3.12 War of the Coprophages
US Airdate: January 5, 1996
writer: Darin Morgan
director: Kim Manners
STARRING:
David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully
Guest Cast:
Sheriff Frass ..... Dion Anderson
Dr. Jeff Eckerle ...... Raye Birk
Dr. Bugger ..... Alex Bruhanski
Dude ..... Alan Buckley
Dr. Newton ..... Bill Dow
Dr. Inanov ..... Ken Kramer
Stoner .... Tyler Labine
Chick ..... Nicole Parker
Dr. Bambi Berenbaum ..... Bobbie Phillips
Orderly ..... Wren Robertz
Resident #1 ..... Tom Heaton
Resident #2 ..... Bobby L. Stewart
Reporter ..... Norma Wick
Customer #1 ..... Maria Herrera
Customer #2 ..... Sean Allan
Customer #4 ..... Dawn Stofer
Customer #5 ..... Fiona Roeske
INSECTS SWARM AND SIGHT GAGS FLY IN A SMALL NORTHEASTERN TOWN AS MULDER AND SCULLY ENCOUNTER A TOWN PANICKED BY A PLAGUE OF COCKROACHES.
Is an alien race disguised as cockroaches invading the earth? Or is a pest control experiment gone awry threatening the populace of Miller's Grove, Massachusetts? Mulder goes to the small town in pursuit of UFO reports but finds instead a town terrorized by roaches, in this darkly humorous send-up. Mulder pursues both a theory on alien robotic probes and a lovely entemologist named Bambi, while Scully faces down a panicked, fleeing mob. Cockroaches with metallic exoskeletons mix with insectoid automatons, a synthetic fuels researcher with a license to import dung, and
walls that literally undulate with insects to render a creepy, funny, and very strange night for Mulder and Scully.
Notes
The word "coprophage" means literally "dung-eater", and the "war" part of the title refers to H. G. Wells' "War Of The Worlds", which this episode parodies. The name of the town here is Miller's Grove, while the name in the movie was Grover's Mill. Witness the scenes of mass hysteria, same as the movie, and the sailor grabbing chocolate and pantyhose is reminiscent of World War II. Another obvious dung reference is when Scully eats the Choco Droppings, ewww!
Scully is reading the book "Breakfast at Tiffany's" during one of Mulder's numerous telephone interruptions. This was the Final Jeopardy answer that David Duchovny missed when he appeared on the show.
Dr. Bambi Berenbaum is named for Dr. May R. Berenbaum, head of the Entomology Department at the University of Illinois and author of many books on insects.
The robotics researcher, A. Ivanov, has a name very similar to the great writer of sci-fi (sometimes dealing with robotics) stories, I. Asimov.
The television news reporter's name is Skye Leikin, a mixed version of the name of an AOL xphile, Leikin Skye, who won an AOL trivia contest -- the prize was to get her screen name on one of the episodes.
The phrase "Smart is sexy", which Scully says at the end referring to the scientists, has become a phrase used by the media to describe Mulder and Scully.
Quotes
____________________
Sheriff: "What are you doing?"
Mulder: "Just sittin' and thinkin'."
Sheriff: "Sitting and thinking... and talking on the phone?"
Mulder: "Yeah."
Sheriff: "To who? Your drug dealer?"
____________________________________________________________
Sheriff: "Who was that?"
Mulder: "My drug dealer."
____________________________________________________________
Mulder: "...It took forever for me to realize that it was no leaf."
Scully: "A praying mantis?"
Mulder: "Yeah, I had a praying mantis epiphany and, as a result, I screamed. Not... not a girly scream but the scream of someone being confronted by some before unknown monster
that had no right existing on the same planet I inhabited. Did you ever notice how a praying mantis' head resembles an alien's head? The mysteries of the natural world were revealed to me that day but instead of being astounded I was repulsed."
Scully: "Mulder, are you sure it wasn't a girly scream?"
____________________________________________________________
Scully: "Mulder, you're not thinking about tresspassing on government property again, are you? I know you've done it in the past but I don't think this case war..."
Mulder: "Too late. I'm already inside."
Scully: (heavy sigh)
____________________________________________________________
Scully: "Did he give you any idea how to catch them?"
Mulder: "No...but she did tell me everything else there was to know about insects."
Scully: "She?"
____________________________________________________________
Scully: "Her name is Bambi?"
____________________________________________________________
Mulder: "Yeah, did you know that the ancient Egyptians worshipped the scarab beetle and possibly erected the pyramids to honor them? Which may be giant symbolic dung heaps?"
Scully: "Did you know the inventor of the flush toilet was named Thomas Crapper?"
____________________________________________________________
Mulder: "Oh that makes perfect sense, Scully, I don't like it at all."
____________________________________________________________
Mulder: "I see the correlation, but just because I work for the federal government doesn't mean I'm an expert on cockroaches."
____________________________________________________________
(answering phone yet again)
Scully: "Who died now?"
____________________________________________________________
Mulder: "Crap."
____________________________________________________________
Scully: "Mulder, I think the only thing more fortuitous than the emergence of intelligent life on this planet is that through purely random laws of biological evolution and intelligence as complex as ours ever eminated from it. The very idea of intelligent alien life is not only astronomically improbable, but at its most basic level downright anti-Darwinian."
Mulder: "Scully...what are you wearing?
____________________________________________________________
Scully: "I'm not going to ask if you just said what I think you said because I know it's what you said."
____________________________________________________________
(answers phone during conversation with Dr. Bambi)
Mulder: "Not now." (hangs up on Scully)
____________________________________________________________
Scully: "Mulder, I'm coming up there."
Mulder: "Whatever."
____________________________________________________________
Scully: "Mulder, this town is insane."
Mulder: "Where are you?"
Scully: "In a convinence store just outside... civilization."
____________________________________________________________
Dr. Ibanov: "Anyone who thinks that alien visitation will come not in the form of robots but living beings with big eyes and grey skin, has been brainwashed by too much science-fiction."
____________________________________________________________
Sheriff: "You two should get some rest. You look pooped."
____________________________________________________________
Mulder: "Scully, I never thought I'd say this to you but... you smell bad."
______________________________________________
Season Three Episodes / Next Episode: Syzygy
Back to Main
Menu