The X-Files: Hungry (7.3)

The conventions of The X-Files have now become so familiar that it's not surprising the writers have been experimenting with different modes of storytelling of late. Hungry follows the lead of other recent experiments like Field Trip, Bad Blood and Milagro in exploring the different perspectives of various characters. What makes this episode even more striking is that it's told entirely from the perspective of a guest star, Rob Roberts being a cripplingly mundane burger joint employee who lives in a curiously empty apartment, has few friends, and unfortunately has to eat folks' brains to survive.

Vince Gilligan's script beautifully humanizes the monster within Rob, veering into almost comedic territory as Rob attends an Overeaters Anonymous group and strikes up an understanding with the various overweight people there, as they all salivate over Rob's description of the food that makes him tick, everybody else unaware that he's actually talking about brain matter. There's also a fairytale-ish quality to the story, which unfolds with the arrival of a work-appointed therapist who sees the human within Rob. When he takes off his fake ears and removes his fake teeth and contacts, Dr. Rinehart doesn't run and scream. Instead she feels sorry for him, and only thinks about how hard it must be for him to go through life the way he is.

They appear intermittently, but I loved the Mulder and Scully scenes, too. Mulder is back to his wisecracking best, forming a quasi-friendship with Rob which is patently a ruse to get him to come clean about the murders. There's also nothing more amusing than the brief moment when Rob thinks he's glimpsed Mulder monitoring him in a car across the street from his apartment, only for another shot to reveal that it's actually a Mulder lookalike. Heh.

Hungry is a fun yet ultimately tragic little standalone episode, which feels wildly different to anything this show has served up before but is all the better for it. And Chad E. Donella makes for a compelling protagonist. A+

Credits
Guest stars Chad E. Donella (Rob Roberts); Mark Pellegrino (Derwood Spinks); Judith Hoag (Dr. Mindy Rinehart); Lois Foraker (Sylvia Jassy)
Writer Vince Gilligan Director Kim Manners