War of the Coprophages
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files.
While on the phone with Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), he is approached by the local sheriff, Frass, who reveals that a series of "roach attacks" have taken place in the town.
In an attempt to extricate the insect, he begins to frantically slice his skin with a razor, leading him to sever an artery and bleed to death.
When he attempts to capture the roach for analysis, it crumbles in his hand and the sharp pieces cut his fingers in the process, leading him to believe that the brittle casing was made of metal.
Immediately afterwards, the medical examiner is found dead in a bathroom stall, initially covered with roaches that disappear from the scene before more than one person can witness them.
He is then confronted by Dr. Bambi Berenbaum (Bobbie Phillips), a researcher from the USDA who is studying roaches to develop more effective methods of pest control.
At this point, Mulder believes that the individual simply died of fright, though Scully begins to wonder what is going on and decides to visit Miller's Grove herself.
She attempts to calm the people down, but they instead frantically flee after two scuffling patrons knock over a display of chocolate candies, believing them to be more roaches.
Scully finds out that Eckerle was researching dung-derived methane as an alternative fuel source, and had been importing animal dung that may have introduced the roaches to the area.
Upon hearing this, Mulder speculates that the roaches are actually extraterrestrial robotic probes that are capable of consuming dung—an abundant resource already exploited by some species of roaches—to generate methane as a source of fuel.
[1] Writer Darin Morgan was inspired to write the episode after he saw the cover of a magazine that featured insect-like robots designed by roboticist and author Rodney Brooks.
[3][4] The town featured in this episode also takes place in—Miller's Grove—is a play on Grover's Mill, the setting of Orson Welles's 1938 radio adaptation.
[3] Originally, a scene featuring the sheriff discussing a noted case of hysteria from the 1930s was planned to be included in the final episode, but was cut due to time.
[5] The episode, like Morgan's previous effort, the second season's "Humbug", used a great deal of humor,[6] including an in-joke where Scully reads Breakfast at Tiffany's, referencing a question on Jeopardy!
Darin Morgan later attacked and parodied this approach in the twenty-first episode of the second season of the American crime-thriller television series Millennium called "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me".
In the episode, a network censor again targets the use of the word "crap" and storms onto the set of a show resembling The X-Files being taped, featuring lookalikes of Mulder and Scully.
[10] The episode marks a rare occasion in the series in which the fourth wall is broken: Although no character addresses the audience, a cockroach scurries across the screen, scaring the viewer into thinking that an actual insect is crawling on their television.
Entertainment Weekly gave "War of the Coprophages" an A−, and wrote, "Irreverent camp that's infested with laughs (and creepy-crawlies) but throws credibility out the window.
[5] On a more negative note, writer Darin Morgan ended up being unhappy with the final product, saying "The other day, my girlfriend was saying, 'I never understood that episode,' and I guess I don't either.
