Jose Chung's From Outer Space
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| “Jose Chung's From Outer Space” | |||||||
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| The X-Files episode | |||||||
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 20 |
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| Written by | Darin Morgan | ||||||
| Directed by | Rob Bowman | ||||||
| Guest stars | Charles Nelson Reilly as Jose Chung | ||||||
| Production no. | 3x20 | ||||||
| Original airdate | April 12, 1996 (Fox) | ||||||
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"Jose Chung's From Outer Space" is the twentieth episode of the third season of The X-Files. When a couple claims to have been abducted by aliens, Agents Mulder and Scully try to get at the truth but everyone has a different version of the story, including the "aliens" themselves.
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space", along with "Bad Blood" and "Hollywood A.D.", is one of the few X-Files episodes that is markedly comedic in tone, in contrast to its usual strictly dramatic tone. Also like "Bad Blood", this episode is something of a Rashomon.
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[edit] Cultural References and Notes
- A title card at the beginning of the episode indicates that the setting is "Klass County, Washington." As there is no county named Klass in the state of Washington, this appears to be a humorous tip of the hat to Philip J. Klass, a noted debunker of UFOs.
- Jose Chung mentioned he wrote a thriller about 1950s mind control called The Caligarian Candidate. This is a reference to both The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and The Manchurian Candidate.[1]
- The fake alien autopsy hosted by a prominent British ufologist is a reference to the alien autopsy film shown on the Fox Network in 1995 hosted by Ray Santilli, previously mentioned in Nisei.[1] The autopsy film is hosted by the Stupendous Yappi, who was featured in "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose".
- Lt. Shaeffer molds his mashed potatoes into a mountain shape after seeing a UFO. This is a reference to a similar scene from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.[1]
- This episode features cameos by Jesse Ventura and Alex Trebek as the "Men in Black".
- Curse words in this episode are humorously replaced with phrases like "Blankety-blankety-bleep".
- The dead 'alien' Maj. Robert Vallee's name is likely a reference to French UFO researcher Jacques Vallée.
- The name "Lord Kinbote" is a reference to the character Charles Kinbote of Pale Fire.[1]
- At the end of the episode, Mulder is watching the Patterson-Gimlin film.
- The cover of From Outer Space is a reference to Communion.
- The book From Outer Space is also featured in The X-Files: The Game; the game is about the disappearance of Mulder and Scully.
- The name "Roky Crikenson" is a reference to the singer, songwriter Roky Erickson who claimed to have been abducted by aliens.
- The character of Jose Chung is loosely based on author Truman Capote. His remarks about creating "non-fiction science-fiction", and the time he spent in a small town researching his book, echo the development of Capote's famous non-fiction novel In Cold Blood.
- Blaine wears a Space: Above and Beyond t-shirt, which is a short-lived science fiction series by X-Files producers James Wong and Glen Morgan (the brother of episode writer Darin Morgan).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Rob Bowman, Darin Morgan. Director/Writer Commentary (DVD)
[edit] External links
- Jose Chung's "From Outer Space" at the Internet Movie Database
- Jose Chung's "From Outer Space" at TV.com
