Not Just a Fluke: How Darin Morgan Saved The X-Files

Wow… this is a really fantastic Darin Morgan article.  Congratulations!  Well done.  As a huge Morgan fan, I enjoyed this piece tremendously.  I especially appreciated how you didn’t simply present Morgan as a comedy writer, but as someone who managed to tap into the post-modern cultural zeitgeist.

I believe you make a slight error, however, when you suggest that Darrin Morgan plays the character “Blaine”, in “From Outer Space”.  That character is actually played by Allan Zinyk, who went on to play a semi-reoccurring character (Brian Roedecker) throughout season two of Millennium.

If you do wish to direct readers to a great example of Morgan’s thespian talents, I would suggest pointing them to “Small Potatoes”, a Vince Gilligan scripted episode in which Morgan delivers are an unforgettable performance as the shape-shifting loser Eddie Van Blundht.  A reference to “Small Patatoes” would seem perfectly appropriate given the theme of this article.  When Morgan left the show, Gilligan picked up where Darin left off, and went on to produce quirky and funny X-Files episodes straight through to the end of season nine.

Again, thanks for this wonderful article.

Comment by Kevin Johns from Ottawa, Canada — October 29, 2007 @ 9:29 am

Wow!  I often find popmatters stuff to be sort’ve half-formed.  Many of the writers choose a decent subject and then lazily toss about some pop-psych, pop-science, or barely understood Lit crit idea that they don’t seem to fully grasp, nor seem capable of truly fitting into the overall aims of their piece.  It often reminds me of the meanderings of a stoned English lit grad student - occassioanlly interesting ideas that are usually poorly constructed and never really thought out too well.  In contrast, this piece is an example of all the things one should do right in an essay of this type.  Clever idea, good understanding of the subject, nice tie-ins with some well-chosen and relative theoretical ideas, and just well-written as well.  Good article Mr. Johns!

Comment by The Big Crunch from Bethesda, MD — October 29, 2007 @ 10:36 am

I think you mean, “Good article Mr. Kirby!”

Comment by Kevin Johns from Ottawa, Canada — October 29, 2007 @ 3:44 pm

Thanks so much for the kind words, guys. And Kevin, I am totally aghast at my own error; thanks for catching it. I actually did talk about “Small Potatoes” and Morgan’s legacy being taken up by Vince Gilligan (who’s one of my favorite X-Files scribes) in my first draft, but I had to cut those parts due to space concerns. (I also wanted to talk about Christ Carter’s very endearing and self-referential Morgan pastiche, “The Post-Modern Prometheus.") I think it’s testament to Morgan that, despite his brief tenure on the show(s!), his impact can’t fully be captured in one article.

Comment by Jonathan Kirby from Phoenix, AZ — October 29, 2007 @ 5:01 pm

Jonathan,

Amazing article.  It was great to read a piece by someone so passionate about the show that I loved so dearly when I was younger.  Morgan, and Gilligan to me defined what was amazing about The X-Files, a show capable of throwing its formula out the window, taking risks and creating brilliant hours of television because of it.  I fear the show has been largely forgotten in today’s cultural landscape, or rather not respected enough to be recognized as the cultural trailblazer that it was. 

I too would love to hear your thoughts on Small Potatoes and The Post Modern Prometheus and frankly, any other thoughts you have on the show.

The biggest compliment I can give you is that immediately after reading your piece I felt the urge to have a mini-marathon.

Seriously, great work.

Comment by Diana from Toronto, ON — October 30, 2007 @ 7:12 pm

As owner of a now defunct website devoted to all things Darin Morgan (Darinland), as well as Glen Morgan & Jim Wong (Morgan and Wong Online) back in the heyday of X-Files, I was pleasantly surprised to fall upon this article (I actually found the link of Gillian Anderson’s offcial site, by the way).

It summarizes the best of what Darin brought to that show and why he is so completely unique.  Although Gilligan is a great writer with his own voice, nothing he did touched the poignancy (and isolation theme you write about) that was really the core of everything Darin ever wrote for The X-Files, and later on Millennium.  I still contend that his work on Millennium may even outshine his work on X-Files, but alas, no one was watching that show at the time to even allow for it to be “saved”.

Very curious though if I may ask the author, what brought on a need to write about Darin Morgan and The X-Files after all these years no longer on air, especially given how the series really lost coherency and its relevancy (and frankly, quality) even earlier than that… for me, somewhere in the 5th of 6th season?

Comment by FrumiousB from Toronto, ON — October 31, 2007 @ 1:02 am

Wonderful, wonderful article.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and also felt inspired to watch those episodes all over again.  It also reminded me how much I enjoyed reading a script Darin wrote for Frank Spotnitz’s series “Night Stalker”.  The episode was never produced since the show had already been canceled, but it’s available to download from the series DVDs.  What a fantastic treat!  If only this article would inspire Darin to write more.

Comment by Amy from Menlo Park, CA — October 31, 2007 @ 2:55 pm

excellent, excellent article. i had no idea that darin morgan had written some of my favorite episodes—been too long since i’ve seen them.  btw i also came here from gillian’s site, after hearing that they’re finally making a sequel.

anyway, really nice work.

Comment by heather — November 1, 2007 @ 11:32 am

Jonathan:

This is probably the best piece of X-Files criticism I have ever read (and I teach writing and lit for a living).  And it was terrific to read it on the same day that Fox announced the release date for X-Files.

A tremendous compliment: the webmaster (or mistress) at Gillian Anderson’s website has a posted a link to this page…

Congrats!

Comment by Queequeg from San Francisco — November 2, 2007 @ 12:10 am