Hungry

WRITTEN BY: Vince Gilligan

REVIEWED BY: JJC   ON: November 23, 1999

ORIGINAL AIR DATE: November 21, 1999

"This is like, good cop...insane cop."

As an experiment, as something different, Hungry was a fun episode. Seeing events from the "monster's" POV was interesting - but only because Rob Roberts was himself endearing and good, and because the concept is novel. However, I certainly wouldn't advocate any similar attempts for the future. It was fun because it was different, but that doesn't mean I want to see my favorite characters relegated to "bad guys" all the time...nor do I want to see so little of them.

Chad Donella is wonderful in the role of monster-who-can't-help- himself. He injects the right amount of sweetness and regret that truly makes the viewer feel sympathy for him. It helps that his first three victims are people that we don't like or have any history with - the impatient and rude customer, the nosy, mean P.I., the societal degenerate intent on blackmail. The first brings it upon himself; Rob tries several times to drive him away, but the guy won't back off. The second kill is more a form of self-defense, as is the third - Spinks is going to rat Rob out, so what else can Rob do? The fact that he also gets to eat brains is merely a side-bonus.

Even the name "Robert Roberts" is a ploy for more sympathy from the viewer - we think, "This poor guy. What were his parents thinking?" Such a small detail, but it brings all kinds of compassion, both because he had the kind of parents who would give him that name, and because he has had to live with it all his life. We like Rob because he's such a nice guy - he's only an awkward, quiet boy, feverishly listening to motivational tapes and popping appetite- suppressant pills left and right.

The transformation into his "true" self is less horrifying than it is curiously fascinating - at least, to me. I just wanted to see how they were going to do it, and I think they pulled it off pretty well. It's the teeth that are cool. Major kudos to showing us Rob losing then regenerating them. They're supposed to resemble shark teeth, and sharks constantly grow new sets. What is grotesque is the thing that came whipping out of Rob's throat to punch a hole in his victim's skull. *shudder*

It's amusing to see Mulder and Scully as "bad guys." Well, they aren't even that so much, since we have an enormous amount of sympathy stored up for them. But we are torn between our natural sympathy for them and our new sympathy for the person they're trying to catch.

Witnessing one of Mulder's leaps of intuition has never afforded more dread. It's probably a good thing, too, that we never got to see the normal Mulder/Scully fleshing out of his theory - I'm not sure they could have come up with explanations that would make sense why he'd be so focused on Rob. Except, perhaps, that he hasn't lost his mind- reading capabilities, after all. We also see that Mulder is wrong (for once). He thinks that the killer's motivation in eating the ground chuck is because the killer knows more human victims will attract unwanted attention. While this may be true, I believe Rob's true motive in eating the ground chuck is because he is hoping to satisfy his hunger that way, for a much better reason - he doesn't want to kill.

This isn't a shipper-friendly episode, but it did have a couple of minor moments that I'll have to dwell on for lack of anything more substantial. The Mulder/Scully banter in the beginning was fun, but tamer than what we're used to seeing, I think. Mulder's weak stomach for anything gross continues to amuse.

When Mulder confronts Rob outside his apartment building (which, btw, my friend lives near so I've driven past quite a few times...), he explains that the local authorities and his partner believe the culprit to be Spinks, but it's obvious Mulder himself believes that it's Rob. After Mulder says "the local authorities" there's a pause, then he adds "and my partner" and WINKS! I don't know what Mulder specifically meant by it, but in classic guy-to-guy body language, that signals some kind of interest in the female being spoken of. I wonder if that was in the script or one of DD's ad-libs. I also loved Mulder's spiel about his bachelor pad - made me wonder what Scully's gonna do to change it. ;) <---see, now that deserves a wink.

There is definitely some above-average familiarity there when Mulder and Scully are questioning Rob in his apartment; Mulder goes over to where Scully is sitting, kneels down next to her chair, and puts his hand on her armrest. Such a minor thing, but viewing it, you wonder if he's about to suggest that she sit on his lap.

I find the fact that DD's double Steve Kiziak had a role in this episode quite hilarious. They used his real name and everything - he plays the private investigator hired by the landlady's ex-husband staked outside Rob's home and whom Rob first mistakes to be Mulder. If you didn't know this, rewatch it and you'll see all of the attempts they make to push the knowledge at us.

It isn't until Rob seems truly unable to control his urges, to the point where he kills someone else we find sympathetic - his landlady - that our desire to see him perhaps not get caught, abates. It is obvious at this point that no matter how he has tried, his instincts know not between right and wrong, and he can no longer control it.

We hope for a way to end things happily - perhaps he can truly receive help - but of course the cleanest way to end things is for Rob to meet his demise. Though, since when has The X-Files prided itself on a clean ending? I believed for several moments when the social worker confronted Rob that she was going to admit to having the same problem and that treatment was available. I mean, he can't be the only one of his kind...he was physically different - he wasn't biologically a human being.

However, this reminds me of The Unnatural, where it was beautifully expounded that to be human is not necessarily to embody the physical traits, but the essence of what humanity is. Rob's efforts to control his natural instincts, his self-loathing for what he does, makes him sympathetic - it cannot be denied that he is a good person.

I believe that that is why Rob ultimately decides to attack Mulder, because he knows Mulder will kill him. Rob's dying words are "I can't be something I'm not," and on the surface this seems to mean that the reason he attacks Mulder is because he is at heart a killer. However, I think he means that he can't be a "good" person in what he and society deems as "good," he can't control his urges, and so his choice is death.

Hungry ended the way I thought it should end, but it wasn't satisfying. I don't know what a satisfying ending would have been; perhaps in this case, there isn't such a thing.

Let me end with Mulder and Scully, and a shippy comment. When Rob first lunges at Mulder, the latter pauses a few moments before firing the shots that kill Rob. I like to think that if Rob had lunged for Scully, those shots would have come much quicker. :)

All in all, a fun and interesting episode; lots of entertainment, but too little of what I watch the show for.

"The hunger is always there, and it satisfies it any way it can."

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