The Big Picture

• John Doggett is a compelling character who stands tall on his own in The X-Files, despite being Mulder's replacement.
• Doggett's no-nonsense attitude and skepticism make him a perfect match for Scully's uneasy belief in the paranormal.
• Doggett's loyalty, moral compass, and dedication to justice make him a gold standard for fictional FBI agents.

Do you remember those two strange years in the early 2000s when The X-Files tried to softly reboot itself after David Duchovny left the show? Fox Mulder had effectively been written off the show (at least for a while), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) was left to pick up the pieces. This was a period in X-Files history that, to this day, many try to ignore, apparently including series creator Chris Carter and those behind the two revival seasons, since they failed to continue the plot threads that had been left tangled at the end of Season 9. Rather than picking up where the show left off, the revival opts to return to the classic style of early X-Files, which many believe reached its peak somewhere between Seasons 4 and 6. Yet, Seasons 8 and 9 (the final two of the show's original run) don't often get enough credit for their creative ingenuity in the face of their frustrating circumstances, nor the introduction of new and distinguished characters such as Robert Patrick's John Doggett.

Who Does Robert Patrick Play in 'The X-Files'?

That's right, Fox Mulder's replacement on The X-Files isn't nearly as bad as you might've been told or falsely remember, and the truth is that he's a terribly compelling character who stands pretty tall on his own. Played by straight-man Robert Patrick, probably best known for his role as the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and most recently, Prime Video's Reacher series, John Doggett is a simple man living a complex life who just so happens to be thrown into an even stranger world than he bargained for. From soul-eaters and bug-people to super-soldiers and alien conspiracies, Doggett would end up seeing it all, even if he didn't believe half of it. Taking on Scully's role as the inherent "skeptic" while she (finally) graduated to the "cautious believer" in Mulder's absence, Doggett took his assignment on the X-Files seriously from the start, and it's obvious that Patrick did the same. Although his work on T2 is unparalleled (and probably contributed to some of our inherent distrust of Doggett), maybe Robert Patrick should be most well known for his work on The X-Files.

From the get-go, we're meant to feel uneasy about Doggett, but not because he's a bad guy. Rather, like Scully, we're meant to know more than he does, to have a semi-firm grasp on the truth, while Doggett is still bumbling around in the dark. Upon their first meeting in the Season 8 premiere "Within," Scully throws water in Doggett's face after he insinuates that Scully didn't really know Mulder as well as she thought he did. This is, of course, his sworn prerogative, given he was assigned as the leader of a Task Force sent to find the missing "spooky" agent.

Scully, much like ourselves, takes it very personally, and she should. We knew that Mulder was still out there (he had been abducted by aliens in the seventh season finale), we knew that he cared deeply for Scully, and we knew that they were ultimately "meant to be," so who was this new guy to get in our way? While their relationship started out pretty rocky, Doggett would be "demoted" to the X-Files as Scully's new partner. Yet, rather than complain about his new assignment, Doggett would work the X-Files to the absolute best of his ability. That's just the kind of stand-up guy John Doggett really is, and after all these years, he deserves to be celebrated.

Robert Patrick's 'X-Files' Character Starts at a Disadvantage

Not many shows can get away with introducing such an important player so late in the game who can take on a life of their own outside the character they were sent in to replace. This makes the already-notable X-Files even more impressive when you look at it retroactively. It's a hard and incredibly unfair task given the audience's previous attachments to the original character, Mulder, and neither Doggett nor Robert Patrick (who had "replaced" Arnold Schwarzenegger as T2's antagonist) were strangers to that sort of biased criticism. But rather than get bogged down by "not being Mulder," The X-Files let Doggett embrace his differences, reminding us often that they weren't the same characters and that was intentional. Unlike Mulder, Doggett was a "company man" who had been in various forms of law enforcement throughout his extensive career. He was a Marine, a New York cop, and now an FBI agent who was completely out of his depth. Yet, Doggett's disciplined work ethic (the man read all the X-Files cases in an entire weekend just to prepare for his new assignment) and personal tragedy forged him into a competent and strategic tool for the FBI. Just one with his own thoughts, questions, and beliefs.

That said, although Doggett often opted to follow orders, that didn't mean he'd follow them blindly. Sure, if an order was good, he'd waste no time obeying it, especially if he trusted the person behind said command. Cutting into Scully's neck to save her from an alien parasite in "Roadrunners" may be the best example here, though it's not the only one - but that doesn't mean he wouldn't question authority if need be. This made Doggett stand out from the get-go as starkly different from Mulder since the X-Files' previous "golden boy" was constantly questioning authority, even the good ones like A.D. Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi). Doggett, on the other hand, only steps "out of line" when there is probable cause. This level-headedness is an invaluable strength throughout Doggett's brief time on the show. While we all love Mulder for his brash accusations and off-the-cuff theories, we can also love Doggett for his smart reasoning and healthy respect for authority, both of which are characteristics that mirror Scully's earlier years on The X-Files​​​​.

But maybe the biggest difference between John Doggett and Fox Mulder is also their biggest similarity: their deep and profound loss. Both agents joined the FBI as a result of the serious emotional traumas and tragedies that they experienced, and both eventually learn the truth of said events while working on the X-Files. Mulder's interest in the paranormal is initially sparked by his sister Samantha's abduction when they were children, though he doesn't learn the truth about her death for decades.

On the other hand, Doggett's tragedy (the abduction and murder of his young son Luke) wasn't supernatural at all, a strategic move on the writers' part that echoed Doggett's already complex feelings about the paranormal ("Empedocles" makes note of this). He didn't so much as give the supernatural the time of day because he knew that there was real, human evil in the world to be stopped. Though Luke Doggett was murdered, and the case went unsolved for years, Doggett doesn't let his personal tragedy consume him, nor does he turn it into an obsession the same way Mulder did. Eventually, he is able to solve the case and lay his son to rest, finally able to move on and continue the work he'd grown so accustomed to ("Release").

John Doggett Challenges Gillian Anderson's Scully

Doggett wasn't just written to fill the Mulder void though. He is also meant to be a challenging new partner to Scully. More than that, he is meant to show how far Scully had come over the course of the past eight seasons. For years, Scully always tried to rein in Mulder's wild theories and distrusting nature. This would prove moot as Mulder would ramble on anyhow, but he always gave her the chance to object when he went too far. But when paired with John Doggett, Scully is finally allowed to step into the role of "believer" that she had been nearing for quite some time, especially after studying a beached alien craft in "The Sixth Extinction." Doggett's no-nonsense attitude and natural skepticism (the exact opposite of Mulder) proves to be the perfect match with Scully's uneasy belief in the paranormal, and although they didn't spend an inordinate amount of time in the field together, they share a mutual and professional respect. This seems especially obvious when you consider that Scully had been in Doggett's shoes before, though one could accurately argue that she is always more open-minded.

Of all the characters to come and go throughout The X-Files, John Doggett is among the most loyal, if not the most loyal of all. At first, this seems like a bold statement, especially compared to the love and loyalty that exists between Mulder and Scully, but when examining Doggett's history and career, it's clear that his sense of loyalty knows very few bounds. Doggett rolls with the punches, he trusts his partners implicitly, and even when he isn't exactly sure what's going on, he's willing to give those he trusts (and even those he doesn't) the benefit of the doubt. Think about how quickly he trusts Scully in "Without," Mulder in "Vienen" (though granted, that takes a bit more time), or even Stuart Mimms (Jared Poe) when it comes to his son's murder in "Release." And this isn't even to mention his fight to believe in the impossible, hoping to save the life of his partner (and true love) Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) in "Audrey Pauley," which pushes the limits of what Doggett can handle and believe.

Robert Patrick's 'X-Files' Performance Elevates the Character

Likewise, Doggett's strong moral compass keeps him honest, as he genuinely fights for the well-being of others rather than a personal obsession. His attempts to save the soul eater in "The Gift" come to mind, ultimately resulting in his own death (and resurrection) for the sake of this strange creature, without any care for his own life. Similarly, the mirror universe version of Doggett in "4-D" willingly sacrifices his own life so that our Doggett could return to Reyes unharmed rather than live in a world without her, proving the kind of man every version of Doggett chooses to be. This echoes in the original series finale, "The Truth," when Doggett chooses to testify on behalf of Mulder during a military tribunal, even after their constant rivalry and his distrust of Mulder's "conspiracy theories." No disrespect to my boy Mulder, who we love for plenty of other reasons, but Doggett is something of a gold standard that all fictional FBI agents should aspire to.

Although the final few seasons of The X-Files original run suffer from some inconsistent writing, and the mythology plot is a bit strange, the real reason Doggett deserves more love is because of all the hard work Robert Patrick put into his performance. Episodes like "Via Negative," where Doggett is nearly killed in his own nightmare, and "John Doe," which follows an amnesiac Doggett on the run in Mexico, remind us of Patrick's incredible range as a performer, especially highlighting Doggett's own morality and emotional triggers. Of course, Doggett is invaluable in other stories like "Patience," "Essence," and "Daemonicus" to name a few, but honestly, all the episodes we've mentioned by name showcase Robert Patrick's acting chops better than we could describe here.

Unfortunately, after The X-Files ended its initial television run, John Doggett is never seen again. Strange given his initial importance to the show's continuation post-Mulder, but sadly, it's expected. Neither the second feature film, The X-Files: I Want To Believe, nor the two revival seasons made note of Doggett at all, which is especially odd for the revival given that Monica Reyes is a part of it. Patrick was busy on his own series, Scorpion, which ended not long after The X-Files' second run. There was a part written for John Doggett, in "My Struggle III," which is eventually played by Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens). While the television industry may have forgotten the 40 episodes of The X-Files that star Patrick as John Doggett, we certainly haven't, and hopefully, we haven't seen the last of him yet. At least, that's what we want to believe...

The X-Files is available to watch on Prime Video in the U.S.

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