X-Files Episode Guide: Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'

Written by Darin Morgan

Directed by Rob Bowman

And so we have Darin Morgan's final official story for The X-Files, the one where he swung for the fences, and kept dozens of plates in the air, not dropping a single one. However, to attempt to explain why it is such a masterpiece is even harder to do than Mulder and Scully's attempt to find whatever really happened in Klass County. The episode delights in being incomprehensible, in being impossible to summarize or define. Better writers than myself have tried to explain what makes this episode such a diamond, one of the great episodes not just of this series, but of all time. Nevertheless, I shall try.

Roger Ebert once wrote that the hardest movies of all time to criticize were parodies.  Considering Morgan's approach to the X-Files  (and as would later come to be true, his ventures into Millennium) was to try and destabilize it to bring forth entertainment, one sees a similar approach to review this episode. In decades to come, other TV series would make attempts at the same idea, devoting episodes, and in some cases, whole series to the entire premise. When Morgan did it, however,  it was practically unheard of, and because of his approach, other writers would try to same way. Perhaps in a more serious way, Morgan is trying to satirize the mythology of the series itself.  Throughout season 3, we have seen the idea of alien abduction being used as a cover for something far more frightening and mundane. One could say that one of the goals of this episode is to take this to a  natural conclusion, except there's nothing remotely natural about anything in this entire episode.

 Every element of this episode, from the opening shot of the teaser, clearly meant to satirize Star Wars to every variation of the story of the 'alien abduction' of these two young teenagers, can be seen as a parody of a trope of the series itself. Of course, much of the credit there must go to Rob Bowman for making sure that all of the shots are done to draw attention to other aspects of the story. If you look closely at almost every shot of the episode, it is being done in a manner to satirize another shot, This may be another reason why the rewatch value of this episode is so high--- one can see the episode a dozen times, and each time pick up something you missed. (The creators of Lost would later turn this into an art form)

Every element of the series is turned on its head for this episode, from the opening alien abduction of what seems to be an alien abduction. Mulder, the man who normally can't stop expounding his theories doesn't want any part of his work described to Chung, while Scully, clearly admiring him as a fan-girl, is more than willing to relate the story to her favorite authors. Detective Manners' colorful dialogue, clearly met as an in-joke. The hypnosis sequences done as satire, and his coming every time Mulder thinks something definitive about the case to strike some of it down. Roky's memorable encounter with the "Lord Kinbote', which is later revealed to have been written in screenplay format. The Men In Black parody of popular culture ( pre Will Smith, of course). The 'alien autopsy', hosted by the Stupendous Yappi. And the way poor Blaine encounters Mulder and Scully as 'Men in Black', because Scully's hair is too red and Mulder's face is too blank and expressionless. You can imagine how much fun the case must have reading this script, with at least one good joke every few seconds. My favorite is the Man In Black's telling Roky that Jimmy Carter mistook Venus for a UFO, to which Roky indignantly replies: "I'm a Republican." It's simultaneously a non sequitur and explains everything about the surreal nature of the conversation.

But buried deep, deep, deep beneath the layers of satire and jokes is a slightly serious message, partially about the show's mission statement and about the consequences of it all. What starts out as what seems to be an alien abduction turns out to be a government conspiracy, and then some bizarre hybrid of the two.  Perhaps Morgan is suggesting that beneath the veneer of the mythology is something so mundane that not even the men involved in have any clear idea of what they're doing. And one can see that there is a very high cost to all of this---- the way that the mission eats up humanity. Poor Blaine Faulkner gets the bejesus scared out of him by fake men in Black that he doesn't have  any fight when the real ones show up to steal the proof of their handiwork. Lt. Schaffer emerged so physically and mentally scarred from his encounter, he can't relate any truth to anything, and doesn't even try to put up a fight when the Army comes to take him to his death. And more painfully, the relationship between Chrissy and Harold, two innocent kids who were just going out on their first date, is permanently destroyed, because Harold can't see a future past their encounter, and Chrissy does--- it just doesn't include Harold.  In that sense, it real doesn't matter what happened to the two kids that night--- the end result is the same, their relationship is over. That is the heart of the story, and leaves the viewer at the end with a little melancholy.

Of course, not too much because everything about this episode is hysterically funny. The late Charles Nelson Reilly gives, for him, a mostly restrained performance The quirks and foibles we associate with him are honed in, and delivered at peak times. He creates such a mannered portrayal  and such a memorable one, it's small wonder that Morgan would reuse his character when it was time for him to work his magic on Millennium. The other performances are equally engaging especially Jesse Ventura, who in many ways parodies himself, and also foretells a future he will later have visiting conspiracies on and off the airwaves. Considering how many other elements of this episode will later be subject to parody (including the use of the theme music at the end for a change.) its rather amazing how much of this foretold certain characters future

Even if this had been Morgan's final statement for the series (and there would be two other occasions, one only a possibility, the other more definite) it would've been more than enough for a man who did more then just about any other writer to reveal what the hidden parameters of The X-Files could be. As it stands, Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space' stands as a crowning achievement of what the series could do, and a lesson that so many other writers on other series would take into their hearts and audiences and the medium are richer for it.

Rating: 5 Stars.