X-Files Episode Guide: Lord of the Flies

Written by Thomas Schnauz

Directed by Kim Manners

Whatever else one can say about Season 8, one can't deny that it was dark and suspenseful in a way that the previous seasons were not. One can, however, see the desire to return to comedy, considering that it was at the heart of many of the more successful episodes over the series run. But Lord of the Flies really doesn't work, and one wonders what kind of episodes that the series was trying to emulate.

The major problem with the episode is that the series is back to trying to mine the well of teenage angst, something that the X-Files has never done particularly well, and doesn't do much better here. There's a certain spark when it taps to the idea that the main motivation of so many teenagers is now to get in on the reality TV show vein, something that was only beginning to take off in 2001, and that more teenagers care more about fame than their own wellbeing. If the episode had continued in that vein, it might have a better feel even now. But before the first act is over, we've left the wonders of Sky Commander Winky to follow Dylan Lokensgard, yet another in a sad line of teenage monsters who links the metaphor of growing up into big life changes. Or, as seems to be the case here, turning into someone who can control insects with his hormones.

This would be hard enough to tolerate even if the X-Files were running at peak proficiency. Unfortunately, the writers is neither Vince Gilligan nor Darin Morgan but yet another newcomer to the series Thomas Schnauz, who doesn't seem to have the idea of what makes a good X-File, much less a good comedy episode. Lord of the Flies would be a hard sell for Duchovny and Anderson, but they might have been able to somehow sell it. Unfortunately, the series is now under the leadership of Doggett and Reyes, two agents that we are still getting to know, and Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish make the mistake of trying to play the episode completely straight-faced.

 Anderson at least seems to know better to take this seriously, and manages to at least do the lines with a bit more freedom then she's been given this season. But Schnauz doesn't seem to be trust that Scully can handle this on her own, so he brings in Dr. Rocky Bronzino. Now clearly it seems that Schnauz had seen War of the Coprophages, and was trying to do his best to create the male equivalent of Dr. Bambi. But Morgan seem to understand that the best way to use his character was to make sure she was taking herself perfectly seriously. Michael Wiseman, however, plays every line by mugging and exaggerating his delivery every time he's on camera.  And at least Bambi was deliberate funny, Bronzino is played as someone who under no circumstances you could ever take seriously. And to have him flirting with Scully at this point in the series is just in plain bad taste right now.

Even given the mish-mash of an episode, Lord of the Flies could've been at least entertaining, if it was at least trying to emulate Darin Morgan. But at its best, it seems to be trying to pay tribute to The Rain King or The Goldberg Variation, neither of which were exactly examples of the X-Files at its best. The only thing that's really original about the relationship between Dylan and Natalie is that it seems to be saying that even teenagers wish that they could go back to a time when things were simpler. But there's no real dimension to this relationship than there is to anything else in the story. After being called in to investigate what happened to Bill in the teaser, the story doesn't even try to explain how exactly it happened so quickly or why. There's just more teenage bullying and a labored romance and a lot of insects, all of which we've seen before, and at least done more capably, if not necessarily better. One wishes they'd stayed with the reality TV angle, which was at least original to the X-Files. Even then, there's a bit of laziness to the writing - the one joke that really lands is Doggett's and Winkle's exchange about Winky trying to sell the stunt where Captain Dare died to the Fox network, because they were the only ones that offered to buy it. But even this bite at the hand that feeds them is an old joke that's been far too many time by The Simpsons.

So what we are left with is basically an episode that is more of a curiosity than anything else. Its odd to see a very young Aaron Paul, trying to play a teenage bully, who admittedly isn't that far removed from Jesse Pinkman at this stage in his life. (And it's evn weirder that he never gets around to using the catchphrase that his character will become infamous for on Breaking Bad.) There's also a certain symmetry to seeing Jane Lynch playing another authoritarian school figure less than a decade than she will become known for doing the same on Glee (though admittedly, there are no doubt many Sue Sylvester fans who wouldn't be shocked that she is the actual monster in this episode.)

Aside from that, Lord of the Flies is a huge disappointment. It doesn't work as a comedy or a scarefest. It takes all the energy we got with 4-D and fritters it a way. And to see the episode end with yet another of the series purple prose synopsis - delivered yet again by Scully - shows just how determined The X-Files seems to be to take a step backward.

My score: 1.5 stars.