27 Years Later, The X-Files’ Episode That Changed Formats Has Aged Like Fine Wine

The X-Files is known for being one of the most influential network procedurals, popularizing the monster-of-the-week format that has gone on to define massively successful shows like Supernatural, Grimm, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer​​​​​. Even the funeral home family drama Six Feet Under employed an iteration of this device as it depicted the funeral arrangements of a new individual every episode.

The style expands upon the procedural format, bringing the concept of standalone weekly “cases” to other stories beyond the crime and legal genres. Horror TV’s use of monster-of-the-week stories offers near-limitless potential for long-running shows, allowing the characters to regularly find themselves in new situations that don’t require a single narrative arc to compound for years.

Even these stories, however, run the risk of growing stale over time just like their serialized counterparts. If not employed creatively, episodes can quickly become formulaic and predictable. Given that, even more impressive than The X-Files’ use of monster-of-the-week stories was the way the show continued to reinvent the format and subvert viewers’ expectations of how the episodes would play out.

This was done in both big and small ways over the course of the show, with The X-Files still finding refreshing ways to challenge traditional storytelling conventions well into its 11-season run. One of the show’s strongest and most subtle monster-of-the-week outings came in a season 7 episode titled “Hungry.”

“Hungry” Shows What A Difference Small Changes Could Make

This Vince Gilligan-written episode of The X-Files followed a somewhat well-intentioned monster who simply couldn’t satiate his appetite for human brains. As far as X-Files monsters go, Rob Roberts was largely par for the course. What set the episode apart was that it was told from his perspective rather than that of agents Mulder and Scully, though even this wasn’t immediately apparent.

Like most other monster-of-the-week episodes, “Hungry” opened with a mysterious and abnormal killing before launching into The X-Files‘ title sequence. The next scene saw Mulder and Scully interviewing employees of the fast food restaurant where the murder took place, also rather standard for the show. It was also not entirely uncommon for the show to spend a bit of time with an episode’s antagonist.

Thus, several scenes and minutes of the episode passed before it became clear that “Hungry” was doing something different. Yet soon enough, Mulder and Scully knocked on Rob Roberts’ door, and it felt noticeably odd that the viewer began the scene inside with Roberts, rather than on the other side with the agents.

From there, Mulder and Scully felt increasingly like side characters in Rob Roberts’ story, appearing in his periphery as obstacles in his path to cover up the murder and satiate his incessant appetite. “Hungry” made good use of Roberts’ ample screen time, elevating him from a brain-eating monster into a flawed yet sympathetic, emotionally well-developed character.

Roberts’ cravings were framed as an eating disorder, with the episode even going so far as to depict him seeing a therapist and joining a support group for emotional overeaters. Roberts’ palpable anxiety and desperate attempts to curb his desire with appetite suppressants humanized him to a much greater degree than many X-Files villains, turning a run-of-the-mill premise into a unique viewing experience.

The X-Files Did Everything It Could To Push Its Own Boundaries

“Hungry” was a strong episode, but it was far from the show’s most popular. As far as The X-Files‘ most memorable installments go, “Hungry” likely wouldn’t make the cut. Ultimately, though, this is a testament to The X-Files’ overarching commitment to testing the limits of storytelling conventions. This episode was merely one of many instances where the show tried something new and refreshing.

As a whole, the series was unique in that it split its time between monster-of-the-week installments and episodes devoted to its sprawling, serialized “mytharc” that was unspooled over the course of the entire show. Amongst its many standalone episodes, The X-Files also told a long, complex story about aliens and top-secret government missions that all tied back to the childhood abduction of Mulder’s sister.

Its isolated episodes ranged from highly comedic to deadly serious, from philosophical to action-packed. One episode rehashed Mulder and Scully’s most recent case in the differing ways the pair remembered it. In another, half of the story proved to have been a drug-induced hallucination. Yet another was a surprisingly impressive “crossover” episode with the reality show Cops.

Both as a series and on an episode-by-episode basis, The X-Files not only popularized the monster-of-the-week format but reinvented it many times over.

Release Date

1993 – 2018-00-00

Network

FOX

Showrunner

Chris Carter