PLOT: When a serial killer that Doggett caught 13 years before when he was a New York City cop is released from prison, he re-investigates the case with the help of Reyes and Scully.
Considering I knew that this episode was written by John Shiban, the well-known weakest writer of the Ten-Thirteen staff, and ALSO directed by him, I had no true wish in wanting to watch it in any kind of enthusiastic manner. Imagine my surprise when I finally watched "Underneath" that I found it much better than all the bad online rumours persisted. Though the plot was not exactly original or very inspiring, the display of the three main characters working as a team and some good characterization made the hour more than tolerable.
The teaser was very good in showing the horror that awaited a young NYC beat cop named John Doggett. The rainy night setting helped increased the creepy factor considering that the actual villain of Mr. Fassl knocking on the family's door only "appeared" to be creepy but not enough to feel threatening. Fassl's mumbling through most of the scene may have been a clue. The family's demise by an unseen entity was initially shocking though rather confusing as they were alive one minute and all dead the next. If that was strange enough, the arrival of the police, one of them being Doggett, which seemed a few seconds later was almost too convenient. Who called them? How long had the time elapsed from Fassl staring at all the dead bodies to their arrival?
Hence, the flaws of the plot already are glaring at us. Besides some of the conveniences thrown in, the biggest problem with the episode was definitely the killer, Fassl. He was not very convincing. In fact, he didn't do much to convince us that he was very threatening. He mumbles a lot and stares. Heaven help me, because half the people I work with do that. But that doesn't make them a serial killer.
The explanation is a bit too convenient and also has too many holes. It seems to be a case of classic schizophrenia or multiple personality. However, people suffering from that affliction are not aware of their other personalities, only other people who witness it. In this case, anyone witnessing Fassl's "other" personality is killed. So a few questions arise in this particular plot. Why does Fassl have this dark side to begin with? He appears to be rather timid and anti-social for the most part. This extreme personality is also timid, since noone actually sees him.
Yet, if that explanation is to be accepted, how does this other personality "lash out" at himself? How is it that you see Fassl standing in front of his victims in a mortified state yet his other personality is stabbing the victims in the back with a screwdriver? There could be some other weird paranormal explanation where the personality actually manifests itself into a separate physical being when somehow provoked by a victim. But that doesn't explain the ending where after being shot, only one body is found, and it's Fassl.
Doggett's personal obsession with this particular case is interesting. Though not to mock New York City in any way (they have been through enough already in the past six months), it is difficult to believe that one family being killed would cause so much conflict within Doggett. He must have seen other similar cases if not worse.
On top of all that, why didn't Doggett question the original investigators of the case? If you are a fan of "NYPD Blue" (XFManic raises his hand), then you are aware that the beat cops call in the crime scene and then detectives take over from there. It was strange that none was mentioned. Instead, we get a couple of scenes where Doggett and his old partner, Duke, are the sole participants of the case. Someone missed a step here.
It was nice to see the trio work so well as a team. Though it started as a somewhat personal affair by Doggett, both Reyes and Scully had no problem checking up on backgrounds and such on Fassl. He didn't even have to ask. I particularly liked the interview scene with Scully and Reyes meeting Fassl and his lawyer while Doggett was watching through the 2-way mirror. Just notice in particular how Scully and Doggett are watching Fassl's reactions closely while Reyes tries to coax him with the photograph of his other self. Besides his obvious nervousness of the whole situation, there was the horrified reaction of seeing the photograph of his evil side. As Reyes correctly surmises later, Fassl is too afraid to confront his own sins so this other deadly personality appears.
The scene in the sewers was probably one of the better ones of the episode though there were instances where it seemed too dark to really perceive what was going on. I like that Reyes has no problem going off to dark places by herself, and Doggett seems to trust her skills enough to not even show any kind of hesitation at her suggestion of separating. It was rather odd that Doggett was the one who was captured by Fassl's evil twin, and Reyes had to save him. I found it a bit too convenient. Yet, when it was uncovered that Fassl had killed and hidden more victims in that sewer, that was admittedly chilling.
Overall, the episode was watchable if not being a bit too contrived at times. The cameraderie between Doggett, Reyes and Scully was very enjoyable to watch and made it more bearable. This episode still does not beat "Lord of the Flies" as being the most ridiculous episode of the season, but it's obvious that John Shiban's reputation precedes him.
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