The X-Files (TV Series) Hungry (1999) User Reviews

Vince Gilligan does it again

[anzaldua · 9/10 · 18 December 2006]

The best thing about the X-Files writers is that they can build a history out of nothing or maybe just with a simple thing as maybe a Dog, a novelist, an Erlenmeyer flask, etc. This time, Vince Gilligan wrote about something that everybody has suffer, hunger.

The thing with hunger in this episode was: How to make it an X-file?, Mr. Gilligan mast have been very hungry to write this one because is one of the best of season seven. This episode is not as dark as The X-Files are used to, but even with almost all scenes filmed in daylight it just keeps getting better and better to the very end that is one of the best of the whole series.

Almost buttery...

[Sanpaco13 · 8/10 · 26 November 2007]

Hungry is a great season 7 episode. It does take an interesting unique approach to the episode in that the main character and focus is on the monster's point of view. We get this a little in some of the episodes in previous seasons but in none of those is the entire episode done this way and Mulder and Scully portrayed simply as the FBI people that are following him around. I like the fact that this poor guy tries so hard to not be what he is but in all reality just simply can't because he has to eat in order to live. Talk about an eating disorder. This is especially interesting from the point of view of anyone who has ever been addicted to something and gone to a support group. I personally haven't ever been to a meeting like this but know people who have and have done some research on different groups and one of the main ideas taught about addictions is that the person who is addicted needs to realize that they have lost the ability to choose whether or not they partake of the thing they are addicted to. You can work hard to abstain and you can actually do so for long periods of time but eventually you end up giving into temptation whether you know its wrong or not. I really do sympathize with the monster in this case because he treats his condition as something that he wishes he could control and just can't and he literally doesn't have anyone that he can turn to that would understand and not see him as a monster. Viewing this episode as a metaphor for anyone who worries about dark secret addictions they deal with I think the story works extremely well and portrays a good message that no matter how monstrous you may think your secret may appear to those around you should they find out, there really are good people out there who are waiting and wanting to help you. The monster in this case has the choice of giving in and working to get help or to give up and be released from his torment. Lamentably he chooses the latter.

Great Episode

[alex-ross77 · 7/10 · 10 March 2006]

In this x-file, a young man who works at a fast-food store, has problems controlling his monstrous appetite for human brains. To make this episode more interesting, we see the story unfold through the life of the monster, which surprisingly makes you feel sorry for him. Looking for help, he attends an eating-disorder clinic which doesn't help much and just makes things even more frustrating. As Mulder and Scully get closer to exposing the truth, you can't wait to find out what will happen and you even hope the case remains unsolved for the benefit of our misunderstood, brain-eating monster.

7/10 Best Monster-of-the-Week episode from Season 7

Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim.

[bombersflyup · 10/10 · 28 December 2018]

Hungry is about a monster named Rob, with an addiction to human brains, who's trying to fight his addiction and fit into society. Mulder and Scully are on the case.

A thoroughly engaging and profound episode. Wonderfully acted by Chad Donella, who should of been a film star or had his own series based on this performance. With one of the best non-recurring characters of all-time. Actually this premise with Donella could of been made into a series, it's that good. The psychologist played by Judith Hoag also terrific, with empathy and bravery in abundance. An episode where Mulder and Scully are only secondary and not for one moment do I miss them, because it's written and executed perfectly. Stakeout guy, Mulder lookalike, brilliant.

Fabulous and heartbreaking

[rrvtjd · 10/10 · 31 January 2011]

The incredibly popular series, "The X-Files" often dealt with some sort of monster which was killing innocent people, either through evil or blind instinct. The monster in the episode "Hungry" is the same in that innocent people are losing their lives. But where the story differs is that the monster, Rob Roberts (Chad Donella, in an absolutely amazing performance), is trying everything possible to resist his urge to kill. He knows that it is wrong, and he hates and despises himself for it. He hates even more that he cannot stop himself, no matter what he does. A kindly and caring psychologist, Dr. Rinehart, tries to help him, and ultimately confronts him with the truth that he has been trying to hide. Rob removes his physical disguise to show her his true and frightening appearance. But instead of being horrified or repulsed, she responds with pity and sorrow for his plight ("You poor man. What you must go through."). When Mulder and Scully arrive on the scene and order Roberts to surrender, Dr. Rinehart encourages him to "be that good person I know you mean to be." For Rob, her words seem to galvanize the reality that since he cannot control his murderous urges, he can never "be that good person." He rushes agents Mulder and Scully, forcing them to shoot in self-defense. As Rob lies on the floor, Dr. Rinehart tearfully asks "Why?" Rob's last words before he dies are "I can't be something I'm not."

A classic.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 20 September 2022]

Lucky Boy's fast food restaurant is the scene of a grizzly murder, the death of a rude, demanding customer, who's brain has been consumed.

If you've ever worked in fast food, you may just watch this one with a slightly keen interest than if you haven't.

I'm a big fan of this one, I think it's well paced, original, and manages to pack in a few shocks and surprises.

This has to be one of the most skilfully written episodes to date, it's so clever, so witty, and very different, it's about the first time that we see the crimes (so to speak,) from the point of view of the villain/alien, with Mulder and Scully playing almost supporting roles.

Some pretty good special effects once again, and credit to the makeup department for the job they did with Rob Roberts.

It entertained, it thrilled, it also challenged some stereotypes, at the time, eating disorders were of course a topic of conversation, but it's fair to say back then, nobody would have looked at a guy like Rob, average build, slightly goofy, and thought eating disorder, it's an interesting point made by the writer.

9/10.

"Do you believe... in monsters?"

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 1 August 2017]

This episode presents the story of a guy with low self-esteem who can't seem to kick his unfortunate habit - he eats the brains of people when he gets hungry! The story has a bit of a vampire quality to it, and Rob Roberts even looks devilish without his hair and the prosthetics that serve as his ears. I thought it was a pretty good makeup job they did on actor Chad Donella for the character he portrayed, normal looking enough most of the time until he needed to go brain hunting.

Keep an eye on that scene when Mulder first interviews Roberts at his home about the murder at the Lucky Boy. The garbage bag with the bloody uniform begins leaking, but there's more blood on the floor in the first shot than in the second, after some time had elapsed while Mulder questioned him. Had those two shots been reversed it would have made more sense.

I got a kick out of the scene where Roberts went berserk in his house and started whacking everything with the Derwood Spinks baseball bat. One of the things he clobbered was an instructional tape titled 'Get Motivated'. I had to laugh, seeing as how Rob must have thought he didn't need it anymore.

The main thing I thought about while watching this story was how nonchalant Mulder seemed to be while taunting Roberts with remarks like "Don't worry Rob. It won't be long now", hinting to Roberts more than once that he thought that Rob was the murderer. Stemming directly from that, all Rob had to do was use the old tongue lash on Mulder to get rid of the pesky FBI agent. That would have been such a simple solution, at least in the short run. As it is, Mulder didn't hesitate for even a second when Roberts made the fatal attack on him and Scully. It surprised me though that Mulder didn't come up with one of his classic wise-ass responses to the shooting, something along of the lines of 'You want fries with that?'

"I get so hungry that I can't help myself..."

[DWilliams1089 · 7/10 · 15 August 2010]

Season seven, often seen by many devotees as straying from the series' roots, ironically harks back to previous episodes with it's third sequential and first stand-alone episode, "Hungry." Much in the same way that Eugene Tooms ("Squeeze, Tooms") required human livers, Virgil Incanto ("2Shy") fed on body fat, and the guy from "Teliko" needed pituitary glands for subsistence, Rob Roberts gets his calories from brain matter. While this could have made for a pedestrian re-tread of themes from the aforementioned previous episodes, writer Vince Gilligan (known for having penned classics like "Pusher" and "Folie a Deux") changes things up a bit by telling the story from the monsters' perspective. All Roberts wants is a normal life without the impulsions of a monstrous appetite, pardon the pun. This makes for an episode with greater psychological depth than the average MOTW, however, a few things prevented me from fully enjoying it as a whole. First, the psychiatrist character seemed awfully contrived, from her inexplicable purpose in the plot (what fast-food joint would be so generous as to hire a counselor for their minimum-wage employees?) to her corny lines in the final scene. Second, Mulder's goading behavior seemed annoyingly excessive and reminiscent of last season's "Terms of Endearment." If he had been any secondary character he would not have survived to the end of the episode.

When analyzing the stand-alone episodes it's essential to view them both within their own context and within the canvas of the series. When viewed in the former, "Hungry" would get a 6 from me. It's Gilligan's ability to take the premises of episodes past and re-work them into new and innovative formats that make this one more worthy of an 8. I'll go half way and give it a 7. No more drive-thrus for me.

Hungry for flesh.....

[stevenjlowe82 · 9/10 · 7 October 2023]

This was another great example of an excellent monster of the week (mow) or creature feature style episode from the X Files.

One thing the X Files mostly done well was it's casting and writing of it's monster type characters, some more human than others but monsters nonetheless. They for the most part always managed to write layered, interesting and complex characters that got the viewer thinking and at times even sympathizing with them, well up to a point. The performance from the actor playing the conflicted monster did a really excellent job and kept me engaged with the episode for the entire run time.

My only drawback is the lack of Mulder and Scully, particularly Scully in this episode.

Doesn't satisfy my X-Files appetite

[Muldernscully · 6/10 · 11 April 2007]

For me, season seven does not start out strongly. The Sixth Extinction episodes are two of the weakest mythology episodes I've seen. Hungry immediately follows and does not deliver. Hungry is written by Vince Gilligan, my favorite X-Files writer. In this episode, he attempts something different; having the story told from the villain's point of view and not Mulder and Scully's. Now, I appreciate Vince trying to do something different, but it doesn't work for me. Turning Mulder and Scully into secondary characters is a mistake. Their bantering back and forth is such an integral part of the series, that when gone, is very noticeable. Once again, Mulder assumes the role of Columbo, as he did in "Terms of Endearment" from season six. It's tedious this time around. Mulder makes an extreme leap to what's really happening very early in the episode, even early for Mulder. And if Mulder is a secondary character, Scully is almost non-existent and just calmly goes along with Mulder's ideas. I felt that Vince Gilligan wanted us to feel sympathy for Rob Roberts with his "aw shucks" mannerisms. I felt none for him. He's still a killer. Who I did feel sympathy for was Derwood Spinks, excellently cast by the way. An ex-convict trying to integrate back into society again, ruined by a murder investigation in which he is innocent. Rob seeing brains in the hamburger patties and in the texture of the bald man's head were nice touches to show his hunger. With Mulder and Scully playing secondary characters and the show focusing on an unsympathetic character instead, this episode left me "Hungry" for a better episode.

Usually X-Files knocks it out of the TV Sci-Fi park...

[caf-19 · 4/10 · 27 October 2021]

...but 'Hungry' was just Meh. The neurotic, angst filled central character was certainly well played by Canadian actor, Chad Donella, and I would have expected to see him in bigger roles over the years. Mulder and Scully were their usual comradial selves; However the story, the plot, the "Gotcha" all rather sucked for me. Especially the lack of any real Gotcha at the non-climax.

Maybe the whole group of X-File makers were just getting burnt out by season seven. Maybe because there were too many unsatisfactory plot lines, or characters that didn't sell it. It just seemed like one of those soulless TV or movie plots that float around aimlessly like a cloud, then fade away by the end of sixty minutes...

Or maybe for me it stemmed from (no pun intended) the central character's in depth description of the sheer pleasure of eating human brains that was a nauseating deal breaker for me. And why did the dude transform into an alien looking monster before eating his neighbors and co-worker's brains? Was he an alien? He sure looked like one, except when he wasn't. Or, was he born with razor teeth and a lust for brains? Or, did eating human brains turn him into this brain-eatin' monster? We will never know, because the script writer(s) just did not have the talent or basic courtesy towards an audience to tie-up the episode into any kind of cohesive story. Therefore the 'Meh' and the 4 star rating which was generous at that.

About as substantial as a fast food meal...

[lnzbyl · 5/10 · 21 July 2019]

This is one of the lesser episodes of the X-Files. The series seems to have been treading water since the production moved to California from Canada (perhaps partly because of creator Chris Carter's desire to have the series run for only five seasons until he was talked into continuing it by the Fox network. Perhaps because of this, it seems like the writers' ideas are often more "miss" than "hit" after the fifth season. Vince Gilligan is no doubt a talented writer, but watching this ep and waiting for it to end is akin the ordering something basic from a fast food restaurant and then waiting 45 minutes to get your food. Any point the episode might have had to begin with soon gets lost as this very lightly plotted episode slowly plods its end to the end. This is one of the few times I was actually glad the antagonist died at the climax of the episode.