And it did seem like he was trying to push the comedy, but that's what made it even funnier. Especially with Tyler Labine and Nicole Parker as the "stoners" (from "War of the Coprophages" and "Quagmire"- They haven't changed!) it's just as absurd as those, even up a few notches because of better production value for the gags.
This is over the top, in some of the previous Darin Morgan episodes, maybe he held back. But here, he reaches for levels of insanity that he never attained previously, not even in previous X-Files and MillenniuM Eps. Mostly, he is parodying the absurdity of the times, where in these last few years we have seen an exponential increase of people actually believing things like 1) The Moon Landings were faked, 2) Lizard people have taken over the government, 3) Atlantis will rise from the Ocean and Lemuria will live again, and finally 4) The Earth is actually FLAT. Yes, there are people who believe this! Perhaps some of them rated this episode a 1-star. The sheer bulk of truly insane conspiracy theories that have been floating around on DiscloseTV makes even Mulder look sane. Maybe Darin spent a few days watching the latest Dren from there while writing this. It's possible. But just to be fair to the few valid videos that get uploaded to that station, however mostly it is just conspiracies now, less actual UFO stuff.
To enjoy this Episode is to laugh at what we have become, from Mulder's running Smartphone gags to the idea that Skully will go to town on a guy she's never met and have his baby. Of course, that was "Guy's" (Rhys Darby from Flight of the Concords) Skully-Fantasy, to make up for our own secret Skully fantasies. And Alex Daikun makes another X-Files appearance, his 3rd not including "I want to Believe" as the Squinty-Eyed manager.
The barrage of inanities erupting from Mulder leaves Skully no time to even respond, as he has all of her responses memorized now. So Mulder is really parodying his own character, much like Dave Duchovney did in the vastly underrated, mostly ignored but actually great film "Evolution" where he Moons the screen, and us, while saluting "Russell Woodman" (Ted Levine). David has a great Comedic sense, because of his ability to pull it off with a straight face.
Darin's episodes are so that you have to either love them a lot or scratch your head. But he creates beautiful... Well, they are Fairy Tales mostly, but he adds an almost Christmas quality to it, a very surreal tapestry and in the case of this episode it has threads that go back to earlier in the series. I feel it is his gift to us, and I accept it. But some people can't understand Darin's humor, ergo they hate it. Well, that's not my problem, it's theirs. They probably like Humor that is at the expense of someone else, where Darin has always been self-effacing in his Humor and even humble about it, never actually hurting anyone, while roasting and lambasting ideas like Scientology and other cults. There was a science fiction religion in El Cajon, California, which was based in a bookstore, "Aquarius Bookstore" on the corner of Main and Magnolia. It's long gone, but Darin parodies it in "Jose Chung's". He made fun of the concept but never the people who ran the store.
It is as if we are going to get "One of Each" of the different archetypes of X-Files "cases". so far, we've had the Mythos, the MOTW, and now the Comedy. Which is what makes X-Files so great, there is always something for everyone. And this episode did very well for going on during the Iowa Caucuses!
Easter Egg! Take note of Rys Darbie's suit and hat, then watch "The Nightstalker" with Darren McGavin!
