1003 - "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster"

A_Ron_Hubbard · February 2016

Written and directed by Darin Morgan. .

Supposedly this is the first of the "good" new episodes. What do you think?

fidoz · February 2016

Please mention something about the Kim Manners tombstone. He was a director and producer for The X-Files. He's also memorialized at the end of a season 2 Breaking Bad episode.

DancesWithWookies · February 2016

Thank you Darin Morgan. No joke, this is now one of my favorite episodes of the X-Files. I will gladly sit through 5+ episodes of Chris Carter bullshit just to get an episode like this every year.

Now I can't wait to see what his brother Glen has in store next week. What a team of writers they are. And nice touch with the Kim Manner's tombstone memorial.

God I laughed so much in this episode.

joepinetree · February 2016

Hoooooly crap, this was phenomenal. For the first half an hour or so I was thinking "ok, this is funny, but is kind of a straight up episode and not the usual Darin Morgan insanity." And then that twist. That twist was simply genius.

Also loved the call backs (queequeg, Mulder's red speedo), specially the one to Scully being immortal (from the other great Darin Morgan episode, Clyde Bruckman's, where Peter Boyle's character says she doesn't die). Funny thing is that Darin Morgan had mentioned in the podcast he did with Kumail (the bad guy in this episode) that he had never intended for people to think Scully was immortal, that it was meant as the character just being nice, and then he was blown away by the fan reaction thinking that she was immortal. And I guess that is canon now.

The paint huffers in the beginning were the same people who were the stoners from war of the cropophages.

I am curious about people's reaction to this episode. People like me who loved the x files are fully aware of Darin Morgan and what a Darin Morgan episode means, but I've also read a bunch of people pissed at the episode because "it made no sense.:

DancesWithWookies · February 2016

joepinetree said:

The paint huffers in the beginning were the same people who were the stoners from war of the cropophages.

And season 3, episode 22 "Quagmire".

I'm a fan of Tyler Labine. His show Deadbeat is hilarious.

joepinetree · February 2016

And Darin Morgan wrote war of the cropophages, and was in charge of rewriting quagmire.

Vulture made a list of the easter eggs:

http://www.vulture.com/2016/02/x-files-easter-eggs-weremonster.html

though they missed a few (Mulder's porn obsession, for example).

Clareto · February 2016

Rhys Darby was the perfect fit for this role. Awesome episode, definitely the best so far.

phantom22202 · February 2016

This was a great episode. I really like the twist and making the monster just a "normal" bystander was awesome.

Zinzan · February 2016

Clareto said:
Rhys Darby was the perfect fit for this role.

But he talks funny.

GredalBee · February 2016

I'm bummed because this is probably the revival peak. But it was totally worth it! Darby talking about the human condition was hilarious.

Hatorian · February 2016

Dale! Or tucker! Can't remember but love tucker and dale vs evil.

[Deleted User] · February 2016

20 years later and they're still getting high haha

I was hoping they would acknowledge them in the show like "hey... aren't you the stoner from..."

jackiesl · February 2016

Darin Morgan's scripts are always so wonderful. All his episodes poke HARD at the inherent silliness of The X-Files, which has a tendency to take itself so incredibly seriously. In the same way, I think, he's inviting us to laugh at ourselves and how hard We Want To Believe that there is some sort of grand meaning or coherence to our weird, mundane little stories. As in this exchange:

Mulder: But wait, how could you have changed back into a man? It wasn't morning yet.

Guy Mann: I don't know how it works. I'm not a scientist.

Mulder: I'm just looking for some kind of internal logic.

Guy Mann: Why? There isn't an external logic to any of it!

Clareto · February 2016

Zinzan said:

Clareto said:
Rhys Darby was the perfect fit for this role.
But he talks funny.

He talks like me though so its less weird.

MrX · February 2016

Most importantly, this episode marked the return of Mulder's undies!

What great episode. Makes any sub par ones this season worth it. Funny, touching, and ridiculous; X-Files at its best.

joepinetree · February 2016

That was a reference to the red speedo he wore in Duane Berry, not undies
http://giphy.com/gifs/fox-david-duchovny-mulder-115RohvzBfSxUc

Ajas · February 2016

If anyone is interested, Kumail (the Animal Control actor) did an interview with this episode's writer awhile back about S3E20: Jose Chung's From Outer Space... which was an even more bizarre adventure in the concept of subjective reality narration vs objective plot. http://www.feralaudio.com/38-interview-with-jose-chungs-from-outer-space-writer-darin-morgan/

Anyway-- great interview and it's a great diving board for jumping into this episode.

Garthgou81 · February 2016

Ajas said:
If anyone is interested, Kumail (the Animal Control actor) did an interview with this episode's writer awhile back about S3E20: Jose Chung's From Outer Space... which was an even more bizarre adventure in the concept of subjective reality narration vs objective plot. http://www.feralaudio.com/38-interview-with-jose-chungs-from-outer-space-writer-darin-morgan/

Anyway-- great interview and it's a great diving board for jumping into this episode.

Earlier today a second interview went up with Kumail and Morgan at the recent marathon of X-Files episodes in LA. I haven't got around to it yet, but I am assuming it focuses on this latest episode which was fantastically silly, by the way--yet still able to be poignant. I really love that shift when shows can do that.

aberry89 · February 2016

Ummmmmmm I just watched my new favorite episode of the X-Files....WOW, holy shit, now that's what I am talking about.

Fangirl shrieked for Kumail and Rhys Darby, SO COOL.

If the rest of the season has episodes half as good as this one I will be happy.

Well, I think Scully said best...

And I'm referring the red speedo of course.

aberry89 · February 2016

Zinzan said:

Clareto said:
Rhys Darby was the perfect fit for this role.
But he talks funny.

He talks like me though so its less weird.

Zinzan · February 2016

Clareto said:

Zinzan said:

Clareto said:
Rhys Darby was the perfect fit for this role.
But he talks funny.

He talks like me though so its less weird.

You say "weird" weird. ;-)

joepinetree · February 2016

Jim asked why Darin Morgan became such a big deal for the fan base given he only wrote 4 episodes, and the answer is that he had a very distinctive style, and he also wrote for Millenium.

That is, they weren't just good episodes. But episodes that had their very own style that set them apart. That is, a "Darin Morgan" episode is more than just a good episode, but one where there will be some silliness, some melancholy, etc. So while Vince Gilligan, for example, may have written better episodes of the X-Files, there was nothing stylistically that set them apart (other than the fact that they were generally good).

aberry89 · February 2016

Bummed me out how down on this ep. A.Ron was! I guess long dirges of existential dialogue is fine when your Rust Cohl but not a lizard man! lol

A_Ron_Hubbard · February 2016

Rust was funnier. More concise, too.

It's more of a case where, it's not that I was down on it, but while I enjoyed it I didn't understand why everyone else was over the moon about it so I probably gave extra care to articulate the parts that bothered me. Because alas all I really want out of this world is to be understood. Agreement I can take or leave, haha.

Luke · February 2016

I agree I'm wasn't over the moon about it either. But I can see why hard core fans would love it. It is full of fan service, and call backs.

If you were to ask me what I thought they would do if the brought the X files back, this is what I was picturing. It is so derivative that it is almost a parody of the X files.

Overall a good episode I kind of with Guy Mann had been introduced sooner because the dialog between him and Moulder was the high point for me.

Travis · February 2016

I finally watched it last night and I really enjoyed it a lot. In the pantheon of great episodes? No, but it was certainly what I would consider a very good X-Files episode. I laughed a lot and I kind of felt the loving approach to making it. This is kind of what I signed back on for. They were having fun with it again, where the first two felt really labored. I'm not saying "having fun with it" in the sense where they have to be comedies, but I finally got to see them enjoying their roles again. The first two were kind of a slog, but this was a nice breath of fresh air. It had it's flaws, and I don't disagree with any of the sort of holes in the foundation that were discussed on the podcast, but they didn't really matter much to me because I was just having fun with it. I'm back to looking forward to seeing what happens next. Hopefully ep 4 is another good one.

chrisk · February 2016

joepinetree said:
Jim asked why Darin Morgan became such a big deal for the fan base given he only wrote 4 episodes, and the answer is that he had a very distinctive style, and he also wrote for Millenium.

That is, they weren't just good episodes. But episodes that had their very own style that set them apart. That is, a "Darin Morgan" episode is more than just a good episode, but one where there will be some silliness, some melancholy, etc. So while Vince Gilligan, for example, may have written better episodes of the X-Files, there was nothing stylistically that set them apart (other than the fact that they were generally good).

I gave up on Millennium pretty early, but I specifically hunted down one of Morgan's Millennium episodes a few years back and I recommend anyone watch it if you can rent it. Not sure what it's called but it's 4 demons having coffee at a diner. They look very similar to the Buffy-style demons, but they appear to other characters in the show as humans. The gist, I think, is that they're all comparing notes on their work and I think they've all come across Lance Henriksen's character, Frank Black. I don't remember any specific details or lines, but if you like Morgan's X-Files work then you'll enjoy it.

Dummy · February 2016

I really didn't like the X-Files theme song as a ringtone. Is this X-Files or Deadpool? Maybe they do it all the time and I'm not aware, but I still didn't like it.

Travis · February 2016

In regards to Darrin Morgan's great Millennium work, four words: Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense!

Holy shit!

For anyone who has seen it: "Don't do it! You'll never make it!" "Not with that negative attitude, I won't."

Garthgou81 · February 2016

chrisk said:

joepinetree said:
Jim asked why Darin Morgan became such a big deal for the fan base given he only wrote 4 episodes, and the answer is that he had a very distinctive style, and he also wrote for Millenium.

That is, they weren't just good episodes. But episodes that had their very own style that set them apart. That is, a "Darin Morgan" episode is more than just a good episode, but one where there will be some silliness, some melancholy, etc. So while Vince Gilligan, for example, may have written better episodes of the X-Files, there was nothing stylistically that set them apart (other than the fact that they were generally good).

I gave up on Millennium pretty early, but I specifically hunted down one of Morgan's Millennium episodes a few years back and I recommend anyone watch it if you can rent it. Not sure what it's called but it's 4 demons having coffee at a diner. They look very similar to the Buffy-style demons, but they appear to other characters in the show as humans. The gist, I think, is that they're all comparing notes on their work and I think they've all come across Lance Henriksen's character, Frank Black. I don't remember any specific details or lines, but if you like Morgan's X-Files work then you'll enjoy it.

That episode is called Somehow Satan Got Behind Me, and it is episode 21 of Season 2. Millennium is really underrated. It should've ended on the second season finale which is an absolute gut punch. It eventually swung more like X-Files with Frank getting a partner in Season 3. But prior to that they were able to do some really ballsy, dark, disturbing stuff that XF wasn't able to do at the time.

Forum Rules

What happened to the forum for...?

1003 - "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster"

Comments