"The X Files" Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space' (1996)

Director:

Rob Bowman

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
Darin Morgan (written by)

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

12 April 1996 (Season 3, Episode 20)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

The story of two teenagers who were abducted by aliens interests popular writer Jose Chung. He seeks out Scully to retell her account of what happened...

Plot Keywords:

Men In Black | First Date | Profanity | Point Of View | Republican

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Charles Nelson Reilly	...	Jose Chung
William Lucking	...	Roky Crikenson
Daniel Quinn	...	Lieutenant Jack Schaefer
Jesse Ventura	...	Man in Black
Sarah Sawatsky	...	Chrissy
Jason Gaffney	...	Harold
Alex Trebek	...	Man in Black
Alex Diakun	...	Dr. Fingers
Larry Musser	...	Detective Manners
Allan Zinyk	...	Blaine
Andrew Turner	...	CIA Man
Michael Dobson	...	Sargeant Hynek
Mina E. Mina	...	Dr. Hand

Runtime:

Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:13

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

FBI Agent Mulder (with Scully) comes to town to solve a mystery involving the disappearance of a young girl and spends one scene in a diner eating more than his fair share of pie. This is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the character FBI Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) from David Duchovny's previous "spooky" series, "Twin Peaks" (1990). Cooper went to the quiet mountain town to solve the death of Laura Palmer and had a taste for pie. Duchovny guest-starred on that as a cross-dressing DEA agent.

Quotes:

Jose Chung: Aren't you nervous telling me all this? Receiving all those death threats?
Blaine: Well, hey, I didn't spend all those years playing Dungeons and Dragons and not learn a little something about courage.

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars (1977)

Soundtrack:

The X-Files Love Suite

A strong contender for the title of best episode

It's really just about impossible to knock "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'". It's a special episode. Some may dismiss it as just a silly romp, and it works on that level, sure, but I think it is a complex, detailed, and beautifully-written script brought to life brilliantly with extraordinary narrative structure and acting that cannot be described as anything other than brilliant from the regulars and from Charles Nelson Reilly. It's a humorous episode you can take seriously, because it works on so many levels. Like Matt Groening's brilliant sci-fi comedy "Futurama", one needs to have an affinity for random, sometimes obscure science fiction to fully appreciate it and to catch all the references. I would consider myself a devoted fan of the genre in all forms of media, but I doubt I got all of it. What a swan song for Darin Morgan as writer on the series, this is probably his best work, and how completely and utterly brilliant it is. Even if fans of this episode are not interested in Carter's other show "Millennium", they really should check out Jose Chung's return in the season 2 episode "Jose Chung's 'Doomsday Defense'", in an episode also written by Darin Morgan. That is, of course, if they haven't already.

Bleep.

10/10