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The Doggett/Scully relationship is my favorite pairing on
"The X-Files" because I enjoy watching mature, respectful,
and realistic relationship pairings on TV. This almost never
happens though so I allowed myself to fall in love with the
potential and possibilities that the Doggett/Scully relationship
could have brought to the series and to the development of
both characters.
To make sure you understand. I know that Doggett and Scully
did not hook up on the show. Yes, I like to come up with theories
on how they could have been involved at any given point during
the last two seasons, but I know the difference between the
fun I have with the pairing and what actually happened, or
in this case did not happen, on the show. What I saw in Doggett/Scully
was
an attraction of both characters to each other and that could
have opened up many doors to make Doggett and Scully more
layered characters in the last two seasons if the writers
had explored the Doggett/Scully relationship to its full potential,
romantic.
Also please note that in this essay I have compared the Mulder/Scully
relationship to the Doggett/Scully relationship to help you
better understand where I'm coming from in terms of why I
think Doggett/Scully is the better relationship, the healthy
relationship, for Scully to be in.
I like that there is nothing dishonest or insincere about
the attraction, both mentally and physically, between Doggett
and Scully, or the interaction between them. No moments were
forced upon viewers to please a group of the viewing audience.
Moments between them naturally happened, never once feeling
as if TPTB were trying to force feed the relationship and
the UST to the audience. I've never been a fan of any TV relationship
which has been forced upon the
viewers in an unnatural progression, or which has been created
and brought forth because of a rabid (online) fan base. When
relationships on TV happen because of those reasons they are
not interesting to me and they feel awkward and out of place
(like how the Mulder/Scully relationship felt to me, and the
forced "UST" between Doggett and Reyes in season
9).
I'll also note that I think Doggett and Scully make a very
handsome couple. They look great together.
At the beginning of their relationship, Scully did not trust
Doggett. She was suspicious of his intentions, but by the
end of "Without" she was already comfortable to
accept him holding her, protecting her, and comforting her
in his arms. By the time he came to see her in the hospital
(complete with a Get Well Soon card) and had accepted his
assignment to the X-Files Division, she seemed lost, what
to think of his dedication to find Mulder and his concern
was just the
beginning.
They may have started out on the wrong foot, but they quickly
learned how similar they are to each other. Though some say
that opposites attract studies have shown that lasting relationships
happen between two people with similarities. I don't think
anyone can argue that Doggett and Scully are not similar to
one another. They are both skeptics by heart, needing hard
science and
seeing things with their own eyes in order to believe the
unbelievable. She understands how he feels dealing with X-Files
cases and she's willing and able to help him work through
it. He sees her struggle to be like Mulder in his absence,
going against her very nature and he doesn't criticize her
for it. He listens. He understands loss. He knows what she
is going through. He's been there before. When I think of
Doggett/Scully I think of the following quote by Alphonse
de
Lamartine:
"Grief knits two hearts in closer bonds than happiness
ever can; and common sufferings are far stronger links than
common joys."
If the writers had realized the potential in these two characters
to just sit down and talk about their lives, their joys, their
sufferings, I believe it would have strengthened the partnership,
friendship, and relationship between them. Doggett and Scully
share so much of the same grief in their lives. They've both
lost children, and they've both been assigned to a career
stopping division. She
grew up on Navy bases, around the US military, he's a Marine.
I'm sure if the writers had put forth the effort to further
develop both Doggett and Scully, we would have learned that
they share much, much more.
Doggett accepts Scully for who she is and who she wants to
be. He respects what she thinks and I think he even helps
her to realize that it's not healthy to try to be like Mulder
when she tries to be just like him in order to try to solve
cases. Doggett helps her to realize that she should and can
be her own self. Unlike when she was with Mulder, she doesn't
feel like she has to change herself to be accepted or even
liked by Doggett. Mulder tried to change who Scully was during
their partnership and relationship, and in some ways he succeeded,
but it's Doggett who accepts her for who she is, and allows
her to make decisions for herself. When Mulder returned Doggett
saw that the relationship between Mulder and Scully was not
a good one, he bit his tongue and did not tell her his thoughts
about this. He allowed her to do what she wanted with her
life, all the while
keeping a protective eye on her. It broke his heart in the
beginning of season 9 when Mulder ditched Scully (and her
child) again because he saw it coming, and he wished he could
take her pain away, but he knows that is a decision she needs
to make on her own and all he can do is be her friend. The
fact that Doggett accepts her for who she is and doesn't try
to change her is one
reason why I think Doggett is a better man for Scully to be
with. He accepts her and loves her for who she is.
We are shown on the series that Doggett and Scully have the
same dreams and goals in their personal lives. In the season
six episode "Dreamland", Scully suggests to Mulder
that she'd like to settle down, live a normal life:
SCULLY: Mulder, it's the dim hope of finding that proof
that's kept us in this car, or one very much like it for
more nights than I care to remember. Driving hundreds if
not thousands of miles through neighborhoods and cities
and towns where people are raising families and buying homes
and playing with their kids and their dogs, and... in short,
living their lives. While we - we - we just keep driving.
MULDER: What is your point?
SCULLY: Don't you ever just want to stop? Get out of the
damn car? Settle down and live something approaching a normal
life?
MULDER: This *is* a normal life.
Mulder pretty much tells her right there that he has no desire
for the normal life that she described. Scully describes life
in the suburbs, with a family, and buying a home. This is
the life that she wants to live, not one where she's out running
around after government conspiracies, and later after "The
Truth" going into hiding with Mulder because of his quest
against the government cover-up. John Doggett has tasted that
normal life, and I believe that he wants the same normal life
that Scully described to Mulder. He has a house, and I'm sure
he'd love to have a family someday with a woman who shares
his values and whose personality matches his… Dana Scully.
The fact that Scully was taking the necessary steps in season
7 to conceive a child tells us that Scully was ready to give
up the FBI, give up on living the life Mulder needs her to
live with him. With a child she'd likely quit the FBI to be
a mother, to start living that normal life, even if she still
hadn't found the right man to share that life with. The fact
that Scully was all right with Mulder leaving her in season
nine tells me that she's ready to let him go, to end the relationship
she had with him. She's moved on, got over him, and is ready
to find happiness with another. Ok, so she's just found out
she's pregnant at the end of season 7, along comes season
8 which means along comes John Doggett.
Yes, Doggett is dedicated to his job, but he can separate
his work from his personal life. He doesn't make his job his
life unlike Mulder. He had a wife and son, and seems to care
for them very much. He has a difficult time letting go of
that part of his life, which tells us he's still very much
a family man. He still desires to have a wife and children
again one day. This explains why he became even more protective
of Scully once he found out she was pregnant. He cared and
loved her before, but after… you can tell he was treating
her as well as he probably treated his wife when she was pregnant
with Luke.
Doggett can offer Scully the life she wants: a loyal partner,
a loving partner, a father for her child, a stable life, a
house, security, protection, love, and a lifetime of good
memories and happiness. A good family to raise her child in.
Most importantly though is happiness.
Through seasons four through nine I don't feel that Scully
was sincerely happy, especially in the seasons in which she
was involved with Mulder (7-9). When she was involved with
him she seemed broken, as if she lost sight of herself. She
sacrificed her life dreams to try to please Mulder and that
hurt her, She seemed bored with him as if being with him was
a difficult chore. She even seemed depressed. Yes, I'm talking
about season 7 before Mulder was abducted. In
season 8 when Mulder returned she seemed even unhappier. If
she was in love with him, don't you think she'd be happy that
he was back? Any smile she gave him seemed forced and insincere,
like she didn't want him to know she was no longer in love
with him. It was as if she felt obligated to be with him,
be there for him and in the end he ditched her and her child
to save his own ass with no concern for their well-being.
After Doggett had been around for a while, before Mulder's
return, Scully seemed to be finding herself again. Doggett
helped her find who she is and who she wants to be for herself.
He helped make her stronger and he even made her happier.
She tried not to show it, but he helped her remember how to
smile.
At the beginning of "Alone", Scully gives Doggett
the Apollo 11 key chain that Mulder gave her years before.
To me, this is one of the biggest steps in the Doggett/Scully
relationship. Scully is acknowledging how much Doggett means
to her and she's telling it to his face, and pulls him into
a lingering hug. Up until this point I think Doggett was hesitant
in consoling her physically, and the look on his face when
she initiates that hug is priceless. He finally gets to hug
her, let her feel how much he cares for her, and she was the
one to initiate the physical contact. This wasn't a professional
gesture, it was personal and the way in which it was done
was quiet, pensive, and intimate. A true step in their growing
relationship.
The hug is the first time Scully acknowledges the potential
for a loving relationship with Doggett. Again, the Doggett/Scully
relationship is all about the unexplored possibilities and
the incredible potential for romance between the two characters.
Doggett asks her if she plans to come back to work after
she has her baby, and she gives him a little smile. The answer
obviously being "no". She's ready to settle down
and she knows very well that Mulder is not that kind of man,
John Doggett is. That smile was a promise of something more
between them. It wasn't goodbye; it was the beginning of a
new chapter in her life, the final exit
from Mulder and his quest. It was the beginning of the new
chapter of her life with her child and John Doggett as her
friend and potential lover because let's face it, there were
hints of the attraction that Scully developed for Doggett
before "Alone" ever aired, the first episode that
comes to mind is "Medusa", and that last scene in
the hospital where she continues to check him out while discussing
the closing details of the case.
I believe that if TPTB hadn't felt pressure from the rabid
online MSR shippers, that the Doggett/Scully relationship
would have taken a very different direction in season 9 (as
was foreshadowed in "Nothing Important Happened Today
1", "Nothing Important Happened Today 2", and
"Daemonicus").
In "Nothing Important Happened Today 1 & 2",
Doggett and Scully show a closeness we hadn't seen in season
8. They call each other by their first names, and she is more
than comfortable in from of him with her shirt unbuttoned
(almost like a mirror of the "Medusa" scene where
he's comfortable enough with her to finish dressing with her
in the room and his zipper undone). Scully is scared in these
episodes, Mulder has abandoned her (again) and she is out
to protect her
emotions. She's been hurt by Mulder (again). When Doggett
tries to help her see reasons (he thinks Mulder leaving her
was wrong), she asks him to leave her apartment and never
come back. Doggett does as she asks and leaves with the saddest
eyes you'll ever see. Now… the moment her child starts
showing signs that it's not normal, who does she call first?
You guessed it, John Doggett. Monica Reyes – the believer
– answers the phone, but Scully still feels more comfortable
talking to Doggett than with her, and she may have even wanted
to talk to Doggett since I'm sure she felt bad about their
disagreement earlier. She's reaching out to him, wanting him
back, needing his protection and love, and he doesn't hesitate
to come to her aid. He's just as dedicated to finding out
the truth about her son as she is. He's not going to give
up on her and he's not going to ditch her. He's there for
her, always. He holds her hand as they run off the ship
before it explodes. To me that is a very sweet gesture, and
one that doesn't just happen between two people who do not
love each other.
"Daemonicus" is the episode we are told that Doggett
loves Scully. For all the nay Sayers there is proof, it is
stated. Doggett has feelings for Scully. Kobold was able to
tap into Doggett's mind and know his thoughts, his insecurities.
We find out Doggett compares himself to Mulder, thinks he's
too good-looking, and that he can't compete with him for Scully's
affections. He remained assigned to the X-Files Division because
of his feelings and his love for Scully; he doesn't want to
let her down by leaving the assignment.
Doggett gets upset that Kobold was able to know these things
and when Scully and Monica ask what Kobold said to him, Doggett
doesn't tell them. He doesn't want Scully to know his feelings
for her because he still thinks that Mulder is everything
to her. He also doesn't want her to know his insecurities
about himself in comparison to Mulder. He doesn't want her
to know that he loves her. He respects her relationship with
Mulder and her decision to be with Mulder even though Mulder's
not around and he (Doggett) doesn't agree with that decision.
Respect. John Doggett has so much respect for Scully. In
the beginning he listened to what she had to say, he didn't
agree with her, but he respected her enough to not belittle
her or her opinions. He respectfully argued points with her.
He was never so arrogant to say that he was always right and
she was wrong. He called her the expert, and he admired her.
Even when his feelings for her grew to love, he stood down.
He didn't try to come between her and Mulder
(though, wouldn't that have been interesting to see?). He
respected her choice and her relationship with him. He saw
that Mulder didn't treat Scully right; he subtly showed he
didn't approve, but he never once tried to impose himself
on her.
Scully showed Doggett respect as well. Unlike how Mulder
was with her at the office, Scully welcomed Doggett as her
partner, and despite she never received a desk or nameplate
of her own, she arranged for Doggett to have his own desk,
something Mulder never did for her. She didn't claim the basement
office as her own or hers and Mulder's, she made the office
for herself and Doggett. This showed the respect that she
had for Doggett upon his reassignment to the X-
Files Division. Scully respected Doggett's approach to their
cases, his theories, and what he had to say. Without this
respect that they showed each other, there would be nothing
in which to base the potential of their relationship.
Trust. At the beginning of season 8 Scully did not trust
Doggett and she had every right not to. For years she and
Mulder had learned to trust no one but each other, and now
all she had was herself. Doggett's approach to finding out
information on Mulder was the wrong approach (Within) if he
had known her better he never would have engaged in small
talk about Mulder confiding in
other women at the Bureau. He would have been more sensitive
to her feelings. This is why she initially did not trust him.
However as time went on, he kept on proving himself to be
very trustworthy and she began to trust him as much as she
had trusted Mulder. So much that she let him decide where
she should go to give birth to her child, a place he believed
would be safe and with one person he thought could protect
her.
Trust goes both ways, I think the best example of Doggett's
trust in Scully is in season 9's "Underneath" and
"Release".
Doggett is faced with the fact that a man he put away is
now being set free (the Screwdriver Killer). This was the
biggest case he ever worked up in New York. Instead of calling
in his assigned partner, Monica Reyes, he calls in Dana Scully
when the news breaks that the guy is being set free. He trusts
Scully with something that is very important to him. He even
has Scully come up to New York with him to assist him in digging
through old files related to the Fassle
case. She's sensitive to his feelings regarding the case and
speaks to him delicately when she suggests evidence may have
been planted (and one can't help but notice how impressed
and interested she got when she read that he was the arresting
officer). Just imagine what his reaction would have been like
if it had been Monica to suggest evidence was planted. He
wouldn't have handled it well and probably would have said
something mean to her. But with Scully, he pauses, considers
what she said, and turns to face her and speaks to her calmly
as he listens to what she has to say.
That scene in "Underneath" is another one of those
defining moments in the Doggett/Scully relationship. It shows
us so much care, trust and respect between the two of them
- never mind the UST that oozed in the space between them
(how many times did Scully gaze longingly at his lips in that
scene?) – and the way he looks at her and how close
their faces are to each other… natural UST on TV has
never been so easy to spot.
The UST between Doggett and Scully began in the episode "Patience"
(season 8). The body language between them was all about attracting
the other. Standing, looking at each other with their hands
on their hips suggests a readiness to take things further
(http://singlescrowd.com/static/dating_tips/body_language.do),
Doggett turns his body toward hers when sitting in the car
during their stakeout, yet another sign that he's interested.
Scully is also turned toward him in the same manner. Their
third episode together and already the attraction is evident.
When they are talking to Ernie Stefaniuk they are standing
side-by-side, exchanging looks, their hands on their hips,
slightly turned toward each other. The tension between them
continued to increase during the rest of season and season
9. "Roadrunners" definitely stands out in my mind.
Who can forget the sexual undertones of that rescue scene?
His hand on her bare flesh, carrying
her onto the bus, cutting that slug out of her back, wrapping
his jacket around her shoulders and lifting her weak body
and carrying her out to safety as the police arrive. The sexual
undertones in that episode cannot be coincidental, they were
intentional. In an original version of the script Doggett
calls her "baby": "Gone in sixty seconds, baby",
but in the actual aired episode he says,
"Gone in sixty seconds, Jack". Perhaps calling her
"baby" was too in-your-face and TPTB didn't want
to jump start the Doggett/Scully relationship so soon in their
partnership so they decided to go with "Jack" instead
of "baby". Which, as a dipper, I think was a good
call.
In "Medusa", they lean toward one another as he
hooks up visual and audio after changing into Kevlar, more
lip gazing and soft voices. She checks him out when he accidentally
(or was it on purpose?) turns around in an open-back hospital
gown and walks toward a curtain to get dressed. And after
that Scully can't keep her mind off of the word "butt",
she grins a bit when she tells him: "But they've got
you to thank. And not just for saving their butts." That's
another subtle way that
the writer showed us that Scully does find Doggett attractive.
His comfort in coming out from behind the curtain, not completely
dressed, zipping up his pants in front of her, man! And I'll
never forget the moment Scully said to him "Let's go
home". It seemed like she was suggesting they go home
together (and who would blame her for wanting to spend more
off-the-clock time with a man like that?). I watched "Medusa"
with a friend who doesn't 'ship anything on the show and even
she turned to me with wide eyes when Scully said "Let's
go home", she saw what was happening and she didn't care
about relationships on the show at all.
In season 9 the UST moments between them suggest a lot more
was going on than what we were being shown. Their interactions
were more intimate, they spent an awful lot of time together
for no longer being assigned as partners, and there was the
way Scully checked Doggett over in "Sunshine Days"
after he had fallen down from the ceiling. She saw that he
was all right, but she decided to give him attention by gently
touching his head, rather than gawking at the interior of
the Brady Bunch house as Monica did.
Not only is there physical attraction, but Doggett and Scully
also stimulate each other's minds. Kersh told Doggett in season
8 that since he joined the X-Files Division he and Scully
had a higher arrest average than she and Mulder did in their
seven years together. This is proof that Doggett and Scully
work well together, they get along. They work so well that
their partnership outshines that of Mulder and Scully. This
is because they work well together, bouncing ideas off each
other, they challenge each other intellectually. This is accomplished
because they take the time to listen to each other, respect
each other and work out cases together. They treat each other
as equals and because of that equality they are able to communicate
ideas and theories better. They share the common background
of being skeptical and approaching cases like meat- and-potatoes
cop work, and with hard science. They are both grounded in
reality, he a skeptic,
she a new believer and their similarities and differences
allow them to stimulate each other's mind while at work. Smart
is sexy. Doggett and Scully are a smart team, a sexy team.
When I first started watching "The X-Files" I was
a Mulder/Scully shipper. What appealed to me in their early
interactions was the potential, the natural chemistry. I liked
Mulder/Scully best before Chris Carter started to use it as
a gimmick to keep shippers interested in watching the show.
I love old-school Mulder/Scully, the way they looked at each
other, the touches, very loving without
being fake or forced upon the viewers.
I see that same type of interaction between Doggett and Scully.
In ways their looks and touches are like how the Mulder/Scully
relationship began, only with Doggett and Scully you know
that a relationship would have worked out between them in
a healthy manner unlike what happened to Mulder and Scully
once they hooked up.
In season 8 and 9 we see that Doggett holds Scully as his
highest priority. Unlike Mulder he will never hold aliens,
lost siblings, government conspiracies or himself as a higher
priority than Scully. That fact proves to us that realistically
a successful and loving relationship is most likely to come
from Doggett and Scully, rather than Mulder and Scully. Opposites
may attract, but a relationship in which the two people share
common interests and outlook on life, those are the
relationships that will stand the test of time.
If TPTB had had the guts to follow through with what they
started between Doggett and Scully, they would have had the
opportunity to further explore both characters. With Doggett/Scully
(DSR) we'd learn new things about Scully that we never would
have known, and we would have gotten to know Doggett even
more as well. This would have worked so well near the end
of the series. Through the Doggett/Scully relationship we
would have gotten so much more. We would
have so much more character development, avenues that had
never been explored and will never be explored (unless you
read the right fan fiction).
When TPTB decided to cater to the Mulder/Scully shippers,
true fans lost so much. I personally would have loved to have
watched Scully realize her relationship with Mulder was not
a healthy one, and to see her come to the realization she
loves Doggett would have been very hopeful and uplifting.
Rather we were left to watch her mope and be unhappy with
Mulder. We could have seen Doggett rediscover love, giving
and receiving it after so many years of heartache (divorce
and the loss of his son).
Doggett and Scully entering into a relationship together
would be a moral that despite all the heartache and disappointment
in life and relationships, there's someone out there who can
and will make you happy and accept you for who you are. And
having a Doggett/Scully relationship would again make "The
X-Files" unique. It would have been one of the few shows
to actually acknowledge a bad relationship and have the character
go after a healthy relationship. It would
show women that you don't have to stay in a relationship I
which the man doesn't treat you right, to be brave and aim
for something good. Scully, to me, was a strong female role
model. That was until she got herself trapped in that unhealthy
relationship and didn't even try to get out of it to go for
something that would make her truly happy. If she had wound
up with John Doggett, that
would be the perfect way to close out her character…
with strength, happiness and a future full of
hope.
Unfortunately TV viewers prefer to watch dysfunctional relationships
and idealize them.
In closing I'd like to reiterate that I support mature, respectful
and realistic relationships in TV shows. To me, the potential
Doggett and Scully have together defines what I like in relationships
I enjoy on TV, and I can say in all seriousness that healthy
relationships are a rare thing to find in entertainment. I
find that disappointing and a sad fact of what our society
would like to entertain
themselves with. I would much rather watch a happy couple
work through what life deals to them instead of a dysfunctional
couple. I think TV needs to reevaluate some of the relationships
they portray on TV programs to set better examples for younger
viewers who grow up liking something that is not necessarily
a good example for them.
Yes, the relationships with problems are typically the most
popular because they cause drama, but that doesn't mean they
should be regarded as ideal. To me, everything about the Doggett/Scully
relationship is heartwarming and hopeful. And in a world in
which the media and Hollywood is so focused on the negative,
we need a relationship like the potential Doggett/Scully relationship
to be shown more often.
I know I've left out some things that will come to my mind
if anyone reads this and mentions anything I haven't. I wrote
this late at night and just poured out my thoughts.
Thank you for reading. I hope you better understand why I
like and support the Doggett/Scully relationship. It's all
about the unexplored potential between the two characters. |
