"Lord Of The Flies"

"This guy's the Horse Whisperer, only for bugs?"
Originally Aired 12/16/01

"Lord Of The Flies" marks The X-Files' return to quirky, comedic episodes for the first time since the end of Season 7. Also notable is that two of this episode's guest stars would become recognizable household names on television shows that premiered towards the end of the decade, Jane Lynch and Aaron Paul. In fact, Aaron Paul's role as "Jesse" was on Breaking Bad, created by longtime X-Files writer, Vince Gilligan.

The episode's villain is a literal lord of flies, as his changing teenage body is producing hormones that allow him to control swarms of killer bugs. It's a metaphor for going through puberty, as the kid's mom later warns that he's changing, only the end result won't be that he'll become a man. Maybe the director should've went with David Bowie's "Changes", instead of the Syd Barrett references, just to add extra emphasis to the changes within the teenager. It's a much better teen angst episode than previous attempts, with Season 7's "Rush", and even earlier with Season 5's "Schizogeny." Those were darker tales, whereas this relies on quirky performances, and even a timely spoof of MTV's Jackass. A doctor even gets to throw out some lines about wacky, excessive lawsuits filed by the parent of a teen that died in one of the Jackass-inspired stunts, dating this as an episode definitely made in the 21st century. I just realized we've had X-Files episodes produced in three decades- the 1990's, 2000's, and recently in 2015. Crazy.

While episodes this season have either hinted at Doggett's feelings for Scully or feelings between Doggett and Reyes, this time around there's an Entomologist who's all hot and bothered for Agent Scully. His name is Dr. Rocky Bronzino, and while the doctor's performance is rather over the top, I liked Scully's efforts to thwart his "romantic" attempts. Annoyed Scully is the best Scully.

Another positive about "Lord Of The Flies" is the return of the closing monologue from Agent Scully, which I can't recall hearing at the end of an episode in at least a season and a half. Except, due to Scully being called in as consultant of Doggett and Reyes, shouldn't it be one of them whose narration acts as closing their case file? Nit picking aside, much like last week's "4-D", I enjoyed this a lot more than I had expected. With "Lord Of The Flies" being credited to first-time writer Thomas Schnauz, it seems as if these second-tier writers are doing a much better job at crafting compelling stories than the big guys in charge, Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz.