Case 04, File 10.5: The Springfield Files

AKA: Remember When This Show Was Good?

At this point in its history, The X-Files was an unstoppable juggernaut, the kind of which hadn't been seen in a horror show since The Twilight Zone, if even then. Between a massive devoted fanbase, huge ratings and rolling in critical acclaim, the series was riding on the kind of high most series would die for. At its peak there was frankly only one show that could even come close to matching it.

Okay two, if you count Seinfeld.

Our episode kicks off with Homer Simpson, a man who requires no introduction, knocking off from work to go drinking at 10 in the morning. When night rolls around, Homer is drunk enough that even Moe won't let him drive off, so he walks home and encounters what he believes is an alien. After getting mocked by people around town, Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate. Mulder believes him, of course, but Scully is skeptical, and eventually the two just leave.

So Homer, being a determined man, decides he's going to go out and catch some video of the alien, which he does, but accidentally scares it off. Still, the footage is a big hit and the next Friday, the entire town is out there waiting for the alien. But, when it shows up, it turns out it's just Mr. Burns, relaxed because of a weekly medical procedure and glowing cause he works at a nuclear power plant. And with that, the episode ends with the entire town singing Good Morning Starshine.

Hans Moleman has gotten distressingly relateable as I've gotten older.

Reviewing a classic Simpsons episode is a very different experience from reviewing an X-Files episode, and not just because I usually have to carve out an hour to watch it and take notes, instead of 20 minutes. Classic Simpsons is great, but usually tinged with sadness, because of the hollow, lumbering zombie the show has become, none of which is super relevant to the review I'm writing now, but it does explain the somewhat melancholy tone of this review.

Another major difference is rather than worrying about whether it's scary or how well the plot hangs together, I can just focus on how funny the episode is and this episode completely kills. There's a lot of really great jokes throughout, from expertly delivered dialogue to great visual gags (Homer writing out "Yahhh!" in the long grass reduced me to tears the first time I saw it). And of course there's a lot of great jokes from our guest stars this episode, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.

This shot is up there with "Sweet merciful crap!" in terms of Simpsons moments that still kill me.

Which honestly begs the question, how much of this episode would actually work without functioning knowledge of The X-Files. The X-Files was huge at the time (it actually beat out The Simpsons the night this aired, ratings wise), but so was Melrose Place, they couldn't predict how long it would last in the public's minds. Would the two FBI Agents who show up at the midpoint without much fanfare just be a pair of odd acting FBI Agents? Their actions are absurd, yes, but not that much more than any other Simpsons character. Would the only hint that they exist as characters outside The Simpsons be that they're played by the guy from Californication and the lady from The Fall?

But then I have to ask myself, is it even possible for someone to have access to this episode of The Simpsons without having at least a basic working understanding of The X-Files? I said above that you can't predict how long something would last or how deep it would worm its way into America's collective unconscious. Is it possible to even get to be an adult without knowing the basic setup and characters of The X-Files. The theme song is fundamentally a leitmotif now and the word Scully has been gaining traction as a verb.

Mulder and Scully's looks made for some odd looking Simpsons characters.

Wow, this review got philosophical all of a sudden. I guess it's a result of there not being a whole lot to talk about with this episode. It's funny from moment one to moment twenty three, even while it doesn't actually parody The X-Files much. Which is fine, trying to parody the style and structure of a 45 minute X-Files episode, while still trying to be an episode of The Simpsons would be difficult, and detract from the simple joys of watching a Simpsons episode.

In many ways, reviewing a 20 minute sitcom is harder than reviewing a 45 minute drama (there's a reason I'm doing this about The X-Files instead of Seinfeld, possibly the only show I'm as obsessed with). There's more to talk about in a 40 minute episode, more plot to dissect, themes to discuss, characters to keep track of. In a 20 minute episode, even one as good as this, there's precious little to talk about. So I guess I'll just call it here.

Case Notes:

• I promised myself that I would allow myself one (exactly one) Case Note that was just me writing a line from the episode. So we'll see what I decide to go with.
• "The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true I mean false. It's all lies. But they're entertaining lies, and in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is no."
• I lasted one line. Goddammit.
• Lenny's outfit the fake security footage never fails to crack me up.
• The Waterworld gag is a pretty old reference. I wonder how many people actually get it these days.
• The Die/Diet joke is pretty perfectly timed, I must say.
• Homer writing "YAHH" in the field cracked me up so hard the first time I saw it, I was crying. It's still one of my favorite jokes of all time.
• I wanna call the joke about Mulder and Scully not being concerned with actual FBI stuff cheap but then, I make that joke myself.
• Mulder's badge being him in a speedo will never not be funny.
• The Cigarette Smoking Man gets a cameo. Nice to see they actually include stuff from the show.
• Duchovny and Anderson's best line deliveries in this episode are the bit where they have Homer on the treadmill. "Yes, it's like a lava lamp" is just an all time great line from Scully.
• The animators do a good job of imitating Scully's fed up look, but Mulder gestures too much.
• "Worse than the time we were attacked by the flesh eating virus." Don't lie to me Simpsons, that never happened.
• The Simpsons attacking Fox is always great.
• The guy waking up to find out Sonny is a congressman and Cher won an Oscar is funny, but lemme do that to someone from 23 years ago with Trump.
• I really miss Leonard Nimoy.
• I love how the episode just sort of ends. Early Simpsons was great.
• As always, these reviews are supported by Patreon. I'm beginning to branch out into doing things other than the episode by episode reviews, so feel free to donate if you want to see more Live Streams or Video Essays (both of which are upcoming).

Current Celebrity Watch:

This seems like an odd one to include, but Leonard Nimoy plays himself in this episode. Between this and Marge vs. the Monorail, he's one of the all time great Simpsons cameos and he always seemed like he had a great sense of humor about himself (I dunno if you could record The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins and not have a sense of humor). He is sorely missed.

Audio Observations:

The episode ends with the entire cast singing Good Morning Starshine from Hair. According to wikipedia, it also pops up in a Season 12 episode of The Simpsons, but I check out around Season 10.