-Files to Doggett saying "you've seen this stuff first hand so I trust you now." (paraphrase) It all seems kind of conveniently wrapped up without really explaining anything and goes contrary to the nature of Mulder's character in trusting no one. I don't hate the episode. I actually enjoy Doggett and Mulder working together as they do similarly in a later episode Alone. But it seems that the purpose of the episode was more to do the hand off rather than to explain anything more about the black oil. Something else could have been addressed rather than the black oil to do that. Anyway I won't mark it too heavily but its not a favorite so I give it a 7 out of 10.

A mix of oil and testosterone.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 30 September 2022]

Agent Doggett is sent to an oil rig, to investigate a strange death, and a few rumblings about a strange oil. Kersh is more concerned with the political ramifications of the rig.

Very good episode, another strong episode from Series 8. We get the unlikely duo of Mulder and Doggett thrown together, having to reluctantly work with one another, and as you'd expect, they clash.

It's an atmospheric episode, I loved the claustrophobia that the oil rig setting brought, and I also enjoyed the way that Mulder worked his way into the case. Plenty of tension, it's a clash of egos, but great acting from Duchovny and Patrick.

I feel that Kersh is getting more and more interesting as a character, clearly up to no good, I keep wondering how and when he'll never his end.

One or two minor frustrations, I felt like we were left with a few unanswered questions, what happened to the rig hands, and why was the oil behaving so differently. Possibly serving as the means to an end, allowing Kersh to boot Mulder out.

8/10.

Believable change in their dynamic

[RuthAkien · 9/10 · 6 May 2010]

This is another season eight ep I completely enjoyed.

-So happy when I saw the teaser and the return of the black oil.

-Love the way the M & D team-up is handled. Both characters'' behaviour is understandable and neither is the 'bad guy'. Easy to emphasise with both sides.

• Mulder's first thought is that they're sending a heavily pregnant woman. lol

• Ha: M got there first. Feel sorry for D.

• great bickering. Agree about earlier poster's comment about a 'buddy' dynamic

-Sad when M is leaving.

9/10 (would prefer to give 8.5: marks off for odd behaviour of black oil)

"If I didn't know better, I'd say this was a Mulder stunt."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 21 August 2017]

If Mulder had any intention of staying with The X-Files, he sure had a funny way of showing it by his actions in this story. It seems like he goes behind Agent Doggett's back and defies Deputy Director Kersh (James Pickens Jr.) at every turn. It's almost as if he's itching to be fired, which ultimately is the case, but not before we get to see another story involving the alien black oil presence.

While virtually every crew member of a Galpex Petroleum oil rig is infected with the black oil, an unusual anomaly has 'deactivated' the virus in the bodies of two Huecha Mexican laborers, who see it as their mission to take down the rig before aliens can arrive and produce more of their black oil buddies from the depths of the Gulf of Mexico. There's a bit of international intrigue thrown into the mix as well, as Mexican interest in the oil wealth clashes with the American side, a factor that had Kersh wishing he could just sidestep the entire issue, but for Mulder's involvement against strict orders.

In a nifty tribute to "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid", it was cool to see Agents Mulder and Doggett take that plunge into the Gulf with FBI choppers heading in to make the save. For all his antagonism toward Doggett in this and prior episodes, it was noble of Mulder to take the fall for him and The X-Files when he got word from Kersh that he was history. Making his peace with Doggett was admirable, a gesture that showed that Mulder could move on, leaving The X-Files in capable hands.