I guess I am more a true monster of the week fan as this isn't really one of them. My 7/10 rating is very subjective. I rewatched this one wondering why I never connected to the story when I was younger and was hoping to get it now in adulthood. The episode is very smart but due to the cerebral element of its jokes, which are just sort of inserted throughout, it doesn't make me laugh. Somehow the story zips around to the possibility of cockroaches that are metallic constructions/robots and then aliens after a whole bunch of false starts being debunked by Scully (which is supposed to be funny). We have a few notable side characters including Bambi (who I actually thought was a pretty true to life character) and the wheelchair bound sensitive scientist (whose genius feelings were hurt when something was beyond his understanding) and the paranoid dung smuggler. All in all, none of this made the episode stand out for me. Had I been better at following some of the reasoning supporting the theory that these roaches were aliens, would I have liked it more? I don't know. I guess the story was weak for me because the villains were roaches and people's paranoia the focal point, the former of which is underwhelming and the latter being something too ordinary to be an x file.
I contrast this one to The List which I thought was excellent. The suspense that episode created was excellent even if it borrowed some Shawshank Redemption elements.
I contrast this one to The List which I thought was excellent. The suspense that episode created was excellent even if it borrowed some Shawshank Redemption elements.