Say hello to Rob Roberts everyone. [Hi Rob!] But perhaps you already know him. For truly, a part of him is in you. Though brain may not be your idea of the other white meat, we've all been in his position before, haven't we? Those moments of extreme hunger, when your stomach seems cavernous, its cravings insatiable, and the absolute controlling need for food is made only more profound by the knowledge that you can't have it.... Oh, but look at the time! Well, that wraps up our session for today. Have a safe drive home everyone, and enjoy your turkey this Thanksgiving!

"Is that brain...is that brain matter?"
"No. I'd say that's ground beef."

1121. You've seen it light up Scully's clock radio and inscribed on a dome in Antarctica. It can be found in case numbers, time stamps, and birthdays throughout the series. Now, for the first time, an X-File has aired on November 21. Though it probably wasn't the best birthday present Chris Carter could have given his wife, it did make a perfect episode for this mysterious day. Humourous, suspenseful, and creepy, it exalted every X-Filean virtue. When the ironically named Lucky Boy greeted us with his devilish smile in the spoiler, I knew I was in for eerily wonderful X-File. What made it so was its ability to frighten without graphic visual details. I didn't need to see anything to be scared. I didn't want to see anything. The idea alone was disturbing enough. Though if I didn't know what a proboscis was when they first mentioned it, I do now. [shudder] By the middle of the show, I began to believe everyone was out to get me. Even the advertisers seemed to be teasing me, playing on my already elevated fears. When Rob was about to eat his landlady, and the show cut to advertisements, what should the network decide to put on but an ad featuring a huge shark munching on a bloody piece of meat. Excellent choice guys. :-P

"You are your own man, and you control everything you do."

Through his work in "Hungry," Vince Gilligan has once again demonstrated his great writing skills. With his consummate grasp of characterization, the ability to get inside the minds of his characters, and in the process, get into those of his audience, he is able to expose the basis of human nature even through those who are not. Case in point? Rob Roberts, our not-quite-an-alien-but-not-altogether-human-either leading man. I didn't really feel sorry for him (he did have that voracious hunger for our brain matter), but I could understand him. Though his tendencies were...unusual, his responses to them were nothing less than human. His actions made him feel guilty, so he tried to control them through therapy, motivational speakers, and diet gum. But fighting an biological imperative to eat is not an easy thing to do, and after a while, he grew tired of his constant guilt. Nobody likes to blame themselves for everything, even those whose main source of food cannot found in your neighborhood Safeway (though I did once see a nicely packaged cow brain in the meat section of an Albertan grocery store. Yum.) Depressed, consumed with low self-esteem, he finally decided to give in to his impulses only to be (forgive the pun) shot down. Perhaps he wanted Mulder to shoot him, so he could be a good person, perhaps he simply needed to eat...or perhaps it was a mixture of the two, like the blend of humanity and monstrosity entwined within him. I know there's a message in there somewhere...

"I can't be something I'm not."

Since "Hungry" was told from Rob's perspective, our dynamic duo was notably absent from this episode. Usually I'm not a big fan of such Mulder and Scully-light shows, but this one I enjoyed. Making the monster our protagonist and showing us his point of view turned out to be a very interesting way to look at things. It couldn't be used every week, but as an original technique it worked very well. Under this aura Mulder and Scully took on a different light. It was decidedly strange not being in "the know" about the case - hearing their discussions, visiting crime scenes with them, or watching as Scully sliced up the latest corpse. To learn about these things as second hand information was extremely odd after being spoiled with an omniscient knowledge all these years. Though I suppose it spared us the sight of all the blood and gore they usually encounter. Bleck. :-P From what we did find out, everything seemed stereotypically normal in FBI-land. Scully was sticking to the most logical (and thus altogether wrong) course of thought, while Mulder was coming up with his standard off-the-wall (but of course, completely accurate) theories. Seen from this perspective Mulder actually seemed kind of...spooky. His knowing smiles as Rob lied through his many layers of teeth, the mind games he played, his twisted versions of "good cop...insane cop" make you never want to be the subject of one of his X-Files...

"Welcome to Lucky Boy. May I take your order?"
"Yeah. We'll have it our way."

Sure, "Hungry" had its faults. The supporting characters were monosyllabic. The "message" was a little too thick for my liking. Its humour was slightly lame...but it still made me smile. (Especially when they admitted as much - "Heh. It's a bad joke.") Maybe it's just been a long summer, but I was entertained. I was grossed out. I never want to eat at a fast food place again. In fact, I was so caught up I didn't realize it was over until the screen went black and "Executive Producer, Chris Carter" appeared. Now I realize what an appropriately abrupt ending it was for this tale. Rob died...our point of view died. End of story.

"Now do you believe in monsters?"