Theatre of the Mind ~ Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"
1.
When I first saw that Imperial cruiser, I knew this eppy would not be a snoozer.
But before I could say, "Fox, use the force!", I learned that it was a crane lift, of course.
So now I know the recurring theme: Things in this ep are not what they seem.
Everything's a little out of place, In Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space.'2.
It starts out with a boy and girl, he tells her "You are my whole world."
And of course that makes the girl suspect that he just wants a night of sex.
Then the car makes a mysterious stop, and from the night two aliens drop.
Before they can scare the couple more, a Harryhausen alien abducts all four!3.
We meet the writer of whom Scully thinks highly (he's played by the wonderful Charles Nelson Reilly).
He wants Scully's views on an abduction case (Mulder's refused to meet face-to-face).
Scully talks out of sense of duty (Chung thought she was a "brainy beauty").
Chung is here on a truth excursion; he wants the truth (at least Scully's version).4.
So Scully starts to spin her tale; she'll do her best, doesn't want to fail.
But first Chung wants Scully to decree: Experiencer or abductee?
Neither one, does Scully prefer, but to her partner she'll defer.
But she wants to get the facts all straight; the girl was probably compromised by her date.5.
Mulder and Scully are there and the case is begun, and of course that means it's TWC1.
Detective Manners is also on the case, his bleeping language is a real disgrace!
Mulder interviews both girl and boy, and decides hypnosis he should employ.
While Scully thinks hypnosis is for the birds, Jose thinks it is magical to be transformed by mere words.6.
So the girl is put under and describes the scene, then each person is replaced by an alien bein'.
Scully looks bored and yawns in the back, while Chrissy describes the alien attack.
Mulder thinks he should talk to the boy once more, Detective Manners wants to know what the bleep for.
And now would be time for a bleepin' woo-hoo, cause Mulder looks FINE-it's TWC2.7.
Harold says he'll save Chrissy but then cowers in fear, and hides both his eyes when the aliens appear.
The smoking alien is confusing the plot; he says over and over "This is happening not."
Scully cuts to the chase, this is not so complex; she just wants to know if the couple had sex.
Harold confirms that was part of the plan, and if her father finds out, he is a dead man.8.
So M&S talk about who might have disrobed her; and Scully thinks it was not an alien that probed her.
Mulder's not sure and he will not agree; but he is looking swell so that's TWC3.
The agents visit Roky who witnessed the abduction; he fears that it might be the eve of destruction.
He recounts his visit from the Men In Black; Scully is eye-rolling,
Mulder cuts him some slack.9.
Back at the motel, Mulder reads her the story, the one Roky wrote as his ticket to glory.
The tale of Lord Kinbote and the earth's molten core; and he looks so darn cute must be TWC4.
Scully says Roky is fantasy-prone, but . . . Chung interrupts to say Roky's a nut.
Mulder has also had some peculiar notions; her partner's a man who acts on his emotions.10.
Mulder uses his hands to explain Roky's jive, those lovely long fingers rate as TWC5.
He believes Roky's story and he's re-energized, so he wants to have Chrissy re-hypnotized.
So Chrissy goes under but things are different, of course; now she's surrounded by the mighty Air Force.
Mulder thinks Scully's right, that they've hit a brick wall; and this case might not be about aliens at all.11.
Next we meet Blaine and the t-shirt he's donned, which shamelessly plugs "Space: Above & Beyond."
He wants to be abducted, this poor helpless slob, so he doesn't have to worry about finding a job.
He explains how he found the alien body, then called the authorities-hey, not too shoddy!
He tells of their visit, but then has to scoff; one was dressed as a woman, but not pulling it off.12.
The other didn't seem human, so tall and lanky; his face was a blank-there was no hanky-panky.
He might be a "mandroid" but he looks like a dream; and gets a TWC6 for his cute "girlie scream."
So the body is off to the autopsy bay, where the great Dr. Scully sets to work straight away.
But Scully really needn't look so smug; she's the star of a video: "Dead Alien! Truth or Humbug?"13.
Now this part always makes me snicker, just how long'd it take Scully to figure out it was a zipper?
Looks to me like Mulder is in quite a daze, to learn it's some guys dressed up like some grays.
But you know that I am in some kind of heaven, cause Mulder's little frown is TWC7.
Meanwhile Mulder shows us that he is so wise, as he deftly outsmarts some big Air Force guys.14.
Then Blaine gets two visits from the Men in Black, The Body Ventura and Mulder, who gives him a smack.
He hopes Blaine's not lying cause you know the plan; if Mulder finds out, then Blaine's a dead man.
Blaine's not afraid, he's on the bandwagon; he learned about courage playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Mulder heads back, and that's TWC8; when he finds Lt. Schaffer he is just looking great!15.
While meeting with Schaffer, Mulder learns much, about abductions, the military, hypnosis and such.
Schaffer tells Mulder as much as he can, then he's taken away, guess he is a dead man.
Chung says Mulder's version must be a lie, cause all Mulder did was eat sweet potato pie.
He asked lots of questions, ate piece after piece; he ate a whole pie before he did cease.16.
And through this whole scene, as on the pie he did dine, Mulder was such a cutie-that's TWC9.
Surely you know what is coming now; this fine Mulder moment is the holy flaming cow!
He says to the cook, "Have you checked everywhere?" There's just not a scene in this ep to compare!
Then Mulder returns to Scully's hotel room, and what he finds there leaves a feeling of doom.17.
Two Men in Black and no Scully in sight, Mulder is ready to put up a fight.
But Scully appears back at the motel, it just seems like she is under some spell.
Suddenly Mulder is deeply engrossed, then sees Alex Trebek . . . the game show host.
He wants to know more, will use his discretion; but he must keep all answers in the form of a question.18.
It seems M&S were both hypnotized, since the next morning Scully was surprised.
(Maybe she wanted to find Mulder in her bed, and was surprised to find him in her room instead!)
Perhaps another version of this scene and then . . . oops too late!
(And that was TWC10!)
Mulder and Scully have to go, cause someone has found that bleeping UFO.19.
M&S go to the scene of the wreck, they know that it's futile but just have to check.
Despite all the evidence, despite all the facts, it's very apparent someone is covering their tracks.
Scully assures that the case has some closure, but Mulder is fearful of overexposure.
He visits Chung and gives him a look, and begs him to please not write this book.20.
The book could not be what people expect, just a part of the military-industrial-entertainment complex.
But Chung vows to Mulder that the book will be written (I think partly because with Scully he's smitten!).
And as the episode winds to a close, we hear some of 'From Outer Space's' beautiful prose.
Blaine watches for aliens as he fixes the lines; Roky preaches to believers with lava men on their minds.21.
What about Diana Lesky, federal employee? Well, she has the same footwear as Dana Scully.
And for Reynard (Fox) Muldrake, what can be said? Well, at least in the Chung book he has a nice bed.
And although in the universe much is unknown, "in separate ways on this planet, we are all alone."
So I ponder as I listen to beautiful music by Mark Snow: What's this episode all about?
How the hell should I know?22.
With "Jose Chung" we must bid goodbye, to Darin Morgan, who made us laugh and cry.
We'll miss his wonderful sense of style, and miss him at the X-Files for a long, long while.
So thanks for Humbug, Clyde Bruckman, and the Coprophages War, it's sad to know there won't be any more.
Darin is gone till the next casting stunt; when next he appears he'll be Eddie Van Blundht.
So one final salute before this TOTM is through-to our man Darin Morgan: Goodbye, we'll miss you.(Sing along)
So bye, bye, to Darin Morgan our guy,
We loved your stories, allegories, and banana cream pie.
We hope you'll come back someday, yes we hope you will try,
Cause we will miss you and don't want to say 'bye,'
Cause we will miss you and don't want to say 'bye.'
Well, bleep. That was a bleepin' TOTM if ever I saw one. Gotta send out my apologies cause this bleepin' TOTM is pretty bleepin' lame. So if you tell anyone about it, you're a dead man. Cause this is not happening. This is not happening. This is not happening. Well, then, what is happening? How the hell should I know?
Thought I'd finish this up and send it out since I am still wired from "Within." What a great Season 8 premiere! (And apologies for gloating to those who haven't been able to see it yet.) Not much Mulder or TWC, but (just for Polly) one close-up of Mulder footwear of the finest kind-nekkid! I'm sure right about now Mulder is saying . . . this is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening. Bleep! Double Bleep! Big Bleepin' Bleep!
Hope you enjoyed "Within" and hope you enjoy this TOTM.
Pollys